Centre Daily Times from State College, Pennsylvania • 12

Sports B4 Centre Daily Times Tuesday July 8 2003 wwwcentredailycomsports NCAA alters Final Four pairings for next year the regionals mil be East Rutherford (formerly East) Atlanta (South) St Louis (Midwest) and Phoenix (West) The 2-yearold pod system which is designed to keep teams closer to home on the NCAA first weekend has blurred the directional nature of the regionals' sites be placed in the regional opposite the overall No 1 seed with die third-best No 1 seed placed with the other No 1 seed The committee will do away with the directional names for the four regions on the bracket Instead each of the four regions will be referred to by the host name In 2004 March 14 next year the committee will determine the Final Four semifinal pairings when it sets the bracket In years past the semifinal matchups of regional winners (East vs West South vs Midwest etc) were predetermined and rotated each year "The main charge has been to competi- Mourning Mavs play waiting game Authorities mulling options in Bryant case Bryant continued from B1 because of foe holiday Hurlbert said he talked to foe woman who "seems to be doing OK considering the The case against Bryant unfolded as details of two other NBA players' legal troubles were released Orlando Magic guard Darrell Armstrong was arrested after being accused of fighting with a female police officer outside a Florida nightclub and Portland Trail Damon Stoudamire was accused of trying to pass through an airport metal detector with marijuana Bryant helped lead Los Angeles to three consecutive titles from 2000-02 and he was the MVP of the 2002 All-Star game Along with his determination Bryant has often shown the dignity and heart many fens feel are missing from other NBA stars When the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffe by San Antonio in May Bryant wiped away tears as he left foe court "I hate this feeling I ever want to feel it he said He married Vanessa Laine in April 2001 The two met on foe set of a music video where Laine was working and got engaged while she was still in high school Vanessa gave birth to their first child Natalia Diamante Bryant in January Bryant wore his hospital ID bracelet in a game foe day after his daughter was bom Bryant speaks fluent Italian and has a camera friendly smile that's helped him land television advertising campaigns Last month he signed an endorsement deal with Nike Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said the allegations were completely out of character for Bryant Former teammate Cedric Ceballos said he was shocked when he heard foe news thinking "This can't happen to By WmmMI Bamhoue Knight Rldder Newspapers In addition to announcing Final Four sites through 2011 last week the men's basketball committee also made two significant changes in the look of the NCAA Tournament bracket starting in 2004 When the bracket is released on Selection Sunday which is P-0 beats Milesbuig to advance to finals F-O continued from B1 a pitcher and every one has potential home run hitting ability He basically shut our team down and that made the difference" The exasperated looks on the faces of the Milesburg players swelled and the level of infield chatter decreased as the game went on While they would have likely had trouble with Curtis on almost any night Milesburg seemed to know deep down its season was about to end "Honestly you can almost tell from the vibe in the Dyke said "The kids just have that urge their heart in it you know what I mean? We were out of it before it even started more or Perhaps it was a case of Milesburg being down or perhaps it was a case of simply P-0 looking for some revenge after last loss Curtis for one mentioned the word and his teammates played inspired error-free defense behind him "We had a little spark behind us to get Thompson said "In the first game they beat us with three big home runs that long ball did kill us But today was a different story We gave them a different look with Luke on the mound as opposed to Colton Wrye and it paid off for A extra cap room coming from a blunder on a renewal by guard Anthony Carter would impact his situation "To tell you the truth I don't know because they haven't given me an Mourning said got all these other teams rushing to beat down the door to try to get to me and foe team been married to for the past seven or eight years even given me an offer yet Tm not going to say if frustrating but kind of puzzled by Bucks GM: Payton wont return to Milwaukee MILWAUKEE Free agent guard Gary Payton won't return to foe Bucks after declining an offer from the team New Bucks general manager Larry Harris said Monday he spoke with agent Aaron Goodwin who confirmed Payton has declined to stay with Milwaukee certainly respect said Harris who took over as general manager last week Payton was