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3BSportsTHE REGISTER-HERALD

Wednesday SectionJanuary 23, 2013

Sports Editor: Cam HuffmanPhone: 304-255-4475Scores: To report a sports scorecall 304-255-4475 or toll-free at800-950-0250 after 5 p.m. Online: www.register-herald.com

■ TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 255-4444 or 1-800-950-0250

CINCINNATI TOHOST 2015 MLBALL-STAR GAME

INSIDE | Page 6B

By Cam HuffmanSPORTS EDITOR

A talented point guard lit upthe Shady Spring High Schoolgymnasium Tuesday night,knocking down four 3-pointersto finish with a game-high 29points, while leading his teamto victory.

His name, surprisingly, was-n’t Chase Connor.

Wyoming East junior AustinCanada outshined the ShadySpring star, scoring 22 second-half points to lead the ClassAA No. 3 Warriors (10-2) to a96-79 road victory over theClass AAA Tigers (7-5), whosaw a seven-game winningstreak snapped in front of alarge home crowd.

“I shot and shot in the firsthalf and just kept missing,”said Canada. “The coacheskept telling me to keep shoot-ing, because I was wide openand they would have to fall atsome point. I got open, and Ihad to take the shots.”

Canada wasn’t the onlyWarrior filling up the statsheet — not by a long shot.Wyoming East saw all five ofits starters reach double fig-ures in scoring. Junior guardJosh Tunstalle shot it wellfrom the perimeter, as well,knocking down three 3-point-ers to finish with 22 points. Se-nior forward Brett Bowlingscored 15, freshman centerCody Lester added 13 and jun-ior guard Christian Hedingerscored 11.

“That’s what we want to do,”said Wyoming East head coachRory Chapman. “I’ve neverhad a team who could spreadit out as much. It can be a dif-ferent guy every night.

“We’ve had six or seven guyslead us in scoring at differentpoints in the season. When youdo that, you’re hard to guard.”

The Tigers found some bal-ance on offense as well, led bysenior forward Jacob Buck-

land, who dominated the paintin the early going, scoring 16of his team-best 22 points inthe opening quarter. Juniorguard Jordan Meadows cameoff the bench to score 17, andJuwan Rowe, a senior forward,attacked the glass for 10.

But Shady Spring’s usualpoint producer went missingfor most of the game. Connor— a state player of the yearcandidate, who came into thegame averaging almost 24points per contest — had justtwo points at the halftimebreak. He finished with 13, butsix of those came on a pair of 3-pointers in the final two min-utes, when the Warriors al-ready had the game well inhand.

“Sometimes you’re on, andsometimes you’re off,” saidShady Spring head coachSteve Clark. “He didn’t havehis normal shooting night, butwe still wanted him to shootthe ball. He made a lot of otherthings happen. Buckland had22, and Chase gave him theball about every time.

“We’ve got several peoplethat can do different things. Ifhe’s not doing well and we’restill in the ballgame, that’s agood sign for us.”

Despite all of those num-bers, the Tigers were verymuch in the game, tied 50-allwith 3:30 left in the thirdquarter and down just six, 73-67, with 5:30 to go in thegame.

Late turnovers down thestretch, and Connor’s inabilityto knock down the shots whenhis team needed them most,turned the game into a run-away as Wyoming Eastknocked down its free throwsand the Tigers failed to answerat the other end.

Connor’s cold shooting wasno bigger part of the resultthan the Warriors’ perimeter

By J. Daniel RollinsREGISTER-HERALD SPORTS WRITER

Westside had something toprove. Coach Nick Cook’sRenegades suffered a pair oftough losses to rivalsWyoming East and Loganearlier this month, but werebeginning to make waves bydefeating Man and reigningClass AA champion Tug Val-ley.

Next on their list? To slaythe giant that is Liberty’sLevi Cook.

Early in the game, bothteams looked evenlymatched. Both teams had 16points at the end of the firstquarter. Both teams had 34points at the end of the sec-ond quarter. Both teamswent into halftime needing tomake adjustments in order towalk away with a win.

On this night, it was West-side that made the right ad-justments and defeated Lib-erty 77-68.

“We knew we had to getmore pressure on the ball,”Nick Cook said. “We had toget more pressure on theirguards and not let them walkthe ball up and just lob it into(Levi) Cook.”

That’s exactly what theRenegades did.

Just seconds into the thirdquarter, junior guard CoreyBowles hit a layup. A few sec-onds later, he managed to

steal the ball from Liberty’sMichael Prater and put it infor another bucket. It was thestart of what would be a 10-0run for Westside, and enoughto break the game open forthe Renegades.

“Well, coach really neededus to play some good defense.We stepped up the intensityand got in our groove,”Bowles said.

“I don’t feel like they didanything really different inthe second half,” Libertycoach Aaron Pauley said. “Wejust didn’t adjust very well.When you get down to a teamlike that, it’s hard to getback.”

Westside’s full court pressmade the night tough for Lib-erty, and made it nearly im-possible to feed their 6-foot-10 big man Cook.

“He’s got such a size advan-tage, one of the keys to beat-ing Liberty is turning it intoa full court game,” Nick Cooksaid.

Putting a body on LeviCook doesn’t seem to hurt, ei-ther.

In a battle of sophomore bigmen, Westside’s Justin Cogargave Cook a fit inside, usinghis quickness and athleticism

By Gary FauberASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The biggest reason for ShadySpring’s recent wrestling surgeis that its schedule is arguablystronger than it has been inyears.

Unfortunately, that philoso-phy cost the Tigers a homematch.

The annual Dix ManningMemorial Duals, originallyscheduled for this Saturday,have been canceled. A lownumber of teams committingled to the decision to scrap thetournament for this year.

“We have had some toughtimes with other teams — itwas a timing thing as far asscheduling conflicts for the oth-er teams,” Tigers coach LarryRansom said.

In order to rekindle interestin the tournament, the Tigerstried to run last year’s eventunder an Olympics pools for-mat, like the annual JasonEades Memorial at PointPleasant. It worked, but notwithout a pitfall.

“Because of the structure of

our school, we had to put a matdown in our cafeteria,” Ransomsaid. “We had a hard time run-ning it, and I think a lot of theteams got frustrated.”

Plans were to return to abracketed format, but theresimply was not enough interestto warrant running the tourna-ment.

“By then, most teams had al-ready committed to other tour-naments,” Ransom said.

Options will be examined toget the tournament runningagain next season.

Coaches come and coach-es go. Some of themstay at one place longer

than others, leaving an unde-niable stamp on their respec-tive programs along the way.

But when you think of ath-letics at Independence HighSchool, two names immediate-ly come to mind — ScottyCuthbert and Joe Goddard.

I’ve been working here atThe Register-Herald since Iwas a Friday night part-timerin 1996, and Cuthbert was theonly Independence footballcoach I ever knew. A fewmonths later, when I was for-tunate enough to earn a full-

time positionand got achance to covermy favoritesport, I had thepleasure ofmeeting God-dard — the on-ly baseballcoach Indepen-dence has everknown.

Along theway in those 16

1/2 years, there hasn’t been asingle meeting, not one phoneconversation or e-mail withCuthbert or Goddard thatwasn’t pleasant. Cuthbert

sometimes left me laughing athis wit, and other times hemade me think with his un-derstated intellect.

Then there’s Goddard. Tosay I was in awe of this formerMajor League baseball playerwould be more than fair. As Iwatched him coach, I eventu-ally learned not to try to thinkalong with him. Just sit backand enjoy the ride.

Eventually we simply be-came friends, but his knowl-edge of the game still mademe feel at times that I don’tknow as much as I thought.

Dix Manning Memorial canceledShady Spring will be at W.Va. Duals starting Friday

See SHADY, 6B

■ PREP WRESTLING

Covering Independence sports will never be the same

See INDY, 6B

GaryFauber

AROUND THE HORN

CHRIS TILLEY/THE REGISTER-HERALD

Shady Spring’s Steven Chhabra (5) fouls Wyoming East’s Josh Tunstalle during their game Tuesdayin Shady Spring. The Class AA No. 3 Warriors won the game 96-79. To purchase this picture and tosee others, visit our photo store at www.register-herald.smugmug.com.

