With the services of leading scorer and rebounder Michael Wormely in doubt because of a severely bruised elbow, Eisenhower coach Bob Frasor knew his Cardinals were underdogs against powerful Homewood-Flossmoor in Friday`s South Inter-Conference Association East Division game. So he ordered the Cardinals to sit on the ball. The plan might have worked, but the Cardinals kept turning the ball over at crucial times. At halftime, H-F led 10-2. Center Paul Aicher`s layup in the first period accounted for all of Eisenhower`s points. ”I`d hoped it would be a little closer than 10-2, but I told the kids what difference does it make if it`s 10-2 or 38-30, it`s still an 8-point game,” Frasor said. ”Normally, I wouldn`t do that, but the game plan we devised was one we felt we could win with given the team we had.” Wormely, who had missed three games with the injury, convinced Frasor to put him into the game late in the second quarter, so Frasor opened up the offense in the second half. From there, things got bizarre. H-F (13-3) missed all 10 of its second-half attempts from the field and the Cardinals (8-8) cut the deficit to 3 late in the third quarter. But Eisenhower hit only 1 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter and the Vikings won 26-17, closing the game out with 16 free throws. ”If we hit even 30 percent, we`re in the game,” Frasor said. ”But we couldn`t.” Eisenhower committed 23 fouls. The Vikings, who were led by Scott Tierney`s 11 points, committed 5. Wormely, who had four points, reinjured the elbow late in the game. The extent of the injury won`t be known until Monday. . . . Winning coach Dick Wiseman was too exhausted to remember the details of Elk Grove`s 63-59 victory over Hoffman Estates Saturday night. A coach can get pretty involved when a game goes six overtimes. The Mid-Suburban League South Division contest was the fourth longest in state history behind Tower Hill`s 18-14 victory over Lakewood in 1929 that took nine overtimes. That one was later tied when Dwight beat Reddick 76-72 in 1964. Hoffman Estates rallied to tie the game at 41 near the end of regulation. After that, it was tied at 45 after the second OT, 47 after the third and 53 after the fifth, with neither team scoring in the second or fourth overtimes. ”I`ve been involved in a couple of overtime games before, but nothing like this,” said Wiseman. ”It was very nerve-racking. I`m glad we were the winners and I felt sorry for Rick (Hoffman Estates coach Rick Gablenz) and his kids. They really played us tough.” Gablenz said: ”I would have felt a lot better if we had won, there`s no question about that. But it was an exciting game and it can only help my team.”
GIRLS` BASKETBALL
New Trier coach John Schneiter, who signed a three-year contract as television color analyst for the girls` state tournament, is never one to miss a quip. ”I guess they were just hard up,” said Schneiter, who guided Decatur to the boys` state championship in 1962 and took the New Trier boys` team to second in the state in 1973. . . . Opening-round play in the York Invitational begins Thursday. Once-beaten Lake Zurich meets Immaculate Conception, York plays Elk Grove, Sterling meets Niles West and No. 2-ranked Maine South plays Hoffman Estates. Play continues Saturday at 11:30 a.m and concludes with the 8:30 p.m. championship game. . . . Thursday`s showdown for first place in the SICA West Division has been moved from Lockport to Lincoln-Way. The original 8 p.m. game time has also been moved up to 7 p.m. The teams, which meet again Feb. 27 at Lockport, flip-flopped home games because of a scheduling conflict at Lincoln-Way Feb. 27.
WRESTLING
What has made Chuck Farina one of the most successful coaches in the history of high school sports? The Leyden coach, who won his 500th match Saturday in a double dual with Bolingbrook and Waukegan West, is in his 32d season at the Franklin Park school and has lost just 45 matches since 1958.
”He`s really strong fundamentally,” said Ray Conrad, who had three sons wrestle for Farina. ”Strong fundamentals, good training, he`s one of the best coaches anywhere. He relates to the kids today better than ever. He`s mellowed. They just adore him. They know he`s right, that`s a big thing.”
