The Bellingham Herald from Bellingham, Washington • 25

SUNDAY JANUA 8 19 9 5 THE BELLINGHAM HERALD High schools D2 College basketball D3 NFL D4D5 FAST TAKES Westmont bombards WWU men BASKETBALL Vikings blitzed by hot shooting in second straight tournament loss THE BELLINGHAM HERALD SANTA BARBARA Calif -Western Washington University basketball coach Brad Jack-son be blamed for feeling a little shellshocked after his 87-80 loss to Westmont College on Saturday night After all WWU was victimized by the incredible long-range bombing of Warriors guard Sean Martin Martin hit 10 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 33 points to help Westmont win the consolation final of the Tom Byron Gassic was crazy He had the game of his said Jackson of Martin of the ones he hit he was 30 feet out with a hand in his Senior guard Derric Croft led Western (7-5) with 25 points seven rebounds and five assists Senior center Brett Lundeen added 22 points and seven rebounds The Vikings held a 48-45 lead with 15 minutes left but the Warriors (9-4) scored the next 13 points including three 3-pointers from Martin to take a 58-48 lead WWU closed to within three points on two occasions but got no closer played a lot better tonight (than Friday) and we shot better but they were just Jackson said ALL TIED UP: Nooksack Javier Rodriguez (bottom) attempts to escape the hold of Cedarcrest's Ray Gombiski during a heavyweight match at the 1995 Nooksack of the Invitational Gombiski won the match by pin For a look at Saturday's high school results see Page D2 SKIING MELISSA MARTENY HERALD PHOTO SEASON OF CHANGE: Bellingham will have a new major-league affiliate with new colors and logos when Northwest League play opens in June Mount Baker ski report The conditions at Mount Baker as of 2 pm Saturday: Weather: Snowing 30 degrees New snow: Trace Snowfall last 24 hours: Trace Snow base at lodge: 115 inches Snow base at summit: 130 inches Skiing conditions: Machine groomed Note: Open 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Ski report: 671-0211 Mb liras Co-owner excited by new minor-league affiliation Giants coaching staff Francisco (1972-74) Los Angeles (1975-77) Oakland Montreal (1979-81) (1982) and San Diego (1983) JUAN LOPEZ hitting coach: Lopez reached the Class AAA level with Houston in 1987 He joined the Giants organization in 1990 and served as a coach for Scottsdale in the Arizona League in 1991-93 GLENN TUFTS manager: The former first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians played first base in the minor-league system from 1973 to 1979 Tufts was the hitting coach of San Class A club in Clinton Iowa last cAacnn ELIAS SOSA pitching coach: Sosa pitched 12 seasons in the majors with San OUTDOORS firearms class The Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department and the Bellingham Police Department is offering a one-evening course for women in the use of handguns Monday at the Plantation Rifle Range south of Bellingham The three-hour class covers the operation and care of handguns how to choose ammunition and laws and liabilities of handgun ownership One hour will be spent on the firing line developing instinctive shooting techniques Weapon rentals are available the class fee is $15 To register call the parks and recreation department headquarters at 733-2900 or 592-5161 37-39 five games behind the Baby You might not be able to tell the teams without a scorecard but at least the teams will be playing Northwest League teams will play even if the major-league strike lingers into the season While minor-league baseball might inherit fans exasperated at the strike it only will be a shortterm benefit Walker said And while many predict that the strike has turned off many baseball fans already soured by what they see as the appalling salaries and the greed Walker said the strike might hurt the minor leagues as well certainly saw some effect last August when the players went on strike and the attendance at (minor-league) games Walker said the short term there may be some positive effect but overall I think there will be a negative effect bad for baseball will be bad for For Bellingham Giants season-ticket information call 671-6347 BY JOHN SLEEPER THE BELLINGHAM HERALD As usual Bellingham and Everett will open the Gass A Northwest League baseball season with a series against each other in June But the catch: Last Everett team is in Bellingham Last Bellingham squad is in Everett Got it? all a result of the offseason brouhaha that came about when the San Francisco Giants and the Seattle Mariners decided not to renew their player-development contracts with Everett and Bellingham respectively and in effect traded Gass A affiliates The switch is just fine with the now-Bellingham Giants co-owner Jerry Walker a great deal of excitement being affiliated with the Giants Walker said realize how many people from California reside here now and follow the San Francisco Giants the Mariners came to player-development contracts big-league dubs made with affiliates The Atlanta Braves organization moved a Gass A franchise into Eugene which lost its contract with the Kansas City Royals who moved a team into Spokane which lost its pact with the San Diego Padres The Bend Rockies moved to Portland Last year the Bellingham Mariners finished second in the Northern Division at 42-34 seven games behind Yakima The Everett Giants were third at Seattle there were a lot of people who regularly followed the Giants It seems like a good choice to go with the So the Bellingham Giants formerly the Everett Giants open the season on the road June 15 against the Everett AquaSox formerly the Bellingham Mariners The teams will play each other the next day at Joe Martin Field in the home-opener Bellingham and Everett are