On Page 4B■ Complete local roundup

No. 10 Westside getspast Liberty 77-68

See WARRIORS, 6B

See RENEGADES, 6B

Warriors rundown TigersCanada scores game-high 29 to leadClass AA No. 3 Wyoming East to win

As it was, the Tigers’varsity team was not go-ing to be there anyway.They instead will competeat the West Virginia Dualsin Parkersburg on Fridayand Saturday.

Joining Shady andWoodrow Wilson in theannual event, one of thepremier in West Virginia,will be Parkersburg, Park-ersburg South, Brooke,Calhoun County, RoaneCounty, Lewis County,Ritchie County, George

Washington, Hedgesville,Cabell Midland, Dayton(Ohio) Christian Acade-my, Cuyahoga Valley(Ohio) Christian Academyand Springboro, Ohio.

It’s all part of the Tigers’effort to wrestle againstthe best competition possi-ble in order to be ready formid- and late-February.That philosophy seems tobe working — Shady wasfifth at the strong Win-ner’s Choice TournamentJan. 12, and placed thirdat the prestigious WSAZInvitational last weekend.

“We have tried to createa tougher schedule,” Ran-som said. “We feel like

that is what has beenmaking out team better.Our record might not re-flect our total success. Ithink we’re 26-10, butthose 10 losses have comeagainst good competition.”

That competition, cou-pled with an abundanceof talent — from TylerKosut and Johnny For-ren, to Nick Farley, JohnDuncan and BrandonStump — Ransom hopeswill make Shady astronger team when the

regional and state tour-naments roll around.

“We have an experi-enced lineup in a lot ofspots,” Ransom said.

The Tigers are alsoblessed with youth —freshman Logan Robert-son is among the state’stop 103-pounders — anddepth. For instance, CodyRichmond unseated Hen-ry Matos for the 152-pound spot and placedfifth at the Winner’sChoice, then both placed

at the WSAZ.And the Meadows

twins — Chris and David— are making thingstough on varsitywrestlers. Chris placedsixth at the WSAZ at 138.

“By the time regionalsand states get here, thatreality will set in andwon’t be like cultureshock when we getthere,” Ranson said. “Wewill be able to handlethem, or at least hangwith them.”


Sports6B THE REGISTER-HERALD

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 www.register-herald.com

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All good things, as theysay, must come to anend. When Cuthbert re-tired in November, andwhen Goddard did thesame last week, it wastruly the end of an eranot only at Indepen-dence, but for RaleighCounty sports.

Thanks for the memo-ries, gentlemen. Indepen-dence athletics will neverbe the same.

■ ■ ■

When Nicole Goddardwas a multi-sport athleteduring her days at Inde-pendence, I know I typedher name more than 100times as boxscores werereported or after I coveredone of her games.

Why, then, did I call her“Ashley” in a Tuesday ar-ticle about her dad’s re-tirement?

Old age? Not yet. Lackof sleep? Possibly.

Ignorance? Now we maybe on to something.

Anyway, sorry aboutthat, Ash ... I mean Nicole.

— E-mail: [email protected]

INDYContinued from 3B

SHADYContinued from 3B

CINCINNATI (AP) —The Reds will host the2015 All-Star game atGreat American BallPark, the city’s first since1988, a person familiarwith the decision told TheAssociated Press.

Commissioner BudSelig will discuss the deci-sion today in Cincinnati,where he’s also appearingto promote Major LeagueBaseball’s latest urbanyouth academy, accordingto the person speaking oncondition of anonymity be-cause no announcementhad been made.

The Cincinnati Enquir-er first reported the deci-sion.

The Reds have been try-ing to acquire the All-Stargame since they openedGreat American Ball Parkin 2003. They hosted the

game twice at RiverfrontStadium — two weeks af-ter its opening in 1970 andagain in 1988. This year’sgame will be played at theMets’ Citi Field in NewYork. The 2014 All-Stargame will be played inMinneapolis.

It’ll be the fifth time thatCincinnati — home ofbaseball’s first profession-al franchise — will hostthe All-Star game. It wasplayed at Crosley Field in1938 and again in 1953.The Reds hosted the gamewhen they opened River-front Stadium in 1970,and baseball had one of itsmost memorable finishes.Pete Rose bowled over In-dians catcher Ray Fosse toscore the winning run inthe 12th inning of a 5-4NL victory.

In 1988, rain washed

out the home run derbythe day before the All-Stargame at Riverfront Stadi-um. The uneventful gameended in a 2-1 AmericanLeague victory, with Oak-land catcher Terry Stein-bach driving in both ALruns on a homer and asacrifice fly. Steinbachwas the MVP and his spe-cial bat — with his nameerroneously spelled “Stein-bech” — was sent to theHall of Fame in Cooper-stown.

The Reds have made anextra push to get the All-Star game since BobCastellini bought control-ling interest in the club af-ter the 2005 season. MajorLeague Baseball was im-pressed by how the Redshandled the annual CivilRights Game in 2009 and2010.

AP Source: Cincinnati willhost 2015 MLB All-Star game

fire. Shady Spring foundsuccess with its zone inthe early going, as the vis-itors struggled to workthrough the defense forclose looks, but whenCanada caught fire with

three third-quarter 3s, itbecame contagious.

As a team, WyomingEast ended the game with10 3-pointers, makingShady pay for its gameplan.

“I had watched themplay a couple times, andthey hadn’t shot the ballthat well from the perime-ter,” said Clark. “It kind of

shocked me a little bit.“We just didn’t think

they’d shoot it that wellfrom outside, but we’llknow better next time.”

Winners of nine of theirlast 10, the Warriors willbe at PikeView on Fridayat 7:30 p.m. Shady Springwill host Summers Coun-ty that same night, withthe varsity game starting

at 5:30 p.m.— E-mail: chuffman@

register-herald.com andfollow on Twitter

@CamHuffmanRH.For team coverage check

us out online at www.regis-ter-herald.com and look for

the "In The Paint" link.

Wyoming East (10-2)Austin Canada 9 7-8 29, Cody Lester5 3-3 13, Josh Tunstalle 7 5-8 22,Brett Bowling 6 2-4 15, Christian

Hedinger 3 3-5 11, Tyler Lester 1 2-24, Jordan Hayes 1 0-0 2. Totals 3222-30 96.Shady Spring (7-5)Steven Chhabra 0 1-2 1, Juwan Rowe5 0-0 10, Corey Snyder 0 2-2 2, JacobBuckland 10 2-3 22, Chase Connor 50-3 13, Jordan Meadows 7 0-0 17,Tyler Bonds 5 2-4 12, NathanWilliams 1 0-0 2. Totals 33 5-14 79.WE 23 18 25 30 — 96SS 21 17 23 18 — 793-point goals — WE: 10 (Canada 4,Tunstalle 3, Bowling, Hedinger); SS: 6(Connor 3, Meadows 3). Fouled out— none.

WARRIORSContinued from 3B

to jump in front of thebig man to intercept anddeflect passes thrownhis way.

“It’s tough to do,” Cog-ar said of guardingCook. “He’s got a big sizeadvantage; he’s a reallygood player.”

This isn’t the first timeCogar and Cook havemixed it up.

“I’ve been playingagainst Justin since Iwas 9,” Levi said with alaugh. “We probably hadthe best Biddy-Buddygame ever; it went totwo overtimes. I fouledout, but we still won.He’s tough. He’s athletic.

He’s really competitive. Ilove playing againsthim.”

Nick Cook credited thevictory to the Renegadesgetting back to who theyare.

“I thought we playedreally selfish in the firsthalf, to tell you thetruth,” he said. “At half-time we kind of talkedabout why we’ve hadsome of the successwe’ve had the last couplegames, and that’s be-cause we’re a team.”

To senior leaderJustin Scarlett, they’remore than a team.

“We came in the lockerroom and talked like afamily,” Scarlett said.“We played sloppy in thefirst half, we got betterin the second and got a

good sectional win.”It hasn’t been an easy

season for a young West-side team, which suf-fered tough loses earlyin the season to Fair-mont Senior, WyomingEast and Logan.

“Every game, we’vehad to overcome a lot ofdiversity with injuriesand other things,” Cooksaid. “We’re starting tohit our stride, starting toget an identity. It’s atthe right time. We’rebuilding for the postsea-son.”

“I think we’re gettingbetter,” Westside juniorLevi Lambert said.“We’re putting a littlepride aside and letting itbe a team effort.”

