Shrine Skit - The Sheridan Press

Sports
THE
SHERIDAN Press Friday, November 11, 2005
Rundown
■ What’s On Tap
Today
Men’s Basketball
• Sheridan College vs. Fort
Scott (Kan.), Ottumwa, Iowa,
4 p.m.
Volleyball
• Sheridan College vs. Casper
College, Region IX tournament,
Golden Dome, 6 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
• Sheridan College vs.
Buckley Air Force Base
(Colo.), Colorado Springs,
Colo., 11:30 a.m.
Saturday
Hockey
• Sheridan Hawks at Gillette
scrimmage, 10 a.m. and 1:30
p.m.
Men’s Basketball
• Sheridan College vs.
Garrett (Md.), Ottumwa, Iowa
Volleyball
• Sheridan College vs. TBA,
Region IX tournament,
Golden Dome
Women’s Basketball
• Sheridan College vs. Air
Force Prep, Colorado
Springs, Colo., 2 p.m.
Sunday
Hockey
• Sheridan Hawks at Gillette
scrimmage, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
■ TV Today
All times MST
College Football
• 6 p.m., ESPN2 — Rutgers
at Louisville
NBA
• 6 p.m., ESPN — L.A.
Lakers at Philadelphia
• 8:30 p.m., ESPN — Detroit
at Portland
Tennis
• 9 p.m., ESPN2 — WTA Tour,
WTA Tour Championships
■ Briefs
UW inks Robinson
LANDER (AP) — Tahnee
Robinson, a 5-foot-9 guard,
signed a letter of intent
Thursday to play basketball
for the University of Wyoming.
Robinson, who averaged
more than 28 points per game
as a junior at Lander, is the
third in-state recruit to sign with
the Cowgirls in the last two
years, joining Megan McGuffey
of Cheyenne East and Alysia
Kraft of Encampment.
NASCAR limits teams
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) —
Big-money teams will be
allowed to field only four cars
under a cap limit set by
NASCAR, a move that infuriated
the five-car Roush
Racing organization.
The limit goes into effect
next season, but NASCAR said
it would work to set a timeline
for compliance for teams with
more than four entries. Jack
Roush is the only owner with
five teams, all of which are in
the 10-man Chase for the
championship that crowns the
Nextel Cup champion.
The announcement caught
Roush by surprise, and his
organization has complained
it was being singled out.
NFL team in L.A.?
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
The NFL and city officials
have reached a preliminary
agreement on terms to bring
a team back to the Los
Angeles Coliseum.
Commissioner Paul
Tagliabue didn’t identify a
potential tenant or speculate
when Los Angeles might get the
team. The Los Angeles area,
the second-largest television
market in the country, has been
without an NFL team since the
Raiders moved from the
Coliseum back to Oakland and
the Rams moved from Anaheim
to St. Louis before the 1995 season.
Bulldogs win 27-7
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) —
Four years of frustration
flowed out of every heavy hit
and every pinpoint pass when
Fresno State finally ended
Boise State’s domination of
the Bulldogs and the entire
Western Athletic Conference.
Paul Pinegar passed for
307 yards and hit Paul
Williams for two long touchdowns,
and the 20th-ranked
Bulldogs decisively snapped
Boise State’s 31-game conference
winning streak with a
27-7 victory Thursday night.
Williams scored on a 98yard
play, while Wendell
Mathis ran for 121 yards and
a score for Fresno State (8-1,
6-0 WAC) in its first victory
over the three-time defending
league champions.
The Sheridan Press/Alan Carroll
Lady Bronc Stephanie Stender, with the help of her dad, Jay, and mother, Mila, signs a national letter of
intent to play basketball at Montana on Thursday at Sheridan High School.
By Casey Temple
Sports Editor
Stephanie Stender made it official
Thursday — she’s going to be a
Lady Griz.
But hold on a second, Sheridan
girls’ basketball coach Mark Elliott
says.
She still has another season as a
Lady Bronc.
The coach jokingly reminded her
of this when she signed a national
letter of intent to play basketball at
the University of Montana — one
of the premier women’s programs
in the Western United States.
While she committed to
Montana months ago, signing her
name to the school’s scholarship
offer Thursday means no more
recruiting calls or having to impress
The Sheridan Press/Alan Carroll
The Lady Generals celebrate a point against Laramie County Community College on Thursday afternoon at the Bruce Hoffman
Golden Dome. Sheridan College won 30-16, 30-19, 30-18.
SC stuns Lady Spartans
By Casey Temple
Sports Editor
The much-anticipated match
was worth the anticipation.
And if you weren’t at the
Bruce Hoffman Golden Dome on
Thursday night, you missed a
doozy.
Because an electric crowd is
probably still buzzing from
Sheridan College’s thrilling 29-
31, 30-25, 30-23, 23-30, 15-12
upset of defending champion
Western Wyoming in a Region IX
tournament throwdown.
