February 15, 2002 12:16 AM
Moline Maroons at Rock Island Rocks
Moline Maroons (18-4, 8-0 Big 6) Probable starters Pts. Reb.
F: Jay McAdams-Thornton (6-3 Sr.) 14.1 7.9
F: David Burke (6-2 Sr.) 8.8 4.1
C: Travis Nunn (6-5 Sr.) 11.0 7.0
G: Anthony Beaird (6-1 Sr.) 14.8 2.6
G: Wesley McCorkle (6-0 So.) 6.8 3.4
Rock Island Rocks (12-9, 4-4 Big 6)
F: Grant Synder (6-3 Jr.) 4.6 4.3
F: David Wilson (6-3 Sr.) 11.8 4.9
C: Brandin Smith (6-3 Sr.) 6.2 6.9
G: Ray Muskeyvalley (5-11 Sr.) 8.1 2.3
G: Jeff Banks (5-5 Fr.) 2.9 1.2
Time & place: 7:30 tonight at Rock Island Fieldhouse, after a sophomore game
at 6.
Radio: Tonight's game on WKBF-AM 1270.
Saturday: Moline hosts Washington at 7:30 p.m. (sophs at 6) in what has the
makings of a rout. Moline is ranked 16th in the Class AA poll; Washington is rated No. 221
out of 285 teams in Charles Essig's state computer rankings.
Last meeting; Moline swamped the Rocks 72-52 at Wharton Field House last month,
with four Maroons in double figures. Travis Nunn and Anthony Beaird had 20 points apiece.
While the Rocks are 0-2 at Wharton this season, they're 6-3 at home, with the losses
coming against UT, Dunbar and Peoria High.
Game notes: Moline clinched the Western Big 6's outright title last Friday, only
the third time in the past 31 years that the Maroons did so ('97 and '71 were the others).
Too, Moline has two straight crowns, with a 3-way share in 2001. ... Moline could get
starting guard Wesley McCorkle back. He missed last week with strep throat. Coach Frank
Dexter said his status could be a game-time decision. Jeff Perez played well in McCorkle's
stead in the win at Quincy. ``The guys were calling (McCorkle) Wally Pipp,'' Dexter said,
in reference to the man replaced by baseball legend Lou Gehrig. ... A Rocky sophomore is
making big inroads of playing time. Justin Sharp has back-to-back double figures games in
a reserve role. ``He's been real aggressive. He's made things happen,'' RI coach Thom
Sigel said. ... Another sophomore reserve, A.J. Veasey, will not suit up for varsity or
the sophs, by virtue of missing a study table. He's the third Rock to be hit with that
type of suspension this season. ``He probably would have seen more time if Moline plays a
zone,'' Sigel said of Veasey, ``because he's probably the best 3-point shooter we have in
the program.'' ... Title in hand, Dexter says the Maroons have other goals to reach: ``A
goal is still to win 20 games, and we need to get ready for the tournament,'' he said.
-- By Marc Nesseler, Dispatch/Argus
Copyright 2000, Moline Dispatch
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