Westside has a toughroad ahead before it gets

to the postseason,matching up with formerClass AA rival Oak Hillon Friday, and then willcompete in next week’sBig Atlantic Classic withfellow Class AA powersBluefield, Robert C. Byrdand county rivalWyoming East.

“We’ve got three winsin a row now. We’re hop-ing to build on that,”Cogar said said. “We’rejust going to keep play-ing team basketball —get prepared and playWestside basketball.”

Cogar finished thegame with 23 points and10 rebounds. Levi Cookhad another double-dou-ble with 29 points and11 rebounds.

Liberty visits ClassAA No. 7 Webster Coun-

ty on Thursday, thenhosts Nicholas Countyon Friday. Both gamestip at 7:30 p.m.

— E-mail: [email protected] and

follow on Twitter @jdanielrollins.

For team coverage checkus out online at www.regis-ter-herald.com and look for


Westside (9-5)Larry Cook 0 0-0 0, Will Fox 4 2-4 10,Corey Bowles 6 7-12 19, Hunter Walk-er 0 1-2 1, Justin Kenneda 0 0-0 0,Levi Lambert 6 3-5 16, Jason Scarlett4 0-0 8, Justin Cogar 9 3-3 23. To-tals: 29 16-26 77.Liberty (7-4)Austin Lyons 3 3-7 11, Michael Prater3 3-5 10, Levi Cook 10 9-10 29, TreMcDowell 2 0-0 4, Matt Klucarich 0 0-0 0, Trevor McGhee 6 2-3 14. Totals:21 17-25 68.W 16 18 19 22 — 77L 16 18 11 23 — 683-point goals — W: 4 (Lambert, Cog-ar 3); L: 3 (Lyons 2, Prater). Fouledout — W: Cogar.

RENEGADESContinued from 3B

Villanova rallies tobeat No. 5 Louisville

P H I L A D E L P H I A(AP) — Achraf Ya-coubou hit the tiebreak-ing 3-pointer late in thesecond half to help Vil-lanova upset No. 5Louisville 73-64 onTuesday night.

The Wildcats (12-7, 3-3 Big East) led by asmany as 10 points inthe first half and ral-lied late in the secondto send the Cardinals totheir second straightloss. Louisville (16-3, 4-2) had an 11-game win-ning streak end in a 70-68 loss to Syracuse onSaturday.

Ryan Arcidiaconoscored 15 points, andJayVaughn Pinkstonand Mouphtaou Yaroueach scored 11 for Vil-lanova.

The Wildcats stu-dents packed behindeach basket stormedthe court in a wild cele-

bration for a win coachJay Wright’s strugglingprogram badly needed.

Yacoubou hit the go-ahead 3 with just lessthan 4 minutes left andthe Wildcats held onfrom there.

Peyton Siva had 15points and 13 assistsfor the Cardinals andWayne Blackshearscored 17 points. TheCardinals didn’t playlike a team that wasjust the No. 1 team inthe country. The Cardi-nals, a 71 percent freethrow shooting team,was 12 of 24 from theline and shot 40 per-cent from the field.

Wright’s program hasfallen from among theBig East’s elite follow-ing a run to the 2009Final Four. The Wild-cats were eliminated onthe first weekend eachof the next two tourna-ments and failed toqualify last season forthe first time since2004. The Wildcatsneeded this one.

By Cam HuffmanSPORTS EDITOR

Iowa State may be makingits first trip to Morgantownon Saturday, but not every-body on the Cyclone sidelinewill be taking in the sur-roundings at MountaineerField for the first time.

ISU head coach PaulRhoads, now 26-36 in hisfifth season in Ames, Iowa, isquite familiar with the WVUfootball program. In fact, the46-year-old will be makinghis sixth appearance atMountaineer Field when theCyclones (2-9, 1-7 Big 12)and the Mountaineers (4-7,2-6 Big 12) meet Saturday at4 p.m. in a game that will airlive on Fox Sports 1.

As the defensive coordina-tor at Pitt from 2000 through2007 under Dave Wannstedt,Rhoads guided the Pantherdefense in some memorablegames at the home of theMountaineers.

In 2001, Rich Rodriguez’sfirst year as the WVU headcoach, the Panthers claimeda 23-17 win, but the Moun-taineers got revenge onRhoads’ next two trips, win-ning 52-31 in 2003 and thenclaiming a 45-13 victory thathelped clinch a Big East titleand a trip to the Sugar Bowlin 2005. A crowd of 52,997watched as Pat White shookoff the frigid temperatures torush for 220 yards and a pair

of touchdowns to lead a WVUrunning attack that netted451 yards.

“It was the coldest game Iever coached,” said Rhoads ofthat Thanksgiving weekendclash. “The wind was justblowing so hard that night.We were on the losing side-line, which impacts tempera-ture, too, in my opinion”

Rhoads’ most memorabletrip to Mountaineer Fieldcame in 2007 in a game thatWVU fans are still trying toforget. With a trip to the BCSchampionship game on theline, the No. 2 Mountaineersfell short against a Pantherteam that had won just fourgames coming into the Dec. 1regular season finale andwas installed as a 28 1/2-point underdog. Rhoads’ de-

fense helped limit a WVUrushing attack that posted517 yards the week before ina 66-21 win over Connecticutto just 104 yards, and ashocked crowd watched asPitt celebrated one of themost surprising results in re-cent college football history.

That was the coach’s lasttrip to Morgantown with thePanthers. He moved toAuburn, where he becamethe Tigers’ defensive coordi-nator for the 2008 season.

As fate would have it, atrip to WVU was on theAuburn schedule that year,but this time Rhoads’ defensedidn’t have the answer.White was limited to 8 yardson the ground, but in BillStewart’s more versatile at-tack he threw for 174 yardsand three touchdowns. NoelDevine, meanwhile, torchedthe Tigers for 207 yardsrushing as WVU won 34-17.

“I’ve made a lot of tripsthere and played a lot ofgames against this university,

RhoadsknowsWVU alltoo well


BSportsTHE REGISTER-HERALD

Thursday SectionNovember 28, 2013


INSIDE SPORTS:NFL ...................2BScoreboard ........3BCollege football ..5B


West Virginia Universitytrailed Wisconsin 39-31

at halftime. See final results on our web site,

www.register-herald.com.

See RHOADS, 4B

As the defensive coordinator at Pittfrom 2000 through2007 under Dave

Wannstedt, Rhoadsguided the Panther

defense in some memorable games at

thehome of the Mountaineers.

When Tim Epling sitsat the family tabletoday and a

prayer is said overThanksgiving dinner,it might feel a bit dif-ferent than before.

Epling knows, morethan ever, that he isfortunate to be here.

The 51-year-oldmanager of the WestVirginia Miners andowner of Upper DeckTraining Center, ason, a husband, a fa-ther of two, never re-alized how close he was tohaving it all taken away.

He didn’t know he was ig-noring signs that his body wasdesperately trying to send.Not until he was partaking inone of his favorite hobbies —

golf. He was on No. 9 at theCobb Course at The Resort at

Glade Springs when ithit him.

Something wasn’tright.

“I reached down topick up my ball,”Epling recalled, “andwhen I raised up, Igot so dizzy.”

A feeling of tired-ness came over him,so much so that hecould not finish theround. He simply did-n’t have the energy.

Days went by and Eplingwas still sapped. He had noenergy to do anything. So, hewent to see Dr. Hassan Ja-fary.

“I told him I wanted acomplete physical, and he

said OK,” Eplingsaid. “I said, ‘Iwant a stresstest.’ I needed itfor peace of mind,to know my heartwas OK.”

Dr. Jafary madethe stress testhappen. A seriesof events led toEpling’s dad,Doug, getting intouch with an oldbusiness acquaintance, Dr.Mark Bates, who in turn gotEpling in with Charlestondoctors Kishore Challa andAhmad Khan.

Turns out, Epling’s heartwas not damaged — by thegrace of God. It could havebeen at any moment.

Doctors found the main ar-

tery was 99.9 percentblocked. Epling was told hehad a widowmaker’s heart —which means exactly what itimplies.

“I was a ticking timebomb, and I had no idea,”Epling said. “If I had had aheart attack, I would havedied. It didn’t matter how

many doctors I hadaround me, therewould have beennothing they couldhave done for me.”