Says Jack Leese, former Leyden football coach and a colleague since 1963: ”He gets a lot out of the kids in practice. It`s in practice, not on Saturday, when matches are won. The way he works, the way he drills. He`s the kind of guy who gets the most out of most of his kids. He knows who listens to him. They know he`s got a temper and he`ll get after them. He`s a great
psychologist during the week with his bulletin boards, signs and things.”
Marist coach Mark Gervais is a former Farina pupil and spent his day off watching his old coach win two more matches. ”The big thing is his personality,” said Gervais, one of six former Farina wrestlers now in head coaching positions in the area. ”He cares for the individual. I think that has a lot to do with it. He did so many things for us when I was in high school. The time and dedication he put in for us is the reason why he`s so successful. You don`t want to disappoint a guy like that.” Farina may be 58, but none of his wrestlers would want to cross him. ”No one gets overconfident,” said Eagle senior Mike Chihoski. ”I guess we respect him so much that anything he says, goes. Besides, I wouldn`t want to get out on the mat with him.” Farina has a career coaching record of 500-75-7. ”I never really thought about it,” Farina said of his anticipation of the milestone and his long career. ”My high school coach, Lou Slimmer (at Proviso), was older and my college coach at Purdue, Claude Reick, was up there, too. I said to myself, `I don`t want to end up like that,` but I did. I`ve just had a lot of fun or I wouldn`t have done it. I think my friends and former wrestlers are more excited about it than I am.” Farina says he`ll coach two more seasons after this year before retiring. The amazing thing about his career record is 30 of his 75 losses came in his first three years at Leyden. His 1978 state championship team, which featured his son Jim, is generally thought of as the best team in Illinois history. The Eagles had four state champions and a third-place finisher. ”The 1978 team had to be hard to coach,” said Randy Conrad, one of the state champions on that team and an All-America at Iowa State. ”It would have been hard for any other guy to coach because we were so dominating. But he kept things in perspective. He kept our heads down and kept us from getting big heads.” . . . Hillcrest`s Ron Stewart got his 100th victory last week against Thornton Fractional South. His twin brother Don, who coaches at Oak Forest, also got his 100th against T.F. South last year. Oak Forest meets Hillcrest in a dual Friday. . . . Waubonsie Valley had no trouble winning the Lisle Invitational Saturday. The Warriors piled up 202 1/2 points to 136 1/2 for second-place Sandwich. Jeff Kragh led Waubonsie with the 167-pound title, and was voted the meet`s outstanding wrestler. Kragh (23-0)
scored a 17-1 technical fall over Joe Neidgh of Sandwich in the finals. The Warriors also got titles from Jason Welsh (112), Jason Galvan (119), Gregg Woodcock (126), Geoff Woodcock (132) and Kurt Siegler (138). Lemont`s Jamal Hamdan won the heavyweight title with a pin of Aurora Central Catholic`s Frank Behm in 2 minutes 35 seconds.
GYMNASTICS
Here it is late January and we`ve already had one girls` conference meet. Host De Kalb edged Lake Park 133.3-132.15 in Saturday`s Upstate Eight meet. Sonya Brandon of De Kalb took the all-around title with a 9.09 average. The senior also won on balance beam with a 9.4. Jackie Takac of Lake Park finished first on the uneven parallel bars (9.0) and in floor exercise (9.25). Teammate Sheri Hartig won in vaulting (9.25). . . . Lyons Township won the 33-team Niles West Invitational. The Lions scored 72.65, while Deerfield and York tied for second place with 71.60. There was no all-around in the meet and only two girls per school could compete in each event. Bonnie Higgins of Rolling Meadows was the big winner, finishing first in vault (9.55) and on bars (9.3). Lyons` Tracy Kontur won in floor (9.45), was second in vault (9.50) and tied for third on bars (9.1) with Palatine`s Betsy Skach and Maureen Roemer of Deerfield. Jessica Warner of York finished first on beam (9.3), with Roemer second (9.25).
