The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 30, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 5, 1989 Page: 11 of 25
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THE BAYTOWN SUN
Tuesday, December 5, 1989
JjjSUN SPORTS
Boys receive tourney breaks
By MIKE SIMMONS
Alter spending two consecu-
tive weekends in tournament"
play, Joe Price and Jim Ledbet-
ter like the look of their sche-
dules litis week.
For Price, his Ross S. Sterling
boys varsity will hit the road
twice, visiting Conroe tonight
and La Porte Friday. Ledbetter's
Robert E. Lee sq^ad will host
Humble tonight and then take
the rest of the week off.
Neither is complaining about
having no tournament wailing at
the end of the week for them.
Competing in the Lee College
Classic and the Gear Creek ISD
Classic the past two weeks has
been enough for now.
“I’m just glad we’re not play-
ing a tournament. We’ve played
nine games in two weeks,” Price
said. “I’m glad we’ve got a little
break now. We’ll play these two
games this week and then hayc
the week off next week until the
La Porte Tournament starts
Thursday.”
Ledbetter has annually schc-
■ dulcd one game in the week fol-
lowing Lee’s second straight
tournament. He’s glad for that
tradition this year after seeing
his team play eight games in 10
days and is thinking of possibly
altering it in the future.
"I don’t know about the back-
to-back tournaments,” he said.
“We’re committed to the Lee
College Classic, but I’m going
to have to look at the (Clear
Creek ISD) classic we were just
in. Thai’s a lot of basketball in
eight or nine Jays. 1 may think
about not playing the Tuesday
^me (between the tourna-
ments). It’s something I’ll have
to consider.”
Sterling, 74, lost to Houston
Smiley in the consolation
championship of the Clear
Creek tourney. Price; said the
Rangers played "on and off’ in
Saturday’s action, but he has
been pleased overall with his
team.
"We’ve been pretty consis-
tent, and I’ve been pleased that
we’ve usually played well in the
third and fourth quarters," he
said. ““Overall, in 11 games
we’ve been fairly consistent. We
just need to get better with what
we do.”
One of those areas is in the
man-to-man offense. Improve-
ment in that department will be
a key this week, Price feels.
“Doth of the teams we play
this week use the man-to-man
defense,” he said. “I don’t know
much about Conroe, but I do
know their coach and he’s a
man-to-man type of coach. I’m
hoping we can get our motion
offense in gear and get every-
body involved.”
Price also hopes to begin
working Clyde Wade, a sopho-
more transfer from New Or-
leans, into the varsity flow this
season. Wade, a 6-foot-3 player,
had to wait 15 calendar days be-
Girl cagers seeking
better consistency
By SCOTT CORY '
Consistency seems to be a
big word in Baytown high
' school girls varsity basket-
ball. With little experience,
the Ross S. Sterling and
Robert E. Lee girls varsity
teams arc struggling to put in
the same effort night after
! night.
Both Sterling and Lee were
ousted from the Katy Tourna-
ment over the weekend in the
second round. RSS hopes to
find some consistency this
week at home against Jersey
Village 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
and in the Clear Creek Tour-
nament. Sterling will play
Clear Brook at Clear Brook
Thursday at 6 p.m.
Problems continued Mon-
day night for the REL girls as
they were defeated 64-50 by
Klein Forest. Ronda Guenther
had 14 points and Frankie
Thompson added 12 in the
losing cause.
The Lady Ganders will try
to bounce back when they
take on North Shore Thurs-
day at 6 p.m. in the Clear
Creek Tournament.
REL Head Coach Rctha
Swindell said her team exe-
cuted in the first round of the
Katy Tournament, but in the
second round, defensive pres-
sure caused the Lady Ganders
to falter. Lee defeated Austin
Crockett 56-30 for their first
round win. Swindell had no
explanation on the sudden
problem of facing a pressure
HpfcrKP
“We didn’t handle the de-
fensive pressure,” Swindell
said. "We handle the pressure
in the first game, but in the
second game, we just didn’t
handle the pressure. I can’t
say that it was the opposition.
We played a good team in the
first round, but they had a bad
shooting night. We just
couldn’t handle it in the sec-
ond game.”
