National Sports Festival : Smallest Player Leads South Team to a Sizable Victory in Basketball

The South won a preview of the gold medal game in men’s basketball at the National Sports Festival Monday with an 85-81 victory over the North as 6-foot guard Mike Porter scored 18 points.

Porter, the shortest player in the game, scored 10 points in the final nine minutes to help the South remain unbeaten. The North is 2-1. The teams meet again Wednesday night for the championship.

In a women’s game, Alisha Jones of LSU scored 19 points and hauled in seven rebounds as the South beat the North, 78-73, to raise its record to 2-1. When the unbeaten East beat the West, 56-53, it clinched a spot in the championship game for the South.

The East and West men’s teams met in the final round-robin game later Monday night.

Porter, of Pulaski, Va., who has yet to make a college choice, came off the bench in the second half with the South down, 62-60. Porter hit a 15-foot jump shot with 8:06 to play and, after a steal by 6-11 Doug Roth, scored a layup three seconds later to give the South the lead for good.

John Williams of LSU and Georgia Tech-bound Tom Hammonds added 12 points each for the South.

“Porter had a super game for us, but that’s the way we’ve been the entire tournament,” said South Coach Dave Whitney of Alcorn State. “Somebody picks up the team. That’s how you spell team and that’s why were’re the only 3-0 team.”

Said Porter: “I didn’t think it was going to be my game. The first shot I took was an airball, but overall I played more relaxed than any other game and that had a lot to do with my game.”

Porter has narrowed his college choices to Virginia Union and San Jacinto, Tex., Junior College.

Porter made seven of 10 attempts from the field and added six rebounds.

“The kids feel they can play better, and they’ll get another chance,’ said North Coach Larry Brown of Kansas. “The little guy was the difference for them. He hit some big shots.”

Danny Manning of Kansas topped the North with 17 points.

In the first women’s game, Jones, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, got 10 points in the first half as the South built a 13-point lead. The North came back to trail only 42-39 at halftime and stayed close in the second half, but was never in the lead.

“We were inconsistent at times, but got the big plays when we had to,” said South Coach Cindy Scott of Southern Illinois. “Alisha had a fine game for us inside, and that was a big factor.”

Jessica Haynes and Maurtice Ivy led the North with 12 points each.

The men’s and women’s volleyball squads from the South set up return matches with the West for the gold medal. The South women routed the North, 15-5, 15-3, 15-6. The West, which played the East later, beat the South in four games in a previous matchup.

Wendy Stammer of San Antonio, Texas, led the South with eight kills.

“The finals will be a competitive match,” said South Coach Debbie Brown. “We’ve made some changes since the first match with the West.”

The South men had little trouble with the North, winning, 15-3, 15-4, 16-14, to head into a rematch with the West. Matt Sonnichsen had 15 kills and 23 assists for the winners.

“We’ll have to play a great match to win (the gold medal),” said South Coach Dave Shoji of the University of Hawaii. “The West has a great team . . . I told our team we shouldn’t be satisfied with the silver medal.”

In women’s water polo, both the North and West teams split matches. The West beat the East, 10-7, but lost to the North, 9-7. Earlier, the South downed the North, 12-9.

In field hockey, the East was doubly victorious, with the men beating the North, 4-2, and the women downing the West, 5-0.