just two Northwest League franchises that underwent changes thanks to the expiration of BOX SCORE: By the Numbers D2 Viks women suffer second straight loss BASKETBALL Seattle Pacific hands WWU first consecutive home losses since 1992-93 THE BELLINGHAM HERALD After reeling off 10 straight victories the Western Washington University basketball team is suddenly streaking in the wrong direction Seattle Pacific University took the lead for good with a 10-4 run midway through the second half and handed the Vikings their second straight loss 76-68 in nonconference action Saturday night at Carver Gym Freshman forward Nicole Trammell scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to spark the Falcons (11-4) Junior center Gina Sampson led the Vikings (10-4) with 14 points and 12 rebounds There were eight lead changes and six ties but Seattle Pacific took control when it quickly turned a 53-53 tie into a 63-57 lead with 5:24 left Trammell scored the last six points in the decisive run Western closed within 65-62 with 4:32 remaining but SPU scored the next eight points to regain control Junior forward Addy Johnson scored 13 points for WWU and junior forward Shannon Anderson and senior guard Allison Hull added 10 apiece It was the second straight home loss for Western the first time that has occurred since 1992-93 FITNESS TIP High blood pressure Chronic high blood pressure appears to affect an memory Researchers think that hypertension causes disturbances in the distribution of blood to the brain For every 10-millimeter rise in blood pressure there can be a four percent to seven percent decrease in memory and attention functions Provided by Becky Plumlee director of health education programs at the Bellingham Athletic Club Hey try a really different coach FAST FORWARD tired list of college coaches Boring If Seattle really wants to win championships and thrill fans they should forget Dennis Erickson and Mike Shanahan and look at some other COMMENT: Want fans? How about Tim Allen? Want a leader? Try Newt 1416 Seattle Seahawks are going about this all wrong Like most NFL teams looking for new coaches the say they want a dynamic person who will bring excitement back to the franchise Then they gp through the same old tired list of fired head coaches or current assistant coaches If they want to be truly wild and crazy they mention a name or two from the same old my short list: NEWT GINGRICH: The new House speaker knows all about rallying a losing team and turning it into a winner He also promises to be good at passing bills so he should be able to help Rick Mirer at passing balls And anyone willing to tackle the federal deficit be worried when Seattle is down by 21 at the half TIM ALLEN: Tool star of the TV hit is just the guy to fix up the sleepy Seahawks offense and turn it into a high-powered machine And since Seahawks majority owner Ken Behring is worried about getting fans to the King-dome Allen would be a great choice Anyone who can get 110 million people to watch a dud like Santa have any trouble getting 65000 to watch the Seahawks BILLY GRAHAM: Speaking of drawing converts nobody packs them in like the Christian evangelist whose crusades have attracted record crowds at stadiums across the nation In addition who would be better than Graham at helping See CARBERRY Page D2 Col 1 Sports events of interest to Whatcom County residents: WWU men at home TUESDAY: Northwest College visits Sam Carver Gymnasium in a nonconference basketball game against Western Washington University Tipoff is at 7 pm Content editor: Jim Carberry 715-2271 or 384-0878 BOX SCORE: By the Numbers D2 Steelers 49ers continue historic quest Playoff glance Games Pittsburgh 29 Cleveland 9 San Francisco 44 Chicago 15 Today's Games Green Bay at Dallas 9:30 am Miami at San Diego 1 pm Next Games Miami or San Diego at Pittsburgh Green Bay or Dallas at San Francisco Sunday Jan 29 Super Bowl at Miami 3 pm finals for the first time since 1984 Steelers coach Bill Cowher said I told the team we still accomplished what we set out to do only filing I know is going to play a game next week and playing it right here in Pittsburgh a satisfying In San Francisco the 49ers opened the playoffs in the same dominating fashion they closed the regular season With Steve Young passing effectively and 'also joining Ricky Watters and William Floyd on a power running game the top-scoring team surpassed 30 points for file ninth time in the last 11 games despite the wet conditions see much of anything we did San Francisco coach George Seifert said pleased with our first step We know we have to crank it MORE PLAYOFF COVERAGE: D4 D5 NFL PLAYOFFS: San Francisco Pittsburgh will host conference title games after impressive victories HERALD WIRE SERVICES The Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers are well alive in the drive for five Both seeking to become the first team in NFL history to win five Super Bowls the Steelers and 49ers took impressive steps forward Saturday Pittsburgh pummeled rival Geveland 29-9 to earn a berth in next AFC title game against the winner of Dolphins-Giargers game at San Diego San Francisco scored 37 unanswered points and cruised to an easy 44-15 victory over the Chicago Bears The 49ers will host either the Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys in next AP PHOTO NFC title game The Cowboys are also seeking their fifth Super Bowl victory overall and a record third straight win Pittsburgh (13-4) which won four Super Bowls from 1974 to 1979 reached the AFC AP PHOTO 49ER RUNAWAY: San Francisco quarterback Steve Young scrambles for a 10-yard gain during the 44-1 5 win over the Bears FLYING HIGH: Pittsburgh wide receiver Yancey Thigpen celebrates his touchdown catch in the Steelers' 29-9 win over the Cleveland Browns.