COLUMNS Febmry 10, 1998 Pa^e 4 r I /?■ Sports Hurricanes court. Men's Basketball: Rough Start, High Hopes by Tim Armes The 1997-98 Louisburg Hurricanes are off to a slow start, but the team remains optimistic. The defending Region X Tournament Champions were 11-11 as of February 6. They finished 16-17 last year. The Hurricanes are led this year by team cap tains Israel Sturdivant and Walter West. Sturdivant, a 6’0" sophomore from PoUcton, North Carolina is currently averaging around 16.0 points per game. West, a 6’6" sophomore from Pungoteague, Vir ginia is averaging around 13.0 points per game. The Hurricanes have played a tough schedule this season against tough teams such as Champlain from New York and Allegheny, the number three team in the country. In addition to those games, Louisburg has six games against the tough Region X. "It’s kind of hard to be positive when you’re 6- 9, but the key to our season is the Region X Tour nament. I think our chances of emerging as region winner are good," said Head Coach Enid Drake. Several of the players share Coach Drake’s opinion on the outlook for the rest of the season. First-Year player Eric Moseley said, “We’re start ing to play more together right now. We still have a chance to win the conference.” “It’s a learning process, and it’s kind of disap pointing. But only good things can come from it. We can only get better,” West added. Derencl I'n c^»^pion 5