Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
Greg McClinton (11) was one of several first-year players who played meaning
ful minutes for the Deacons.
Team
from page B/
to a national title in 1988 and was the con
sensus pick as National College Player of
the Year. He was an assistant coach on
Kansas teams that advanced to the Final
Four twice and won the national champi
onship in 2008.
Now, it's his job to restore a Wake
Forest program that had nose-dived in
recent years. ?
Given Manning's results as Tulsa's
coach, there's a tidal wave of optimism
about the future for Wake Forest basket
ball. In his second and final year at Tulsa,
he guided the Golden Hurricanes to the
Conference USA tournament title and a
second-round NCAA Tournament appear
ance. It was Tulsa's first trip to "The
Dance" in 11 years.
As expected, the Deacons had plen
ty of lumps and bumps in Manning's inau
gural season as head coach. An early ACC
tournament exit mirrored what the season
was like. At times. Wake Forest (13-19)
showed promise. But there were far too
many other instances in which Manning's
squad self-destructed.
In a frantic stretch that lasted all of
six seconds, Wake Forest's basketball sea
son was laid to rest. The Deacons put
together an inspired second-half comeback
to bring the Greensboro Coliseum crowd
to its feet. But it wasn't enough to prevent
an 81-80 loss to Virginia Tech in the open
ing round of the ACC Tournament.
This loss was an especially difficult
pill to swallow. Wake had genuine oppor
tunities to pull this one out, but couldn't
find a way to close the deal.
Down by 1 point with time running
out, Wake power forward Dinos Mitoglou
took a 9-foot jumper from the left side
which bounced off the back side of the rim.
Devin Thomas followed up, but his tip-in
attempt was also off the mark. Codi Miller
Mclntyre elevated above the traffic in the
paint for another tip-in try, but his poten
tially-game-winning shot rimmed out at
the sound of the final buzzer.
Game over. Season over.
"There was growth," Manning
said. "The players are beginning to under
stand how important it is for us to establish
effort and energy as a mindset. I liked what
I saw in those games when we competed
and were locked-in defensively. But we
didn't always do that every night. In order
for us to be successful, we must play with'
emotion and intensity all the time."
The defense must also improve.
Wake Forest ranked last in the ACC in
scoring defense (72.1 points per game) and
next-to-last in field goal percentage
defense (.450). Bottom line: the Deacons
couldn't stop anybody, especially at criti
cal times during the late stages of games.
On the plus side. Wake Forest has
four returnees who contributed and played
meaningful minutes as first-year players.
True freshmen Cornelius Hudson, Mitchell
Wilbekin and Mitoglou, along with red
shirt freshman Greg McClinton (Winston
Salem Prep) will only get better as they
continue to elevate their level of play.
Upperclassmen
Miller-Mclntyre and
Thomas are primed to
make the most of their
upcoming senior sea
sons. Miller-Mclntyre
(14.5 points, 4.8
rebounds, 4.3 assists
per game) was voted
Honorable Mention
All-ACC as a point
guard. Thomas, a 6
Manning
feet-9 power forward (12 points, 8.8
rebounds per game) played well at times,
but has struggled with consistency. -
"Our young guys logged a lot min
utes and they handled it well," said
Manning. "The progress they made gives
me confidence that we are moving in the
right direction. Still, we're not moving
nearly as fast as I'd like. But, we are get
ting there."
If Manning's signings from last fall
live up to their four-star ratings, the
Deacons will get immediate help for next
season. Doral Moore, a 7-foot center,
chose Wake Forest over Kentucky, Florida,
Illinois and Ohio State.
John Collins is a prized 6-feet-9
power forward who had considered
Miami, Kansas State, Alabama, Texas,
Tennessee, Texasand Maryland. Point
guard Bryant Crawford is a skilled 6-feet
3 playmaker/scorer who was heavily
recruited by Georgetown, Southern
Methodist, N.C. State and Tennessee.
Photo by Craif T Greenlee
Josh Gould pulls'Up to take a jumper in traffic.
Correction
Because of a production error, the cutlines for a photo in Sports Week last week were
wrong with a photo showing the Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy's boys basketball
team. The photo is shown here with the correct cutline.
Baseball
from page Bl
age (.375) and RBIs (26).
Roberts, though, is
on a hot streak. Prior to
WSSU's road game at
Catawba on Wednesday, he
was hitting .370, which
included 11 extra-base hits
and 19 RBIs. During a
recent 10-game stretch
from March 15-25, the sen
ior left fielder hit .433 (13
for-30) and drove in eight
runs.
"Over the past few
weeks, Des has really
turned it on," said Ritsche.
"Now that he's completely
recovery from last season's
hand injury, he's gotten his
timing back."
Stand-out pitching
propels WSSU. Ace right
hander Sam Burton (1.74
ERA) has given up 21 hits
in 41 1/3 innings with 43
strike-outs and only 16
walks. Lefty Jordan
Carlton has allowed 12
earned runs in 37 innings
pitched (2.92 ERA).
Burton, who is 3-2,
gets solid support from
right-handers Eric Corlett
(5-1) and Jordan
Cummings (4-1 with 2
saves). Both have proven
themselves as shut-down
types coming out of the
bullpen.
