
This Week in the CBA
Published on December 30, 2002 under United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Ohio Valley Greyhounds News Release
DAKOTA WIZARDS: After a tough six-game road trip, the Dakota Wizards were glad to be back home, using an all-around team effort to dispatch Idaho, 116-89 Thursday evening at the Bismarck Civic Center. Andy Panko led Dakota with 24 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. Dakota hit 45 field goals and tallied 35 assists. Panko's eight led the way, but five other Wizards had at least four assists. The Wizards were playing without guard Miles Simon, who was out with tendinitis in his right knee and plantar fasciitis in both feet. On Friday evening the Dakota Wizards continued their unselfish play, recording 29 assists on their 41 field goals en route to a 113-104 victory over the Yakima Sun Kings at the Bismarck Civic Center. Dakota, which picked up six of the seven quarter points, were led by Kevin Rice's 21 points and three steals, while Rashad Tucker and Andy Panko added 20 points apiece. The Wizards (13-6) are currently in first place in the CBA's National Division and lead the league in quarter-point averages (4.76). The Wizards will next face the Yakima Sunkings Tuesday evening at the annual New Year's Eve game at the Bismarck Civic Center. Tip off is 7:05 p.m. GARY STEELHEADS: Oliver Miller became the second Steelheads' player in as many weeks to win the CBA's American Conference Player of the Week Award. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 25.5 points, 23.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 3.5 blocked shots and 2.0 steals in helping lead the Steelheads to a 2-0 week and their sixth straight win â which ties a franchise record for consecutive wins... Miller shot 61.2 percent from the field (19 of 31). He scored 30 points and had a season-high 25 rebounds on Saturday, a 147-134 win over Rockford ... He also tied a season high with eight blocked shots ... The 147 points are a franchise-high for points scored in a game ... The Steelheads have won four road games in a row â a franchise mark ... The seven December wins (as of Dec. 28) are also a franchise high ... Silas Mills won the American Conference Player of the Week last week ... during their six-game winning streak, the Steelheads are averaging 5.2 quarter points per game ... The starting lineup of Bryant Notree and Jemeil Rich (guards); Oliver Miller (center); and Silas Mills and Galen Young (forwards) is 6-0 ... Miller leads the CBA in double-doubles (16), rebounds per game with 14.6 and blocked shots per game (2.8.) ... Jemeil Rich has a double-double in points-assists in his last two games ... The 67 rebounds in Friday's win at Rockford is a season high as is the 23 offensive rebounds ... The 44 defensive rebounds ties a season-high set on Dec. 21 at Grand Rapids ... The Steelheads have partnered with American Red Cross to sponsor two blood drives. The first one is Saturday, January 4 at the Merrillville Blood Donation Center from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Steelie, the mascot, will be there. Those donating blood will receive two ticket vouchers to the Steelheads vs. Idaho game on January 18 ... The second drive will be from 5:30-9:30 p.m. during the Steelheads game at the Genesis Convention Center. Fans donating that night will receive two vouchers to a future Steelheads game ... ... Saturday, January 11 will be the next televised game on Chicagoland's Television (CLTV) as the Steelheads host Rockford ... It is also "Teddy Bear Donation" night as fans are encouraged to bring a new, teddy bear for donation. The bears will be given to a special unit at the Methodist Hospitals, where the players, Steelhearts and Steelie can present them to patients.
GRAND RAPIDS HOOPS: The Grand Rapids HOOPS continued their recent slide, dropping two games this week to fall to third place in the American Conference... On Friday night at Sioux Falls, the HOOPS fell 110-99 to the Skyforce, taking just one of seven quarter points. Grand Rapids had three scorers with 20 or more points, with Larry Ayuso leading the way with 22. Sioux Falls received tremendous performances from Kelley McClure, who scored 41 points, and Randy Livingston, who registered 18 points and 16 assists... Grand Rapids then returned home to face Great Lakes on Saturday at the DeltaPlex Arena. Corey Hightower led the Storm to a 112-105 victory as he scored 37 points, including 13 of 18 from the free-throw line. Former HOOP Antonio Smith also contributed 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds...The next two weeks is pivotal for the HOOPS as they face their American Conference competitors in seven consecutive games. Thus far, Grand Rapids is 4-4 in conference games...Grand Rapids rounds out 2002, as they face the Gary Steelheads tonight at the Genesis Convention Center, their fifth meeting of December.
