= i By CHARLOT M. DENMON staff Correspondent It was no ordinary Friday night for the coeds and faculty of College Misericordia this past Friday. It was the night the college administration was to introduce the new nickname and mascot for the school. It was also the night both the girls and boys basketball teams were to compete against Keuka College of New York, the school where Misericordia’s former vice president, Arthur Kirk, recently accepted the position as president. It was before 7 p.m. and the Highlanders, Misericor- dia’s girls team, were in the first quarter of their game with Keuka. : McGinty Gym was filled and still students were coming in the doors. Every seat taken, standing room only filled with shoulder-to-shoulder fans, enthusiasm college gym, for if there were, no doubt students would be hanging from them. The college cheerleaders in their sailor blue and gold outfits led in cheers that could be heard from outside in the parking lot. Coeds with tiny brushes and black makeup compacts were painting small black paws on fellow students cheeks. “Paw Power” ‘paw power’ echoed and re-echoed through the gym and students moved excitedly about among the crowd. Out on the floor, playing as though inspired in a game that didn’t count in standings, Misericordia’s Highlanders kept up with their bigger and aggressive opponents from Keuka. This was a contest they wanted to win, this was against not only the players but against their former vice-president, Art Kirk — a man they all loved and respected. It was a keen rivalry, but a friendly one. Dallas Post/Ed Campbell her 32 game points. Teammate Anna Kelly ran wild in the second half to dump in 12 of 16 game points and help set the scene for Keuka’s 65-54 win. Misericordia’s fans were not discouraged and, as the girls went to the lockerroom, anticipation and excite- ment electrified the crowd. Billy Boom-ba in clown attire added to the spirit of the crowd with her polka beat and the horns blared the news that something surprising was about to happen. The cheerleaders with their fluffy gold pom-pomis, matching the gold in their uniforms rushed to the far end of the floor where they performed both acrobatic and aerobic dance routines. Then a hush fell over the gym as the horns announced the coming of the mysterious ‘‘Paw Power”, the introduction of the college’s new mascot, the “Cougar”. The lithe, sleek, beige-furred mascot danced out to the floor in time to the applause of the cheerleaders, who immediately encircled him and danced in time to the beat of the music on the sidelines. The roar of the crowd no doubt was heard at every corner of the campus as the fans shouted and stamped their feet in time to the dancing. After several attempts to quiet the crowd, college president Joseph Fink was successful, then took time to explain the name change and the mascot. The president explained that the cougar was chosen by the college community including the students and alumni because it is a high-land animal and provides continuity with the traditional nickname of the college, the Highlanders. The cougar also inhabits mountain- ous regions which emphasizes Misericordia’s location in the Back Mountain. The distinctive animal with its sleek, confident presence delighted the fans as it leaped high around The cheerleaders left the floor, but not the photogra- phers as they elbowed one another to get to the center of the floor and capture the new mascot before he disappeared. Shot after shot of the cougar, President Fink and cheerleaders were taken until finally the black and white shirted officials blew their whistles signalling “time to start the boys’ game.” The floor cleared, the crowd grew quiet, well reasonably so, and the boys came out on the floor. First, the boys from Keuka in their green and white lining up to take their practice; following the newly- named “Cougars” in their navy and white uniforms to practice at the other end of the floor. The tall, big players from Keuka towered over the Cougars like giants, but the Cougars were determined to live up to their new nickname as well as prove they had the paw power of their mascot. Led by freshman Pat Kingland, who poured in 30 points, the Cougars won 95-93 over Keuka College. Kingland paced Mike Wright with 21, Ron Summers and T.C. Wilson with 14 points each. Excitement and enthusiasm continued to reign in McGinty Gym and each time the horns blared, the Cougars charged to the basket and chalked up two points. Taking the lead at the start of the game, when they scored their first two points which gave them the lead, the Cougars fans tossed out long blue and gold streamers across the floor from the sides and corners of the gym. No delay in the game, however, for the dedicated cheerleaders and supporters quickly gath- ered up the streamers so the game could continue. The game was close all the way but when the buzzer sounded at halftime, Keuka was in the lead, 40-37. The players were determined — this