South Idaho Press from Burley, Idaho • 11

sports Sunday, November 25, 2001 South Idaho Press HI simK rojan River's 18 first-quarter points. Hansen had 10 in the quarter, including a stretch of in a row as Raft Rher led 1 8-5 at the end of first eight minutes. A brief spurt pulled Sho-Ban within seven early in the second quarter at 22-13, but that was the closest the Chiefs got the rest of the way. The Trojans: closed out the second quarter with a 17-6 finish on balanced scoring to go into halftime with a 39-19 advantage. Greenwood, Quinn Harper, Kade Ward, Brock Golf.

Deryk Barrett and Zack Nye each scored during the run. Raft River's larcest lead was 27. hen the Trojans led. 58-31 with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. Sho-Ban's habit of running and taking the first open three-pointer started paying off in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too late, as the Chiefs drew no closer than 14 points in the closing minutes.

"The first two and half quarters looked good," said Jeff Greenwood. "But Sho-Ban lives and dies by the three-pointer." Eight of the 10 players suited up scored for Raft River. Raft River next plays Thursday, Nov. 29, at Magic-Valley Christian. Stio-Ban (53) Honena 4 (4 3-pI.) 13, Latkin 1 (1 3-pt.) 0-0 3, Dtxey 6 (1 3-pt.) 0-013.

wild MVC in boys' basketball? Tu. i BYU sings the BCS blues PROVO, Utah AP) Gary Crowton chuckles at his No matter what BYU does, no matter how many games the No. 9 Cougars win, they won't get a shot at the national title. Hey, at least they've got a Mountain West championship, an 11-0 season and an outside shot at a BCS bowl game. Crowton finds it frustrating, as he surges through his first season, that other coaches in BYU's athletic department wouldn't face his problem; "In college athletics, every sport has a chance to play for a national championship, every single one, except football," Crowton said.

Welcome to the big-time, coach. Or in the case of BYU and dozens of other programs around the country, welcome to the group that's trying to break into big-time college football's power structure. Crowton advocates a national championship playoff system for Division I-A football. The closest BYU can get to that, however, is its status as a Bowl Championship Series outsider. The Mountain West isn't one of the six conferences making up the BCS, which determines the national championship game based on a complex formula that weighs polls, computer rankings, schedule strength and other variables.

Top teams play in three other marquee games. This year, BYU is under consideration for an at-large berth, possibly in the Fiesta Bowl. Crowton has been on the outside before. In 1997, when he coached at Shen-independent Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs went 9-2 and won at Southeastern Conference and BCS member Alabama. But his team didn't receive a bowl invitation.

"It's not just BYU, it's anybody," Crowton said. "It's the Cinderella teams that never get the chance, like Tulane a few See BYU, Page B3 Boise State roughs up Central Michigan BOISE (AP) Brock Forsey ran for 212 yards and two touchdowns as Boise State, playing without suspended quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie, closed the regular season with a 26-10 victory over Central Michigan Saturday. Forsey scored on a pair of 3-yard runs and Nick Cakiycay kicked field goals of 32 and 27 yards for the Broncos (8-4), who will wait to see if they receive a bowl berth. Central Michigan finished 3-8. Calaycay's second field goal came with 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter, putting the Broncos ahead for good at 13-10.

B.J. Rhode, who replaced Dinwiddie, threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jay Swillie early in the fourth to increase Boise State's lead to 19-10, Rhode, in his first start, was 1 3-of-27 for 191 yards. Boise State coach Dan Hawkins suspended Dinwiddie for one game after an unspecified violation of team rules. Police were investigating why Dinwiddie was found unconscious in an idling car just before midnight Wednesday. Forsey, who came into the game needing 5 yards to reach the mark, finished the season with The teams played to a 10-10 halftime as snow and swirling winds plagued both squads.

Central Michigan's Terrence i Jackson rushed for 80 yards on 25 carries, his first effort of less than 100 yards in eight games. Boise State's defense held the Chippewas to nine first downs and 147 total yards. Paul Savich kicked a 42-yard field goal for the game's first score and Jackson added a 2-: yard TD run in the second peri-; od to account for Central 1W SIP photo by Rob Mayer loose ball against Burley Oakley's state tournament performance last year provides some insight into this year where Oakley should be strong at forward. Junior Ammon McBride was clearly a problem on the boards for opponents, while seniors A.J. Robinson and 6'3" Sander Mullen both gave key play off the bench.

"Amnion is even better than I thought he was." said Caresia of the junior. "With Sander and A.J., I've got good players. "And we need John." Although he's one of the tallest players on the team. Gay will be the point guard, while Dane Woodhouse, a junior, was called up late last year and is one of the leading candidates for the fifth starting spot. Seniors Trevor Hawkes, sophomore Cache Taylor and juniors Derek Smith, Colt Robinson and Eric Barajas are among the leading candidate for additional work at guard, while 6'3" senior B.J.

