Newspaper Page Text
February 2, 1979
The Panther
Page 8
Women Win Despite Lack of Support
Members of Clark College’s 1978-79 Basketball Pantherettes are: 1. to r., Ass.
Coach Anthony Witherspoon, Donna Evans, Phyllis News^n, Kimberly McLurkin,
Meldoy Ballard, Elaine Banks, Sharmaine Porter, Tara Jones, GwendolynTiibson,
Head Coach Leteria Clemons. Seated 1. to r., Regina Hampton, Myriette Duncan,
Theola Lindsey, Cheryl Allen, Paula Garner, Caroline Ledbetter. (Photo by Tyraun
Patterson)
By Charles Anderson
Sports Editor
Imagine playing a basket
ball game before 50 fans on
your own home court. Imagine
having eight newcomers, six of
them freshmen, on a squad of
14. And imagine competing for
the first year on a complete
Intercollegiate schedule.
Clark’s women’s basketball
team has had to play under
these conditions this season.
‘ ‘It really bothers me that we
don’t get support from the
students,” said Head Coach
Leteria Clemons. “It was the
students who spoke out and
said that they wanted a
women’s team. Now that we
have a women’s team, we have
no student support.”
The lack of student support
hasn’t really affected the
team’s play. They’ve still
managed to post a respectable
2-3 record in the conference.
However, at the beginning of
the season, it looked as though
Clark would blow the op
position off the court with
Myriette Duncan and Melody
Ballard in the lineup.
Ballard, a 5-9, 150 pound
forward-center is a strong
rebounder and can shoot from
the perimeter. Duncan, a 5-1
guard who played for Clark
two years ago, is a steady ball
handler and shooter. But like
any other young team, the
Pantherettes were plagued by
inexperience.
Ms. Clemons said that
anytime you have a young
team, you’re going to en
counter a few problems,
especially in women’s basket
ball.
“We were playing as in
dividuals at the beginning of
the season,” Ms. Clemons said.
“I think we’ve finally made it
to a point where we are truly
playing as a team.”
Clark’s starting lineup is as
unpredictable as their
performance in any given
game. At the beginning of the
season, Theola Lindsey and
Duncan were the starting
guards, Sharmaine Porter and
Kimberly McLurkin the
forwards, and Ballard the
center.
At this point of the season,
the starting five is determined
by who is producing at a
particular time and by who the
opposition is. Even a City-
League recruit, Regina
Hampton, has worked her way
into the lineup.
“We don’t have a superstar,”
Ms. Clemons smiled. “We have
five superstars - the one’s that
are on the floor. I couldn’t
honestly tell you who is going
to start in the next game.”
Con’t from page 7
Marion simply said
afterwards, “We did what we
had to do.”
It’s been Marion’s play,
especially, that has kept Clark
alive in their climb to the top of
the division with a 5-3
conference record. With
Williams out of the lineup
midway through the season,
Marion was the one who had to
take up the scoring slack. In
two back-to-back wins over
Knoxville and Fisk Colleges,
Marion scored 28 and 23 points
respectively.
Meanwhile, Williams was
recovering from a slipped disc
in his back that forced him to
miss seven games.
Williams returned to the
lineup Jan. 15 in a 119-72 rout
of Fort McClellan, scoring 13
points in two six minute stret
ches. In each of his last two
outings against Savannah
State and Fort Valley,
Williams has scored 22 points.
“The absence of Tweet
(Williams) put more stress on
the offense,” Marion said.
“Also, the emotional stability
of the team was affected by his
absence. Tweet is level-headed,
experienced and just has the
reputation of taking people to
the hoop,” the guard added.
But Clark has been getting
steady play out of everyone —
in particular, guard Carlton
Boston, center Larry Nolley,
who averages 13 points and a
dozen rebounds per game,
forward Henry Taylor, 6’9”
center Kenneth Dean, and
reserve sixth man, George
House.
Ricky Williams
154
Robert Marion
240
Larry Nolley
198
Henry Taylor
149
George House
120
Carlton Boston
111
Theodore Lay
37
Connie Tolbert
49
Kenneth Dean
82
James Glenn
33
David Glenn
17
Paul Robinson
42
Jeffery Jones
34
Others
9
Guard Robert Marion (30)
soars past a Savannah
State defender for an easy
layup . (Photo by Tyraun
Patterson)
Average
Season-Hi
16.6
22
16.0
28
13.0
26
10.6
17
10.0
17
9.2
20
7.4
13
7.0
19
6.3
10
5.5
13
4.2
8
3.8
12
3.7
8
3.0
4
Center Elaine Banks (52) rebounds against Shorter College while teammates
Feg’na Hampton (44) and Melody Ballard (20) look on. (Photo by Tyraun Patterson)
Football Team Members Honored
Clark College Head Football Coach Jesse McClardy was
awarded outstanding Coach of the Year in the Division II of
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference by the 100%
Wrong Club Jan. 27.
Also honored from Clark at the 44th annual presentation
held at the Peachtree Plaza Hotel were All-SIAC Conference
tackle, Johnny Pellman; end, Charles Cheeks; safety,
Johnny Wilder; and punter, Charles McPherson.
Varsity Individual Scoring Thru 15 Games
Name Points