U.S. Olympic Festival Roundup : West Wins Basketball Title, 103-94

Syracuse-bound Steve Thompson of Crenshaw High School scored 28 points as the West defeated the East, 103-94, Thursday night to win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the U.S. Olympic Festival.

Scott Williams of Hacienda Heights Wilson, who will attend North Carolina this fall, added 18 for the West, and Tom Lewis, who will be a sophomore at UC Irvine after transferring from USC, had 13.

University of Pittsburgh sophomore Jerome Lane, named the Festival’s Most Valuable Player, led the East with 21 points.

In the third-place game, Kenny Payne of Louisville, the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. champion, hit 9 of 11 field-goal tries and scored 19 points as the South beat the North, 107-99.

In women’s basketball, Tennessee sophomore Bridgette Gordon scored 22 points as the South defeated the North, 83-78, for the gold. Gordon, one of three Tennessee starters on the South squad, led the Festival in scoring with 86 points as the South compiled a 4-0 record.

In men’s gymnastics, Scott Johnson turned in a consistent series to win the all-around title. Johnson, of Colorado Springs, Colo., scored a 9.7 on the final event and totaled 57.5 for a 0.1-point margin of victory over Dan Hayden of Amherst, N.Y.

In diving, Michelle Mitchell, once a platform specialist, won the three-meter springboard gold medal. Mitchell, 24, of Scottsdale, Ariz., had to go to the last dive to clinch the title, beating Kelly McCormick of Long Beach. Mitchell was a silver medalist in the platform at the 1984 Olympics, and McCormick won the silver in springboard.

The track and field competition, which began Thursday night with the half-marathon, lost several featured athletes. National triple-jump champion Charlie Simpkins, 400-meter national champion Darrell Robinson and American pole vault record-holder Joe Dial all withdrew.

Also, hurdler Edwin Moses apparently won’t be competing. His agent, Gordon Bask, said Moses decided against competing here because it might jeopardize future commitments in Europe.

Carl Lewis said he will compete in the long jump Sunday night despite a sore left knee, but if the injury gets any worse, he may not return to the European circuit.

In men’s volleyball, the North, behind the slick setting of Javier Gaspar and the 11 kills of Scott McKeough, routed the West, 15-7, 15-1, 15-10.

Gaspar, a second-team All-American from Penn State, often fed McKeough, of Fountain Valley, and Anthony Curci, of Newport Beach, for spikes.

In women’s volleyball, three crucial kills by Julie Evans of Newport Beach spurred a West rally for a 15-9, 13-15, 15-4, 15-13 decision over the North.

In women’s water polo, Maureen O’Toole of Long Beach scored five goals as the North beat the South, 10-6, for the gold medal. North goalie Dion Gray of Pomona made 14 saves and held the South scoreless for more than 13 minutes.

O’Toole finished the tournament with 16 goals, a Festival mark, and teammate Simone LaPay of Long Beach was second with 22.

In the opening match of the men’s water polo competition, Erich Fischer of Reedley, Calif., scored with 26 seconds to to go to give the West a 7-6 comeback victory over the North. Then the North edged the South, 9-8, as Vince Tonne of Los Altos, Calif., scored with 1:33 remaining.

The 100-degree heat in Houston had brought the water temperature in the Spring Branch Natatorium, site of water polo, to 86 degrees, eight above the normal temperature for games. So Thursday morning, organizers dropped 30,000 pounds of ice into the pool.