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B GERRY O'CONNORThe caliber of boys basketball played in thtk ad *•over the courtBut Copeland's main strnegth was his shoot-He has a fine outside shot and his 6-0 height ing and Atoka would look for him when they- I 1 ^ m m % m ft m ^ m • V-* A m v V-a m m ▼ ▼ ■ r m v-'* * ^ * • » v... as % a a V- ^7f' a .S« l,ni , 10 miProve this season as Byng allowed him to shoot over opponents from the needed a crucial bucket It wasn't uncommon■ » • • a a •Maloy is expected to grow some more in the^ i a V A awhich he can race up the court and pull up for his jumper or dish off while on the run to aand McLish turned out state tournament...... VTA Oil V/1J UIU iUnext two years, which figures to cause more teammate breaking toward the bucketV-V aJ arvk ^ _ L. 1 r Til P • . Agame.His size and strength enabled him to musclea, a ^rnr u w — — — — — ——m mm m V m V Joutside without them being able to do much to see him takeover the attack when Atoka got and more problems for Byng foes in the fu-L A ' a /I I 1 _ I 1 ' 1 1 1 1 ft L t • ft ft• m dV • % W * • a m fc •» a 1 d■«. -d I • I » —* A __ * _ ___■ _ _ .Sal A ■ . ■ ___earns while Atoka. Konawa and Milburn about it Corbin also liked to lurk around the in troubleam« up with teams that captured a lot of basket on defense and then come flying out to If it was late in a close game, he would bringtureknowledgehis way inside where he would post up and canhim to play under control at all times allowinga deadly turnaround jumper When he was invictories throughout the course of the seasonWhile Maloy did most of the unheralded him to stay away from mistakes as well as anythe groove, there was little a defender could— — — » *■ '1, i m «• m W t r mm m mm m »» mm^rhai*h of these five teams has a representa- tried to launch oneswat an opponent s shot out of the air when he the ball upcourt and then look to shoot as his dirty work for the Pirates, it was his fellow player in the areat ftr* f / V /'* ♦ / \ I a t f I k ^ . In AX *■'% AX A _ —__- ^ A---1 4 4 -'-v L% « ■ • « « ♦ A-» aa A\ ^ Ak M 1____ m r'1 a * • • . .do to stop himti\e on the 1978 All-Area Bovs Basketballteammates tried to free him with screens1 earn w hich is comprised of four seniors and ain ftophomoreup the first team is the Plaver-ofthe \ ear Hussell W arrior ot Byng After sitting out most of last season. Warrior returnedto the Pirates this year and was the steadyinginfluent *on a team which started threephomoresWarrior possesses excellent jumping abilit and has a soft touch on his jump shot aswell He can score from underneath or canroam awa from the hoop and still be effectiveOften overlooked is his work on defense where mam times he would intimidate a team from even trying to penetrate against the Pirates His ability to score, block shots, passoff play defense and get up and down thecourt made him the best boys player in the area this vearAt one of the forward slots is last vear splayer-of-the-year Gene Corbin of MilburnAlso an outstanding leaper, Corbin was at his best when he was allowed to roam around allJoining them on the first-team front line isThe lone underclassman on the first team is— mmm' » -I, - « mm mm mr mm mm a *sophomore Terry Forehand who did the spec- Kuestersteffen could do more one-on-oneGoodnighttacularrebounders as his size, strength and jumpingMike Stewart of McLish Stewart never Konawa s Randy Roland He is tall lor alooked like he should be able to do much when guard, but he has the quickness and ba 11-Probablv the best streak shooter in thethings than Ramsey and he too is an excellent ability would have you expecta jk a a a m ^ ~ _the (filers took the court because, although hihandling abilities necessary to stay up withsingle-handedlypointshootingof Asher’s games because he directed theCharles Stephens of Coleman is anotherwas their tallest player at 6-3. he usually was smaller foes. And once he got on offense ability to launch a shot even with a defender the timewhole attack while handling the bail most ofplayer whose size and strength made himtough to handle. An excellent inside player.going up against a guy two or three inches against a shorter defender it was a sure two draped all over him left many teams wonder-fallor and 40 or 50 pounds heavierpoints as he took him under the basket and mg just what they could do to slow him down.