One day later, onNov. 5, Epling un-derwent a doublebypass to undo theblockage. The sur-gery was a success,and Epling washome six days later.

He is now athome, reportedly being agood patient as he travelsthe long road to recovery. Hedid get to go to Upper Decklast weekend to speak at aclinic, but anything physical— including golf — is, fornow, out of the question.

FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

Independence coach PattyBryant knows why Brooke Foley issuch a good setter, hitter and serv-er.

“You can’t teach competitive-ness,” she said. “Brooke has got it.She hustles after every play.”

Foley, a senior and three-yearstarter for the Patriots, is a repeatfirst-teamer on the Class AA All-State volleyball team, announcedtoday by the West Virginia SportsWriters Association.

She averaged 7.4 assists pergame for Independence, which ad-vanced to the state tournamentquarterfinals earlier this monthand went to states for three of Fo-ley’s four seasons.

“There doesn’t seem to be a badpass when Brooke is out there,”Bryant said. “She will make a play

out of everything.Foley also served up 94 aces to go

along with 97 kills and 265 digs.Bryant suggested Foley do a

jump serve — difficult to receivebut tricky to do well. Foley decidedagainst it.

“Brooke is capable of doing it, butshe’s such a perfectionist she want-ed to make sure her serve goes in,”

Bryant said.n Long, lanky and powerful Nik-

ki Shriver from Philip Barbourcaptains the AA first team.

The Colts’ senior accumulated512 kills, 238 blocks, 37 aces, 21assists and more than 400 digs thisseason as she led the Colts to a 50-7-3 record and the semifinals forthe state tournament.

Shriver, though, has meant muchmore than statistics to the Colts.

“Players like Nikki don’t comearound too often,” coach head coachHeather Halfin said. “She is veryquiet in what she does, and shejust lets her play speak for itself.You never really saw her get realfired up about a kill or a reallygood dig or anything like that. Shejust went on about her business.She’s a very humble player.”

Thanksgiving has new meaning for Miners’ Tim Epling

GaryFauber

AROUND THE HORN

“I used to celebrate thechampionships. Now Icelebrate life.”

Tim Epling,West Virginia Miners manager

Epling

See EPLING, 4B

AP PHOTO

Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads congratulates wide receiver Justin Coleman during thesecond half of the Cyclones’ football game against Kansas in Ames, Iowa, last Saturday. IowaState won 34-0.

■ WVU NOTEBOOK


Everyone associated with Mar-shall’s football program is doingwhatever possible to ensure JoanC. Edwards Stadium is packed forBlack Friday’s mo-mentous battlewith East Caroli-na.

With the Thun-dering Herd play-ing its first cham-pionship game inHuntington in 11years, sidelineseats have beendiscounted to $20and, in anticipation of a light stu-dent crowd because of Thanksgiv-ing break, high school studentsare being given the chance to be“Marshall students for a day” — a$10 ticket get will such fans intothe Marshall student section.

There have been counless mes-sages on Twitter, including anoutright challenge from receiverTommy Shuler: “Feel if u don’tcome support the team Friday unot a real herd fan !!! #beatECU”.

On Tuesday, Marshall broughtout the heavy artillery.

Former head coach Bob Pruett,the Beckley native who guided theHerd through its glory days of thelate 1990s and the first five sea-sons of the 21st century, ex-pressed his thoughts on how im-portant a big crowd would be asMarshall takes on ECU for theConference USA East Divisionchampionship at noon on CBSSports Network.

Pruettamong thosechallengingHerd fansMarshall hoping to sell outFriday’s game with ECU

■ MARSHALL NOTEBOOK

See PRUETT, 4B

YMCA’s Thanksgiving Day Run postponed until Saturday

Due to poor weather conditions, theYMCA of Southern West Virginia hasrescheduled the annual ThanksgivingDay Run for Saturday, November 30.

Registration will be held from 7 a.m.until 8 a.m. with the “Family Fun Run”starting at 8:10 a.m. The 5-mile run willbegin at 8:20 a.m. and the 5-mile walkwill begin at 5:30 p.m.

Cost for the race is $20 for the 5-milerun and walk and $10 for the 1-mileFamily Fun Run.

For more information, contact DanielVass at the YMCA by phone at 304-252-0715.

Magnolia-West game movedThe Magnolia at Greenbrier West

Class A football playoff semifinals gamehas been moved to Greenbrier EastHigh School at 1:30 p.m. Saturday

Hustle made Foley a standout for Lady PatriotsClass AA All-State volleyballFirst Team■ Brooke Foley, IndependenceSecond Team■ Anne Bass, Independence■ Haleigh Compton, PikeView■ Mikayla Abbott, Westside■ Kayla Via, James Monroe

See ALL-STATE, 3B

Pruett

As it was, the Tigers’varsity team was not go-ing to be there anyway.They instead will competeat the West Virginia Dualsin Parkersburg on Fridayand Saturday.

Joining Shady andWoodrow Wilson in theannual event, one of thepremier in West Virginia,will be Parkersburg, Park-ersburg South, Brooke,Calhoun County, RoaneCounty, Lewis County,Ritchie County, George

Washington, Hedgesville,Cabell Midland, Dayton(Ohio) Christian Acade-my, Cuyahoga Valley(Ohio) Christian Academyand Springboro, Ohio.

It’s all part of the Tigers’effort to wrestle againstthe best competition possi-ble in order to be ready formid- and late-February.That philosophy seems tobe working — Shady wasfifth at the strong Win-ner’s Choice TournamentJan. 12, and placed thirdat the prestigious WSAZInvitational last weekend.

“We have tried to createa tougher schedule,” Ran-som said. “We feel like

that is what has beenmaking out team better.Our record might not re-flect our total success. Ithink we’re 26-10, butthose 10 losses have comeagainst good competition.”

That competition, cou-pled with an abundanceof talent — from TylerKosut and Johnny For-ren, to Nick Farley, JohnDuncan and BrandonStump — Ransom hopeswill make Shady astronger team when the

regional and state tour-naments roll around.

“We have an experi-enced lineup in a lot ofspots,” Ransom said.

The Tigers are alsoblessed with youth —freshman Logan Robert-son is among the state’stop 103-pounders — anddepth. For instance, CodyRichmond unseated Hen-ry Matos for the 152-pound spot and placedfifth at the Winner’sChoice, then both placed

at the WSAZ.And the Meadows

twins — Chris and David— are making thingstough on varsitywrestlers. Chris placedsixth at the WSAZ at 138.

“By the time regionalsand states get here, thatreality will set in andwon’t be like cultureshock when we getthere,” Ranson said. “Wewill be able to handlethem, or at least hangwith them.”


Sports6B THE REGISTER-HERALD

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 www.register-herald.com

Bill Lewis Motors Crossroads Chevy First National Bank

of Peterstown Mid-State Ford Summersville

To show your support for High School Basketball call

Nancy Nickell at 304-255-4425

To show your support To show your support for High School for High School Basketball call Basketball call

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All good things, as theysay, must come to anend. When Cuthbert re-tired in November, andwhen Goddard did thesame last week, it wastruly the end of an eranot only at Indepen-dence, but for RaleighCounty sports.

Thanks for the memo-ries, gentlemen. Indepen-dence athletics will neverbe the same.

■ ■ ■

When Nicole Goddardwas a multi-sport athleteduring her days at Inde-pendence, I know I typedher name more than 100times as boxscores werereported or after I coveredone of her games.

Why, then, did I call her“Ashley” in a Tuesday ar-ticle about her dad’s re-tirement?

Old age? Not yet. Lackof sleep? Possibly.

Ignorance? Now we maybe on to something.

Anyway, sorry aboutthat, Ash ... I mean Nicole.

— E-mail: [email protected]

INDYContinued from 3B

SHADYContinued from 3B

CINCINNATI (AP) —The Reds will host the2015 All-Star game atGreat American BallPark, the city’s first since1988, a person familiarwith the decision told TheAssociated Press.

Commissioner BudSelig will discuss the deci-sion today in Cincinnati,where he’s also appearingto promote Major LeagueBaseball’s latest urbanyouth academy, accordingto the person speaking oncondition of anonymity be-cause no announcementhad been made.

The Cincinnati Enquir-er first reported the deci-sion.

