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Sports PageM • PLA1NPEALER HERALD, WKD!MESDAV. DLCLMBfcK 26. iw .a Shhhh... MCC men are big surprise BySutoNatrop rmwiwiT n«r»m n«n o« i if • ~ Capaccio might have the best kept secret in McHenry County. Capaccio enters his second year as McHenry County College men 8 basektball coach which in the past years was a position equivalent to private in the North Pole Army. "Opposing coaches used to call MCC and beg them to play in their tournaments," Cappacio said earlier this season. "They all needed MCC in there to whip up on." But the former-laughing stock of the Skyway Conference is off to a 5-3 start -- its' best in years. a couple of months before the 1983-84 season, didn t have a Chance to actively recruit players for last year's team that finished 5-20. But with a year under his belt, Capaccio, a 1976 Woodstock High School graduate had a chance to recruit. What he came up with is a blend of local talent and a trio of players from outside the MCC district. "When I came here, I made a commitment to win. I tried to recruit local kids and I tried hard," Capaccio said. "That's all we want is local kids. We lost two good local kids to other junior colleges. "I went to their homes, I talked to them, I told them what we were doing and where I though our program was going," he said. "Things just didn't work out. "And I'm not going to sit here and win one, two or three games a year. The only way you get people in the door out here is to win some games and draw interest," he added. Six of the nine players Capaccio has on the roster are from McHenry County including two former-Woodstock High School players and one each from Harvard, Marengo, Cary and Johnsburg. "I know we can with with these kids, but until they decide they're going to come to our program - until they see that we have a legitimate team out here -my hands are tied," he said. Only one starter returns from last year's team in 6-foot-8 center Pete Dawson of Harvard. Losing four starters would make most coaches cringe, but Capaccio said the one returnee was a good nucleus to build around. "At the junior college level, you usually don't find a good cen­ ter," he said. "We're lucky to have Pete. He's developed into a good center. It means a lot for us to have him in the middle;" Dawson, an all-Skyway Conference performer last year, doesn't have the same "numbers" (points and rebounds per game) he had last year, "but we're a better team. We don't need 20 points and 20 rebounds out of him. We're happy with 15 (points) and 10 (boards)," Capaccio said. Helping Dawson under the boards this season is 6-6 Jerry DeWane, who previously played at Colby (Kan.) Community College. "On the floor, he's probably the hardest working kid we've got," Capaccio said. "He our best anticipator on defense, he's quick and he can jump real well. Jerry can do a lot of different things. His biggest problem is that he doesn't know how good he p«n be." DeWane and Dawwson provide good rebounding power which is essential to a team that wishes to fast break. And the Scots can run the break. "Once we get the rebound, we have three and usually four guys who can get the ball upcourt in a hurry," Capaccio said with agrln. One of those is another WHS grad, Jamie Eriksen (6-2 guard- foward). "Jamie's been the most pleasant surprise for us. He's been playing well. He's under control and he just doesn't make that many mistakes," Capaccio said. "He's had it tough because he plays a lot of positions. One thing for sure, we want him in there at the end of a close game, because he's our best free throw shooter." That final statement isn't necessarily a compliment to a player whose teammates are shooting around 60 percent from the line, but Eriksen, through Wednesday's game at River Forest had hit at a 75: percent clip. Joining Eriksen in the Scots running game is Lee Newman, &~ quick 5-9 point guard, Derrick Bruce, a 6-1 swingman and Scott Russelberg a 6-2 swing. "Lee does a nice job running the offense. He's extremely quick and he drives to the basket well," Capaccio said. "He plays ex­ cellent defense and only needs to work on his outside shooting. I know he'll get better as the season goes on." Bruce and Russelberg are both outstanding leapers (Bruce is averaging 10 rebounds per game) and both are good offensive threats. "He's a very talented player," said Capaccio of Bruce, "probably the best player on the team He does it all. He plays good defense, blocks shots and scores. And the nice thing about him is that he can get a rebound and push it up the floor on the break." Russelberg "can do it all, too, He's an excellent jumper - he can almost score at will. He can score inside or hit the 20-footer," Capaccio said. "His defense has really shined so far this season. He needs to work cm his passing, however." Rounding out the roster are 6-3 Darrell Loudenbeck (Marengo) "who's not scoring a whole lot, but who's doing a real nice job on defense," his coach said. Also, Brad Block (Cary) "a real good shooter" and Greg Sobiesk "who has been outstanding off the bench" will see considerable playing time. Sobiesk is a graduate of Johnsburg High School. The Scots, who played at home Thursday against Gateway, will rarely have a shortage of points. "We definitely can put the points on the board. We have two good big men and we have four or five guys who can fill it up from the outside," Capaccio said. "I think teams will start holding the ball on us because we can run the break well." He said he felt his team's strong point through the first eight games has been the defense. "We've been playing much better defense that I honestly thought we would," he said. "And, we're a little quicker than I thought. But on the other side of that coin, we're not rebounding like we should - especially on the offensive end." Junior-college basketball is a one-shot deal and Capaccio said he realizes there's no time to build a dynasty. "Hey, in a JC, you have to learn quick. This isn't a four-year school where you can take a kid and bring him along slowly," he said. "You do what you've got to do, and you do it right now." Wright College in Chicago is the team to beat in the conference, according to Capaccio. "Elgin returns several talented kids and Waubonsee always has a big, physical team," he said. "Our goal is to finish in the top half of the conference. We've got a good team. We're in the middle of the pack talent-wise, but