The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 2

THIRD EDITION unnton tops baints b3 Backups have Super roles B5 Saturday, Jan. 24, 1987 The Pantagraph Eash fakes football reins at Wesleyan 0smiK. 4 1 Sy I 'I I- iff By BRYAN BLOODWORTH Pantagraph staff Norm Eash has proven he can win football games at the the high school level. Now, the Chenoa native is ready to prove it on the collegiate level. Eash, who posted a .694 winning percentage in five seasons as football coach at Dwight High School, yestersday was named head football coach at Illinois Wesleyan University, his alma mater.

appointment, made by IWU athletic director Dennie Bridges, becomes effective Feb. 1 and makes Eash only the 16th head coach in Wesleyan's 86-year football history. Terms of Eash's contract were not disclosed. "I am pleased that we were able to hire a coach with a Wesleyan background," said Bridges. "Having an Illinois Wesleyan background was not our top priority in our national search, but since it worked out that way I couldn't be happier.

"Norm understands and accepts our philosophy that academics are given top priority here. His enthusiasm and tireless work ethic will make him an effective recruiter and his record on the field proves he's a winner." Eash, a 1975 IWU graduate who majored in physical education, was chosen from among 86 applicants for the job. 'This is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me," said Eash, who also has a master's degree in educational administration from Illinois State. "Everyone reaches a time when he reaches an ultimate goal and a dream comes true. For me, that dream was to be the head football coach at Illinois Wesleyan.

"My objective is to play sound football that will be exciting and that everyone will be proud of." The 33-year-old Eash replaces Don Larson, who had held the position since 1954. Larson coached Eash from 1971 through 1974 when t- 'V ill I Eash earned four letters as an offensive tackle. "I have the utmost respect for Coach Larson as a coach and as a person," Eash continued. "Many of my philosophies and ideas, concerning football, were formed here at IWU. "I hope to be talking to Coach Larson in the future about the recruits he has, and hopefully we can get back to those people and make it a smooth transition." Eash said he'll stress academics when recruiting athletes.

"We have to expose the football program and we have to sell the academic excellence that we expect here to the student-athlete," added Eash. "We want students to come here who want to be students first and athletes second." While he hasn't met with the team yet, Eash feels he has a strong nucleus of 38 lettermen returning from last year's 5-3-1 team. "What I gather, we have key people returning in all areas," said Eash. "But, the one area that has been brought to my attention is that defensively we've lost some key personnel." Offensively, Eash admits he has a fondness for a passing game and option football. "I believe that's the most exciting football there is," said Eash, who served as the offensive coordinator at Streator High School from 1975 through 1982.

"It's a great equalizer. I believe you can win with it and it's sound football. I think you'll see us have a 6040 or 50-50 type approach between the run and the pass." Eash's team at Dwight last year used a one-back offense and his quarterback, Dodd Koehler, led the state in passing with 2,399 yards. C3 "Ine PanlagraphSTEVE talked with the school's head Illinois Wesleyan University Athletic Director Dennie Bridges, left, football coach Norm Eash yesterday. The Eash years "I feel the one-back offense is exciting and it opens up advantages to you as a football coach," said Eash.

"It forces the defense to do things it normally does not want to do." done with the offense last year, but because we were limited on time, I couldn't. "Here, I think it will be unlimited what we can do with the single setback. Everyone looks at it as just a passing offense and it's not. It's a run offense too." School Won Lost Pet. 1982 Dwight H.S.

5 4 .556 1983 Dwight S. 9 2 .818 1984 Dwight H.S. 8 2 .800 1985 Dwight H.S. 5 4 .556 1986 Dwight H.S. 7 3 Totals 34 15 .694 make him beat me." Bridges said Eash is accepting the job with the staff as it is, mean- ing he will be working with IWU's lone full-time assistant.

Bob Keck. "As with Coach Larson, Norm will be looking for part-time assis- tants," Bridges added. "It is a goal, of mine, and has been a goal of mine as athletic director, to come- up with more full-time help. "But it's not that easy of a prob-lem to solve because we need a faculty position to accomplish that and there aren't that many spofiJ on the physical education staff." -( Eash and his wife, Cheryl, are the parents of four children. Eash said the biggest adjustment he forsees from high school to college, besides recruiting, is the time factor.