The Reds have been try-ing to acquire the All-Stargame since they openedGreat American Ball Parkin 2003. They hosted the

game twice at RiverfrontStadium — two weeks af-ter its opening in 1970 andagain in 1988. This year’sgame will be played at theMets’ Citi Field in NewYork. The 2014 All-Stargame will be played inMinneapolis.

It’ll be the fifth time thatCincinnati — home ofbaseball’s first profession-al franchise — will hostthe All-Star game. It wasplayed at Crosley Field in1938 and again in 1953.The Reds hosted the gamewhen they opened River-front Stadium in 1970,and baseball had one of itsmost memorable finishes.Pete Rose bowled over In-dians catcher Ray Fosse toscore the winning run inthe 12th inning of a 5-4NL victory.

In 1988, rain washed

out the home run derbythe day before the All-Stargame at Riverfront Stadi-um. The uneventful gameended in a 2-1 AmericanLeague victory, with Oak-land catcher Terry Stein-bach driving in both ALruns on a homer and asacrifice fly. Steinbachwas the MVP and his spe-cial bat — with his nameerroneously spelled “Stein-bech” — was sent to theHall of Fame in Cooper-stown.

The Reds have made anextra push to get the All-Star game since BobCastellini bought control-ling interest in the club af-ter the 2005 season. MajorLeague Baseball was im-pressed by how the Redshandled the annual CivilRights Game in 2009 and2010.

AP Source: Cincinnati willhost 2015 MLB All-Star game

fire. Shady Spring foundsuccess with its zone inthe early going, as the vis-itors struggled to workthrough the defense forclose looks, but whenCanada caught fire with

three third-quarter 3s, itbecame contagious.

As a team, WyomingEast ended the game with10 3-pointers, makingShady pay for its gameplan.

“I had watched themplay a couple times, andthey hadn’t shot the ballthat well from the perime-ter,” said Clark. “It kind of

shocked me a little bit.“We just didn’t think

they’d shoot it that wellfrom outside, but we’llknow better next time.”

Winners of nine of theirlast 10, the Warriors willbe at PikeView on Fridayat 7:30 p.m. Shady Springwill host Summers Coun-ty that same night, withthe varsity game starting

at 5:30 p.m.— E-mail: chuffman@

register-herald.com andfollow on Twitter

@CamHuffmanRH.For team coverage check

us out online at www.regis-ter-herald.com and look for


Wyoming East (10-2)Austin Canada 9 7-8 29, Cody Lester5 3-3 13, Josh Tunstalle 7 5-8 22,Brett Bowling 6 2-4 15, Christian

Hedinger 3 3-5 11, Tyler Lester 1 2-24, Jordan Hayes 1 0-0 2. Totals 3222-30 96.Shady Spring (7-5)Steven Chhabra 0 1-2 1, Juwan Rowe5 0-0 10, Corey Snyder 0 2-2 2, JacobBuckland 10 2-3 22, Chase Connor 50-3 13, Jordan Meadows 7 0-0 17,Tyler Bonds 5 2-4 12, NathanWilliams 1 0-0 2. Totals 33 5-14 79.WE 23 18 25 30 — 96SS 21 17 23 18 — 793-point goals — WE: 10 (Canada 4,Tunstalle 3, Bowling, Hedinger); SS: 6(Connor 3, Meadows 3). Fouled out— none.

WARRIORSContinued from 3B

to jump in front of thebig man to intercept anddeflect passes thrownhis way.

“It’s tough to do,” Cog-ar said of guardingCook. “He’s got a big sizeadvantage; he’s a reallygood player.”

This isn’t the first timeCogar and Cook havemixed it up.

“I’ve been playingagainst Justin since Iwas 9,” Levi said with alaugh. “We probably hadthe best Biddy-Buddygame ever; it went totwo overtimes. I fouledout, but we still won.He’s tough. He’s athletic.

He’s really competitive. Ilove playing againsthim.”

Nick Cook credited thevictory to the Renegadesgetting back to who theyare.

“I thought we playedreally selfish in the firsthalf, to tell you thetruth,” he said. “At half-time we kind of talkedabout why we’ve hadsome of the successwe’ve had the last couplegames, and that’s be-cause we’re a team.”

To senior leaderJustin Scarlett, they’remore than a team.

“We came in the lockerroom and talked like afamily,” Scarlett said.“We played sloppy in thefirst half, we got betterin the second and got a

good sectional win.”It hasn’t been an easy

season for a young West-side team, which suf-fered tough loses earlyin the season to Fair-mont Senior, WyomingEast and Logan.

“Every game, we’vehad to overcome a lot ofdiversity with injuriesand other things,” Cooksaid. “We’re starting tohit our stride, starting toget an identity. It’s atthe right time. We’rebuilding for the postsea-son.”

“I think we’re gettingbetter,” Westside juniorLevi Lambert said.“We’re putting a littlepride aside and letting itbe a team effort.”

Westside has a toughroad ahead before it gets

to the postseason,matching up with formerClass AA rival Oak Hillon Friday, and then willcompete in next week’sBig Atlantic Classic withfellow Class AA powersBluefield, Robert C. Byrdand county rivalWyoming East.

“We’ve got three winsin a row now. We’re hop-ing to build on that,”Cogar said said. “We’rejust going to keep play-ing team basketball —get prepared and playWestside basketball.”

Cogar finished thegame with 23 points and10 rebounds. Levi Cookhad another double-dou-ble with 29 points and11 rebounds.

Liberty visits ClassAA No. 7 Webster Coun-

ty on Thursday, thenhosts Nicholas Countyon Friday. Both gamestip at 7:30 p.m.


follow on Twitter @jdanielrollins.

For team coverage checkus out online at www.regis-ter-herald.com and look for


Westside (9-5)Larry Cook 0 0-0 0, Will Fox 4 2-4 10,Corey Bowles 6 7-12 19, Hunter Walk-er 0 1-2 1, Justin Kenneda 0 0-0 0,Levi Lambert 6 3-5 16, Jason Scarlett4 0-0 8, Justin Cogar 9 3-3 23. To-tals: 29 16-26 77.Liberty (7-4)Austin Lyons 3 3-7 11, Michael Prater3 3-5 10, Levi Cook 10 9-10 29, TreMcDowell 2 0-0 4, Matt Klucarich 0 0-0 0, Trevor McGhee 6 2-3 14. Totals:21 17-25 68.W 16 18 19 22 — 77L 16 18 11 23 — 683-point goals — W: 4 (Lambert, Cog-ar 3); L: 3 (Lyons 2, Prater). Fouledout — W: Cogar.

RENEGADESContinued from 3B

Villanova rallies tobeat No. 5 Louisville

P H I L A D E L P H I A(AP) — Achraf Ya-coubou hit the tiebreak-ing 3-pointer late in thesecond half to help Vil-lanova upset No. 5Louisville 73-64 onTuesday night.

The Wildcats (12-7, 3-3 Big East) led by asmany as 10 points inthe first half and ral-lied late in the secondto send the Cardinals totheir second straightloss. Louisville (16-3, 4-2) had an 11-game win-ning streak end in a 70-68 loss to Syracuse onSaturday.

Ryan Arcidiaconoscored 15 points, andJayVaughn Pinkstonand Mouphtaou Yaroueach scored 11 for Vil-lanova.

The Wildcats stu-dents packed behindeach basket stormedthe court in a wild cele-

bration for a win coachJay Wright’s strugglingprogram badly needed.

Yacoubou hit the go-ahead 3 with just lessthan 4 minutes left andthe Wildcats held onfrom there.

Peyton Siva had 15points and 13 assistsfor the Cardinals andWayne Blackshearscored 17 points. TheCardinals didn’t playlike a team that wasjust the No. 1 team inthe country. The Cardi-nals, a 71 percent freethrow shooting team,was 12 of 24 from theline and shot 40 per-cent from the field.

Wright’s program hasfallen from among theBig East’s elite follow-ing a run to the 2009Final Four. The Wild-cats were eliminated onthe first weekend eachof the next two tourna-ments and failed toqualify last season forthe first time since2004. The Wildcatsneeded this one.


BSportsTHE REGISTER-HERALD

Tuesday SectionDecember 3, 2013


INSIDE SPORTS:NCAA ................2BScoreboard ........3BNFL ...................7B


If this were 2014, who knowswhether Marshall or Ricewould be hosting the Confer-

ence USA championship game?One thing is for certain — the

game’s site would not be deter-mined the way it was Sunday.

