The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 25

Sports THE COURIER-JOURNAL SATURDAY, MARCH 21,1998 EDITOR: HARRY BRYAN PHONE: 582-4361 FAX: 582-7186 SCORES LINE: 582-4871 Branig omi SO It's the kids, not Wojo, who make Duke go ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. The Abercrombie Fitch-clad Mensa members who call themselves "Dookies" have pretty well canonized the human dust mop known as Steve Wojciechowski. It is, on the whole, a misplaced conferring of sainthood, perhaps owing more to Wqjo's stature (5 feet 11) and skin color. (Really, now, if he were an African American, would there be such a mm wm 1 4 I I By MARK WOODS The Courier-Journal ST.

PETERSBURG, Fla. The final buzzer sounded, signaling that, as strange as it sounds, a basketball game between the University of Kentucky and UCLA had instantly become a mere footnote in this NCAA Tournament. the game before UK-Duke. It is hard to imagine a rare meeting between the schools with the most national championship banners hanging from their rafters UCLA with 11, Kentucky with six turning into a prelude. It's like putting Frank Sinatra and the Rolling Stones on the same stage and calling it a warmup act.

But that's what happened last night. Scott Padgett scored 19 points and Jeff Sheppard 16 to lead No. 2 seed Kentucky to a 94-68 rout of No. 6 seed UCLA in the South Region semifinals. It was the Wildcats' 10th consecutive victory.

It followed an 80-67 victory by No.l seed Duke against No. 5 Syracuse. NCAA GLANCE South Region Duke 80 Syracuse 67 Kentucky 94 UCLA 68 Midwest Region Stanford 67 Purdue 59 The Cardinal shot just 36.4 percent but physically dominated on the boards. Rhode Island 74 Valparaiso 68 Antonio Reynolds-Dean scored 16 points as the Rams ended the 13th-seeded Crusaders' run. D6 Today's games (CBS-32) WEST REGION Utah (28-3) vs.

Arizona (30-4), 3:40 p.m. EAST REGION North Carolina (33-3) vs. Connecticut (32-4), 6 p.m. starry eyed lauding of such a mediocre player? He plays hard, which is great. That's about it.

Duke fans, not necessarily unlike University of Kentucky fans, sometimes get a little carried away over their white heroes.) No, if the Dookies want to get properly PAT FORDE SPORTS COLUMNIST uke belts Syracuse 80-67 The buzzer signaled that it was time to look ahead. And back. UK (32-4) and Duke (32-3) are about to meet for the first time since March 28, 1992, the day Christian Laettner made a turnaround jump shot at the buzzer in Philadelphia to send the Blue Devils to the Final Four en route to their second consecutive national championship. The faces and venues have changed, but the stakes have not. The winner of tomorrow's 5 p.m.

game will head to San Antonio next week for the Final Four. But let's not forget what happened last night in front of a regional-semifinal record of 40,584 fans at Tropicana Field. It's not every day that Kentucky and UCLA meet. In fact, it had happened only five previous times. UK held a 3-2 edge but had lost the previous two games, including the only NCAA Tournament meeting: the 1975 final.

Whatever buildup there was for meeting No. 6 was gone less than See UK Page 6, col. 1, this section BY STEWART BOWMAN, THE C-J Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim nervously chewed his nails as he watched Duke edge ahead of his team In the first half. for an upset. Syracuse tied the score at 49 on Elvir Ovcina's putback with 12 minutes to go but didn't score again against Duke's tough man-toman defense for five minutes.

By that time Brand scored on two dunks and a jumper in the lane during the burst that also saw the Blue Devils get a long three-pointer from Avery and two baskets each from Battier and Chris Carrawell. "We don't consider those guys V' By FRED GOODALL Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. If Duke had a weakness, it was supposed to be the inexperience of three key freshmen. But Elton Brand, Shane Battier and William Avery played more like seniors last night as the Blue Devils beat Syracuse 80-67 to advance to tomorrow's NCAA South Region final against Kentucky.

The trio scored 45 points, taking up the slack for struggling leading scorers Roshown McLeod and Trajan Langdon, who were held to a total of 13 points on 4-of-22 shooting. "This time of year there's no freshmen and seniors," said Brand, who had 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 14 rebounds. "I thought we did a good job on the guys we wanted to and were most concerned with coming into the game," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "Their freshmen really stepped up." Sloppy in building and then losing a 12-point lead, Duke looked like a national-title contender during its decisive second-half surge. Brand led a 19-3 run Duke put together after missing 11 of its first 13 shots in the second half to give the heavily underdog Orangemen hope BY JAMES H.