acquired by the Bucks in a February trade involving three-time All-Star Ray Allra who went to Seattle Payton and Desmond Mason were sent to Milwaukee for Allen Kevin Ollie Ronald Murray and a first-round draft choice Sonics sign top draft pick SEATTLE Nick Collison foe 12th pick in last month's NBA draft has agreed to a contract with the Seattle SuperSon-ics Collison a 6-foot-9 power forward averaged 148 points and 80 rebounds in a four-year career at Kansas The 22year-old will be a member of the US Olympic qualifying team that wfil compete next month in Puerto Rico tops Clarence Mltfont 8 Mfflbi County 4 BELLEFONTE Dustin Maxwell and Seth WhitehiU had key hits in the late stages to help Bellefonte topple Mifflin County Monday With foe game tied 1-1 in foe fouth inning Maxwell doubled to drive in two runs and give Bellefonte the lead for good Whitehill added a double Jeremy Ford got foe win for Bellefonte giving up 10 hits Nate Burkey led the offense for Mifflin County with a single and a home run CDT photoCraig Houtz Mike Jones misses the catch on a ball hit by Kody Bennett during the fourth inning Monday Ban-nett wound up with a double P-0 won 8-0 tively balance the Bill Hancock NCAA consultant to the Division I basketball championship said Monday "But the Final Four semifinal matchups really balanced This addresses Basically the top two No 1 seeds will be placed in opposite brackets The fourth-best No 1 seed will moves on Matt Wolf who went 2-for-2 hit his first career Little League home run in the fifth to make it 9-1 Pleasant Gap managed one other hit the rest of the way and only hit one flyball out of the infield all night "Our pitchers have done a great job in all three Terry Godwin said think only walked two guys in three games We keep telling them to mix up the pitches really well change the speeds really well I gotta tip my hat to the our Now the rematch is set between State College National and Bellefonte "The first game was the first Matt Godwin said "We got used to (Bellefonte) Now we gotta come back and play them on Wednesday and I feel we can beat them" loaded with challenging opponents this fall The 2003 season which marks the program's 10th anniversary will feature games against seven teams which were ranked in the final 2002 NSCAA Final Coaches Poll top 25 and 10 which were NCAA Tournament participants Penn State opens on the road against perennial power Florida on Aug 29 Also on the schedule is 2002 NCAA finalist Santa Clara on Sept 14 in the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic Penn State faces Harvard on Sept 5 to open its eight-game home slate Penn Big Ten home opener will be against Iowa on Sept 21 From CDT staff reports EE ESTIMATE roefay and Get 100 off purchase of State College National From CDT wire reports DALLAS Alonzo Mourning is still in South Florida for the moment wondering why the Miami Heat has yet to make him a contract offer Jason Kidd spent Monday touring the facilities of die SBC Center in San Antonia Karl Malone could be heading to Los Angeles maybe with Gary Payton And Jermaine may be staying in Indianapolis The summer free agency is like multiplied with the Dallas Mavericks in die middle of die activity- Mourning who stands at the top of the freeagent fist appeared on four South Florida TV stations Sunday night relaying his dissatisfaction with the Heat He was coy about Dallas even though Mavericks owner Mark Cuban paid Mourning a personal visit last week The 6-10 Mourning despite kidney problems that caused him to miss last season could proride rebounding and intimidation the Mavericks need Asked at the start of the interview with Fox affiliate WSVN-TV about lack of a beach a joking Mourning responded: "Why do you mention Later asked if the Mavericks intrigued him he gave an inclusive reply Tm enamored with a lot of different teams out there" Mourning said Tm just happy to have an opportunity to put myself in a situation like that because I think some good things can come out of it if die right decisions are He said the determining factor will be a chance to win a championship If winning is his prime motivation then the Mavericks would be a more logical choice than Denver the other team that has courted him Mourning said the Heat has not made him an offer He said Ik didn't know how the Heafs Pleasant Gap From CDT staff reports BELLEFONTE Dan Hoover had three hits including a two-run home run to help Pleasant Gap log an 11-5 win over Clarence on Monday in an American Legion Central Penn League contest Pleasant Gap built a 60 lead-after five innings and after Clarence scored twice in the top of the sixth scored five runs in the bottom of the inning to blow it open Matt Carlson hit a three-run homer in the seventh for Clarence and Mike Surovec had two hits in the loss Bob Markle picked up the win Dayton Ward took the loss -ft' 'COUNTY LEAGUE- Ducks