Page 8 - LION’S EYE - December 10, 1999 Hoop Dreams At High School B-Ball Tournament By Regis Fields Lion’s Eye Staff Writer As the high school basketball season begins, and the sixth annual PSU Delco Invitational Basketball Tournament takes form, teams from all over the tri-state area begin playing in pre-season exhibition games and tournaments. Our tournament this year began on the third of December with University City High - girls’ team playing the girls squad of Sun Valley High at 3:00 PM. It was followed by the girls of Academy Park playing the girls of Notre Dame Academy at 4:00 PM. Later in the evening the boys got a chance to show their court prowess beginning at 7:00 PM with University City squaring off against Penn Wood High. Then roughly an hour and a half later with a scheduled tip-off time of 8:30 PM, the boys of Chichester High met with an annual powerhouse in Glen Mills. The next day, Saturday the fourth, had consolation and championship games that saw, Academy Park, the loser of the girls’ 4:30 game on Friday meet, Sun Valley, the loser of the 3:00 game, starting at 1:30 that afternoon. The final was 51-24 Sun Valley. The same went for the guys with the loser of the 7:00 game, University City, meeting the 8:30 loser; Chichester.Their consolation game started at 3:00 PM, and saw University City as the winner with a final of 58-38. Then, later on in the evening when the excitement reached its’ height the championship series began with the girls playing first at 5:30 PM, Notre Dame vs. University City and capped off the evening with the boys game, Penn Wood vs. Glenn Mills beginning at 7:00 PM. The final scores were, 73-72 Penn Wood for the guys and 71-31 Notre Dame for the girls. The weekend saw its share of excitement and gave Penn State students and staff a chance to see young talent before that talent went off, hopefully, to athletic programs of universities in the area. Altogether this function was good publicity for the high school students as well as the campus as sort of an open house. Charitably, all tournament proceeds benefited the Joseph J. Bradley Memorial Scholarship Fund for Delco. With good cause, even though it was basketball, the kids got a chance to visit our campus and, who knows, maybe end up in a Penn State uniform in the future. The Penn State tournament was one that began the millennium bragging rights for squad of the eon and it got off ‘on a good foot.” Maybe in the year two thousand Penn State University Delaware County’s basketball teams will hold bragging rights of its own. Delco B-Ball: They Got Game By Mari DiMeglio Lion’s Eye Staff Writer PSU Delco’s women’s basketball team is 5-0 in league play under coaches Brian Donaghue and Chuck Priestly. Helping Delco to their 83-53 victory over rival PSU Abington on December 1, sophomore Rachel Hurwitz set a school record by sinking 10 three-point shots. Sophomore Lauren Keller scored Amanda Heilman takes a warm up shot before the Manor College game. 19 points, and Freshman Amanda Heilman contributed 14 points. Due to a knee injury, sophomore guard Sharena Robinson is out for the season. The team won championships last year. Other team members include Dionne Argyle, Melissa Evans, Natia Jenkins, Lauren Joner, Colleen Kelly, L.J. Lucidonio, and Jennifer McGuire. The men’s basketball team, with a record of 2-2 in their first non- conference games, beat Williamson Trade School on November 17 by a score of 90-68. Sophomore Jack McGlone contributed 15 points and five steals. Sophomore Weldon Blount and Freshman James Johnson each scored 18 points. On December 1, sophomore Melvin Hicks sank the last 12 points of the game, leading the Delco team to a 7370 victory over Valley Forge Junior College. Sophomore Colt Blithe contributed a career high of 20 points. Blount and McGlone also scored in double digits. Other players include Matt Bakey, Anthony Constantini, Walid Dimachkie, Rabih Merhi, Karl Robinson, Mike Tinsley, and Tyreem Williams. the league SPORTS ‘A Sun Valley girl waits for a rebound during Delco’s hi gh school tournament Photo by Regis Field Penn St. Takes On Aggies In Alamo Bowl Showdown By Bob Dugan Lion’s Eye Staff Writer In the beginning of November, the Penn State Nittany Lions football team was undefeated and seemingly well on their way to the Nokia Sugar Bowl where they would compete in N’Awlins for the coveted National Championship. : Cut