The Lady Rangers also fell
, in, the second round, and RSS
Head Coach Patti Rau was a
little more blunt about the
problem.
"The kids*just didn’t play
with any intensity,” Rau said.
“We didn’t shoot well, but
youistill have to get out there
and compete. We didn’t play
with any enthusiasm against
Langham Creek.
“Langham Creek had some
big players, but that’s a fact
of life. We can’t use that as
an excuse. We didn’t want to
get in there and rebound with
them. We didn’t want to mix
it up with them.”
Rau said she understands
her players having a bad
shooting night, but the lack of
intensity concerned her. She
wants to see a change
immediately.
“The kids have to leam to
come out ready to play every
game. This group of kids may
not have it in them, but they
will leant to. All I’m asking is
that they compete every
game. They’ve shown it at
times. We played La Porte, a
team with a good reputation
through the years, good, and
we played good against them
for three quarters,” Rau said.
The Lady Rangers will get
a chance to show Rau they
can mix it up against big)
teams at home against Jersey
Village. Jersey Village is re-
turning a number of phrfers
off last year’s playofrtcam.
Rau said Jersey Village's
guards and post players arc
very solid.
‘They’re a seasoned ball-
club. They went to the play-
offs last year as juniors, so
they have experience. They
have two big players and
quick guards. They’re one of
the strongest tfcams in the
Houston area,” she said.
Rau said her team defeated
Tuesday’s opponent last year
in Jersey Village. Rau said re-
venge would be in the minds
of the Jersey Village players.
"We went into their place
and beat them in the last sec-
onds in a game we probably
shouldn’t have won. I know
they’ll be thinking of revenge
when they come to our
place,” she said.
On Monday night, Lee vis-
ited Klein Forest and used a
13-8 scoring edge in the sec-
ond quarter to forge a 25-24
halftime lead. After both
teams scored 12 third-quarter
points to keep the Lady Gan-
ders’ lead at one, 37-36,
Kltin Forest outscorcd REL
28-13 in the final period to
gain the win,
"Frankie did an excellent
job grabbing six steals and
dishing out nine assists as
well as sharing the rebound-
ing lead with eight. She did
everything that I asked her to
do,” Swindell said. “Losing
Ronda (to fouls) in the fourth
quarter hurt us offensively,
butiigain the support off the
bench was a boost.”
fore he could compete on the
varsity after transferring from a
private school in New Orleans.
“He plays the three spot on
offense, and that’s the spot we
haven’t been getting much out
of this season," Price said. “I
think he can help us.”
While Price was planning to
get together information on
Conroe Monday, he didn’t need
to ask around about La Porte,
since the Rangers and Bulldogs
have scrimmaged once and
played each other twice this sea-
son. Sterling owns wins of
84-71 and 75-54 over La Porte
this season.
REL, 74, will no doubt re-
member Humble, the team it
hosts tonight. When the two
teams met last year at the Wild-
cats’ gym, Humble defeated Lee
107-53 behind a 33-point perfor-
mance by Derrick Smith, who
has gone on to the University of
Houston. In last-year’s game,
with the Outcome already deter-
mined, the Wildcats re-inserted
their starters late in the game to
ensure a 100-point performance.
Ledbetter doesn’t think his
players’ memories of that .ball-
game have faded, cither.
“I don’t think they’ve forgot-
ten,” he said. “Those kinds of
things stick with the players and
the coaching staff. I felt they re-
ally keep the pressure on us last
year. But this is a different
year.”
Humble, which was defeated
in the regional finals last year,
remains a strong team, being
ranked in the top 15 in the Grea-
ter Houston area.
"They like to come at you
with the half-court trap," Led-
better said. ‘They’ll extend their
1-3-1 defense and trap out of it.
We have to rebound, handle the
ball and shoot the ball well
against them.”
The Ganders’ shooting took a
nosedive in the fiftal two rounds
of the Clear Creek Classic. After
hitting 48 percent as a team
from the field in their previous
nine games, they hit just 25 per-
cent in losses to Pasadena Ray-
bum and Gear Lake. Ledbetter
feels so many games in a short
amount of time had its effects on
them.
