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» - ' ** • Jh* ;• » ( V> - %:# -?•> .',**>^2 \ AtM Page22-PLA1ISDKALKR-HERALI>. FRIDAY. FKBRL AR1 22, 1985 Sports On the Sideline Dick Rabbitt Warriors, Streaks to tip it up once again One of the oldest rivalries in McHenry County will again be renew­ ed Friday night when the Warriors travel to Woodstock to take on the Blue Streaks. Going back to the 1954-55 season, the Warriors have a slight edge in the won-loss column. I'm sure .that in the previous years prior to 54-55, these two teams have probably battled it out down to the wire in many a game. The records in this old match-up are undoubtedly very close throughout the years. The Streaks are currently on a five-game winning streak over the Warriors, including the 59-52 win back in January that wasn't settled until the final minute. Woodstock is currently tied with Dundee- Crown for first place in the Fox Valley. D-C plays Jacobs Friday night, and the two co-leaders will battle it out in Carpentersville next week. The Warriors will be without the services of junior guard Joe To­ ny an, who is out of action with a broken bone in his foot. Tonyan's injury will be a great loss to the Warriors, as Coach Ken Ludwig will have to go to his bench for a replacement. The Warriors' already-thin bench will be made even thinner, and the task of beating the experienced Blue Streaks will made much tougher. But as we say in high school basketball, anything can happen, and we hope it's for the best. Last week we saw the most improved team in the Fox Valley Con­ ference. The Dundee-Crown Chargers of Jim Hinkle defeated the Warriors 70-50 and were very impressive in the process. After the opening minutes, it was no contest. McHenry, after falling behind 24-7 after one quarter, managed to hold its own during the second and third quarters. But it was simple of case of the Chargers waiting for the final buzzer. The Chargers have had a very successful season in all athletics, with the exception of football. The cross-country team was outstan­ ding, the swimmers won the FVC, as did the wrestling team, which also won regional and sectional titles and will compete in the state meet this weekend. The D-C matmen won all three championships in fairly easy fashion, and are a threat to claim the state crown Satur­ day night. Mike Shanahan's "Water Warriors" did a respectful job at the.Bar- rington Sectional last Saturday. Although no Warrior swimmer qualified for state, McHenry did manage to defeat the other Fox Valley teams that were involved. Next on schedule for the veteran coach in water polo. This is an event where the Warriors generally come to the top and qualify for state. Let's hope they can do it again. Pat Wirtz's "Lady Warriors" are still winless this season. The girls were beaten by Cary-Grove Tuesday, and tried to break the string again Thursday at Jacobs. The snake-bitten Warriors are on the verge of breaking into the win column, and the sooner, the better, with regionals lurking around the corner. The same old story that has been going on for years with the Chicago Public League basketball teams will probably happen again this year -- the league doesn't have enough representation in the state finals. These teams are afraid to go into the suburbs, to play the top-notch teams, claiming the officiating beats them. For once in my life, I agree with the IHSA (Illinois High School Association). Their answer is that the state is divided into geographical sections, so that all sec­ tions are represented. It's true that is some years, Chicago has had a lot of good teams, but as one Chicago reporter mentioned this week, a few years ago the best three teams in the state were in the Peoria area, which could be represented by just one team. Anyway, the status quo will prevail and the Class AA state tourney will this year, as always, be an exciting one. With the Warrior-Blue Streak game on tap tonight, maybe the game between the two in 1972 will inspire the McHenry crew. Down memory lane this week, we go back to that season, a game that was really no contest. The 'Fighting Warriors' had four players in double figures and really took it to the Streaks, 84-56. Mark Bentz had 18 to lead the local attack. McHENRY (84) Prazak 7 0 14; Neiss 6 113; Bentz 8 2 18; R. Miller 7 115; Hurckes 2 3 7; Ludwig30 6; Fenner 2 2 6; Batdorff 10 2; Maucho l l; T. Miller 10 2. Totals: 3710-84. WOODSTOCK (56) S.Messman6 517; Wertz5616; Wilson306; SpaldingOOO; Martine4 210; Horner 113; D. Messman 10 2; Smith 102. Totals: 2114-56. Total fouls (fouled out): McHenry 17 (Fenner); Woodstock 12 (none). McHenry: 20 22 2319-84 Woodstock: 10161614-56 Marian Central routed in 'Battle of Woodstock' By Sam Natrop Plslndealer-Hersld News Service WOODSTOCK - There seemed to be a silent con­ versation .going on between Woodstock and Marian's basketball teams Tuesday night. "You wanna play slow-down basketball? Fine. We'll play slow-down basketball, too," one team said to the other. "Oh ... Now you wanna play run-and-gun? Fine. We can do that, too," the other countered. And so it went. Back and forth, endline to