to November 6 where Minnesota Golden Gopher freshman Dan Nystrom kicked a 32 yard field goal in the last second of the game to beat the Lions 24- 23 in front of a shocked home crowd. Afterwards Penn State not only crumbled, they blew their season, losing to Michigan a week later by four points and capping off the season with a seven point loss to Michigan State. A month ago Penn State looked like they would at least be in the Rose Bowl as the Big Ten champions. In the end they tied with Minnesota in fourth place and will play in the Sylvania Alamo Bowl in the Alamo Dome (home of the San Antonio Spurs) in San Antonio on Tuesday, December 28. Their opponent is Texas A&M, the fourth place team in the Big 12 conference. The Texas A&M Aggies had an uneven season. They lost to Oklahoma 516 and to Nebraska 37-0. After the now infamous bonfire tragedy, the Aggies beat the Texas Longhorns 20-16 to end their season on a high note and with a decent 8- 3 record. They now look forward to sinking their Texas teeth into the Nittany . Lions in front of an ESPN home audience and a 65,000 stadium crowd. Penn State ended their season 9-3, same as last year. This is not bad, especially when you live in Philadelphia. But the hard facts are that Penn State was once 9-0 and ranked second in the nation for much of the season. They kicked off the year at home for the Pigskin Classic against the once high- ranked Arizona Wildcats. The Lions took charge and massacred the Cats, 41-7. Next they beat the Akron Zips 7024, and then took on their state rivals, the Pittsburgh Panthers. It was here where they dropped the ball. They barely edged past the non-ranked Pitt team 20-17, with thanks to a last second Their biggest test of the season had arrived when they went to Florida to take on the Miami Hurricanes. In the fourth quarter, Penn State was losing the game. They needed a touchdown. On first down with less than two minutes on the clock, Penn State quarterback Kevin Thompson threw what turned into a 79 yard game winning touchdown pass to wideout Chafe Fields. It was the defining moment of their ‘99 season. A million PSU fans celebrated the victory while another million hopped on the almighty bandwagon. The Nittany Lions were the team to beat. They were awesome. They were Sugar Bowl bound. Now of course the rest of their wins seem meaningless, and their three consecutive November losses have defined them. They are a good football team, albeit an uneven one. The players of the year include defen- sive linebackers Brandon Short and Arrington, wideouts Eddie Drummond and Fields, and runningback Eric McCoo. The most press came courtesy of coach Joe Paterno’s two-headed monster quarterback system which juggled Thompson and Rashard Casey for the entire season. The team had 2,776 yard passing this year as opposed to 2,238 yards rushing. Thompson finished with 1,916 yards with 13 TD’s and 9 interceptions, where as Casey had 856 yards with 6 TD’s and 3 interceptions. Casey also ended the season with 290 yards rushing, which puts him as the second leading rusher. On December 28 the Nittany Lions will face the Aggies in their last game of the century. They ended the season ranked 11 in the Bowl Championship Series poll, 13 in the Associated Press poll, and 17 in the USA Today/ESPN Coach’s poll. The paycheck for playing in the Alamo Bowl is $1.2 million (the more prestigious bowls pay around $12 million) and the Lions have nothing left to lose. Expect them to play their hardest and go the distance. And in the end, that is all that should matter for the Blue and White. Photo by Scott Troyan 12/11 vs. Penn College 1/5 at Philadelphia CC ri at PSU Berks 1/19 vs. Delaware CCC 1/27 vs. PSU Abington 1/29 at PSU Mont Alto 1/31 at Manor College Women’s Basketball Schedule 2/1 vs. Keystone College 2/5 at PSU York 2/9 vs. PSU Berks 2/13 ys; Northampton CC 2/15, 2/16 EPCC Playoffs 2/19 EPCC Tournament Men’s Basketball Schedule 1/8 at Valiey Forge Junior College 2/3 at Williamson 1/12 vs. Delaware CCC 2/5 at PSU York 1/15 at PSU Schuylkill 2/7 vs. PSU Schuylkill 1/17 at PSU Berks 2/9 vs. PSU Berks’ 1/19 vs. PSU Hazelton 2/12 at Hazelton 1/22 vs. PSU Wilkes Barre 2/16 at PSU Wilkes Barre 1/27 vs. PSU Abington 2/19 vs. PSU Scranton 1/29 at PSU Mont Alto 2/21 at PSU Abington 1/31 at PSU Scranton 2/23 vs. PSU Mont Alto
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers