Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 11

Breaking away, Page CI Surprise catch on San Lorenzo River produces 41 -pound sturgeon for Watsonville angler Thursday March 9, 1995 Sentinel Scoreboard, Page 3 Business, Page 4 Stocks, Page 5 24-hour scoreline menu in scoreboard 423-NEWS ssgi is 3 5- AW -1 fk. I MUlllllll Ik If 1 111 III IT I I 1 X. s. 1 II I 1 IV 1 Warriors defeat Clippers First Golden State win streak of year The Associated Press OAKLAND After deciding he would go ahead with wrist surgery after all, Tim Hardaway quickly went out and decided the game. Hardaway had nine assists in the first nine minutes and finished with 16 to go with 23 points for the Golden State Warriors, who broke out to an early lead and cruised past the Los Angeles Clippers 120-107 Wednesday night.

"He's a true Warrior," said Golden State Coach Bob Lanier. "I hope this wasn't his last game. He's the captain of the ball team, and he's the spirit of the ball team. He'll be missed Just exactly when Hardaway will start being missed remains a question mark, but Hardaway said he will decide Thursday when to have season-ending surgery on torn ligaments in his left wrist. "I've got to decide tomorrow," Hardaway said.

"I may play Friday (at the Clippers), I may not. I still don't know." Hardaway flew round trip to Los Angeles earlier Wednesday to get a final opinion on his wrist, then ran circles around the Clippers with 14 points and 10 assists by halftime. Latrell Sprewell scored a game-high 33 points to lead the Warriors to their first winning streak of 1995. "Timmy and Sprewell, that's an armful." Clippers Coach Bill Fitch said. "That's tough to handle any night." The Warriors, who upset the Su-perSonics in Seattle on Monday, won consecutive games for the first time since Dec.

22 and 27. Golden State also broke a four-game home losing streak. "I don't even think about two-game winning streaks," Lanier said. "You're trying to patch up something here that's just unbelievable. It's bigger, I think, than wins and losses at this point." Chris Catling returned from missing two games with a head injury to get 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors.

Golden State outscored Los Angeles 24-8 to open the third quarter, stretching a 58-51 lead to 82-59 after Catling's layin with 5:05 left in the quarter. The Clippers flirted briefly with idea of getting back into the game, shaving the lead down to 13 points at 95-82 after Terry Dehere's free throws with 8:35 to play. But the Warriors held firm, and after a Vaught jumper pulled LA to within 108-96 with 3:00 to play, Golden State outscored the Clippers 12-11 to win going away. Earlier Wednesday, Hardaway was examined in Los Angeles by Dr. Norm Zemel of the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic.

Zemel confirmed the previous diagnosis of ligament damage and the need for a season-ending operation. Until a date is set, possibly within a week, Hardaway said he will keep playing. Sharks fall to Oilers Janney impressive while in the game BY MIKE CONDON Sentinel correspondent SAN JOSE Like his new teammates, Craig Janney showed signs of brilliance. But all of them, including the new playmak-ersavior for the Sharks, also proved they are human as well. Edmonton, the beneficiary of some sloppy play by San Jose, left town Wednesday night with a 5-2 win over the Sharks.

Before they departed, the Oilers had to be gushing when they saw Janney, who set up the Sharks' first goal, on the bench for most of the third period. "I ran out of gas and started cramping up," said Janney, who revealed that he has had the flu for almost a week. "I tried to get an IV, but that didn't help any." The Sharks (9-11-2) didn't help themselves by throwing in moments of dismal play with some strong play. Edmonton goalie Bill Ran-ford's customary strong game in net (26 saves) didn't make things easier for the Sharks either. "It was a case of where we had 10 good minutes and then were soft for the next four or five (minutes)," said Ulf Dahlen, who assisted on Todd Elik's second-period goal.

San Jose, which would barely qualify right now for a playoff spot, plays Western conference-leader Detroit on Friday. Gee, doesn't that sound familiar? It will be the first visit by the Red Wings (14-6-1) to the San Jose Arena since the Sharks upset them in the first-round of the playoffs last season. Detroit, which is the new home of former Sharks captain Bob Er-rey, got some measure of revenge with a 6-0 home win over San Jose on Feb. 7. The Sharks' new captain, right wing Jeff Odgers, believes the team must find a way to come together soon, even with new faces on the roster and almost everyone playing with a new linemate or two.