was their game to win. A new name, a new mascot and their rival, former Misericordia vice-president Art Kirk. They had to win and win they did, outscoring their bigger and more formidable opponents, 33-21, at the foul line. The game over, students, fans and faculty from both schools joined in a social hour, all rivalry forgotten — at least, for the Cougars and their mascot. Yes, their mascot “Cougar Mike Daley” joined in the fun. the floor. No timid animal this one, but powerful and courageous. With its vertical leaps in the air, it personifies the slam dunk so important to basketball. The paw power of the Cougar will symbolize the power College Misericordia aims to become in NAIA athletics. The halftime whistle blew and the Highlanders went to the locker room with the score tied at 28-28. Sue Sharp and Liz Eife led the local girls with 17 and 13 i points respectively in their battle to take the Keuka 1 team. But Keuka’s Dee Johnson came back like a 1 sharp-eyed Tiger in the second half and tossed in 22 of Nos : 1 i | ( yz a By CHARLOT M. DENMON In a hard-fought win between Dallas Mountaineers and the Meyers Mohawks, 6-3, Meyers came lout on top 46-42 to end the first half. “tied with Hanover for second place. The loss dropped the Mountaineers 5-4 to a three-way tie for third with Crestwood and Wyoming Seminary. The Mountaineers outscored the Mohawks 10-8 in the first period but the Mohawks outscored the Moun- taineers 15-14 in the second quarter cutting Dallas’ lead at halftime to 24-23. Trailing 38-31 in the beginning of the fourth period, the Mountai- neers battled back scoring seven consecutive points to tie the game at38 with only three minutes remaining. Neither team could take control of the boards in the third quarter but the Mountaineers were out- rebounded 22-6 in the second half which lost them the game. TWO PACE TEAM In the fourth period the Mohawks Pete Tarutis and Mark Atherton combined for eight foul shots to pace their team to the win. Ather- first-half Meyers Lady Mohawks defeated Dallas Mountaineers, 58-39, last Friday to capture their first Divi- sion 2 first half title. The Mohawks 5’11’’ Rosalind Reeves, center, went against the Lady Mountaineers 5°11” center, Karen Vloedman, outscoring Vloed- man 28-18. Karen Monko also played a major role in the Mohawks win dumping in 11 points. She combined with Reeves in the third period to out- score Dallas 13-8. DALLAS OUTSCORED Meyers outscored the Dallas girls 28-21 in the first half and took a 41- 29 lead going into the final quarter. In the final period Reeves and Monko led their team in outscoring the Mountaineers 17-10 to take the 58-39 win. Reeves scored 16 points in the first half and at one time in the first quarter, she scored eight points on rebounds and one on a layup. Jill McGuire also helped her Mohawk team by putting in a layup and Jumping in two shots from the foul ine. Vloedman’s shots in the third quarter cut the Mohawks lead to seven but the Mohawks staged a strong comeback and lengthened their margin to 10 points. BETTER ON DEFENSE In comparing the two centers, Dallas Coach Kit Karuza said that offensively he believes they are the same but that Vloedman is better on defense. Vloedman was the only Lady Mount hitting double figures. Tammy Daveski had seven. Kim Rinehimer had six. Dallas ended the half with a 6-3 record. SETON WINS In Tuesday’s game with Seton Catholic, the Eagles defeated the Lady Mountaineers 61-40. The win eliminated Dallas from the first half race. title open in the third period by outscor- ing Dallas 25-9 with Nicole Kova- leski tossing in 11 of her 17 game points. Pat Redington scored 11 points in the fourth period for the Eagles to keep them in the lead. Kate Tigue added 11 and Megan Tigue accounted for 10. Lori Brokenshire led Dallas with 15, points, five goals from the field and five-for-10 from the foul line. Kim Rinehimer added 10 points, six- for-nine from the charity stripe and two goals from the field. The Lady Mountaineers open the second half, Friday, Jan. 24, with Northwest at home. LEHMAN PULLS UPSET Coach Joe Martini’s Lake-Lehman Lady Knights pulled an upset, Friday on their home court, defeat- ing the Blue Knights of Wyoming Seminary 55-40. The Lady Knights used a bal- anced scoring attack with Debbie Levi and Pam Coollbaugh scoring 14 points each, Diane Jachimowicz 12 and Janine Kasarda 10. Cheryl Mushala put in six points. The Lady Knights took a 25-23 lead into the lockerrom at halftime when Kasarda dumped in two foul shots with only 18 seconds left in the half. KNIGHTS SCORE BIG In the third period, the Lady Knights outscored Seminary 15-6 with Levi scoring two points as the quarter ended. Coolbaugh scored eight-for-12 from the foul line, three of them in the final quarter to insure the game. Knights Coach Martini said that when Seminary boxed in Kasarda, it didn’t stop his girls from scoring because the Knights are not geared to a one-girl scoring offense but use a balanced scoring