The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

SECTION 2 - PACK 12 - FLA1NPEALER-HEMALU. FKIDA1 . MARCH 1,1985 Sports Recruiting woes hit MCC's Capaccio Out-of-town talent builds Scots into winners By Steve Metsch Plain dealer-Herald New* Service . • J A 20-10 record, respect from opponents and the satisfaction of knowing those 40-point defeats are gone. You'd think Mike Capaccio would be a pretty happy coach. He is and isn't. Don't be mistaken. Turning McHenry County College's men's basketball team around from last year's 5-21 record to this year's slate has Capaccio smiling. The local version of Mst summer's Chicago Cubs has turned more than a few heads. His problem is different. The school resides in McHenry Coun­ ty but few of its men basketball players do. Recruiting local players to play for Scots hasn't been easy. After last season, his first as coach. Capaccio was unable to sign any players from the coun­ ty's high schools. The Scots are composed of MCC sophomores and players who transferred from different colleges. "One misconception kids have is MCC is a step down. It's definitely not. a step down and the teams we play are not a step down. If they'd come out and watch us or play against some of our guys -- and some have -- they'd be super surprised," Capaccio said Friday while his team practiced. The dilemma can be traced to pre-Capaccio days. MCC finish­ ed 1-23 in 1982-83. Capaccio was hired just before the 1983-84 season, too late to recruit. "We've been winning now, but no one wants to come out for a losing program," he said. Several players did, albeit they weren't local natives. Only three of MCC's players are from McHenry County. Harvey's Derrick Bruce and Lee Newman, wanting to return to the Chicago area from North Dakota, joined MCC this year. Both played for Bismark College last season. Another standout, 'We've got most of our kids on the rebound. They're in a bad situation somewhere, and we get them with maybe one year of eligibility left. In junior colleges, you need players for two years. You can't afford to rebuild every year.' --Mike Capkccio, MCC men's coach Scott Russellberg, calls Ken­ tucky home. Those three, along with the im- p r o v e d p i a y o f 6 - f o o t - 8 sophomore center Pete Dawson of Harvard -- who was found literally walking the halls of MCC -- have made the Scots win­ ners. Bruce is second among con­ ference scorers at 19 points per game. Newman is sixth with 17 points. Russellberg tosses in 13 per contest and Dawson 14. But all four, each of whom have had nibbles from four-year universities, will be gone next year. What's left is a large hole on the Scots' roster, a void Capaccio hopes to fill with local players. Several problems hinder Capaccio's recruiting efforts. First, MCC is unable to offer scholarships. Players must foot the bill for tuition, etc. Second, there's isn't that much money to go around in the first place. A total of $48,000 is budgeted for MCC sports for the 1984-85 school year. That pays the athletic director, coaches, travel for teams, feeding them on the road, equipment and main- tainence. MCC has 10 different teams. "We do a hell, of a job from the standpoint of how little money we have to work with," said Bob Edwards, coach of MCC's women's basketball team which boasts a strong local baser When it comes to recruiting, forget the image of large cars, big cigars and smooth talkers. Edwards, Capaccio and his assistant Paul Pinnow hit the road themselves to various prep games. By the way, they must avoid recruiting in a district belonging to another Skyway Conference team. "We've got most of our kids on the rebound. They re in a bad situation somewhere, and we get them with maybe one year of eligibility left. In junior colleges, you need players for two years. You can't afford to rebuild every year," Capaccio said. Fortunately for the Scots, players like Jamie Eriksen, a former gunner with Woodstock High School who scores 16 per game, soured on the college he was attending and joined MCC. The same goes for Newman and Bruce. Capaccio is an example of the j u n i o r c o l l e g e a d v a n t a g e available to McHenry County men. Following his 1976 graduation from Woodstock, he received two scholarship offers. He went to the University of Wisconsin for a semester, then transfer­ red to Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wis. Once there, he parlayed two years of