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From page 32last10 games," the fifth-year coach said. "We wereplaying well. But 25-7 and 14-4, there's still notmuch to show for it other than the wins. We had setout to win the conference and the region."Despite finishing third in the JayhawkConference East Division and losing in the quarterfinalsof the Region VI Tournament, the Tigers hadan excellent season. Especially after going throughwhat they did at mid-season."I get a call on Dec. 26 and it's Alphah (East)and he says, coach, I've got some bad news,"Nelson recalled. "I hurt my hand."Through the first 1 1 games, East, a sophomorefrom Greenfield, Mass., was averaging 10 pointsand helped the Tigers to a 9-2 start. But his brokenhand required a pin and his season was put on theshelf."Injuries are a part of a season," Nelson said."I was happy with the way the guys responded."Just after the conference schedule began inJanuary, Nelson had to dismiss one player from theteam and help another to decide to stay on.Tremaine Mayeaux's redshirt was pulled to helpplug the gaps. Nelson was pleased with Mayeaux'splay."We put ourselves in a hole by losing the firsttwo conference games," Nelson said. "The first onewe lost at home against Coffeyville (93-86) andthen at Independence (96-82). Then we lose on atip-in at Kansas City (73-72). Those first twogames we didn't have Alphah, but we didn't haveTremaine, either. We ended up 12-3 with Tremainein the lineup."The player who took a lot on his shoulders wasDerrick Davis. The Abbeyville, Ala., sophomoreled Cowley in points per game (17.6), rebounds(5.3), blocked shots (17), steals (58), assists (86)and average minutes played (29.7) while earningfirst-team All-Jayhawk East honors. He also wasnamed to the All-Region VI team."He stepped up his game down the stretch andhad some big games for us," Nelson said. Davisscored 35 and 27 points in games againstIndependence, 27 and 25 in games againstCoffeyville, and 31 against Barton County in a 76-69 season-ending defeat at the Region VITournament. There was just one game — Jan. 3 1Coffeyville — when Davis did not score in doublefigures. That night he had seven points.Nelson cited Mayeaux and Martin Palmer asother players who improved and played well.The turning point of the season. Nelson said,was the win on the road over Neosho on Jan. 28.The Tigers won that game 85-75. Neosho andatIndependence shared the Jayhawk East title with15-3 records."Prior to that we were 5-3 in the conferenceand could have slipped way back in the pack,"Nelson said. "Winning that game gave us a lot ofconfidence."The Tigers went 9-2 the rest of the way,including an 84-68 win over Neosho in W.S. ScottAuditorium on Feb. 28, the last game of the regularseason. The win was huge for Nelson. It was No.100. Still, Nelson was quick to credit his two newassistant coaches, Craig Fletchall and MikeMassey, a former player of Nelson's at Cowley."The thing I was most pleased with was Craigand Mike," Nelson said. "They've done a great joband have brought a lot of stability to the job. Withguys like them you wonder how long you can keepthem."Softball team fallsjust short of goalHead Softball Coach Ed Hargrove probablywould trade all the records set this season for aRegion VI title and a chance to play in the nationalfast-pitch tournament.But at least for another season, he's faced withupdating the records. And there's lots of them.Individually, Suzanne Kerr and Cassi Vandever puttheir names on 23 Lady Tiger records. The sophomoreAil-Americans also helped Cowley to themost victories in a single season (41) and the bestwinning percentage in back-to-back seasons (74-18.804) in 1997 and 1998.Hargrove, completing his14th season as headcoach, also reached a coaching milestone with his400th career victory. He is now 408-184, a winningpercentage of .689.Still, he would have liked his team to play betterin the Region VI tournament."I felt we played pretty well except for theJohnson County game," said Hargrove, whoseTigers beat Johnson three out of four games duringthe regular season. "We had an error that bustedthat game open. And we had runners in scoringposition three times with one or fewer outs andcouldn't get them home."After winning the Jayhawk Conference EastDivision title, Cowley went 4-2 in the regional tofinish fourth. Johnson County won the title toadvance to the national tournament. Hargrove%acknowledged that his team went into postseasonplay with high expectations. However, he said thebest teams have off days once in a while.more on page 34