GREAT LAKES STORM: On December 23rd against the Lightning, Desmond Ferguson shattered a CBA record by hitting 13 three-point field goals in a game, and scored a team high of 50 points. That same night, the Lightning became the first team since March 4, 1992 to score more points in a non-overtime game defeating the Storm 155-147 (6,1)... The Storm came close to upsetting the Lightning on December 26th but fell 127-122 (5,2)... This past Saturday the Storm made a special appearance at 9:00 a.m. at Summit Middle School in Flint for the Urban Christian Youth Organization basketball clinic. Then the Storm traveled to Grand Rapids for their game against the Hoops. That night, the Storm improved their record by beating the Hoops 112-105 (5.5,1.5)... Cory Hightower was nominated player of the week for a second time this season. He is averaging 29 ppg and 6 rpg. On December 21st Hightower's first game after coming off of the injured reserve, he led his team with 37 points, and a 113-105 (5.5, 1.5) victory over the Dakota Wizards at the Birch Run Expo Center... The next game for the Great Lakes Storm will be this coming Thursday, Jan 2 versus the Grand Rapids Hoops at the Birch Run Expo Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
IDAHO STAMPEDE: The Idaho Stampede spent Christmas in Sioux Falls, taking on the Skyforce on Christmas night. Idaho fell behind early, trailing 40-52 at halftime, but rallied back to make it a close game. Trailing by two with only seconds left on the clock, the Stampede had three good looks at an open shot but couldn't get one to fall. As time expired, the Skyforce came away with an 86-84 (5,2) victory. The following night, Idaho played the league-leading Dakota Wizards in Bismarck. The Wizards made short work of the Stampede, winning 116-89 (7,0). Sharif Fajardo led Idaho with 24 points, followed by Michael Johnson with 21.
ROCKFORD LIGHTNING: The Rockford Lightning's 2 and 2 week had just about everything you could ask for. It began with the highest scoring game ever by the Rockford Lightning and concluded with perhaps the best all-around single game performance by a Lightning opponent. The week featured a 50 point scoring output and a 25 rebound effort by an opponent. It also saw the Lightning's record improve to 8-0 against Michigan teams, but it also saw the team's record drop to 1-4 against it's closest geographic rival... On Monday and Thursday the Lightning beat the Great Lakes Storm, scoring 155 points in the first victory to establish the Rockford Lightning's all time record. Thursday's 127-122 win gave the Lightning a 5-0 record against the Storm this year, 4 of those victories coming at Great Lakes. The Lighting are 11-2 against the rest of the CBA but 1-4 against the Gary Steelheads. Gary swept a weekend series with the Lightning at the MetroCentre. In those contests, Oliver Miller combined for 51 points and 46 rebounds. The Lightning set a franchise record with 23 steals in the loss on Friday Night... The Bolts now average 14.2 steals per game which would obliterate the current record of 12.2 steals per game set by the 1990-91 Quad City Thunder. The Lightning are on pace for 691 steals in the 48 game regular season. The 90-91 Thunder own the record for a 56 game season at 687... Brian Wardle is one of just three players in the CBA (Idaho's Byron Mouton and Gary Williams are the others) with more offensive rebounds than defensive rebounds this year. The Lightning Guard has 29 offensive boards compared to 27 off the defensive glass... The Lightning sport identical 6-3 records in home and away games this season. The Lightning are the only CBA team with a winning record away from home and they are 20-and-3 in road games (including playoffs) dating back to Valentines Day 2002.