play into 50 scholarship offers and wound up with a free ride at Mary College in Bismark, N.D., for his junior and senior years. Before this season, he "got a tip from a friend in Bismark" that Newman and Bruce were unhappy and wanted to return to the Chicago area. "High-school kids need to be playing ball," said Capaccio, ad­ ding that freshmen on collegiate teams often spend their first year or two riding the bench. Capaccio has mailed "35 letters off to kids in the county" this V" :-•« PlaindealeiHerald News Service photo by Sam Natrop Derrick Bruce, above, and fellow Harvey native Lee Newman made their one-year stint at McHenry County College a suc­ cessful one. Coach Mike Capaccio appreciates their help, but hopes to build a team using more McHenry County natives. tunate to have 20 wins," Capaccio said. "We still have to earn the coaches' respect. There's nothing negative, there's no problem with that. But on the other hand, there's a few I don't know," Capaccio added. "We re happy with what we've done, no doubt, but if I can't recruit here -- I don't like to lose -- I'll go elsewhere," Capaccio ad­ ded. season. He doesn't have any sure bets, but reports a several nibbles. Todd Howell, former Crystal Lake Central standout, is enrolled at MCC and may play hoops next year. "We still don't have real good support from the area coaches. We have to earn that, too. It's a tough situation here. The cards are definitely stacked against us, no doubt. So, we're pretty for- MCC MCC men cagers end successful season on sour note Plalndealer-Heraid News Service CRYSTAL LAKE Sometimes, even before the opening tip-off, a basketball coach knows it will not be a winning night. Such was the case for McHenry County College men's coach Mike Capaccio Tuesay night. The Scots were never in a 101- 73 loss to Rock Valley College at the MCC gym. The defeat eliminated MCC from its own S e c t i o n a l T o u r n a m e n t . Highland played Rock Valley for the sectional title Thursday night. "I had a feeling from the start ... we have not been playing well at ail lately. It's the most em- barrasing loss of the season. The last three games, I have not had the kids ready. It's my fault. I did not get the job done," a dejected Capaccio said after his team finished the season at 20- 11. The second-year coach said the calendar, plus a short bench which gave MCC six players for most of the season, may have caught up with the Scots. "I think we peaked out about two weeks ago. I thought if we played them two weeks ago, we could have beaten any team in the state." Derrick Bruce led the Scots in scoring with 32 points. Scott Russelbrug contributed 17 and Lee Newman 10. "Nobody had a good game," Capaccio lamented. The proverbial lid was on the basket all night for the hosts. MCC missed its first five shots of the game and didn't score on a field goal until Pete Dawson got a rare second shot nearly five minutes into the game. That trimmed the RVC lead to 9-4 and was one of the few times MCC trailed by fewer than 10 points. Rock Valley's Marty Voiles sank three straight jumpers to increase the lead to 16-8. A driving layup by Jim Francis made the score 22-8 and Capaccio called timeout with 12:48 left in the first half. At that time, MCC had missed eight of 11 shots and committed five turnovers against a tight 1- 3-1 zone defense. A three-point play by Darrell Loudenbeck pulled the hosts withing 12 at 28-16, but Rock Valley went on another spurt. Vic Matlock's fast-break layup gave RVC a 40-20 margin with five minutes left in the half. Bruce was MCC's offense through some stages in the second half, when he tallied 18 points, to lead MCC with 27. Russelburg had 17 and. Lee Newman 10. Wendell Tyson led RVC with 31 and Voiled con­ tributed 27. (Continued from page 16) County College's women's basketball team, so that's what the Scots did Wednesday af­ ternoon. And because of it, they're sectional champs. The Scots withstood a second-half rally by the College of Lake County and used clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to capture the NJCAA Region IV Sectional by posting an 82-65 win over the Lancers in CLC's gym. MCC will advance to the Triton College Regional next week. "I thought we shot ex­ tremely well, but we didnt play that well as a team," MCC Coach Bob Edwards said. "It's very important that we regain our team concept and push toward a first-game victory in the regionals. It's