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fitRyanWinning Is EverythingBy ALVIN BENN Sports CorrespondentRYAN -Ralph— Robert Pope, Mickey Ryan,and Jan Whisenant Morganwill slip out of sight along with their school.Easternin extreme County, onewas ahaven’t had much to cheer about basketballwith ain a long, long timepowerreputation to match The pastPope is the coach, Ralph the couple of years have been leanstar player and Jan the head ones, however, as the school'scheerleader ofa team hasn’t won a game since the 1969 seasonthat|cage talent dwindledWith consolidation around thecorner, Ryan will be phased out//That's 48 consecutive losses after this term with theand, unless the trend changes freshmen, sophomores andBENNtonight or in ^ the regional Juniors moving on to Brewer |oompletion in Favette_ I ~ - n . _ n a r\ ji _ ••• /i • • • * ■ _ 5 _ I ’ROBERT POPEplayoffs, the Ryan Red Devils High School which is nearingIctoryCHARESports Writere, it's all the same to Dwight)ring leader last season with a ed up right where he left off, rn Louisiana, has switched intoLamar—on an off night— ured in 42 points Thursday to ad Southwestern Louisiana, -2 and ranked 13th in the na-3n. to a .95-83 victory over cNeese State. The 6-foot-l lard currently leads the na-ft * , . .. . ..s. % * .)n’s major college scorers ith a 35.8 average.Although Lamar's scoring is been an instrumental factor Southwestern Louisiana’sNothing To Cheer Aboutccess. he has had help—much it from center Roy Ebron, io scored 22 points and pulled wn 24 rebounds againstIt t v i ■■ n i. .cNeeseMickey Ralph, Ryan’s leading scorer, ponders a question about the Red Devils’ 48-game losing streak. Ryan plays its last regular season game tonight against Vinemont. (DAILY Photo)The Cajuns led by only 45-43 the half and did not manageopen the game up until late the second half Henry Rav ored 32Hartselle WinspointscNeese close.Southwestern Coachto keepBervlDecisionsipley said he felt Lamar didt have a good game.Lamar didn’t have a good ooting night. ” the coach said.m glad he got 42 points, but tried about 41 shots.Hartselle’s ninth grade team ousted Austin 43-33 while itsHARTSELLE (8th)eighth grade quintuplet polished off Brookhaven 58-37 in the‘We didn’t shoot well, but it is understandable.” Shiplevded‘We are coming off a five-me~ road trip and the boys e extremely tired.”gymIn other games . involving nked teams. No. 5 Penn beat lumbia 69-59. No. 8 Long ach State bowed to Fresnoate 76-69 and No 15 Memphis ate was upset by St. Louis 76-rhe Quakers jumped off to a———• — — ...i. ~ ■ -,p», —. . .-....... ——15 lead midway through the st half and managed to stay least nine points ahead oflumbia the rest of the wav.• •nn. 15-2. was paced bv junior ward Phil Hankinson's 21Tennessee' Valiev conferenceJunior High Tournament at theDecatur Junior HighThursday night.Athens' ninth graders whipped Coffee 56-47. but its eighth gradeteam lost to Appleby 48-44.Tonight’s schedule has Decatur tninth ) vs. Deshler at 4.NAMEClemonsStriderLampkinStephensonMyersD Clemons“TOTALPF FT3 04 2*I3 3~ 16BrookhavenHartselle5 39 17T1st H. 3rd12 21 4' 14 32 140105 06FG-36T61211623258F.3758Oak Park (eighth) vs. Forest Hill at 5, Hartselle (eighth) vs. Appleby at6 and Athens (ninth)vs. Hartselle at 7.AUSTIN (9th)i n ts.-rOng Beach State scored just e points in the fjrst 10 mini's as Fresno State built up a point lead The 49ers. now 3. never caught up.[’he game was won at the free ow line, where Fresno State, 1, scored 28 points. Long ach State, which saw three of starters foul out, scored only le points on free throws, ’larence Metcalfe led thelldogs with 24 points. Ed1 Ik fn aNAME■ JL —.— -i—-- -................ ..PFFT—I:. . .FGTSplV^y' ;■ —^~ 45617MtNeese2226Maiden1012Free2226MoSes2012TOTAL. 