“I feel their legs were just
tired, and we did force a few
shots. We got down and got im-
patient,” he said. “Emotions
play a great deal in the game of
basketball and you can only go
so many limes, especially when
you arc coming off a loss.”
Lcdbcjtcr plans to give his
players a chance to come badk
physically this week, with light
workouts planned for Wednes-
day and Friday. »
"We’re just going to let them
regroup and let them get their
legs back this week," he said.
"We’ll give them time to do a
little Christmas shopping and
then start getting ready for the
La Porte Tournament week.”
BRUCE PETERS (33), shown preparing to get off a shot against
Deer Park as teammate LaCarlos Francis (50) looks on, will be
in the Ross S. Sterling backcourt this week as the Rangers.make
two road trips. They will visit Conroe tonight and face La Porte
on Friday. (Sun staff photo by Carrie Pryor)
Expression propels aging boxers
I’m a gullible person.
When Sugar Ray Leonard and
Roberto Duran signed to fight
one more time, 1 was beside my-
self with excitement. A “big
fight,” not just “big,”-but Duran
and Leonard. Probably the two
best fights in the 198.0s were
Leonard—Hearns I and
Leonard—Duran I. After eight
years, - Duran gets his long-
awaited rematch.-'- 1
Of course, there arc those that
scoff at the notion, but Dec. 7,
WOc in front of a television set
✓’-Wttehing.
In 1975, two aging fighters
signed a contract for a “super
fight.” Both fighters were in
their 30s, and although one was
the champion, it could not be as
good a fight as their first one
five years earlier.
They had their second fight
three years after the first one,
and the sequel was nowhere as
thrilling as the first. The luster
was gone. One of the fighters
had been knocked out in the
early goings of a bout, while the
other had lost a.decision, then
won- a rematch on a split vote.
The aging pugilists stepped
into the ring for the second
fight, and it was true, all the
magic was gone'. The bout was
one of those clutching, clinch-
ing, bore-yo.u-to-dcath fights. ■
So why a third fight?
First off, the two fighters had
split the previous two meetings,
scon
CORY
he’ll still go down in the minds
of many as "No Mas” Duran.
But should he. win, a knock-
down, drag-out fight that leaves
the fans enthralled with the what once was.
there. When the time comes
when they cannot do it anymore,
they’ll hang around the ring like
Ali, being a sad reminder of
so a rubber match seemed de-
serving for the ex-champ, but
this fight could never live up to
the drama, intensity or skill level
that was achieved* in the first
bout, right? Wrong.
Muhammad Ali and Joe Fra-
zier stepped jnto the ring to give
us the greatest performance ever
in the sport. It was a light that
had it all. It more than lived tip
to the first “Fight of the Cen-
tury;” it set a standard for all
super fights to come. Perhaps
the one necessary ingredient was
the feelings generated toward
the adversary. Frazier and Ali
simple did not like each other.
And the same holds true for
Duran and Leonard. They make
no secret about disliking the
other, and that’s what could
make this fight special. Duran
has something to prove still. His
knockout of Davey Moore and
his decision over Iran Barkley
has not .erased the "No Mas”
stigma. Now, Duran has the
chance to change history.
Should Duran lose the fight.
event, he’ll take his rightful
place as one of the greatest
.fighters, to ever live.
But, it's more than proving a
point. Duran could have retired
after the second Leonard, fiasco
and no one would have missed
him. Years later, people might
have forgotten his one bad night.
With Duran still fighting it gives
an impression that he’s -still
kicking around trying to case by
and make big bucks,
But it’s not about bucks. Leo-
nard wouldn’t risk his eyesight
for a big payday, as he did
against Marvin Haglcr. Al-
though money figures arc tossed
around, and the public scowls at-
the thought of ovcr-thc-hill
fighters ripping off unsuspecting
souls of money, this is about
more than money.
It’s about expression. That’s
why Ali climbed back into the
ring so many times. It’s why
George Foreman still talks of
wanting Mike Tyson. It's why
Leonard arid Duran will step
into the ring Thursday night.
It’s not about money, it’s not
about prestige, it’s about ex-
pressing yourself as a human bd-
ing. There is no place Sugar Ray
and Duran arc more at home
than in the ring. They belong
It’s about excellence, How
many people really do' some-
thing that is really special?