endline. One coach called it un- beliveable, the other coach said he "hadn't seen anything like it in a long, long time." What it was, was a second quarter where the teams combined for 57 points as the Blue Streaks and Hurricanes opened up a close-to-the-cuff game, and Woodstock ran past Marian, 90-65, in the annual intra-city rivalry in the Marian gym. If ever a game exhibited extremes, this one was a classic. After a first-quarter where the teams battled early-game jitters (and Woodstock took a 12-8 lead), the rivals got down to the business at hand. WHS, the same contingent that scored 47 total points two weekends ago in a loss to Crystal Lake Central, exploded for 36 markers in the second quarter to bolster the lead to 48-29 at the half. During that segment, WHS canned 15 of 24 shots with several of those coming off the Streaks' full-court press after Marian turnovers. The scoring barrage, Blue Streak Coach Gordie Tebo said, was a function of the press. "In the first quarter we missed our first four or five shots and we got only six baskets, and that means we could only press six times," he began. "But in the second quarter we had more baskets and that allowed us to press more - the two go hand-in- hand." Plus, the Streaks employed a three-deep bench which allowed Tebo to keep shuffling MCHS girls fall again McHenry's girls' basketball team lost again Tuesday night to Cary-Grove, 49-37. That's unfortunate, but not real­ ly the most novel story to come out of the Fox Valley Conference tilt, as McHenry fell to 0-13 overall on the season. What was interesting was that the Warriors finished the game with less than five players on the court due to girls fouling out. Were they left with four, you ask? No. Three, then? No. Well, they certainly weren't left with just two, were they? Yep. For the game's last 1:05, McHenry played with just two players. There were but three Warriors on the court for 1:30 prior to that. "The kids played well," said McHenry coach Pat Wirtz, who's running out of answers to ques­ tion's about his team's faults. "It was the worst officiated game I've ever seen," Wirtz said. "There was more pushing, shov­ ing and elbow-throwing than I've ever seen. It was just a horridly- reffed game. Because of that, the kids were trying to get away with more." Wirtz said that in the third quarter, he and Cary coach Bruce Kay decided things were getting out of hand. Together, they called time out, sat their players down, and called the referees over. "They couldn't believe we thought they were calling a terri­ ble game," Wirtz recounted. "It was unbelievable." In the fourth quarter, with five minutes to play, McHenry senior Peg Chilvers was called for her fifth foul, leaving the Warriors with four players. "It was such an awful call," Wirtz said. "So blatantly missed. I walked out and screamed at the ref, told him he'd never referee in the Fox Valley Conference again. Had it been a college game, they would have never made it out of the gym." The Warriors got off to their customary slow start, scoring just two points in the opening quarter. But Cary-Grove wasn't much bet­ ter, putting just six on the board. C-G led at halftime 21-14, but the Warriors fought back to trail by just three, 30-27, heading into the final period. "Again, it was a case of missing lay-ups, close-in shots. We had balls just falling off the rim. We're starting to play better, but we just don't have any luck. But it's been encouraging." The Warrior sophomores lost 36- 31. McHenry played at Jacobs Thursday, and will entertain CL South at West Campus Saturday, the soph.- ere game slated for'l p.m. Senior Monique Betancourt had 13 points to pace the Warriors against Cary. Kim Busche and Cindy Gaines tossed in seven apiece, while Chilvers had six. . fresh players in to play the 1-2-2 full-court trap, and which allowed Woodstock the ability to play the transition game. "We thought that we might be a little deeper. We hoped we could outlast them," Tebo said. "What the press did was make them run full length of the court. Either they would score, or we would get a turnover. But look at my kids - they're tired. The press was far and away the difference in the game as Woodstock outscored Marian, 36-21, in the second stanza, paced by Rob Mecklenburg's hot hand and 12 points. "Rob really lit it up in the second quarter/' Marian Central Coach Hans Rokus said. "They pressed more than I thought they would, and we knew they had three or four guys coming off the bench with no drop off (in level of play)." Rokus said he figured Woodstock's height could be the difference in the game. "They were getting second and third shots on the offensive end and limiting us to one shot," he said. "They have a nice transition game. They'd get the ball out and go." The Streaks' size advantage also made a difference on the press. "They had the luxury of a 6-foot-4 (Ron Okpisz) or 6-foot-6 (Bill Baehne) kid pressuring the in-bound pass. Our kids couldn't see over them to get the ball inbounds," Rokus said. Other than that second quarter, Marian matched the Streaks step for step. "In the second half they outscore us