After FloridaState wins the na-tional champi-onship in January(yes, that’s my pre-diction), the BCSwill be no more,giving way to thebirth of the playoffsystem most of ushave wanted foryears. The BCS hasbeen a source ofcontroversy andconsternation for a

long time now, and is certainly go-ing out with a bang.

Teams that felt worthy of playingfor college football’s most covetedprize have been left out, and the po-tential exists for it to happen one fi-nal time next week.

But who would have thought theBCS rankings would have such animpact at the mid-major level asthey have in Huntington and Hous-ton?

With East Division championMarshall and West winner Rice fin-ishing with identical leaguerecords, and without a head-to-head matchup to invoke as atiebreaker, everyone had to wait forthe BCS rankings release late Sun-day for the site to be announced.

What a dizzying Sunday itproved to be.

Would-be mathematicians dustedoff their abacuses in attempts tocrack the code.

Jerry Palm, the college footballguru at CBSSports.com, releasedsome early projections that hadRice ahead of Marshall. Later, afterMarshall received votes in the USAToday coaches and Harris Interac-tive polls — two-thirds of the BCSequation — Palm updated his pro-jections to reflect the Herd at 32and Rice at 56.

Everything seemed to be pointingtoward Marshall hosting its firstconference title game in 11 years.Instead, the BCS dropped its C.

BCS shouldnever havebeen part of process

GaryFauber

AROUNDTHE HORN

Not as easy as it looks

McClung, Cavaliers back in state title game after 22-year absence

STEVE KEENAN/FOR THE REGISTER-HERALD

Greenbrier West head coach Lewis McClung, right, congratulates linebacker Logan Brown (43) as he comes off the fieldduring an 18-0 Class A semifinal win at No. 2 St. Marys on Nov. 23. The No. 7 Cavaliers will take on No. 1 Madonna for thestate championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Wheeling Island Stadium. In back is West assistant coach Greg “Cub” Curry.


Perennial success in high schoolfootball is not as easy as Wayne andMartinsburg might make it seem.But there was a time when LewisMcClung thought it was.

McClung, the veteran head coachat Greenbrier West, got his firstcoaching job in 1990 as a volunteerassistant to legendary Spencer HighSchool coach Jim Hamrick. The Yel-lowjackets played East Bank thatyear for the Class AA state champi-onship, losing 15-12 at Charleston’sLaidley Field.

A year later, McClung returned tohis native Greenbrier County. Hecoached at Rainelle Junior High, buthelped out on the staff at GreenbrierWest. The Cavaliers advanced to theClass AA state title game, wherethey met — ironically — Spencer.This time, the Yellowjackets gottheir championship with a 31-22 vic-tory.

Again, McClung was on the wrongside of the field. Still, two state titlegames in your first two seasons as acoach? Not a bad start to the resumé.

But also, very misleading.“I thought, ‘There’s nothing to this

coaching thing,’” McClung said with

a laugh.He’s here to tell you, it’s anything

but easy.“That was the last time I was

there,” McClung said. “I haven’tbeen back in 22 years.”

Finally, that streak will come to anend this weekend. The venue mayhave changed, but McClung will leadhis seventh-rated Cavaliers (12-1)onto the turf of Wheeling Island Sta-dium on Saturday to face No. 1Madonna (13-0) for the Class A statechampionship.

Kickoff will be 7 p.m.See MARSHALL, 7B

See CAVALIERS, 7B

By Jim LaiseASSOCIATED PRESS

MORGANTOWN — RemiDibo scored a career-high 19points and four of his team-mates chipped in with doublefigures and West Virginiaripped Loyola (Md.) 96-47Monday night in a nonconfer-ence game.

Dibo, a junior forward fromCasper College and Montreull,

France, canned 6 of 8 baskets(5 of 7) from beyond the 3-point line as the Moun-taineers (6-2) showedtheir highest margin ofvictory this season.

Dylon Cormier, thenation’s second-leadingscorer with 28.4 pointsper game coming in, wasthe only Greyhound in doublefigures with 11.

Dibo, a reserve who played

23 minutes, got able backupfrom teammates Terry Hen-

derson (16), also a reserve,Eron Harris (14), Kevin

Noreen (13) andNathan Adrian (11).Adrian, a freshman,tied his career best.The Mountaineers’

Juwan Staten, who wasaveraging 18.2 points pergame prior to tip, scored onlyfour points, but the 6-foot-2

guard cleared a game-high 10rebounds, his career best. Healso dished out seven assists.

Staten had played 250 of apossible 280 minutes cominginto this game. He had scoreddouble figures in each contestand was shooting 58.7 percentfrom the floor. He had accumu-lated 53 assists and just seventurnovers. In fact, he had oneor fewer turnovers in 12 of hisprevious 14 games, dating

back to last year.His 7.6 assists, prior to this

game, placed him third amongNCAA leaders.

WVU walloped Loyola on theboards, bringing down 62 re-bounds to just 22 for the visi-tors, including 29 offensiveboards to the Greyhounds’ sev-en, their best rebounding per-formance so far this season.

Critics of former West VirginiaUniversity athletic directorEd Pastilong pointed to the

decision to hire Bill Stewart as amistake equal to tearing down theweight room and replacing it with aroom full of shake weights.

It wasn’t that Stewart was such abad hire — he was a football lifermore loyal to West Virginia than anycoach to ever perform his craft with-in its borders. The problem most hadwas that the decision was made notafter a careful interview process andweeks of evaluation but in the eu-phoria of a Fiesta Bowl win againstOklahoma — during which Stewartserved as interim head coach and

helped keep the Moun-taineers focusedagainst nearly impossi-ble odds — that wasonly slightly lessshocking than Pitt’swin over WVU in thegame prior to the bowltrip.

Throughout Stew-art’s three-year tenureas head coach — dur-ing which he finished9-4 each season — crit-

ics continually pointed to the rusheddecision every time something went

MORGANTOWN — Howmuch lower can West Vir-ginia University’s football

program get in the wake of a 4-8 sea-son?

Isn’t there any leadership in that in-stitution that’s at least concernedabout the damages thrust upon theMountaineer fan base by Oliver Luckand Dana Holgorsen the past threeyears or so?

Luck, WVU’s highly-paid athletic di-rector, surely saw that only 33,735fans watched the Mountaineers blow a31-7 lead in a 52-44 triple-overtime lossto Big 12 cellar-dweller Iowa State.That was the third-lowest attendancein the 34-year history of MountaineerField at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Holgorsen, who keepsblaming himself in histhird year as a headcoach at any level, hadlooked on two weeks be-fore as his team lost 31-19 in a similar style ofsetback at strugglingKansas.

Keep in mind, too,that West Virginia wasfavored in both of thoseBig 12 contests. What’s

more, those two embarrassing defeatsbrought the total to five or six in whatwere considered by some observers aswinnable games in 2013.

See FURFARI, 7B

Small crowd tells unfortunatestory of Mountaineer football

MickeyFurfari

FANFARE

West Virginia drubs Loyola behind career night from Dibo

See DIBO, 7B

Luck is stuck: Either keepHolgorsen or eat his salary

CamHuffman

VIEW FROMTHE SIDELINE

See HUFFMAN, 7B

NFLSaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Seahawks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

0:11 left 3Q

The game above was not available atpress time. For complete results,

see Wednesday’s edition.


Sports 7BTHE REGISTER-HERALD

Tuesday, December 3, 2013www.register-herald.com

This will be remem-bered by many as a cam-paign in which the Moun-taineers failed to attract acapacity crowd of 60,000fans a single time whileplaying six home games.

It is also interesting tonote that Holgorsen’ssquad is only the fifth inWVU’s 121-year, 720-game football history tofinish a season with asmany as eight losses.

The others were in 2001(3-8), 1978 (2-9), 1960 (0-8-2) and 1950 (2-8).

Going back to last year,WVU has won just six ofits last 20 games (.300percentage) since that 5-0season’s start and No. 5ranking in the polls. Itfinished 2012 with a 7-6record.

That’s strictly a fact —not an opinion.

There are those whothink the school’s highestpaid football staff in histo-ry has done a bad job ofrecruiting, teaching andgame coaching. They alsodisagree with Luck andHolgorsen that the pro-gram is headed in theright direction.