I think we'll surprise a few people. "But no matter how good you are, any team can beat you." Mike Capaccio hopes his Scots do most of the beating. Marian Central matmen pumrrrel Hebron WOODSTOCK - Marian Central's wrestling team celebrated the holidays a bit early as they hammered Alden- Hebron, 50-12, in the Marian gym Wednesday night. The meet was the final ition for the Hurricanes until the Geneva Tournament slated for Jan. 5. Marian won nine of 12 mat­ ches on the night including six by pin and one by forfeit. Ben Tague, at 98 pounds, opened with a quick 43-second pin over Kirk Jorgenson. After a double- forfeit at 105, A-H's Mike Boyle won by forfeit at 112. Steve Strang returned the forfeit win at 119 and Tom Snow defeated Barry Clemens, 14-12, Scots get that 'run-down' feeling By Sam Natrop PlalndMter Herald Newt Service CRYSTAL LAKE - It was tiring just to sit there and watch. The run-and-gun Gateway Technical Institute Lakers of Racine, Wis., put on a fast-break and shooting clinic Thursday night in defeating McHenry County College mens team, 105-90. The Lakers came into the non-conference, averaging 113.4 points per game and boasting the top two junior- college scorers in the nation. So it was to the Fighting Scots' credit that they hung in the contest as long as they did. Tony Visor, the country's top junior college scorer with a 33.4 per-game average, hit for a game-high 35 points on sizzling 16-for-25 shooting. Teammate Brad Turner added 27 and Lee Mayfield, the country's No. 2 scorer (32.7 ppg), threw in 22 more as the Lakers' fast break resembled that of their National Basketball Association namesake. "They played a nice game, a real nice game. We didn't do a thing to stop them," MCC Coach Mike Capaccio said. "They're front line was so much quicker than ours and they certainly could run." BUT JUST hanging close to the high-powered Lakers didn't satisfy the second- year Scot coach. "I can't and I won't accept losing. I thought we could have won that game," he said. "We seemed to be playing in slow motion. J don't think we played well, at all." Derrick Bruce and Jamie Eriksen kept MCC in the ball game during the first half. Bruce hit a variety of shots en route to a 16-point first-half performance while Eriksen keyed an eight- point MCC run late in the first half that gave the hosts their second, and last, lead of the contest. »<?F in an exciting 126-pound match. Kevin McConville was vic­ torious at 132 pounds with a 16-0 whipping of John Tuttle. Chris Noe pinned Tim Phillips in 1:42 of the 138-pound match while Hebron's Tim Head stuck Jim Petersen in 5:26. At 1:55, Rich Powers punned Mike Miller in 1:05 while Jim Gardner stuck Francis Kleven in 4:55. Matt Carzoli and John Powers rounded out Marian's victories with two pins. Carzoli needed just 1:13 to pin John Carbonara at 185 pounds and Powers pinned Mike Hallisy in 1:07 of the heavyweight, bout. Payoff , mailbox await your responses Want to put your two cents in? Here's your sporting chance.' We need you to do us a favor, and if you're lucky, we'll do you one. No, we're not asking you to cover a basketball game, or take pic­ tures of a wrestling match. But this request is Just as important. The Plalndealer-Herald is trying to find out what were the top * five area sports stories in the 1984 calendar year -- and we need your help. One name will be drawn from all the entries sent in, with the lucky winner heading to a Cubs regular-season game -- on us, with sports editor Chris Juzwik and reporter-photographer An­ thony Oliver as your hosts. The deadline for sending in lists of your top five choices is Saturday, Dec. 29. Here's your chance to get in on the action. Use the lik^of nominations below, or give us your own sugges­ tions, in order of importance, of 1984's top five local sports stories. Mail them to: McHenry Plaindealer-Herald Sports Fans'Poll 3812 West Elm St. McHenry, Dl. 60050. SPORTS FANS' POLL My top five sports stories for 1984 are: 1 Lists can also be dropped off at the Plaindealer-Heraldoltice, or in our overnight box in the front of the building. The Plaindealer-Herald's salute to the top five stories, and the best it the rest, will be published in the Friday, January 4 issue of the nowspaper. Hert are some suggestions, a scaled-down version of the list which appeared last week, to get you started: • McHenry native George Hauser attempts to become the first epileptic to swim the English Channel, but his effort is halted by poor weather and high tides. • McHenry resident Tom Spasojevich qualifies for the Bud Light Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii, and finishes the 112- mile bike ride, 26-mile run and 2.4 mile swim in 13 hours. • The Marian Central football team wins the Northwest Subur­ ban Conference title for the second straight year, but loses its bid for consecutive state championships, losing to Amboy in the semifinals. • McHenry's boys' cross-country team finishes second at the county meet, second in the conference, and ties for second in the regional. The team advances to the Niles West Sectional. Pam ' Bradley of the girls x-c team also advances to sectional competi­ tion. • McHenry's Chris Creutz wins county and conference in­ dividual cross-country titles, finishes second in the regional, and 12th at the sectional, thereby gaining him entry into the state meet. • Carol Gooney and Art Jackson defend their champ titles at McHenry Country Club. • McHenry High School is granted a varsity boys' soccer pro­ gram for the 1985-86 school year. McHenry is the fourth Fox Valley team -- along with Cary-Grove, South and Central -- to have soccer, making it an official conference sport. • McHenry gymnast Karly Kunzer travels to Japan and wins a world championship for tumbling. • McHenry swimmer Tracey Hoffman, a freshman, breaks numerous school records for the Water Warriors. • The McHenry entry in the county's American Legion Baseball League, on the brink of extinction, is brought back to life by a local business, and finishes one game short of a championship playoff with Algonquin. • The McHenry Jr. Youth League baseball fields unde^o an estimated $5,000 to $6,000 worth of damage from vandals. As you can see, the list is quite impressive. Picking five stories from it, or from your own list, shouldn't be too difficult. -- The Plaindealer-Herald sports department •J 'i rj c ? i :u (a- ci i rit fr ift o jui. 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