"In high school, you don't have as much time to develop an offense or defense like you do on the college level," said Eash. "There were so many more things I could have 'Team qualified lor slate playoffs Defensively, Eash prefers an aggressive style of play. "I will not be afraid to force the opposing coach to do some things he doesn't want to do," Eash continued. "If that means giving up a certain area that he's not used to exploring, I'll do that. I'm going to Adreon sparks Octavia; Chenoa wins Simkins leads High over Gibson City 0 i illili-VU i flr f.

A 1 By BRYAN BLOODWORTH Pantagraph staff Scott Adreon lit the fuse and the rest of the Rockets responded as Octavia High School's basketball team blew past Gridley, 75-60, in the semifinals of the 77th annual McLean County Tournament at Illinois Wesleyan University's Fred Young Fieldhouse last night. McLEAN COUNTY TOURNAMENT Adreon scored 14 of his game-high 26 points from the 2:53 mark in I the third quarter to the 5:48 ma'rk of the fourth quarter to propyl the Rockets into tonight's championship game opposite Lexington at 8 o'clock. Gridley meets Blue Ridge in the third place game at 6:30. last night, Chenoa held off a gallant surge by LeRoy to earn the ce)soIation championship with a 4844 triumph. Qetavia-Gridley top-seeded Rockets, who improved their record to 12-3, used a GOpercent shooting touch in the fiirjt half to gain 36-28 halftime Mad.

However, Gridley began dominating the boards in the third quarter to close the gap to 40-38 with 4:17 remaining before baskets by Adreon and Marc Barclay pushed the advantage to 44-38. After a basket by Gridley's Steve Neuhalfen cut the deficit to four, Adreon went top work. He made 6 of 7 baskets, including five straight, to extend the Rockets' lead to 6248 with 5:48 remaining and secure the triumph. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Gridley and dropped its record to 7-8. seemed to get all the big points, but this was definitely a said Octavia coach Rodney Kellar.

"You don't beat a team like Gridley with one player. 56-55, but Simkins made two free throws with 1:07 remaining for a 58-55 advantage. A minute later, he sank two more to nail down the victory. His last free throw was High's 27th of the game. The Pioneers made 20 for 74 percent, while Gibson City went to the line eight times and made five.

"I'm not sure what that says," Gibson City coach Jack Cowgill said of the difference in free throws attempted. "I'm not saying we didn't foul don't get me wrong. But it was a big factor in the game." Gibson City, which was whistled for 21 fouls to 12 for High, dropped to 10-6 despite shooting 50 percent from the field (25 of 50) to High's 38 percent (20 of 53). The Greyhounds played five minutes of the third quarter and the first 3V2 minutes of the fourth without 6-5'2, 235-pound center Mike Heavilin, who went to the bench with four fouls and his team ahead. 33-30.

He returned with his team trailing 52-49 and scored Gibson City's last six points. He finished with a team-high 16 and also had five rebounds. Gibson City almost was the winner because it limited High's 6-5 Barry Johnson to 10 points, well below his average. But Johnson had four blocked shots and 13 rebounds to lead his team to a 35-29 rebounding edge. Gibson City committed 16 turnovers, five more than High, and had seven in the fourth quarter.

Forward Rich Baillie had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Greyhounds, who Cowgill said "played really well." By RANDY KINDRED Pantagraph staff It didn't take University High School basketball coach Chuck Gault long to choose the topic for his post-game interview last night. "I'd say Steve Simkins is the man we need to talk about," Gault said as he greeted a reporter in the High coaches office. Simkins, a 6-foot-l senior guard, earned his place on the tip of Gault's tongue by fueling a fourth-quarter rally that produced a 60-55 nonconference victory over Gibson City at the High Gym. Simkins scored 10 points of his 16 points in the final period to help High erase a 4442 deficit after three quarters. He made two of three shots from the field and all six of his free throws in the final eight minutes.

"He took charge, and that's what we needed to have done," said Gault, whose team improved to 13-3 despite playing without starting guard Mike Ashworth because of an ankle injury. "As a coach, that's what you look for. You want somebody to say, 'give me the Simkins couldn't have said it louder if he'd grabbed the public address microphone. His two free throws 32 seconds into the fourth quarter gave High its first lead (4644) since early in the first period. He added a 20-footer 22 seconds later to make it 4844, and hit another with 5 minutes, 10 seconds left to push a 5049 lead to 5249.