Did you ever wonderhow WVU’s big, big

donors are feeling?It’s a truly sad situation

which is expected to con-tinue to lose more season-ticket buyers annually inthe upcoming years.

Incidentally, theturnout for the 2013 foot-ball finale (33,735) wasthe smallest since Nov.21, 1992. Just 27,051 sawthe Mountaineers endthat season with a 23-3win against LouisianaTech at home.

WVU’s blowing an early31-7 lead against IowaState marked the thirdtime in the last four con-tests the Mountaineerslost a two-score edge afterhalftime.

Yet Holgorsen had in-sisted that the team wasshowing improvement.

Do you think the younghead coach deserves afourth year in the WVUprogram? I’ve heard somesay “yes” and others “no.”

Well, the late Bill Stew-art was not allowed toserve a fourth season in2011. And his teams hadposted three consecutive9-3 regular-season recordsand as many bowl ap-pearances.

Those teams were cer-tainly competitive in theBig East Conferencewhile it still had schoolsnow in the ACC and Big10.

FURFARIContinued from 1B

West defeated No. 14Magnolia 21-14 lastSaturday to secure itsfirst berth in the titlegame since 1991. Thedefense was challengedfor the first time in thepostseason, but re-sponded with a domi-nating second-half per-formance.

The Cavs had givenup a combined 120yards of offense in winsover Notre Dame andpreviously-unbeaten St.Marys, but Magnolia

running back DrewKeller approached thattotal in the first halfalone, with 98 yards on27 carries. Keller scoredtwice on a defense thathad not yet yielded apoint.

The second half was adifferent story.

West’s defense wentback to its stinginess,with its sixth half ofscoreless football, andlimited Keller to 32yards after the break.

A season-long defen-sive dominance hasWest on the cusp ofwinning that elusive ti-tle.

“This opportunity

does not present itselfoften,” McClung said.“We need to take ad-vantage of the opportu-nity.”

Wayne has won thelast two Class AA titles,and Martinsburg is thethree-time defendingchampion in ClassAAA. Wayne has nowwon its last 11 playoffgames and Martinsburgits last 15, and both willhave the chance to de-fend their titles thisweekend.

They are, McClungsays, exceptions to therule.

“I don’t think peopleappreciate how difficult

it is to get there,” Mc-Clung said. “Martins-burg and Wayne andsome of those otherteams that seem to bethere every year makeit seem easy, but it ’snot.

“Don’t get me wrong,we are happy to bethere. But we don’twant the boys to getcomplacent just becausewe got there. We are go-ing to practice all weekand play with the in-tent of coming out witha victory.”


follow on Twitter @GaryFauber

CAVALIERSContinued from 1B

Apparently, Palm hadbeen working closely withC-USA to come up withthe winner. After all, tick-ets had to be printed andplans to sell them had tobe made as quickly as pos-sible.

Usually, the BCS onlyworries about computingits top 25. It was evenstated in a C-USA releasethat, “While the BCSstandings technically rank1-25, as that is all that isrequired for the BCS, theformula (which equallyweighs the Coaches poll,Harris poll, and computerpolls for a BCS average)can be extended to deter-mine the relative positionsof teams.”

In other words, Palmdid C-USA a favor inagreeing to help.

I can just hear Palm re-acting with a “really?”when the C-USA asked forhis help in solving thedilemma.

In the end, Rice won outbecause Palm’s earlier pro-jections did not take intoaccount the computer posi-tions of teams that did notreceive votes in either ofthe human polls — e.g.Rice.

Palm was even quotedin the C-USA release thatthe formula used forbreaking the tie “doesn’tmatch the formula I usefor my ratings on CBSS-ports.com, which serve adifferent purpose, but I be-lieve it was absolutely ap-propriate and fair.”

Translation: “Rice isyour winner. Now, please,leave me alone. Auburnjust beat Alabama in thegreatest finish to a collegefootball game ever. I havemore important things go-ing on.”

I don’t think C-USA act-ed to job Marshall. Atleast, not intentionally. Ijust think the league did-n’t think it through. It isclearly spelled out that“BCS ranking (i.e. averagecomputer ranking) wouldbe used to determinehost.”

That’s pretty simple.But when it came down toit, the rules were alteredat the absolute wrongtime.

Far be it for me to saythe league dropped theball, but C-USA made BillBuckner look like WillieMays on this one.

The BCS should neverhave been involved in thefirst place. Unless there isa Northern Illinois orBoise State involved, theBCS is useless to a mid-major conference. Go topoints scored in conferencegames, or points allowed,or attendance, or mascots— anything other thanthe BCS. Even the Big 10— a BCS conference —waits to use the rankingsas a fifth tiebreaker whentrying to determine a divi-sion champion.

If C-USA isn’t goodenough for the BCS, thenthe BCS should not havebeen good enough for C-USA.


follow on Twitter @GaryFauber

MARSHALLContinued from 1B

Adrian grabbed ninerebounds for WVU, andDevin Williams andEron Harris each hadseven.

WVU turned those re-bounds into 42 pointsagainst just 9 for the vis-itors.

The Mountaineers con-nected on 32 of 74 shots(43.2 percent), butknocked down 13 of 22buckets (59.1 percent)from beyond the 3-pointarc. The Mountaineerswere ranked 15th in thelatest NCAA statistics interms of triples made pergame (9.6).

West Virginia shot86.4 percent from thefree-throw line on 19-of-22 shooting comparedwith 41.7 percent for theGreyhounds on 5-of-12shooting.

Loyola mustered just33.9 percent (19 of 56)from the field and 23.5percent (4 of 17) outsidethe arc.

WVU led from wire-to-wire, taking a 47-20 leadat halftime and expand-ing it to 51 points nearthe game’s end.

LOYOLA (MD.) (4-2)Rassman 1-5 0-0 2, Latham 3-7 1-2 7,Cormier 4-7 1-2 11, Laster 4-13 0-2 8,Brito 1-5 1-2 4, Patton 1-3 0-0 2, Gorski 1-2 0-0 2, Rashford 1-7 0-0 2, Tuohy Jr. 0-10-0 0, Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Hubbard 1-3 2-2 5,Forney 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 19-56 5-12 47.

WEST VIRGINIA (6-2)Williams 4-12 0-0 8, Adrian 4-6 0-0 11,Noreen 5-5 2-2 13, Staten 2-10 0-0 4,Harris 4-13 4-6 14, Dibo 6-8 2-2 19,Connor 0-2 0-0 0, Browne 0-2 5-6 5,Henderson 6-8 2-2 16, Watkins 1-5 2-24, Hughes 0-1 0-0 0, Romeo 0-2 2-2 2.Totals 32-74 19-22 96.Halftime—West Virginia 47-20. 3-PointGoals—Loyola (Md.) 4-17 (Cormier 2-2,Hubbard 1-2, Brito 1-4, Patton 0-1,Gorski 0-1, Tuohy Jr. 0-1, Rashford 0-3,Laster 0-3), West Virginia 13-22 (Dibo5-7, Adrian 3-4, Henderson 2-2, Harris2-5, Noreen 1-1, Hughes 0-1, Staten 0-1, Connor 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Re-bounds—Loyola (Md.) 22 (Laster 5),West Virginia 62 (Staten 10). Assists—Loyola (Md.) 11 (Cormier 3), West Vir-ginia 19 (Staten 7). Total Fouls—Loy-ola (Md.) 18, West Virginia 10. A—4,692.

DIBOContinued from 1B

Keeping watch on the localsFormer Shady Spring High School standout

Chase Connor played 6 minutes in Monday'sgame and grabbed a defensive rebound. He was0-for-2 from the field, including 0-for-1 from 3-point range. The freshman walk-on is still lookingfor his first collegiate points in a regular seasongame. Greenbrier East High School graduateRichard Romeo played 3 minutes against Loyola.He was 0-for-2 from the field but grabbed bothan offensive and a defensive rebound and sunka pair of free throws for two points.

wrong. “That’s what youget when you hire acoach in the middle of thenight,” they said.

When Oliver Luck washired to replace Pastilongon June 9, 2010, one ofthe first major moves hemade was to relieveStewart — who was 28-12 at WVU — of his du-ties, bringing in DanaHolgorsen from Okla-homa State to lead theMountaineers. At thetime, Luck said he want-ed a coach who couldbring a national champi-onship to the MountainState.