• •a* ■ t a * 4 A 1— Ml — _good penetratorStephens was able to muscle his way insideBut that didn t stop him from being one ofused his height to advantageForehand needs only to develop the consis-tersteffen also stood out on defense where he out foulingwhere he was almost impossible to stop with-appliedinui I41V4U i oiup Him u yin uciup line til * r | . i _ -------—v Mrr‘‘VV4 vuoui v emu wcni dllelthe most effective players on the court Koland possesses the skills necessary to jenCv 01 MalCV to become one of the area's the ball while opponents were trying to set upMcLish s Edward Whittington holds downmedplay any position on the court He can handletruly outstanding performers.their attack.one of the guard positions after quarterbacking McLish to the state tournament. An excel-ing when to break for the bucket and take a the bal1 ,lke a guard shoot trom outside or Coalgate's Leslie Pebworth holds down the Claiming the center position on the third lent bah-handler and passer. Whittington c — _r l-:_ * -------- , , , . inside like a forward or post up like a center It ♦—— c 1—* -r*—«—•-— - • ~ ~ - 1,111 u ♦----------*------ . . . - . ■pass from one of his teammates and turn itinto an easy field goalwas his versatility as a playmaker. scorer. the Wildcats in scoring this season. A top- -— —--- — ^ ^ « m x. - Am ■■■(■ ■ m m ■ ■ ■ m m m m m m m mm ^m ■* — — — — mm hhb mm —other second-team forward spot after leading team is Sam Darst of Atoka Although he could tear opponents apart when they left himt n A WJ1 1 rl /*» n ♦ n I n rr ♦ In i ^ ax ^ ^ ^ A i________« 4 1 1 • . ® f/nm U « ^ L ^ 4His defensive work was just that—workrebounder and defender that made him andcalledLacking the bulk to muscle people out of thithe Konawa Tigers a tough team to reckonnotch shooter. Pebworth was able to score geared toward Copeland. Darst talliedopen for his jump shot.speed in getting up and dowow a\ Stewart relied on getting good inside pos-withfrom outside or work his way inside despite 12 points a game, most of them coming on whether with the ball or without it. was a keyit ion and keeping it. When he was away fromHandling the pivot position on the secondstanding only 5-10His aggressiveness and knack for coming tooffensive rebounds right underneath the hoop ingredient in the Oilers’ fast break attack.the bucket, he could often times outquick his team is one of the area s most unheralded, but play made him one of the better performers inHis main contribution to the Wampus CatsRounding out the third team is Williambigger defenders with moves to the basket or mosi effective players. B\ng s Jett Malovthe area this yeargoodTupelocould score over them with a pretty jumperAlthough he isn't a great scorer, he aver-with a nose for the ball. Darst played his roleselectedA pair of Pontotoc Conference guards round as a rebounder and defenisve player on a sue-area team as a guard. Although not particu-Manning one of the guard slots is Brad Cope- aged 10.5 points an outing. Maloy could score out the second team. Latta's Steve Ramsev eessful Atoka squad.i‘ 4 4 I IT* • a • * • 1 . • •#* 11 , 1 • 1 1 . I • lt;s _larly big or strong. Jones is just one of thoseland of Atoka His main asset is his shooting, if needed But his real value to his team wasbut he also could handle the ball in the Cats his rebounding and defense. Maloy was proband Asher s Daryl Kuestersteffen had many Stan Goodnight of Asher and Charlesplayers who knows how to play basketball.run-and-gun offense and he was good at get- ably the steadiest player in the area in thesehead-to-head battles throughout their careers Stephens of Coleman are the third-team for--mrl Ao aU o o axI ^ 1___ At a 1 « •He tallied almost 14 points a game in a bating the ball to open teammatesaspects of the game even though he is just aand each can claim a few wins over the otherGoodnightlanced Tupelo offense and his ability to keepRamsey is at his best in a running game in this year but still managed to score 16 points airom making unnecessary errors was a bigpart in the Tigers' success this year
Newspaper Details
Ada Sunday News
Ada, Oklahoma, US
Sun, Mar 19, 1978
Page 12
Full Page
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Anonymous
OK, USA 12 Aug 2020
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