Gibson City cut the lead to The PantagraphSTEVE SMEDLEY Gridley High School's Glenn Schieler went up for a shot over Octavia's Scott Adreon during championship bracket action of the McLean County Tournament last night. In background is Gridley's Steve Neuhalfen and Octavia's Kregg Ummell. "Gridley made a good run at us, but our players had enough fortitude to get the basket when we needed it to keep our lead." Gridley was paced by Neu-halfen's 21 points, but Coach Mike Ryan said his team didn't get enough scoring from John Meiss and Duane Otto. Meiss finished with five points and Otto with 10. "Octavia did a nice job of shutting Meiss down," said Ryan.

"When we don't get scoring from those two we're in trouble. I was pleased the way the kids fought back, but Adreon hit some tough shots." Chenoa-LeRoy Chenoa defeated LeRoy for the third time this season and the second in five days, but it wasn't easy. "We knew it would come down Please see McLEAN, B3 Weary Redbirds take on tough Wichita State today added Cunningham. "They do a lot of uaffjiiig auu lull suiiic uuiciciii buiica. Donewald said he won't decide on a starting lineup until shortly before game time.

The ISU coach was still upset about the nffiriatino nf Dan Phrisman althnnoh hp didn't name him. Chrisman was a last- minute substitituion for Bill mi m. i I 1 1 1 I i- with a 3-1 record. Illinois State assistant coach Pat Cunningham, who scouted Wichita State, insists the Shockers are good. "Really good," said Cunningham.

"These are the same kids Gene (Smithson) had but they're a year older and playing much better. They've lost to Purdue, Minnesota, Syracuse, and Kansas State, so they've played a tough schedule. "Henry Carr is playing as well as he has ever played. He's been going to the free throw line about eight times a game. Last year, he shot 30 percent; this year he's shooting 64 percent from the field." Carr, who played a great deal as a sophomore but little last season, is Wichita State's 6-foot-9 center.

He is By JIM BARNHART Pantagraph staff JWICHITA, Kan. This is the Illinois State University basketball team. Color it tired. It is no secret that the Redbirds play best with a few days preparation, but a game at Tulsa Thursday night, then a rrfldnight flight here left the not-so-physical ISU team somewhat dragging about its appearance today at Levitt Arena. fThe Redbirds play Wichita State at 2 pn.

in the second game of a televised Missouri Valley Conferenca double-header. Indiana State is at Drake in the noon game. The games can be seen locally on Channel 19 (Peoria). The ISU-Wichita State game will also be broadcast by Ra dio Station WJBC (1230, Bloomington). The home teams in both contests have an edge.

Drake and Wichita State were at home Thursday night, too. "It is tough on these kids," said Illinois State coach Bob Donewald of the short recovery time between games. "We've had trouble with this in the past because we're really not a physical team." Illinois State, which was rated 30th nationally by USA Today, had its schedule ranked No. 11 nationally by that newspaper. ISU has a 10-7 season record and the seven losses have come to teams which have a combined 89-24 record.

Illinois State has a 3-3 conference record. Wichita State has a 12-6 season mark and ranks second in the Valley standings averaging nearly 15 points and eight rebounds a game. Cunningham said Wichita State has received excellent play from point guard Joe Griffin a 6-foot freshman from Argo (111.) "He's given them a lot of direction," said Cunningham. "(Gary) Cundiff is a good outside shooter but their strength is inside. Carr, Gus Santos, (Steve) Grayer, and (Sasha) Radunovich are all good inside scorers.

"It is sort of ironic but their defense is just about like the way Gene played. And they play a lot like North Carolina." Wichita State first-year head coach Eddie Fogler was an assistant at North Carolina. "They will change defenses on you," ine luisa uux scuie sun lihieu summers as working. Chrisman also worked the Illinois State game at Drake and didn't draw rave re views ior nis periormance mere. "I talk to the other officials all the time and tell them what he's doing said Donewald.

"But, all they ever say is, I didn't see.