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MALE BOYS OVERCOMES HICKMAN IN SEMI-FINAL – 1973

Tall Male Overcomes Hickman By JERRY ATKINS, Sun-Democrat Sports Editor LOUISVILLE, Ky., - When you get right down to it . size strength will win a lot of basketball games! That's what happened in spacious Freedom Hall yesterday afternoon when tall and strong Louisville Male came from behind against small and talented Hickman County in the semi- membered. "We had the momenfinals of the 56th annual Ken- tum." tucky High School State Tournament. Childress, named to the 10- The final score read 60-50, but man All-Tournament team it didn't reflect the tremendous after last night's championstruggle that had taken place. ship game, was already playStarting: a front line of 6-6, 6-6 ing with a painful thumb inand 6-5 that averaged an even 200 pounds, Male found it hard See DETERMINED, Page 2D to do anything constructive, Hickman LOUISVILLE MALE 14 25 35 60 against County's inside HICKMAN COUNTY 16 30 38 50 men who measured only 6-2, 6-0| Male and 5-9 with a weight-tipping Stanley Lawrence Bentley 3-7 1-3 8 Bunton 6-23 3-3 7 15 average of 160. Wesley Cox 9-16 8-10 20 26 Gary Cooper 2-9 0-0 3 4 Larry Bibb 3-8 0-0 0 6 Larry Grimes 1-3 0-0 On paper, it looked like the Totals 24-66 12-16 41 60 biggest mismatch since David and Goliath, but the same results of that Biblical story almost took place before some 12,000 amazed fans in Freedom Hall, plus thousands more who watched over the State Tournament television network. Coach Dale Ray's Hickman Falcons, a storybook winner in the First Region Tournament to make it to the State for the first time in the school's history, had already presented the "Sweet Sixteen" pairings with a pair of back-to-back two-point upsets. Another seemed unnatural for the small, but high-jumping Falcons . . . to everybody except those Falcons, that is. Male, with all its poise to go with that overwhelming size and strength, had waltzed into the tournament semifinals by upending Newport Catholic 99-74 and Madisonville 93-79. The Bulldogs had displayed the power they had been expected to show. But, Hickman County's "Cinderella" Falcons weren't to be denied by the timber-tall Bulldogs . and an unreal battle developed that won't be forgotten for some time to come. After leading throughout most of the action, Hickman County eventually folded under the overpowering strength of the highly-favored Male quint. The Falcons went as long as they could, leading by five at the half and three after the third frame, but Male went to work with a -quarter blitz that pulled them from the depths of defeat. "We just gave out," Coach Ray said after his team's elimination from the tournament. "We quit moving to the ball on offense and it caused some turnovers. But, I don't think the kids choked. They (Male) were SO much stronger physically." In other words, the Falcon coach felt his players went to the limit against the powerful Bulldogs before running out of gas. The downfall came in the fourth quarter, but actually started late in the third when senior guard Issac Childress, Hickman's six-foot team leader, Injured his knee and had to be removed from the game. "We were moving the ball real well at that time," Coach Ray re- Sweet 16 All Tournament ISSAC CHILDRESS Hickman Co. Ronnie Daniel Louisville Shawnee Wayne Golden Louisville Shawnee Wesley Cox Louisville Louisville Male Stanley Bunton Kenny Higgs Owensboro Greg Webster Owensboro James Lee Henry Clay Edward Hutchins Madisonville Fred Walker Maysville Martin, Ruben Bowling Green Edwin Grey Danville $35 A INDIANA forward Steve Green with I a hook shot between Grevey (35) and Jim Andrews points in first half of Mideast game in Nashville Saturday. Hickman County Player fgm-a ftm-a rb tp Sidney Spate 0-6 0-0 14 Ricky Wallace Grundy Weatherspoon 0-5 9-18 0-0 9 18 Isaac Childress 3-11 10-11 2 16 Derrick Fitts 6-9 4-5 3 16 James Jordan 0-0 *0-1 0 Totals 18-49 14-17 32. 50 Does UCLA Have 'Killed' By It As By RON ROACH Associated Press Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) Hand-clapping, sharp-shooting reserve guard Tommy Curtis sparked the UCLA offense that destroyed University of Sam Francisco's ball control game 54-39 Saturday but he'll be on the bench when the top-ranked Bruins take their next step toward an unprecedented seventh straight national collegiate basketball title. The 5-foot-11 sparkplug, smal-| lest man on the team, entered the game and immediately hit three straight shots in the first half. He went the rest of the way, refusing to let anyone else| dribble the ball down court. He applauded his shots, his [teammates' shots. and anything| else that helped the Bruin cause-particulrly 10 straight points that broke open the game i in the second half. "Curtis killed us with his out-| side shots," Coach Bob Gaillard of USF said afterwards of the man who had 12 points in the game. Coach John Wooden of UCLA said, "I plan to start my regular lineup" against Indiana next Saturday in the NCAA semifinal round at St. Louis. That means Curtis and forward Dave Meyers, another substitute who gave the team a lift with his defense and rebounding, will be on the sidelines in favor of Greg Lee and Larry Hollyfield. HIGH STEAL - Hickman County's Sidney Spate (43) went high to steal away this pass from Male's Gary Cooper Saturday afternoon in first-quarter action, of State Tournament semifinals. Male dropped the Falcons 60-50 with a last period comeback, but the Bulldogs fell to Shawnee in the championship game Saturday night. in seven 30 a

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