THE SIDELINES : Basketball Draft to Continue

Owners of the 16 teams in the Continental Basketball Assn. decided today to continue with the scheduled two-day draft, even though the plane crash in Sioux City, Iowa, has cast a pall over the activities.

Commissioner Jay Ramsdel, 25, and his deputy commissioner, Jerry Schemmel, were flying from the league’s headquarters in Denver to Columbus aboard the United DC-10 that crashed Wednesday in Iowa. Schemmel was listed as one of the survivors, but Ramsdel was still missing as of this afternoon.

“The crash will have no effect on the operations of the draft,” said Tim Sise, general manager of the Columbus Horizon. “Tonight we’re looking at some of the best basketball players, and to halt the growth of the league is something he (Ramsdel) wouldn’t have wanted.”