"It better not take very long because we don't have much time," Odgers said. "If you look at the standings, we'd barely make (the playoffs) now. Everyone has to step it up a bit." Janney, who displayed some of his excellent passing skills, was paired with Pat Fal-loon and rookie Jeff Friesen, who was playing wing for the first time after starting his National Hockey League career at center. It was defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, however, who first reaped first dividends from Monday's trade. A phrase Sharks fans will glady get used to "Janney set up the goal became a reality when the center assisted on Ozo-linsh's goal for the Sharks first score of the game.

The goal came late in the first period after defensive miscues gave Edmonton an early 2-0 lead. The later goal came on the power play after the Sharks were caught with too many men on the ice. Janney got San Jose going when he controlled the puck behind the Edmonton net and waited patiently before finding Ozolinsh, who beat Ranford low to the stick side, "I can see me and (Ozolinsh) hopefully hooking up a lot," Janney said. "The team showed really good flashes tonight, but we didn't win and that's all that counts." Janney wasn't the only center who looked a The Associated Press San Jose center Craig Janney (right) fights with Edmonton center Todd Marchant late in the first period. looking for his first NHL after nine games, had to represent the entire "ov" group.

Left wing Andrei Nazarov was slapped on Wednesday with a four-game suspension and fined the $500 maximum for headbutting Winnipeg defenseman Stephane Quintal twice during Saturday's game. Right wing Sergei Makarov (serving a one-game suspension for totaling two stick-related game-misconduct penalties) and center Igor Larionov (out 4-5 weeks with a broken foot) also missed last night's game. Results of precautionary x-rays taken on left wing Gaetan Duchesne's foot after the game were not immediately available. Duchesne had to leave the game in the second period after blocking a shot. deflected off Elik's knee and past a bewildered Ranford.

Just like that, Elik tied the injured Ray Whitney for most goals on the team with six. That's as close as San Jose wuld get, however. After the team's changed sides for the third period, Jason Arnott scored from the exact same spot on the ice to give the Oilers (9-12-2) a two-goal lead again. Arnott's goal was more deserving as he got his stick on the ice to redirect a pass by Shayne Corson with 8:57 left in the period. David Oliver closed out he scoring with his second goal of the game on an empty-netter with 10 seconds left.

Left wing Viktor Kozlov, who is still sharp at times in his Shark debut. Chris Tancill, who was called up from Kansas City on Tuesday, used his speed to generate several scoring chances. Tancill adequately filled in for Janney when needed. Like the rest of the Sharks, Tancill was at his best during the second period. Following a goal by Kelly Buchberger, San Jose cut Edmonton's lead to 3-2 on a fluky power-play goal with 2:18 left in the period.

Of course, with the way the Sharks' power play has been of late, any kind of tally would have to be considered lucky. But this goal was indeed a gift. Falloon sent an innocent-looking centering pass toward the top of the goalmouth and the puck Stanford tries to save its berth Managers may face day they dreaded Replacements likely for opening day Replacement players have made it hard on Giants Manager Dusty Baker. -Set: By BOB CRAWFORD The Phoenix Gazette ANOTHER SUNRISE, another sunset, and still no visible activity on baseball's labor front. Cougars, who are in a similar fight for an NCAA berth, and perhaps also Saturday against Washington to relieve any uncertainty about getting in.

Now, after having lost five of its last seven games and falling from fourth to sixth in a week, the Cardinal (17-8) could be accused of blowing an NCAA berth that seemed well in hand a month ago when Stanford was 15-3. In fact, after three Bay Area teams Stanford, Cal and Santa Clara seemed like NCAA shoo-ins two months ago, the Cardinal may be the only hope left. And Stanford, after a surprising rise into the Top 20 earlier, is making things tense as well, having fallen into the dreaded "bubble" category. "We reallv need two wins to get to the NCAAs," said Stanford guard Brevin Knight. "We're tired, but that happens to everybody at this point." Fatigue is one of a zillion factors that seem fo be magnified and scrutinized with that NCAA berth at stake.