Something that can make mil-
lions of people watch in awe, as ;
two men lay everything on thu
line in the most brutal sport of -t~
all. Leonard and Duran can ex-
press themselves in the ring like •
they can nowhere else.
Leonard takes boxing to its
higlfest level as an art form; Du-
ran brings it down into the
street. Both men are champions
at self-expression in the ring.
There is no place, to hide in the
ring (of course, you might just
up and quit if you can’t hide),
but neither man will want to
hide Thursday night.
Leonard admits going through
the motions against Thomas
Hearns last time around, but
Hearns and Leonard are almost,
if not, friends. “Arc we talking
rematch, Tommy?” Leonard
said after the fight. It almost
sounded shady.
Thankfully, Leonard and Du-
ran arc* not friends, not even
close. Duran will be looking to
take .Leonard’s head -off.- and ’
Leonard would like tq embarrass
Duran once more. It has the
makings of a great fight.
Leonard wants credit for stopping Duran
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sugar skills, taunting Duran into the
Ray Leonard tires of listening to eighth round ‘ ‘no mas, no mas”
people speculate about why
Roberto Duran suddenly quit in
their last fight.
Leonard believes he had a
little something to do with it.
“What bothered me the most
was there was more emphasis on
why he quit than what I did to
him to make him quit,” Leonard
said Monday. “He didn’t quit
simply because he wanted to
quit.”
What Leonard did was put on
a masterful display of boxing
declaration that since has be-
come a part of boxing lore.
Yet when the November 1980
fight in New Orleans is talked
about, Duran’s “no mas’’' gets
more attention than the superb
job Leonard did on a fighter
who had beaten him in a
15-round brawl only six months
earlier.
Duran, other than talking vag-
uely about stomach cramps and
having to drop weight too fast,
has never fully explained what
made him suddenly turn his
back on Leonard and quit.
“I really think 1 just frus-
trated him,” Leonard said. “But
only he knows for sure.”
Duran now promises to reveal
all — but not until after the two
aging fighters meet for a third
time — Thursday night outdoors
at the Mirage in a- scheduled
12-round fight for Leonard’s
World Boxing Council
168-pound title.
“After this fight I will give
the reason why I lost the second
fight,” Duran said.
Leonard is guaranteed at Jeast
$15 million for a fight he says
could be the last of his career, It
brings his bankroll for his last j
four fights to $54 million.
"I’m just getting tired of it,
irritated by it,” Leonard said.
“I’m tired of defending myself ;
and the sport.”
Coming off a less than im- 1
pressive performance in his June
draw against Thomas Hearns,
Leonard says he’s looking for
personal fullfillmcnt and' is not
out to prove anything to the box-
ing public against Duran. .
NCAA looking into new OU allegations
* DALLAS (AP) - A convicted
burglar has told National Colle-
giate Athletic Association inves-
tigators about alleged impro-
prieties that continued in the
University of Oklahoma’s foot-
ball program after it was placed
in probation in 1988, The Dallas
Morning News reported today.
In a copyright story, the
newspaper reported that NCAA
investigators are checking sev-
eral potentially damaging alle-
gations about the university
made by Otha Armstrong III,
24, a convicted burglar and
longtime friend of former Okla-
homa quarterback Charles
Thompson’s.
Armstrong was sentenced to
five years in prison for stealing
25 championship rings and other
items from the home of former
Oklahoma .coach Barry Switzer
in July. ~"'*
Thompson is serving a two-
year federal prison term at Big
Spring, Texas, following his
conviction on a charge of selling
cocaine to a federal undercover
agent.----— —■ .........
If Oklahoma’s football prog-
ram is found guilty of major vio-
lations, the Sooners could face
the so-called “death penalty,”
the suspension of the football
program for up to two years,
Oklahoma was found guilty
of several recruiting violations.
last December and prohibited
(from post-season play for two
seasons and banned from live
television appearances this sea-
son. A team becomes eligible
(See NEW, Page 2-B)
U-SAVE MONEY
| $ $ | ■
U-SAVE Auto Rental
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Brown, Leon. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 30, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 5, 1989, newspaper, December 5, 1989; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1053092/m1/11/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.