attack. - — CHARLOT M. DENMON » ton’s final shots iced the game for the Mohawks. In the third period, with the score tied at 27, Mohawk Tom Skaff broke the tie with a field goal then hit for three more to lead the team to a 36- 31 lead at the endvof the quarter. Both teams did most of their shoot- ing from the outside in the period. DACOSIN SCORES BIG Dennis Dacosin was high scorer for the Mountaineers with 13 points, four shots from the floor and five- for-seven from the foul line. Tom Shalata followed with 12, four-for- four from the free stripe and four from the field. Tarutis was high for the Mohawks with 15 points. Atherton and Skaff hit the double figures column with 10 points each. DEFEAT SETON In their 79-68 win over Seton Catholic, Wednesday, on the Moun- taineers court, Dallas used a bal- anced offense led by Tim Moyer’s 19 points with Dacosin and Shalata following with 18 each. The Moun- taineers also played a strong inside game and controlled the boards most of the game. Excellent ball handling by Dacosin and great rebounding by Shalata kept the Mountaineers in the lead throughout the game. The Eagles came on strong in part of the second quarter and again in the third. In the final period, they came to within five points of the Mountaineers when Frank Galonis hit for a field goal that left the Mountaineers leading only 65-60. Putting the move on when being pressed. COACH EJECTED When Seton Catholic’s Coach Hop- kins was called for several technical fouls and ejected from the game, the Dallas team took: advantage of the opportunity and ‘won by 11 points, 79-68. Dallas will open the second half, Friday, Jan. 24 away against North- west. SEMINARY WINS With both teams missing shots from the field, a shot by Jay Antinnes with only three seconds on *the clock gave Wyoming Seminary a 33-31 win in a game where the Knights led 15-13 at halftime. The Blue Knights outscored Lake- Lehman 10-6 in the third period to lead 23-21 going into the final period. In the fourth period the Blue Knights held on to their two-point lead until, with only 15 seconds on the clock, Lake-Lehman’s Paul Andes put in a 15-foot jumper to tie the score at 31. Then Jay Antinnes, who had been shooting poorly throughout the game, tossed in a jump shot with three seconds remaining. He took a pass from Chris Berry and went up to dump it in and take the win. KENDALL HIGH Keith Kendall was high scorer for the Black Knights with 12 points, all of them from the field. Berry was high for the Blue Knights with 10 points, all from the field. The Black Knights tied up Berry most of the game with two men on him, never allowing him a free shot. The loss drops the Knights to 3-6 for the first half. Seminary ended the half at 5-4, tied with Dallas and Crestwood for third. Dallas Post/Earl Weidner N (Wl L Checking all options Dallas Post/Ed Campbell this weekend. | adamus expects; By CHARLOT M. DENMON Staff Correspondent Coach Ed Ladamus’ Black Knights ‘did just what he expected them to do Saturday night against the Tunkhannock Tigers before a packed house at Lake-Lehman. Ladamus told his wrestlers that if they performed the way he knew they could, they would win. They believed him and after winning only two of the first five, the Knights took the rest of the bouts to defeat the Tigers 45-17. The win ran their record to 4-1 in the Wyoming Valley Conference. 98-1b. Matt Reinert lost little time in putting the Knights on the board by clamping Tiger Mike Daily in 1:51. The Tigers tied it up in the next bout when 105-1b. Kevin Kalmo- nowicz flattened Knight Mark Rogowski in 1:24. KNIGHTS REGAIN LEAD 112-1b. Jeff Austin gave the lead back to the Knights by taking a 17-1 technical fall, the first of three for the Knights, from Fred Ungeruit. The Tigers came within one point of the Knights when their 119-Ib. Mike Gacha took a superior 16-3 decision fans had visions of pulling off a win over the Knights when 126-1b. Tim Mead pinned Chris Frederick in 2:21. Those visions soon dimmed as Lake-Lehman’s Joe Smith took a 2-0 decision from 132-b. Robert Bellas to move the team score to within three points of the Tigers. 138-lb. Bob Guzenski put the Knights in the lead, 21-17, with technical fall, 18-2, over Steve Taylor. 145-lb. Mark Yaple moved the Knights to 24-17 by outwrestling Kevin Mead 9-7, then 155-1b. Don Spencer pikced up the Knights third techncial fall over Mike Grohs, 17-1. GEORGE SCORES PIN Leading 30-17, 167-1b. Bill George scored a pin for the Knights clamp- ing Brian Beyer in 3:27, to move his team to 36-17 icing the win. Scott Shafer gave Lake-Lehman another pin by flattening his 185-1b. opponent Bill Parry in 3:23. Heavyweight Ed Stratford defeated Tiger Chris Schultz 5-1 to end the meet, 45-17. ROLL OVER GAR The Knights rolled over the win- less GAR grapplers 57-3 in Wednes- day’s meet in the Grenadiers gym. The Knights lost only one bout, the 119-1b. between Grenadier Kevin Sypniewski and Knight Terry Smith. (See LADAMUS, page 10) ‘p