"Sam isn't the over
powering type, but he
throws strikes," Ritsche
said. "He has a nice curve
and change-up, and he does
a good job of spot-pitching
with his fast ball. What
makes Eric and Jordan so
effective is their ability to
throw off-speed pitches for
strikes.
"Pitching has car
ried us all year. But we'll
still make some changes
with the back en<T5f our
bullpen and with who we
put in the game as middle
relievers. These tweaks
will help us to bring in the
right pitchers for the right
game situations."
Photos by Craif T. Greenke
Rams outfielder Des Roberts is beginning to find his
groove at the plate.
Parkland
from page B1
The winter storms
that caused area schools to
shut down for nearly two
weeks in late February, had
a negative impact. No teams
were allowed to conduct
practices during that time.
Aside from that, several
Mustangs haven't been at
full strength because of nag
ging injuries.
Katlin Sherman
(sprints), Ila Mumford (long
jump) and Nateja Hale (hur
dles/long jump) have had to
deal with ankle injuries in
recent weeks. Ebony
Williams, state indoor
champ in the 55-meter hur
dles and 300-meter dash is
getting over a slightly
strained groin which
occurred in the finals of the
60-meter hurdles at the New
Balance Indoor Nationals in
March.
Erin Morrison, who
was Parkland's top quarter
miler a year ago, is starting
to come around after being
sidelined for nearly eight
weeks with an injured
Achilles.
"We're still a little behind (in train
ing) because of that two-week layoff,"
Hughes said. "But I'm satisfied with how
training is going. The biggest challenge
right now is trying to get past these
injuries.".
The Mustangs weren't at their best
for the New Balance meet, yet they still
turned in some credible performances indi
vidually. Sherman earned All-America
honors with a third-place finish in the 200
meter dash (24.05 seconds).
On the morning of the race,
Sherman woke up feeling pain in her right
ankle. Despite the discomfort, she never
gave any thoughts to scratching from the
event.
"It was my last indoor nationals
(for high school), and there was no way
that I was going to sit that one out," said
Sherman, the state outdoor champ in the
100 and 200. "I got a good tape job on the
ankle and then I just gutted things out.
When I'm competing, I'm not thinking
about pain. Since I had Lane 6, my entire
focus was to get out fast and hold on to the
end."
Entering the indoor nationals,
Williams was a solid pick to make All
America by finishing among the top six in
the 60-meter hurdles. She ran well during
the preliminary rounds. But in the finals,
she hit a hurdle awkwardly, which caused
her to break stride and lose contact with
the front-runners. The end result was an
eighth-place finish.
The Mustangs made amends in the
4x200 relay. McKinley McNeill, Sherman,
Miaysha Bryant and Williams won com
fortably in one minute, 38.10 seconds. The
time was not as fast as Hughes had hoped
for.
"I thought we might run faster,"
Hughes said. "The girls ran good on the
first day, but as the rounds went by (in their
other events), fatigue started to set in and
their legs wefen't fresh like they arc nor
mally. The long layoff had a lot to do with
that."
Over the first two legs, the 4x200
turned out to be a dead heat between
Parkland and the Medgar Evers Track
Club (NY). Bryant put together a strong
third leg to give Williams, who ran anchor,
a slight lead to work with. Williams pulled
away andParkland won by six meters over
the runner-up New Yorkers who ran one
minute, 38.72 seconds.
. A year ago, the Mustangs were the
Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
Miaysha Bryant ran the third leg on Parkland's
victorious 4x200 relay team at the indoor national
championships.
national indoor runners-up in this event,
losing by .18 seconds to champ New
Rochelle (NY). Three months later,
Parkland delivered one of its best perform
ances of the season in winning the 4x200
in decisive fashion at the New Balance
Outdoor National Championships.
"We had the fastest time in the pre
lims, so we were ready when it was time to
run in the finals," said Bryant, a senior
who will run for N.C Central. "All of us
came together and agreed that we had to
leave everything out there on the track. We
were so excited and proud to win a nation
al title in the relay."
The first day of spring was two
weeks ago and it's still relatively early in
the outdoor season. The Mustangs, howev
er, are already showing signs of good
things to come. They figure to be as formi
dable as ever when it's time for state qual
ifying at the Class 4-A West Regionals in
May.
As of March 29, Parkland athletes
had the fastest times in North Carolina in
five events: Williams (100 hurdles/13.84
seconds and 300 hurdles/44.06 seconds);
McNeill (400 /56.24 seconds); 4x200 relay
(1:42.58 seconds) and 4x400 relay
(4:01.75 seconds). Look for the Mustangs
to post progressively faster times as tem
peratures continue rise in the weeks ahead.
"We're training hard and our times
are dropping," Bryant said. "The (unex
pected) time off hasn't helped any. But it
shouldn't be long before we're back to
running the times we should be running at
this time of year."
Sherman has mixed emotions about
her final season coming to a close in less
than six weeks. As a senior who has signed
with University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, she wants to cement a cham
pionship-winning legacy for those who
come after her.
"It's going to be a bittersweet
time," she said. "On the one hand, I'm
excited about going to school and getting
the opportunity to compete at the highest
level in college. And I want to have a good
high school track farewell. The goal is to
finish strong and set the bar high.
"We're all working to bring home
another outdoor state team championship
and I'm looking to get personal bests in the
100,200 and the high jump. After that final
(high school) meet, the next time I see my
high school teammates, I'll be wearing
Carolina-blue."