National Highlight Reel: Freshman Tyra Buss scores 52 points

Rebecca Greenwell, one of the nation's leading sophomores, sparked Owensboro Catholic (Ky.) to a 65-60 victory over Monroe County (Tompkinsville, Ky.) to claim the All "A" girls small-school state basketball championship in Kentucky.

The 6-foot-1 standout accounted for 33 points and 14 rebounds and scored 17 consecutive points for the Lady Aces during one dominating stretch to earn MVP honors. In four tourney games she amassed 132 points (record) and 56 rebounds (one short of the record).

Monroe County coach Dwayne Murray told Mike Fields of the Lexington Herald-Leader, "She's a great player. She just took over. At one time we had four people on her, but she still managed to score."

* "We're getting a lot of phone calls already and there will be a lot more," Mt. Carmel (Ill.) coach Tim Willis said of early college interest in his freshman star, Tyra Buss. The 5-6 guard broke the school record for the third time this year with 52 points during an 88-62 victory over Reitz (Evansville, Ind.).



Buss, who is averaging 31.5 points, previously had set school records with 42- and 49-point efforts. She is shooting 58 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line for the 24-4 Lady Aces.

Willis says that his young star's greatest asset is "her competitive nature. She will make people around her better. She has extremely quick hands and she guards the best guard on defense."

Buss, who comes from an athletic family, also is an outstanding performer in tennis, track and cross country. At age 13 she placed second in the national Punt, Pass and Kick competition.

* One of the nation's leading juniors, 6-1 Kristen Gaffney, eclipsed her own school record with a 46-point outing as Green Hope (Cary, N.C.) defeated Panther Creek (Cary, N.C.), 87-53. Her previous record of 45 had been set two weeks earlier.

* Allie Kauffman, a 6-1 senior, had a school-record 42 points plus 14 rebounds and six steals as Blackhawk Christian (Fort Wayne, Ind.) routed Lakeland Christian Academy (Winona Lake, Ind.), 75-41. She later had 41 points during a 60-28 victory over Hamilton (Ind.) to break her school's career scoring record with 1,436 points. The boys record of 1,430 is held by 6-7 Russell Byrd, now at Michigan State University.

* Five-foot-three junior Kamaren Cole Cole set a school record with 48 points as New Albany (Ind.) defeated Bosse (Evansville, Ind.), 82-67.



* Brush (Lyndhurst, Ohio) defeated Valley Forge (Parma Heights, Ohio), 66-49, as Darmii Warren broke her own school record with 15 assists.

* Alan Vickrey of North Central (Indianapolis), who has won a pair of Indiana Class 4A state titles and more than 450 games in 32 years, announced that he will resign at the conclusion of this season.

* Coaching milestone victories: Donna Cheatham of Scottsburg (Ind.) extended her Indiana record with No. 600; Kevin Harper of Bishop Ahr (Edison, N.J.) and Mary Mulligan-Crapo of San Clemente (Calif.), each No. 500; and Tom West of Portland Christian (Portland, Ore.), No. 300.

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}BOYS BASKETBALL: HURLEY, KLINGE WIN WOOTTEN AWARDS
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today that Bob Hurley and Gene Klinge have won the annual Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement in Coaching High School Basketball.

Hurley has built a legendary career at tiny St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) and just recently won his 1,000th game. Klinge is the top winner in Iowa history and currently coaches at Waukon (Iowa). He entered this season with 956 victories.

* Reese Morgan, a 6-3 senior guard, scored a career-high 54 points as Palos Verdes Peninsula (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) nipped Leuzinger (Lawndale, Calif.), 88-84, in overtime.



* Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) has lost 6-9 Kentucky recruit Kyle Wiltjer for a projected four weeks due to a severely sprained right ankle, according to the Oregonian.

* Austin Van Bemmelen, a 5-11 junior guard, made all 14 free throw attempts while scoring 51 points as North Providence (R.I.) defeated Central Falls (R.I.), 87-78.

* Florida State recruit Terry Whisnant (6-4) drilled 15 of 17 shots from the field and scored a school-record 46 points as Cherryville (N.C.) defeated Highland Tech (Gastonia, N.C.), 97-81. He's scored 40 or more three times since then. He's shooting 49 percent from 3-point range despite constant double- and triple-teaming.

* Norwin (North Huntingdon, Pa.) outlasted Latrobe (Pa.), 115-110, in overtime behind Matt Palo's 43 points, including 12 in overtime. Andy Carter added 37.

