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sponsored by February 6,1997 B Section
"MUllffiy AUTOMOTIVE M
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Bobcats' girls varsity keep championship hopes alive with 59-25 victory
By SAM DAVIS
Chronicle Sports Editor
Glenn's girls' varsity team
started the season slowly, but
that didn't concern Coach
Marty Stanley much.
The Bobcats began the sea
son with a freshman and a
sophomore in the starting line
up. Their backup center was
also a freshman and Stanley
figured it would take time
before they started to come
Taround.
It didn't take the Bobcats
long to prove that they would
be a force to be reckoned with
in the North Piedmont 3-A
Conference. And in recent
weeks Glenn has played like a
veteran team.
> The Bobcats defeated
Carver 59-25 last Friday night
to improve their record to 13-5
overall and 6-1 in the NPC.
Glenn's only conference loss
came at the hands of league
leading High Point Andrews.
Against Carver, the Bob
cats fought off a sluggish start
to stay in the race for the regu
lar season championship. Carv
er, which entered the game
winless, jumped out to a quick
start and led 4-0 with 4:55 to
play in the first quarter.
The Yellowjackets, playing
without head coach Karen Nor
ris, deployed a delayed offen
sive attack that caused prob
lems for the Bobcats. Carver
would have taken a lead at the
end of the first quarter had it
not been for a foul it committed
just before the buzzer.
The Yellowjackets led 9-8
when Jaime Utt was fouled try
ing to launch a long 3-pointer
just before the buzzer. Utt
stepped to the free throw line
and nailed all three of her shots
to give Glenn an 11-8 lead.
Utt's free throws ignited a
Bobcat run and Glenn reeled
off 11 unanswered points to
take control of the game. Glenn
increased its lead to 26-13 at
the end of the half and contin
ued to roll in the second half,
outscoring Carver 19-8 in the
third quarter.
Stanley said his team was
slugglish early, but did a good
job once it got untracked.
"We played a sloppy first
quarter," Stanley said. "I
thought that the game, wasn't
being played at our pace in the'
first half, but we picked it up
with our defense in the third
quarter.
"We were able to force
them into making some
turnovers and -that allowed us
to put the game out of reach."
Tasha Harris scored 22
points to lead the Bobcats in
scoring. Harris, Glenn's point
guard, did most of her damage
from beyond the 3-point line.
She also did a good job of pen
etrating the YellowjackeHJ
defense and dishing off to oped
teammates.
"She's played real well the
last couple of games," Stanley
said of the 5-6 sophomore.
"When you have a point guard
who can penetrate and also
shoot from outside that's going
to give the team a boost."
Lashanta Johnson was next
with 12 points. But Johnson,
the team's leading scorer, suf
fered through one of her worst
shooting nights of the season.
"Lashanta hurt her apkle
Tuesday (Jan. 28) against Trini
ty and that bothered her some*'
Stanley said. "But she still
scored 12 points. I think she
Continues on B3
Ro<Jto?siv?d
Lashanta Johnson (#20) of Glenn scored 12 points in the Bobcats' win.
Thank God for a second chance!
Some people never get a sec
ond chance.
Steve Wagner is, thankful that
he's getting his.
Wagner, a senior at Parkland
High School, is hoping that he
can use his final semester of eligi
bility to help his team to its third
consecutive state 3-A wrestling
championship. He also hopes to
gather enough momentum during
the duals
champi
onships to
catapult him
to an indi
v i d u a 1
champi
onship in
the 145
pound divi
sion.
if ft. -
li nc
accomplishes those goals, Wagner
says all that he's gone through in
the past year will have been
wiped away.
It indeed has been a difficult
year for the 17-year-old. After
helping his team to the state
championship last year and fin
ishing in the top six in the state in
his classification, Wagner was
looking forward to completing his
junior year at Parkland and was
hoping to have a banner season s
on the Mustangs' football team
when the '96 season got under
way.
All those hopes and dreams
fell by the wayside when Wagner
did something that even he says
was foolish. Wagner was caught
with drugs at school, an act he
says resulted from a combination
of peer pressure, youth and igno
rance.
"It broke my mother's heart,"
Wagner says. "It hurt her and
knowing that I hurt her really hurt
me."
It was the first time that Wag
ner had been in trouble with the
law and he was put on probation.
However, the most hurting thing
to him was the fact that he wasn't
allowed to finish the year at Park
land.
Instead, Wagner was told he
would have to finish out the year
at Independence High School.
That too, was a difficult thing
fpr Wagner to do. Warner grew
"Hp in Davidson County and the
only friends he had in Winston
Salem were at Parkland. At Inde
pendence, he felt isolated. He also
felt that he had been branded for
life because of one bad decision.
So most of the time he didn't
attend classes.
"When I got in trouble every
body turned their back on me," he
says. "It seemed like I didn't have
any friends any more or anyone
that I could talk to".
His only friend, during that
time was his mother, Ruby Wagn
er.
"She was there for me," he
says. "She always encouraged
me. She got me through a lot of
Continues on B3
A <>96-97 1
^^*Sleve W?((ooer I
Steve Wagner of Parkland scored two points in the final minutes of the third period to record a victory in his
most recent match to help Parkland to another conference wrestling championship.
Rams get key win over St. Aug's, NCCU up next
By SAM DAVIS
Chronicle Sports Editor ? i
i
The fact that his team
defeated St. Augustines wasn't
the big issue with Coach Sam
Hanger. The fact that his team
beat a good team was a big
deal.
The Rams, hungry for a key
victory, put together a strong
offensive performance to cap
ture their 96-82 win at the C.E.
Gaines Center on Monday.
WSSU placed four players
in double figures, led by
Windell Owens' 21 points. The
Rams also had five other play
ers to play a complimentary
role with four or more points.
It was one of the first times
this season that the Rams shot
better than 50 percent in both
halves of the game. The Rams
connected on 20 of 31 shots in
the first half, but had a slim 49
47 lead at intermission, they
made 17 of 30 second-half
shots.
"It feels good to beat a
good team," Hanger said. "We
had some silly turnovers, but
we didn't have stretches in the
second half like we had in the
first half. We beat a good bas
ketball tettl."
The Rams also had to over
come ah outstanding individual
perfornfhnce by Lafonte Moses
in the tynt half. Moses had 19
points at halftime. But Johnny
Watkins of WSSU shut Moses
down in the second half, limit
ing him to only seven points in
the final stanza.
"Johnny didn't shoot the
ball well on offense," Hanger
said. "But he did a excellent
job of defending Moses in the
second half. That was really
key for us."
So was the play of Owens,
who moved to the power for
ward position with the insertion
of Michael Broadnax at the
small forward slot in the start
ing lineup. Owens was nine of
13 from the field and also
grabbed six rebounds.
"Windell came to life
tonight," Hanger said. "I wres
tled with it for a long time.
Finally, I said that's it. I moved
Windell back inside. He played
with a lot more confidence. We
knew he could make shots on
the outside, but we needed him
to go inside where he could
Continues on B3
Toby Jordan of WSSU blocks off
Norfolk's Rodney Carmichael in a
loss last week. Jordan and the
Rams went to the wire before los
ing to the Spartans.
w I mas Sivad