There were hints three weeks ago that Stanford, a team with limited depth that depends on precise execution and must play all-out the entire game just to stay close, was wearing down a bit. The most obvious example is Dion Cross, who at one time was third nationally in 3-point shooting, peaking at 56 percent a month ago. lettered a bad shoulder, tendinitis in his knee and defended by taller players recently, Cross has hit just 39.5 percent of his 3s in the last four games, averaging 12.5 points over Please see STANFORD B2 San Francisco Chronicle PALO ALTO Two games left, and Stanford finds itself in the paradoxical situation of trying to salvage a season that has been a surprising success. Had Mike Montgomery been offered a deal from the devil last November, stating that all he had to do to reach the NCAA Tournament was beat Washington State and Washington in his final two games, both at home, he might have signed on the dotted line. Well, that very scenario has come to pass or so it would seem, based on the NCAA Tournament's enigmatic selection process.

But instead of being giddy about being in position to steal that berth, Stanford is nervous that it finds itself in that situation at all, needing to win tonight against the hmbbhh I Commentary thiUg will happen today. focusing on the ones who are going to play the biggest roles when the regular season begins. "The hard part," he said, "is learning who is about to peak so you can slow them down, and figuring who needs extra work. Everybody doesn't arrive at the same place at the same time." In Chandler, where the replacement Milwaukee Brewers, are being assembled, Manager Phil Garner holds out hope that all the work might go for naught. "I'm not in agreement that it's apparent they will be the ones to start the season," he said.

"While I've looked at these players all along as the guys we might have, I've also been optimistic that we'll have a settlement." It will have to come in a hurry to save the start of the season. The consensus is that teams will need a week to get their unsigned players under contract and another two weeks of preseason work. That means unless the 7-month-old strike ends by Monday, you can pretty much forget the regular players on "opening day. "I think when it's right for a settlement to happen, it will happen in just a couple of days," Garner said. In the meantime, he is treating his replacement pitching arms with care.

"We are being very cautious," he said. "Some of these pitchers haven't pitched in a long time." In Scottsdale, the Giants' Baker said he is bringing his pitchers along the same way he would if the regular players were in camp. However, he said the team was more cautious than during the conditioning portion of camp. "We didn't know what kind of shape everybody was in," he said. "Over the course of the years, you know which ones come readier than others." And then there is the simple matter of winning and losing.

In a normal Cactus League, if a good team loses five or six games in a row, it's no big deal. They're just exhibitions. However, these teams have no track record, and part of developing a winning team from scratch is convincing it that it can win games. "We do that (play to win) the last week or 10 days of camp anyway." Garner said. "Maybe this year we'll do it a little more." San Francisco State drops football And Friday.

And probably Saturday. As the clock continues to tick, it becomes more and more likely that American League and National League teams will stage their opening days on April 2, 3 and 4 with the same replacement rosters they have been using in exhibition games. Which puts a slightly different spin on spring training. Managers who have spent the last couple of weeks getting to know their players on a first-name basis are about to start molding them into teams they never wanted to see. "It hasn't come to that yet," said San Francisco Giants Manager Dusty Baker, "but it will very, very shortly." So Baker, who admits he likes to use a lot of players in exhibition games, might have to start The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco State University has disbanded its losing football team to free up funding for more women's athletics.

The announcement, made Tuesday, is an effort to comply with the CAL-NOW consent decree. It requires all California state universities to bring the number of female athletes up to within 5 percent of the campus-wide female population by the fall of 1998. Women currently make up 59 percent of San Francisco State's gan said. San Francisco State's football team has had a losing record since 1973 and has not had a conference title since 1967. Its glory days were from 1957 to 1968.

when the university compiled 11 consecutive winning seasons and won or tied for eight Far West Conference championships. San Francisco State is the third school in the area in three consecutive years to disband a collegiate football team, following Santa Clara University in 1993 and Cal State Hay ward in 1994. student population, but only 34 percent of its athletes. The end of football will mean new sports for both men and women, though, athletics director Betsy Alden said. The school plans to start a women's tennis team and increase the number of women participating in track and field, Softball, swimming and cross country running.

"We are taking this step with great regret, and only after a thorough examination of our options," university president Robert Corri- DEFECTIVE.