Coco Butter overcomes obstacles to advance in play
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
Coco Butter survived the absence of key player Marshaun West, the scramble for a fifth player after Lee Lafayette was declared ineligible, a slew of missed free throws and the tough play of Double Down to win 30-28 in a game that lasted nearly two hours.
With West gone due to a track and field competition at the Drake Relays, Coco Butter substituted Lafayette. Just before game time, however, he was ruled ineligible since he is no longer a student at the University. Red Croker, Tony Fisher, Doug Conners and John Owens picked up football player Justin Thomas for their squad, and his addition was good enough for the victory.
No. 4 Coco Butter took an 11-9 halftime lead over the 13th-ranked Double Down squad of Coley Brady, Dan McGown, Larry Zimont, Steve Allred and Matt Ott. In the second period, Coco Butter pulled ahead by as many as four at 17-13. But Double Down was good as gold from the free throw line as it hit two free throws, followed by a basket by McGowan to close to within one at 17-16.
"They talked a lot of trash before the game," McGowan said. "I think they overlooked us. We play these guys all the time at the rec center."
Neither team could get ahead by more than one after the score reached 18, and the game became a battle of the fatigued.
"It was really just our determination to keep going at it that won the game," Owens said. "It sure wasn't our free throws."
Both teams had more than their share of chances to win but couldn't capitalize on free throws or open shots.
Owens took a unique approach to free throw shooting. After missing several from the charity stripe by overshooting the basket, he decided to step back a couple feet, releasing nearly from the 3-point line. He had much more success after that.
"I couldn't adjust and shoot it soft enough," Owens said.
Owens was recruited to play Division I basketball, but zeroed in on football as his best option to excel in college. However, he hopes to walk on for Notre Dame's basketball team, perhaps as soon as next season.
Owens hit a free throw to put Coco Butter up 29-28. Double Down couldn't score, and Fisher knocked down an off-balance jumper for the game winner.
"They got a couple calls their way," McGowan said. "They're strong down low."
Next up for Coco Butter will be No. 5 Versatility, which defeated Rampage 21-11. Versatility benefited from its experience playing together. Chris Dillon, Joe Lillis, James Cochran and Jason Childress all played interhall hoops for the same team in Micek, and added Ross Hansen to their team. Last year's Versatility squad lost in the finals with only one different player, walk-on basketball player John Hiltz in place of Hansen. But Hansen proved key for Versatility.
"Ross Hansen was on fire. He has been the whole tournament," Dillon said. "We made it to the finals last year, and I don't see why we can't do that again."
Rampage had tons of athletic ability with three football players — Arnaz Battle, Gary Godsey and Jim Molinaro — joined by Will Matthews and Tom Juntunen. But they failed to overcome a team used to playing together.
"Organization hurt us. They've been playing together for the past two years so they were able to make plays," Matthews said. "We didn't have another shooter. They were too fast for us."
Former Versatility player Hiltz, who coaches this year's squad, said, "Five basketball players beat five athletes tonight."
No. 14 Torch gave No. 3 Franchise a run for its money, falling just 21-16 after dropping to a 9-2 early deficit.
The underdog squad of Charlie McKenna, Dan Irving, Kevin McLean, B.J. Scott and A.J. Altman couldn't make up for its early scoring drought.
"In the first half, we just didn't block out the way we should have," Altman said. "The thing that killed us was the offensive boards."
The Torch got within five at 15-11, but that was as close as it could come. Franchise wasn't too pleased with its performance, although it won.
"We tried to get back to playing the way we were at the beginning of the year, but we're still not hitting our shots," McLean said. "We accepted the easy shots."
Franchise will face another tough team in No. 6 Majestics, a team that held off 11th-ranked Fueled by Hate 21-14.
The Fueled by Hate team of Matt DeDominicis, Jim Moravek, John Lally and Steve Kovatis added varsity basketball player Todd Palmer to their squad, but his help wasn't enough to get the job done.
"We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and didn't hit as many shots as we did earlier in the tournament," DeDominicis.
Majestics hopes a victory will give it the respect it thinks it deserves.
"We haven't gotten much respect," Justin Heberle said.
Heberle is joined by Corey Hartmann, Peter Ryan, Derek Bautier and Matt Wolbeck on the squad. Majestics has been playing together since last year, with only one player different, the addition being Bengal Bouts heavyweight champion Ryan.
All Sports Stories for Friday, April 28, 2000