* Senior guard Matt Tobin scored 46 points to lead Hopatcong (N.J.) to a 76-67 victory over Randolph (N.J.).

* Garfield (Seattle) benefited from senior guard Tony Wroten Jr's season-high 46 points during an 88-80 victory over Ballard (Seattle).
 
* Indiana University recruit Cody Zeller collected 32 points and 15 rebounds as Washington (Ind.) defeated Princeton (Ind.), 78-61, in a battle of the state's No. 1 and 2 Class 3A teams before a Hatchet House home crowd of 7,090.



* Jake Weaver, a 5-10 senior guard, scored a career-high 44 points as Turkey Run (Marshall, Ind.) edged Southmont (Crawfordsville, Ind.), 71-63, in overtime.

* David Rosado aced two free throws with 8.7 seconds left to finish with a career-high 42 points and give Saddle River Day (N.J.) a 52-51 victory over Green Meadow (Spring Valley, N.Y.).

* Sophomore guard C.J. Sumner dished out 20 assists to help Southwestern (Detroit) defeat Western (Detroit), 76-55.

* Still in his sophomore year, Patterson (Baltimore) phenom Aquille Carr already has surpassed 1,000 career points.

* Eisenhower (Blue Island, Ill.) made 13 3-point baskets, but still lost to Shepard (Palos Heights, Ill.), which scored a school-record number of points during a 118-100 shootout. Eisenhower now has made 292 treys this year to establish an Illinois state record.

* Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) is seeking to regain the 17 forfeit losses it sustained after the North Coast Section ruled star forward and transfer Jabari Bird was ineligible for pre-enrollment contact with a Salesian player. Bird was reinstated last week by NCS commissioner Gil Lemmon but the forfeits still remain.



* Milestone coaching victory: Bill "Speedy" Morris notched No. 600 at St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia). Counting his years as men's and women's coach at LaSalle University, he has won 882 games.

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}FOOTBALL: RAY SEALS WINS DON SHULA AWARD
Madison (Houston) football coach Ray Seals, a prep coach for 46 years, has won the inaugural Don Shula NFL Coach of the Year Award. The award is based on qualities such as leadership, character and ability to mentor players on the field and in life.

The 67-year-old Seals, who was nominated by the Houston Texans, will receive $10,000 with another $15,000 going to Madison's football program. Seals, who has turned out such players as Vince Young and Moran Norris, also was the NFL's guest during Super Bowl week.

* In the middle of National Signing Day, the University of Notre Dame offered a scholarship to junior wide receiver Sterling Shepard of Heritage Hall (Oklahoma City), according to Robert Przybylo of the Oklahoman. Heritage Hall is loaded for next year, led by Shepard and the big catch, junior running back Barry Sanders Jr., who is considering Alabama, Oklahoma State, UCLA and Florida State.

* Gene Sartini has resigned as football coach at Providence (Clarksville, Ind.). The 79-year-old coach compiled a 279-168 record in 42 years.

* Former NFL quarterback Brooks Bollinger has been hired as head football coach at Hill-Murray (Maplewood, Minn.).



Continue reading{PAGEBREAK}WRESTLING: UNBEATEN HEAVYWEIGHT PICKS CORNELL
Jacob Aiken-Phillips of Central Gwinnett (Lawrenceville, Ga.) announced last week that he will attend powerhouse Cornell University, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. He has posted a 59-0 record this year and was 61-0 with 51 pins as a junior. He has won 218 matches in his career and now is shooting for his fourth consecutive Class AAAAA state title. He also has a 3.5 GPA.

* Panther Creek (Cary, N.C.) defeated Cary ( N.C.), 31-25, to end a home regular-season winning streak which had reached 410 matches since 1982.

POTPOURRI
* Garner (N.C.) junior baseball pitcher Scotty McCreery may have a conflict this spring, because he is a contender for honors in the popular American Idol television series. An outstanding singer, he already has made it through the first audition in Minneapolis.

* Hebron (Carrollton, Texas) junior softball pitcher Heather Stearns has made a commitment to Baylor University, according to the Dallas Morning News. As a sophomore, she posted a 23-11 record with a 0.86 ERA while averaging 11.8 strikeouts per seven innings.

* Eighth-grader Carly Mauldin scored the winning goal in the second minute of the second overtime to give West Jones (Laurel, Miss.) a 3-2 victory over Ridgeland (Miss.) and the girls Class 5A state soccer championship. The other two goals were by senior MacIe Wallace, who set a state record with 203 goals during her career. Ridgeland never had lost in 31 previous playoff matches.