something MCC has never done." The Scots' deadly outside shooting in the first half was one of the major reasons for the victory. Joyce Bealmear and Sue Hoppmann canned 15 first- half points apiece as they swished their first five and four shots of the game, respectively. But for as much good that did on the scoreboard for MCC, it did an equal amount of harm, according to Edwards, "It lulled us to sleep. It took Kecia (Knudsen) and Dianne (Pilgard) out of the game," Edwards said. "After Joyce and Susan made three in a row each, there was a tendency to start watching the shots go in instead of anticipating a rebound. After Bealmear had given the Scots a 41-29 lead with a three-point play, CLC scored the last eight points of the half to slice that margin to 41-37 at intermission. Lake County got as close as 49-44 early in the second half, but the Scots theft went on a 12-4 tear to grab a 61-48 lead on Pilgard's layup 10:15 to play. The Lancers then employed a full-court press that caused two straight turnovers and allowed CLC to pull to within 63- 54, but Pilgard drained a 10- footer and Knudsen flipped in a rebound layup to a 67-56 ad­ vantage With 6:00 to play. Lake County got as close 69- 60 at the 4:12 mark, but MCC canned ll-of-12 free tosses down the stretch (Michelle Zim­ merman made six of six and, Bealmear four of four) as the Scots scored 13 of the game's final 20 points. 'We had to play to win, not play to lose. I think they realized they couldn't foul out - they didn't have anyone of full strength to come in off the bench," Edwards sakL ̂ MARCH 7-101985 THURSDAY-SUNDAY SPECIAL GUEST Bob Thomson SPONSOkED BY THE PROF. REMODELERS ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS CHICAGOLAND Thwfl/aSw HARDWARE STORES BARGAIN OF THE MONTH AT PARTICIPATING STORES ONLY--NO RAIN CHECKS ON THIS ITEM--QUANTITIES LIMITED Host of Channel II Bob appears Friday^ Saturday Sunday and will show you how to grow • Better flowers &. vegetables • Annuals & Perennials • Tomatoes (illustrated with 35mm slides) O'HAREEXPO CENTER • ROSEMONT 'OPENING THE DOOR TO A WORLD OF IDEAS FOR YOUR HOME- ATTRACTIONS • Over 3SO exciting exhibits of home improvement, do-it-yourself, decorating, energy saving and travel'ldeas. • Mrs. Fix-It, Beverly De|ulio of WBBM radio TV Fame, featured in daily home improvement seminars, Thursday thru Saturday. Seminars/ demonstrations will include basic plumbing and electrical areas plus wallpaper hanging. • Free US 99 Country Concert will be held in the Home Show Auditorium, Thursday evening from 7 pm to 9 pm. Featured will be Cross Fyre, 1984 grand prize winner of the Marlboro Country Music Talent Search. conHco 1.99 Each While Supplies Last 31/2-Gal. Deco-Pail in your choice of black, red or blue plastic with bold geometric designs that brighten up cleaning chores. . im^-bk-rd-bl Check the "Yellow Rages" for the Ttue Value Hardware Store or Home Center in your neighborhood. Bob Collins Popular radio personality Whose show is heard on WGN weekdays from 2 P.M. to 6:30 PM Bob will appear in the Home Show auditorium on Sunday afternooncr- Bobby Hull World famous hockey star, Bobby will appear with Stan Mikita on Sunday afternoon and reminisce about some of his most spectacular moments on ice. Stan Mikita One of the llercest competitors in the> history of hockey. Stan will appear with Bobby Hull on Sunday afternoon They will appear together in the Home Show auditorium and sign autographs Roy Leonard Entertaining host of WGN radio's midday program, "The Roy Leonard Show.' Roy will appear in the Home Show auditorium on Saturday afternoon. Bob Thomas Veteran kicking specialist of the champion Chicago Bears. Bob will review the 1984 Bears in the Home Show auditorium on Saturday afternoon. Plenty of Parking • Ride CIA Trains to Show SAVE *2.00 off regular adult admission when you present this coupon at shows O'Hare Expo Center, Rosemont (5555 N River Rd , |ust S. of Kennedy Expressway) Show Hours: Thurs. & Friday 2 pm-l0:30 pm. Sat 11 am 10:30 pm. Sun. 11 am-6 pm Admission fees: Adult with this coupon $3 00. without coupon $5.00. ages 6-12 $ I 00, under 6 free Show Information 82 2-0326 EXTRA COUPONS available from leading area financial institutions, and Commonwealth Edison Offices I I In the sainejiall at no additional charge Adventures fflrln Travel Show CHICAGO COUNTRY . •-» • Travel Experts will describe 1985's best travel bargains. 4