take pair from Blanchard From CDT staff reports LEMONT Dan McCall threw a no-hitter and struck out 10 in Lemont's 80 win over Blanchard in the second game of a County League doubleheader Monday 'The Ducks scored seven runs in the top of the eighth inning to notch a 15-10 win in the first game McCall's no-hitter was sealed when the game was called due to darkness entering the bottom of the sixth Matt Isnor had three hits and Justin Callahan had two hits in the win In the opener Lemont led 85 in the sixth inning of the first game before Adam three-run home run tied it for Blanchard Callahan had three hits for lemont Sean Wkaver had three hits for Blanchard Mike Moriarta earned the win Montoy Lesser took the loss State lead when winning pitcher Ryan Blaschak ran into some trouble Levi Knoffsinger broke up no-hit bid with a one-out single up the middle Shea Wert was hit by a pitch and James angled to load the bases with two outs That brought dangerous clean-up hitter Adam Hosterman who was hit by a pitch scoring Knoffsinger Jeremy Gill grounded out to end the threat "State College has a good team" said Pleasant Gap manager Tun Martz "We are a small league compared to them so they have bigger horses than we da I thought our lads did good in the tournament I was happy with them Tonight we just didn't hit the ball like we normally do and it Tyler Young had an RBI single in the third for State College and our program to a place among the Hargis won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics as part of the 400-yard medley relay team He earned a place on die team by winning the 100 butterfly at the Olympic Trials He also earned a silver medal in the 400 medley relay at the 1998 World Championships Hargis an Auburn graduate holds the SEC record of 4640 in the 100 butterfly Women's soccer Nittany Lions to face national powers UNIVERSITY PARK Fresh off a run to the NCAA College Cup the Penn State soccer team will face a schedule PENN STATE DIGEST National continued fmm Bl Devin Fiorante drove in James Avedesian who reached on an error with a double to make it 40 in the second Joe Texidor crushed a double to right-center to score Fiorante and O'Brien who had walked Texidor later scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-0 "Matt got us a good lead there in the first inning and if a lot easier to play relaxed when you've got a lead" Terry Godwin said gives us a lot of confidence to get a big lead what you need is to get the bats rolling to take a little pressure off die defense We really push defense pitching and then offense third and now that getting some hitting here I think if going to help us out" Pleasant Gap had a chance in the third inning to put a doit in Swimming Penn State hires former Olympian UNIVERSITY PARK Olympic gold medalist and Southeastern Conference record-holder John Hargis is joining the Penn State and women's swimming coaching staff after a spending last year as an assistant coach at UNLV has excelled at each level of his career whether it has been as an athlete or now as a said Penn State head coach Bill Dorenkott believe that we have attracted one of the best and brightest young coaches in the country to help us in our goal of elevating Kick Back Never The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts brings you the cream of the crop in summer fun Hoof it to the Festival for great art hvely entertainment and oodles of children activities W-Wrve got it all! It takes lots of green stuff-and not talking aWi alfalfa to produce State Collegers biggest summer happening where your button comes in By buying a Festival button you help produce five days of' music art theater and fust plain bin Your $7 button also serves as an admission ticket to all of the Festivals ticketed performances How cool is that? Relax and Enjo clean your gutters again Call Mid-Penn Whatb that expression? To err is human to buy a button is bovine Would 1 steer you wrong? Get your Festival button at these outlets today: Appalachian Sid Outdoors Penn State Federal Credit Union The Artisan Connection 1937 Atherton St AvAnt Garden Student Book Store Centre CountipFenn Stnte Visitors Tadpole Crossing MK I GutterHelmet ff strongest gutter protection system on the market and engineered to last a lifetime! The Tavern Restaurant University Book Centre Webster Bookstore CaK Wegmans Food Market Satellite Center Train Station The Corner Room Days Inn Penn State Holiday Inn Lions Pride Inn Express Nittany Mall Information Penn State Bookstore Desk Center Bellefonte 570-473-1 246 800-852-9899 wwwguttcrhelmelcom 234 Duke Street Northumberland PA 17857 lifer Helmet HetrtWt Aftd Ctoiad IburSl insyi Downtown State College and the Penn State Campus July 9-13 2003 Centre Daily Times is a proud sponsor of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Ms Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.