Pelton vies for time on the front line. Size and speed really can't be Bv ROB MAYER SIP Sports Editor: MALTA Raft Rier had more than enough answ ers for Sho-Ban's frenetic sty le, as the Trojans bolted out to a 16-3 first quarter lead and were never headed on the way to a 67-53 opening night win in nonconference boys' basketball. Tanner Hansen scored 22 and Bryce Greenwood put in 14 on an evening the Trojans never trailed dictated by defense. "They came out very aggressive on defense," said Raft River Coach Jeff Greenwood, who said he had challenged his team to hold its opponent to less than 40 points. "They were really focused on defense at Hansen also led Raft River with nine rebounds.Raft River dished out 13 assists as a team, with Greenwood and Adam Darrington each garnering four.

Coach Greenwood said the team's passing performance and rebounding were bright spots on an opening night. "We limited Sho-Ban to one shot," said Greenwood. "And our players were looking for the open man." Hansen and Greenwood led the initial Raft River blast, combining for 15 of Raft Another Bv ROB MAYKR SIP Sports Editor For 1 A Magic Valley Conference boys' basketball, two C's will be the operating thoughts: Plenty of change and plenty of competition. The top two teams saw plenty of change. Raft River has lost its leading scorer to transfer, and Oakley gels the 2A state champion coach.

And again, coaches beliee it-will be a wild, competitive year in the conference. That follows last year's pattern. Oakley claimed the conference regular season title, a game ahead of Murtaugh and Raft River, while Raft River stormed through to take the conference tournament and second place at The two then combined to make Cassia County the recipient of plenty of hardware, as Oakley (19-9) took third and Raft River 17-10) fourth at the state tournament with an Oakley win over Raft River in the second round as the difference between the two. For Oakley, it will be a matter of younger players learning a new system under Roger Caresia, who won the 2A State Championship at Valley last year. Raft River, on the other hand, has plenty of incentive as the four returning starters are ready to prove Raft River wasn't a one-man team.

And Murtaugh. which just missed with an 11-13 record, looks to return to the top with formidable group. All coaches give an edge to Castleford, but after that, it could be a mess, and a Castleford slip means another wild race. Raft River and Oakley opened their seasons Saturday, with the Trojans hosting Sho-Ban and Oakley traveling to Richfield. Murtaugh will open its season Thursday, Nov.

29, by hosting Ketchum. Raft River The four remaining Trojans starters are very ready to prove they're a force to be contended with despite the transfer of last year's leading scorer, Jacob Nelson. Most people may have writ- Aggies SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Desmond Penigar scored 14 of a career-high 22 points in the first half, and Utah State shot 61 percent from the field to beat Utah 78-65 Friday. Utah (2-1) led for only 3:29 of the game as Utah State (2-0) hit 27 of 44 shots. Travis Spivey scored 18 points, Britton Johnsen added 13 and Nick Jacobson had 1 1 to lead Utah, but no other player scored more than six.

The win was the first for Utah State at Utah since 1 99 1 The Waoswsr 3 2 3 1 1-3 7 G-aves 2 0-3 4, Ar-Derson 1 3-4 6 ftunntng rtc-fse 1 0-0 2 lotus 3-D! I 5-11 53 Rafl Hlvw (67) Harpe- 2 4 9 8 G'nracd 5 .2 3-0! i 2 5 14 2 1-2 5, Andredsor 0 0-0 0 12-4 4 Hansen 6- 8 22 0 0-0 0 Darnnqron 1 0-0 2 Goff 4 0-0 8, turret! 02-2 2 Totais 23 2 3-pL) 17- 3067 Sho-Ban 5 14 14 20 53 Rati River 18 21 19 67 fiepouods Raft 41 (T.Hansen 9r. Bat! Rrver 13 (Greenwood. Darrington 4i Steats Fat River 5 (Greenwood. Goff 2). Turnovers Sno Ban Rafl R-ver 12 Total fours Sno-Ban 25 Raft fiivw 12 Fouled out D'xev Graves Anderson.

JV score Rati Rivef fb Sno-Ban 62 Richfield def. Oakley RICHFIELD Richfield defeated Oakley in a close boys' basketball game at Richfield Saturday. Due to weather conditions, no other details ere available by press time. Oakley. 1-0, is at Magic Valley Christian Tuesday, Nov.