WALLACE, THE COURIER-JOURNAL Kentucky Junior Nazr Mohammed put together a masterpiece In the paint, scoring 15 points, ruling the boards and thwarting J. R. Henderson, among other UCLA shooters. BOYS' SWEET 16 TOURNAMENT Wilson a Knight in shining armor freshmen anymore," said Duke senior point guard Steve Wojciechowski. "They have gone through 35 games with us, and they're just as experienced as the other guys now." Syracuse (26-9) extended its 2-3 zone to disrupt Duke early in the second half and got a lift offensively from Todd Burgan, who had 17 of his 20 points after halftime.

But the Orangemen simply lacked the depth necessary to keep up with Duke for 40 minutes. A layup and dunk by Brand after Syracuse mistakes began Duke's decisive surge. The Blue Devils scored 11 straight before Syracuse got two free throws from Etan Thomas that hardly stopped Duke's momentum. "At that point, we truly believed we could do it, but we made some silly plays and lost the momentum," said Syracuse guard Marius Janulis. "That was the key." Duke (32-3) will return to a regional final for the first time since 1994, when the Blue Devils made their seventh trip to the Final Four in nine years under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The game against the Wildcats is a rematch of the 1992 regional final the Laettner Game. Duke won that contest 104-103 in overtime on Christian Laettner's shot at the buzzer. No repeat for Eastern; Fleming Co. wins 77-58 By JODY DEMLING The Courier-Journal LEXINGTON, Ky. The champ got TKO'd.

Fleming County took advantage of every break as it knocked out defending state high school boys' basketball champion Eastern 77-58 last night in the quarterfinals of the State Tournament. Junior Josh Graham poured in 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to pave the way for the 10th Region champs' upset before 14,225 fans at Rupp Arena. "We were determined to do something to make people respect us," Fleming County coach Lake Kelly said. "It's been difficult for Fleming County to get any respect. We were beating people ahead of us and not moving in the ratings.

Any win is significant for us." The Panthers (27-8), who struggled to beat Boyle County 57-49 in the opening round, turned the ball over 21 times but had more steals, assists and rebounds than Eastern. "We heard a few rumors in the hotel lobby about how us being here was a fluke," Kelly said. "We just wanted to come out and play like we were supposed to." Eastern didn't score a field goal in the final 4:52 and the Panthers out-scored the Eagles 19-6 in the fourth quarter to end the game. Eastern coach Bryce Hibbard, nor- See FLEMING reverential, they're advised to hit their knees and bow in the direction of the Blue Devils' freshman class. Elton Brand, William Avery and Shane Battier are the triumvirate responsible for Duke advancing within 40 minutes of the Final Four last night at Tropicana Field.

Those three rookies combined for 45 points, 25 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks and six steals to lead Duke past Syracuse 80-67. Whenever things got tight, it was the kids who bailed out the Blue Devils. Coach Mike Krzyzewski has always been an honor-thy-seniors kind of coach. The veterans are the guys at every NCAA Tournament news conference, on the cover of every media guide and generally placed No. 1 in the hearts of the Cameron Crazies.

The older guys have always been counted on to provide trickle-down leadership and work ethic and usually most of the points, too. Not this team. And definitely not this game. Duke's young guns are simply too strong to ignore. START WITH BRAND.

The 6-8 260-pounder from Peekskill, N.Y., cleared bodies in the lane like a pulling guard, racking up 20 points and 14 rebounds in only 29 minutes. (Krzyzewski looked a little like Dean Smith last night, his itchy trigger finger calling for substitutions nearly every dead ball.) Brand isn't a super-defined muscle guy, but anybody who has tried to move him off the block or box him off the glass will testify to his strength. Certainly the Syracuse post players will, after being scattered like crumbs. "Elton was huge for us tonight," said Wojo, who wasn't. "His points, his rebounds, just his presence on offense and defense means a lot to us." NEXT GO TO AVERY, who was clutch out of the bullpen playing both guard positions.

And Duke needed it. Wojo and fellow upperclassman Trajan Langdon were demonstrably slower than Syracuse guards Jason Hart and Allen Griffin. I don't think Wojo was able to take more than three successive dribbles all night without being forced to pick it up. He was in over his head. So Krzyzewski had to go to Avery more for matchup purposes.