SIOUX FALLS SKYFORCE: The Sioux Falls Skyforce got on the winning track with two weekend wins over the Grand Rapids Hoops and Yakima Sun Kings. Kelley McClure's 41 points led the Skyforce past the Hoops Friday night at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Force picked up 6 quarter points in the 113-104 victory. McClure connected on 13 of 23 shots while hitting all 12 of his free-throw attempts. Versile Shaw chipped in with 20 points and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds. Randy Livingston also added 16 assists for the Skyforce. For the Grand Rapid Hoops, Larry Ayuso had 22 points... Sioux Falls used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the Yakima Sun Kings 86-78 Saturday at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Force had 5 players score in double figures. Recently acquired Ray Weathers led the way for Sioux Falls with 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Kelley McClure also had 17 points. Sioux Falls (7-12), grabbed 5 quarter points in the victory. The Force have won 3 straight and 4 of their last 5. Damian Cantrell led the Sun Kings (11-9) with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Sioux Falls takes on Idaho Monday night as they begin a 4 game road trip before returning home January 10th... Skyforce guard Kelly McClure won the team's first Player of the Week award this season. The Otterbein College ('96) product tallied 26.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 5.0 apg. In the win over Grand Rapids McClure connected on 13 of 23 shots from the field (.565) and 12 of 12 from the charity stripe for a game high 41 points.
YAKIMA SUN KINGS: For the first time this season three Sun Kings recorded double-doubles in the same game. In Saturday night's 86-78(5,2) loss at Sioux Falls Damien Cantrell (18 points and 17 rebounds), Paul Shirley (14 points and 12 rebounds) and Tyson Wheeler (12 points and 12 assists) each had double-doubles. Rosell Ellis leads the Sun Kings with 11 double-doubles, good for second in the League... Yakima and Sioux Falls have played each other five times this season. The Sun Kings lead the season series, 3-2, with each club going undefeated at home... Guard Fred Vinson has played in 14 games for Yakima this season and has scored in double figures each time. The former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket scored a career-high 32 points against Idaho on December 21st. The 6-foot-4 Vinson has hit two or more three-pointers in a game 12 times and is leading the CBA in three-point fg% at 52.4% (43-of-82).
PRIMETIME PERFORMANCES
Desmond Ferguson set a CBA record with 13 three-point field goals in a 155-147 Great Lakes Storm loss to the Rockford Lightning on Dec. 23. He also established CBA season highs in points (50) and three-point attempts (19). His three-point total broke the CBA record by three, established last season by Cory Hightower, and topped the NBA record by two, established in 1996 by Dennis Scott of the Orland Magic.
Andy Panko of the Dakota Wizards tallied 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists in a 116-89 victory over the Idaho Stampede on Dec. 26.
Kelly McClure connected on 13 of 23 shots from the field (.565) and 12 of 12 from the charity stripe for a game high 41 points in a 110-99 Sioux Falls Skyforce victory over the Grand Rapids Hoops on Dec. 27.
Oliver Miller of the Gary Steelheads posted 30 points, 25 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 blocks in a 147-135 (5-2) victory over the Rockford Lightning on Dec. 28. His rebounding total tied the CBA season high with Antonio Smith of the Great Lakes Storm.
Cory Hightower led the Great Lakes Storm to a 112-105 win over the Grand Rapids Hoops on Dec. 28, behind his 37 point, 8 rebound, 9 assist, 3 steal performance.
THIS WEEK IN CBA HISTORY
On Jan. 4, 1983 the Detroit Spirits pulled down a CBA record 80 rebounds in a 107-101 loss to the Ohio Mixers. Clarence Kea led the effort with a game high 25 boards. That season Kea would go on to corral a league high 13.8 rpg, and along with all-time CBA points leader Tico Brown, lead Detroit to a CBA championship, defeating George Karl's Montana Golden Nuggets four games to three in the finals.
United Indoor Football Association Stories from December 30, 2002
- This Week in the CBA - Ohio Valley Greyhounds
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
Other Recent Ohio Valley Greyhounds Stories
- Two Greyhounds Players Achieve "UIF Player of the Week" Honors
- Greyhounds Sign Five New Players
- Greyhounds Enter Broadcast Partnership with Network West Virginia
- Head Coach Bryson Signs Four New Players Prior to BlueCats Game
- Greyhounds and Network West Virginia Announce Broadcast Partnership