“This is big,” said Sheridan
College coach Todd Cooper, who
is trying to get the Lady Generals
back to the National Junior
College Athletic Association tournament
for the first time since
1999. “This is by far our biggest
match of the year, but they only
get bigger after this.”
The victory — their second on
the day — puts the Lady Generals
two consecutive wins away from a
Region IX championship. Thirdseeded
Sheridan College will
square off against top-seeded
Casper College at 6 tonight for a
shot at the title match at 4 p.m.
Saturday.
The Lady Thunderbirds took
Northwest College in three games,
while Sheridan College topped
The Sheridan Press/Alan Carroll
Lady General Kaci Switzer fires a shot past LCCC on Thursday.
Laramie County Community
College 30-16, 30-19, 30-18 in the
first round Thursday afternoon.
Not having had a match go
more than four games in their previous
eight contests, the Lady
Generals thrived under the pressure
of the fifth game Thursday
night.
“We just have to take it,”
Sheridan College’s Kaycee Blake
said of the talk before the final
B1
Stender signs
with Lady Griz
frame. “We have to get those first
few points and run with it. We
have to be intense, and we can’t
let anything drop. We don’t play
scared, we don’t play tentatively,
we go for it.”
The Lady Generals went for
the jugular early, winning four of
Game 5’s first five points. Jaime
Heiner and Blake built that lead to
10-4 with kills that grazed the line.
But in a match as closely
fought as this one, the secondseeded
Lady Spartans weren’t
going to let the fifth game go willingly.
Western Wyoming, paced by a
standout performance from Gina
Taylor, ran off six straight points
to bring it to 13-12.
After the Lady Generals lost
Game 1 after being two points
away from a win, the pressure
mounted.
But Sheridan College freshman
Jessica Koch was having fun.
“It’s fun,” she said of the
intense fifth game. “It doesn’t get
any better. Everyone was so
pumped up, and it just doesn’t get
any better than this.”
Koch’s block for the next point
put the Lady Generals at match
point, and Kayla Sterling finished
it off with a kill for the win.
Please see Lady Generals, Page B2
college scouts at basketball games.
“Steph can just go out and play
now, and it’s a lot of pressure off
her shoulders,” Elliott said. “It
should allow her to go out and have
fun and enjoy her senior year and be
a high school basketball player for
the last time.”
It also makes Stender the first
Lady Bronc basketball player to sign
with a Division-I program since
Tennyson Ballek signed with Lady
Griz-rival Montana State in 1995.
“It’s exciting and relieving at the
same time,” Stender said.
For a player who said team goals
outweigh the aspirations of the individual,
Stender even commented
that she didn’t enjoy being in the
spotlight Thursday.
Please see Stender, Page B2
Generals
fall to No. 3
Indian Hills
By Casey Temple
Sports Editor
The Generals didn’t travel to
Indian Hills Community College
(Iowa) to lose.
So though Sheridan College was
edged 95-89 by the No. 3 team in
the country Thursday, coach Joel
Davidson was disappointed the
Generals didn’t win.
“We didn’t come here to play
them close. That wasn’t our intention,”
Davidson said. “I think we
can beat Indian Hills. (Take away) a
couple of silly turnovers here and
there, a couple of missed shots and
the outcome is different, and that’s
disappointing. If we had been outplayed
by a better team but played
well, that would be a different story.”
Thursday’s story wasn’t without
Sheridan College bright spots,
Davidson said.
He was pleased by the way the
Generals battled
back from
an early 14-3
deficit, as
well as performances
by
Gus Chase,
Chase Sukut
and Jake
Schmidt.
Chase scored
Chase
Sukut
27 points to
lead Sheridan
College, while
Sukut had a
career-high 25 points against Indian
Hills’ talented group of guards,
Davidson said.
“Chase Sukut really played
well,” the coach said. “He shot
well, he ran the offense well.”
Schmidt chipped in 10 points.
“He’s really starting to find his
niche, and he’ll continue to get better,”
Davidson said.
The coach said neither team had
a lead greater than six points after
Indian Hills’ initial run. The
Generals last led with eight minutes
remaining, but Davidson sad a couple
of missed shots and turnovers
led to Sheridan College being on
the wrong side of a run.
The Generals play Fort Scott
(Kan.) at 4 p.m. today.
Please see Generals, Page B2
Lady Generals
improve to 4-0
From staff reports
The Sheridan College women’s
basketball team improved to 4-0
with a 54-48 win over Air Force
Prep on Thursday in Colorado
Springs, Colo.
The Lady Generals continue the
Air Force Prep tournament today
with a contest against Buckley Air
Force Base (Colo.). They’ll play Air
Force Prep again Saturday.
Amy Fullmer led the Lady
Generals with 16 points, while Molly
Schenderline and Paige Knudson
chipped in 11 and 10, respectively.
Adrienne Green added nine, and
Samantha Duncan scored six.
Sheridan College led 21-17 at
halftime, and was 14 of 20 from the
free throw line.