11912-33HARTSELLE (9th)NAMEPFFTFGTParr22410McGhee______ 28620Sittason210 1Cochran202T 4Dean1101Davis4113Pickering20.24* TOTAL151315431stH.3rdF.Austin519833Hartselle5161343BROOKHAVEN (8th)NAMEPFFTFGTKucer42410Johnson1226Patterson0202Thomson1012Roberts01511McDaniels0012Brooks2024TOTAL6* 71337ATHENS (8th)NAMEPFFTFGTTurner- 54820Beiew4113Smith33513Higgins2113Abernathy1012Woodruff311_ 1TO! AL18101744NAMED SlattonBrewerTuckerSmithCrittendinDerkinsThomasTOTALAPPLEBY (8th)PF FTAthensAppleby— a-4y4 4 2 3 20 1st H15010007FG3520532203rd12 25 13 11 20 15T71541106448F.4448NAMER. Malone A. Malone SmithChristopherT urnerATHENS (9th)- PF FTip303 0460400FG76253T20128106The elementary schoolremain but the top three gradeswill cease to exist along with anychance of basketball redemptionnext season.Ryan has lost ajl 18 games this season, 24 last year and the last of 4 of the 1969-70 seasonhis firstPope is finishing season as head coach and admits it has not been an enjoyable inauguration to the profession“We don’t have what you’d callwinners,” said Pope, a soft-spoken St. Bernard graduate who starred at Calhoun Junior College a few years ago. ‘‘We’re a little better than last year hut not much.”Pope, who held the Calhoun record for most points in one season until last night when Jessie Fields broke it, waswaware of his material before theyear began.Rvan has only 165 students in its 12 grades. There are 37 in the high school and 19 of them are girls. Of the 17 boys. 9 of them are on the team.“I personally think our basketball families had girls instead of boys,” quipped Billy Abercrombie, the principal. Abercrombie coached the last winning season at Ryan before assuming the principalship and he can remember the good times.• i“I think he (Pope) has done a fine job with the material he has,” said Abercrombie. “Our fans pretty well accept what has happened and we still get good crowds for the junior games.With the varsity on an■extended skid, the talk around\ . w * ■ j.;,,....... •w**1Ryan has been about the junior team which has won seveny ygames this season. Unfortunately, those players willprobably be wearing the red. white and blue of Brewer HighBasketball players who are 5-8 usually watch from the benchbut, at Ryan, height doesn’t prove a hindrance if talent is evident as in the case of Ralph, the team leader.Sporting a 20-point per game scoring average. Ralph hasn't looked toward the scoreboard at the buzzer to see his team aheadsince he was a sophomore “We've lost so manv it doesn'tKJther^me like it used to,” hesaid Thursday afternoon in thesmall gymnasium as junior high school boys threw a few at the hoop.JanWhisenant has been a cheerleader for five years and her firsCthree were filled withNAMEButlerMcBrideHaleyLovelaceTOTALAthensCoffeeCOFFEE (9th)PF FT2 33 I• . 91st14402215H2814FG6672213rd1416T121416547F5617joy as she watched her brother, Robert, set the county ablaze with his shooting.Rippin’ Robert, as he was called, averaged about 40 points a game and once had 65 against 'Arab. Now. he's gone, along with those days of glory.“We’ve had some close games but we iust don’twe just don’t have the players.” said the pert teenager. In the countv tournament wehad to play Austin That's crazv• i IIv like us playingi y«•*. someAustinWith only nine players.on the team, foul trouble can spell doom when competing against larger schools. Earlier in the season, against Union Hill, all five starters fouled out and the Warriors finished the game withjust four plavers.Pope acknowledgeddiscouragement after the first few losses this season but. as the defeats began to mount, heSee RYAN On.Page B-8Race Fans, Drivers,Mechanics...MOULTONSPEEDWAYWill Hold Important Meeting Sat., Feb. 12 - 1 P.M. At Valley Pallett Supply, Comer of Moulton Street and 11th Ave.,N.W.# Decatur, To Discuss Rules For This Year . Everyone Invited ToAttend• V •goodman to see...V.mmill.9m..-jyPAT THORNTONabout a PERSONAL LOAN isTHORNTON atPATFirstState. Whateveryourneeds, PAT really likes tosay YES, we’re THE BANK THAT CAN,First State BankDecatur237 Johnston St. or Gateway Branch Phone 355-1511POINT MALLARDANNOUNCES15 MONTHS GOLFMEMBERSHIPT--Point Mallard's Championship Golf Course iscelebrating its 15thmonth of operation byoffering to every newmember a 15 monthmembership at its standard 12 month price of(ka nn L
Newspaper Details
Decatur Daily
Decatur, Alabama, US
Fri, Feb 11, 1972
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Joseph R.
USA 07 Sep 2021
Other Publications Near Decatur, Alabama
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