“Finally,” the criticsshouted, “WVU has aleader that makesthoughtful decisions andunderstands what ittakes to win.”

A little more than ayear after Holgorsenmoved to Morgantown inDecember of 2010 — hewas first supposed to bethe offensive coordinatorand the coach-in-waiting,but the in-waiting tagwas soon removed —Holgorsen was celebrat-ing a record-setting 70-33Orange Bowl victory overClemson.

Seven months later, be-

fore Holgorsen had evencoached a single game inhis second season atWVU — his first in theBig 12 — or seen any ofhis own recruits take thefield, Holgorsen receiveda new six-year contract.

On the surface, Luck’sdecision was nothing likethe one made by Pasti-long in the desert in Ari-zona a few years earlier.For starters, he wasn’thiring an unprovencoach, he was rewardingone who had proved hisworth. And he didn’t do ithours after a BCS win.He waited half a year.

But in reality the deci-sions were about as dif-ferent as oranges andtangerines. Luck gaveHolgorsen a new deal —with no way out for WVUbut to pay the entire con-tract — as a result of onewin, the Orange Bowl. Itcouldn’t have been a re-ward for the 9-3 regularseason as a Big Eastmember. After all, that’sthe same record Stewartproduced in his last twoyears at the helm. That,Luck said when he wasmaking a move, wasn’tgood enough. So whywould it have been anydifferent with the newcoach?

The only difference wasthe Orange Bowl, andLuck, filled with excite-

ment about how well hisbig hire was panning out,made a decision based onthat one win against aClemson team famous forfolding on the biggeststages.

It’s a decision that’snow coming back to bitethe former Mountaineerquarterback.

Holgorsen has won justsix of his last 19 gameson the WVU sideline,and he’s blowing leadsfaster than Cecil Fielderblows money at a casino.The crowd of 33,735 thatwatched WVU blow a 31-7 lead in a triple-over-time loss to Iowa StateSaturday was the third-lowest in the stadium’shistory, and while Hol-gorsen and his staff con-tinually point to the chal-lenges of Big 12 football,the Mountaineers arelosing to teams likeKansas, Iowa State andMaryland that would bebad in any conference.

Is it time to make aswitch? I’m not ready tosay yes or no. I’m usuallyone that prefers to give acoach time, but I thinkthere are problems deep-er than a tougher confer-ence and some depth is-sues, and I’m not confi-dent that things won’tget worse before it getsbetter.

But no matter where

Luck and his staff standin that debate — onethat’s being discussed atevery barber shop andwater cooler around thestate — it sure wouldbenefit WVU to havesome options. Instead,Luck’s stuck in a positionwhere he can either hangon to Holgorsen, andhope something willchange, or let him go andeat the nearly $12 mil-lion he’s owed on his con-tract and let him go.

The problem is thatWVU’s not Oregon orTexas. Money isn’tfalling out of the walls ofthe Puskar Center. Pay-ing Holgorsen that typeof money to get out oftown could possibly limitthe options for bringingin a new coach to returnthe Mountaineers to glo-ry.

So it seems as thoughthe only option for Luck— unless he can find aloophole that would givehis son, Andrew, a yearof eligibility in a Moun-taineer uniform — is tocross his fingers, put afour-leaf clover in hisshoe and wait.

That’s what happenswhen you extend a con-tract based on one win.


follow on Twitter@CamHuffmanRH.

HUFFMANContinued from 1B

Hoke expectsGardner, staff back

DETROIT (AP) — Michi-gan coach Brady Hokesays he expects quarter-back Devin Gardner to re-turn next season and an-ticipates retaining all ofhis assistant coaches.

Hoke spoke to reportersMonday at an event topromote the NationalChild Identification Pro-gram.

Gardner was granted afifth year of eligibility be-cause of a back injury hehad as a freshmen afterhe played sparingly. Hokesays he plans to evaluatethe entire football pro-gram, including his staff,as he does after eachseason.

The Wolverines closedthe regular season with a42-41 loss to Ohio Stateon Saturday, failing to con-vert a 2-point play with 32seconds left.

FLORHAM PARK,N.J. (AP) — Geno Smithis staying put as the NewYork Jets’ starting quar-terback.

His hold on the job,however, is tenuous atbest.

“He’s our best shot, inmy opinion,” coach RexRyan said.

Ryan confirmed Mon-day that he’s stickingwith the rookie despiteSmith’s struggles in thelast several games.

“I believe in Geno,”Ryan said. “I think hehas the tools to be a goodquarterback in thisleague.”

Smith wasn’t surprisedwhen he was told Mon-day morning by quarter-backs coach David Leethat he would start thehome game Sundayagainst the OaklandRaiders.

“Every day I come intothis building, I fully ex-

pect to play,” Smith said.“I prepare that way.When I got the news, itwasn’t a major reaction.”

Smith was benched infavor of Matt Simms athalftime of theJets’ 23-3 loss tothe Miami Dol-phins followinganother brutalperformance. Therookie was 4 for10 for 29 yardswith an intercep-tion and an 8.3quarterback rat-ing in two quar-ters.

“If it was a tactic towake me up or get me go-ing,” Smith said, “it defi-nitely worked becauseright now I definitely feela sense of urgency.”

He has one touchdownpass — against New Eng-land on Oct. 20 — and 11interceptions in his lastseven games. The Jets (5-7) have lost three

straight to go from con-trolling their playoff des-tiny a few weeks ago tobarely hanging on in thepostseason mix.

Still, Smith will get thestart againstOakland overSimms and veter-an David Gar-rard, who hasn’tplayed a regular-season gamesince 2010.

“His persever-ance is impres-sive to me,” Ryansaid about Smith.“He’ll bounce

back from this, and I’mjust waiting for him tohave a great game.”

Simms said he wasanxious coming to the fa-cility, not knowing if hewould get his first NFLstart or remain Smith’sbackup — at least for thenext game.

“Obviously, when youget out there on the field

and you get a little tasteof the real action, all youwant is you want more ofit,” Simms said. “Butnonetheless, Geno’s theman and I’m going tosupport him and preparelike I have been.

“If my number’s calledagain, then I’ll go outthere and play as hard Ican again.”

Smith was booed loudlyby the MetLife Stadiumcrowd at times before be-ing replaced by Simms.The son of former Giantsstar Phil Simms wascheered as he jogged ontothe field to start the thirdquarter, but didn’t faremuch better. He was 9 for18 for 79 yards with aninterception, and wassacked three times.

“I did enough to solidifythat I’m still the (back-up),” Simms said, smil-ing. “So, at least I didn’tplay myself out of my job,so that’s the key.”

Sister: Shooting wasover Alabama loss

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.(AP) — A womancharged with killing afellow Alabama fan afterthe end of last week-end’s Iron Bowl footballgame was angry thatthe victim and othersdidn’t seem upset overthe Crimson Tide’s lossto archrival Auburn,said the sister of theslain woman.

Adrian LarozeBriskey, 28, was chargedMonday with murder inthe killing of 36-year-oldMichelle Shepherd.

Hoover police Capt.Jim Coker said bothBirmingham womenwere Alabama fans andat the same party for theannual game betweeninterstate rivals. Withno time left on the clock,Auburn returned amissed Crimson Tidefield goal more than 100yards for a 34-28 victory,dashing any hopes of Al-abama playing for athird straight nationalchampionship.

The victim’s sister,Nekesa Shepherd, saidshe witnessed the killing

and had no doubt it wasabout football, eventhough it was unclear toinvestigators whetherthe violence was moti-vated by the game.

“That’s one of thethings we are investigat-ing,” Coker said Mon-day.

Nekesa Shepherd saidBriskey flew into a ragewhen she saw the sis-ters and others jokingthat the Crimson Tide’sloss wasn’t as bad as ifthe NBA’s Miami Heathad lost a game.

“She said we weren’treal Alabama fans be-cause it didn’t bother usthat they lost. And thenshe started shooting,”Shepherd told The Asso-ciated Press.

Shepherd said she andher sister were invitedto the party by a mutualfriend who also invitedBriskey. About twodozen people were onhand.

Shepherd, the motherof three, was shot todeath in the parking lotof an apartment complexin the Birmingham sub-urb of Hoover and thewomen did not knoweach other before theparty, Coker said.

Struggling Smith still Jets’ starter

Smith

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