27 Raft River's Tanner Hansen attempts a dunk during Saturday's home game against Sho-Ban. Hansen, who was fouled on the play, led Raft River with 22 points as the Trojans rolled to a 67-53 win at Malta. SIP photo by Rob Mayer Raft River one of the taller and muscular front lines around. "I've got good players with good, basic skills." said Greenwood. "And I've got three players with good ball-handling skills." Adam Darrington.

a junior, had the lead on the fifth remaining spot, while sophomores Zack Nye, Quinn Harper and Shane Andreason are joined on the bench by juniors Mike Nessen and Deryk Barrett. The fact that the bench consists mostly of sophomores may be Greenwood's biggest "That will come with time," he said. Oakley Oakley lost a chunk of its starting lineup to graduation, but one of its best scorers is back in the form of senior John Gay. Gay is out with an ankle injury from football, but should return soon perhaps as soon as in 10 days. Like Raft River, a look at for Utes biggest lead, 65-48, with 5:14 to go.

Utah made a late run to get as close as five points, but Utah State went 9-of-l 1 from the line in the final 1 :32 to clinch the win. When Utah State has led at halftime, they have won 66 of their last 68 games. Utah State also improved to 14-3 in the month of November under coach Stew Morrill, in his fourth year at Utah State. The loss marked only the 11th time a Rick Majerus-coached Utah team has lost at home in 160 games. Oakley's Ammon McBride, rightgets the better of a during Tuesday's Cassia County Jamboree.

considered weaknesses, but the intangibles will need to develop for Oakley. "We're going to be fine," said Caresia. "Right now. we've got to learn a new system. "It's going to be a case of experience, experience, experience." The resumes of the coaching staff, meanwhile, are among some of the most solid in the stale.

Not only has Caresia a state t'ule under hi beit as well as two district titles and state coach of the year awards, but his hand-picked assistant. Neal Wyatt, has two boys' state A-4 titles on his resume and took a girls' team to the state title same. Murtaugh Murtaugh's 1 1-13 record last year is deceiving. The Red Devils just missed the conference regular season title by a win over Oakley, and just missed, a spot in the district tournament with a win over Hagerman. And Murtaugh could be even better this year.

"We're as deep as we've been," said Clair Anderson, in his fourth year as head coach. "The biggest concern is team- ork; if we can get these guys together, we should be fair. "This is probably the most well-rounded team I've seen." The well-rounded feature starts ith seven seniors and a-good mix of returning starters. Senior guard Kellen Nebeker returns for a third year as a starter, while Jordan Perkins, Jade Mecham and John Silvers lead a loaded swingoff-guard flotilla. Senior Andrew.

Castello will also be a point guard, likely backing up junior Cody Perkins. Even juniors are battling for starting spots, particularly at post. Ben Roseborough, who has added speed to what could be devastating height. Brigham Hurd is also expected to be a key contributor on the front line. Other juniors are Bryce Dennis (guard), Adam Stanger (post) antl Matt Newkirk (junior).

Others expected to contribute are seniors Michael Cutler and Caleb Dayley. 1 1 minutes, but it was his screens and energetic defense that helped most. "Jarron Collins did a terrific job," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "He set a couple of great screens. John Stockton had wide-open shots, just by him setting a screen and not worrying about whether or not he gets the shot." Elton Brand led the Clippers with 28 points while Jeff See JAZZ, Page B3 ten off the Trojans when Nelson transferred, but that would mean they didn't pay attention to the state boxscores.

Some of the best balance the Trojans had all season came in the first three games of the tournament. And it's clear that balance carries over. Jeff Greenwood, who led the Trojans to their first state tournament spot in almost 10 years in his first year at the helm, has four seniors back, and the four have proved they can reach double figures. "That was a big confidence boost," said Greenwood. "They realized they could play with anybody at Bryce Greenwood leads the Trojans from the point guard spot, and was regularly Raft River's second or third scorer last season.

The junior point guard is joined by senior post Tanner Hansen, who drove opponents nuts during state with a three-point shooting touch that belied his height. Kade Ward and Brock Goff are the two other seniors, giving too hot Aggies have now won three of their last four against the Utes. Utah State won the hustle battle, out rebounding Utah 32-21 and scoring 20 second-chance points to Utah's seven. Trailing 37-24 at the half, Utah rallied behind its defense, cutting Utah State's lead to seven with 13:42 to play. But the Aggies responded, using a 16-7 run over the next 6:30 to go up 61-45 with 7:14 left in the game.

iter a Utah 3-pointer cut the leac, to 13, Utah State hit back-to-back shots in the post to open its Youth leads Jazz to win over Clippers SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The fresh legs of rookie Jarron Collins, playing in his first NBA game, made a big difference for the veteran Utah Jazz. Karl Malone scored 24 points, John Stockton had 21 and Collins and the other reserves pitched in to lead a rally from a 12-point deficit as the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers 106-101 Friday night. Collins scored five points in Michigan's scoring..