The Augusta, native is fearless shooting the ball and absolutely calm handling it. He was in the game all of three seconds in the first half before triggering a long three-pointer that swished. And after Syracuse clawed back to tie the score at 49 in the second half, Avery made stellar feeds to Brand on successive plays for layups. He finished with 11 points, six assists and four rebounds', occasionally conjuring up images of Joe Dumars. "William Avery came in and gave us great lifts throughout the ballgame," Krzyzewski said.

"I think his play was the most critical of anybody on the team. He penetrated the zone and created some things. "He gave us a lift. A very big lift." AND BATTIER threw his lean, 6-9 body around the middle like a walk-on, not a consensus national top-five recruit. No country-club attitude from this guy, who hit the deck as often as the celebrated diver Wojo.

Not counting floor burns and bruises, Bather's biggest numbers were 14 points and seven rebounds. Those three are so good that they've overshadowed fellow frosh Chris Burgess, who dominated the Nike All-Star camp before his senior year of high school. You know Duke has talent if it can keep this 6-11 star on the bench for 36 minutes last night. Michigan's Fab Five had the nickname, the shorts, the shaved heads, the megawatt personality and the complete starting unit. But this bunch of Duke freshmen might end up stacking more hardware on the shelf before it's done.

Maybe starting this season. 4 Buzzer-beater in overtime thwarts PRP By BOB WHITE The Courier-Journal LEXINGTON, Ky. Ben Wilson threw up an eight-foot bank shot from the left side in the final second of overtime. When the ball gently dropped through the basket after several bounces on the rim, Lexington Catholic the nation's third-ranked high school boys' basketball team in USA Today's poll was saved from an early exit in the 81st State Tournament. Wilson's shot, which gave the sophomore reserve five points in yesterday's quarterfinal game, spoiled Pleasure Ridge Park's upset bid 75-73 before 15,245 fans in Rupp Kevin Paschel had pulled PRP, the 1989 state champion, into a 73-73 tie by hitting his second three-pointer of the overtime with 10.5 seconds left.

Lexington Catholic's David Graves then dribbled upcourt but lost control of the ball the foul lane. "I thought Graves was going to hit the game-winner, but he lost the ball," Wilson said. "Graves dove for the ball and flipped it to me. I happened to be in the right spot, and I put it up." Has he ever hit a bigger shot? "Nothing like this." Wilson's goal put the Knights (33- 2) the state's No. 1 team all season in The Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings, into today's 10 a.m.

semifinal against No. 4 Scott County (32- 3) "This was a great win in a great NBA Indiana 99, New Jersey 92 Orlando 102, Portland 87 Miami 93, Atlanta 87 Utah 91, Philadelphia 79 Roundup, notebook, D9 I PHOTOS BY JOHN SOMMERS II, SPECIAL TO THE COURIERJOURNAL As Dominlck Taylor waved In vain, Lexington Catholic's Ben Wilson went up for the shot that beat Pleasure Ridge Park at the overtime buzzer and never came down as the celebration began. BOYS' SWEET 16 AT A GLANCE Yesterday's results Today's semifinals Lexington Catholic 75, PRP 73, OT Lexington Catholic (33-2) vs. Scott Scott County 72, Highlands 67 County (32-3), 10 a.m. Paintsville 55, Boyd County 50 Paintsville (29-6) vs, Fleming County Fleming County 77, Eastern 58 (27-8), 11:30 a.m.

Additional coverage, D3 Final: 8 p.m. basketball game," said coach Danny Haney, who is seeking his first state title after a runner-up finish in 1992. "That team didn't back down from us. There's not a whole lot of coach ing done at the end in a game like this. You have to let the Kids step up.

Ben Wilson was right there and See LEXCATH'S Page 3, col. 6, this section RESULTS Minnesota 104, Denver 88 New York 109, Atlanta 108 Detroit 105, Toronto 99 Chicago 98, Vancouver 92 Charlotte 92, San Antonio 82 Seattle at LA Lakers INSIDE Page 3, col. 1, this section INDEX Baseball 2 High School Basketball 3 Scorecard 4 Lotteries 4 College Basketball 6-8 Pro Basketball 9 Horse Racing 10 Martin, Burton 1-2 Teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Burton were the two fastest in qualifying for tomorrow's TranSouth Financial 400 at Darlington Raceway. The top five qualifiers all drove Fords. D5 Derby preps There's no such thing as a week end off on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Three prep races will be held this weekend the Gotham and Rebel stakes tc'ay and the Tampa Bay Derby D10 Pat Forde's column noimally runs Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in SporN. You can reach him at 582-4373. I i I.