by four points (42-38). We're right in the game," Rokus said. And, indeed, his scrappy Hurricanes matched the Streaks step-for-step and point-for-point for much of the contest. Midway through the second period, however, Woodstock took control. Tom Will drilled a 16-footer with 5:32 left in the haif to pull the Hurricanes within 18- 14. But the teams went on a maniacal scoring spree as the Streaks' press came into the limelight. There were 24 points scored in the next 2:27 as the Blue Streaks scored 20 of the next 24 points to grab a 38-18 MARIAN--Page 20 Plaindealer-Herald News Service photo by Sam Natrqp Marian Central's Jim Hartlieb isn't going to haye much luck get­ ting this shot over Woodstock's Bill Baehne. The Blue Streaks won, 90-65, and will host McHenry Friday night. Warriors, Ludwig ready to pounce on Woodstock Plaindealer-Herald photo by Chris Juzwik Joe Tonyan won't be shooting any more free throws for McHenry this season.. The junior is lost for the year with a broken foot. Chris Juzwik Plalodealer-Her&ld sports editor There are opportune times to play a sports contest against a top- notch team. For instance, if that team is coming off a huge win, or if it played in the Rocky Mountain air the night before, that might be a good time to catch that team off guard. But perhaps the best time to catch that good, solid team is when that club has a big game looming ahead of it. For instance, the lucky teams that gets to play Woodstock and Dundee-Crown this weekend. The Fox Valley Conference co-leaders will battle each other in Carpentersville next week. So, comma, you would expect them to be looking ahead to that match-up, right? McHenry coach Ken Ludwig finds himself in the enviable posi­ tion of facing Gordie Tebo's Blue Streaks in Woodstock Friday night, and the above scenario shines a bit of light on Ludwig's troubles. "They haven't been playing well," Ludwig said of the Streaks, who are 8-2 in the FVC, 9-8 overall. "They can be had. Plus we have the advantage of them looking ahead to next week." You can hear coaches deny their teams were looking past one oppo­ nent to another from now until doomsday, but in dealing with high school athletes, it's common -- and Ludwig knows it. "We played a real nice game against them last time (a 59-52 loss), but we didn't stop their in­ side guys," Ludwig explained. Junior Bill Baehne, at 6-foot-6, and senior Scott Rizzo, 6-5, com­ bined for 30 points in the Blue Streak victory, and controlled the glass on both ends. McHenry's junior center J.R. Wright missed the Jan. 11 game because of an ankle injury. Wright has sinced returned to the Warrior line-up, and has been playing well of late. "Mark Etheridge had to play Baehne that night, and Mark was a little inexperienced at the time," Ludwig said. "Rizzo had a great first half, and Baehne had a great second half. That's what beat us. We stopped their outside guys cold." This time around, although Wright will be available, guard Joe Tonyan will be out of action. The junior broke a bone in his foot I Saturday afternoon, and is gone for the season. Senior Chris Anderson will replace Tonyan. "I don't know whether Anderson will play guard or forward," Lud­ wig said Wednesday. "We'll have to see. "We did a real good job on (Woodstock guard Charley) Grover last time," he continued. "That's one of the keys. As a mat­ ter of fact, none of their outside players had a good game. We stop­ ped (Rob) Mecklenberg too. If we can slow Baehne and Rizzo down, we'll be okay." The loss of one of his starting guards won't be the only bit of adversity Ludwig has faced in his 18th season. The Warriors have suffered five losses by three points or less, four of those by one point. McHenry is 4-6 in the Fox Valley, 8-15 overall. "We've been an inconsistent team this year," Ludwig said. "I don't know what it is. I guess it's been a total lack on concentration. One night, we'll look super, the next night we won't do anything right." Ludwig's point is illustrated in a f i v e - d a y s t r e t c h i n e a r l y February. The Warriors came back from a two-week layoff because of the District 156 teacher's strike and pounded Crystal Lake Central, a team which had had visions of a possi­ ble FVC championship. McHenry whipped the Tigers on both ends of the floor in a convincing display. Five nights later, however, the Warriors played a listless game against Crystal Lake South, losing 59-56. The Gators have won just five games all year, two of them at McHenry's expense. "A lot of our guys have struggl­ ed this year," Ludwig noted. "We expected great things from Scotty (point guard Scott Freund), and he just hasn't had a good year. He's had some real good games, but no consistency. "The same with Pat Dunne. One night good, the next bad. It's a lack of concentration on Pat's part." The two seniors have had flashes of brilliance off-and-on during the 1984-85 campaign, but haven't been able to maintain those all-too-brief moments. Forward Craig Hill has given Ludwig a stellar effort night in and night out. Could Ludwig ask for anything more from his 6-2 senior? V/»WTTMpV_Din« 19 Streaks retain title