1994

WEEK OF

1 Junior col Coaches see break as

p.m. "We have got a little rust right now, and we want to get back into the swing before begin– ning division play next week," Cooper said. "We have to go to Pearl River next week and that

By Ricky Hazel The Mendtan Star

Junior college basketball coaches look at the Christmas break as both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it gives injuries time al, and it gives the teams a chance to on some problem areas. e curse is the inactivity, and the rust ere– by the lack of games. The Warriors and Lady Warriors of East entral Community College hope to shake off whatever rust has developed over the break whml they host the East Central Classic this weekend. The two-day tournament will feature .~,\lississippi Delta, Jones County and Itawamba along with the host Warriors. The event tips of a second half of the season that holds a lot of potential for both East Central team. The Lady Warriors, ranked 12th in the nation, rolled through their pre-Christmas schedule with a perfect 12-0 record. The East Central men, after losing their season opener 72-70 to Delta, rolled off 11 straight wins before the break. ECCC coach Marty Cooper said his team isn't even thinking about getting re,·enge on Delta in this tournament. The two team are scheduled to me~t in tonight's final game at 8

will be a big test for us because they have only lost one game." The Warriors are led in scoring by 6-7 center Marcus Mann at 23 points per game. Three other ECCC players - Anthony Coleman (20), Stacy Miller (13) and Cedric Sledge (10) - are also scoring in dou– ble figures . The only thing that didn't go well for the

Warriors during the first semester was the national polls. The team never cracked the top 15 despite it's 11 game win streak. Cooper said that might have bothered the players last year, when they were all freshmen, but this year they have other goals. "Last year they got a big Kick out of being ranked,~ Cooper said. "This year the) realize that it is what you do at the end of the season in the tournament that count~. Rankings don't mean much." Lady Warriors coach Sammy Pace said he is

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