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SPORTS

BITTER END FOR CLAN |

Michelle Hendry ponders
her future
in basketball.

. "This is not the way I wanted
“to go out."

~ So said a tearful Michelle
‘Hendry on Saturday after her

‘Clan basketball team dropped a

five-point (77-72) decision to St.

Edward’s University of Austin,

Texas, eliminating them from the

32-team' NAIA championships at

Jackson, Tennessee.

Held to only 16 points due to

~ foul problems, Hendry wound up

her college career with Simon
‘Fraser U feeling she played into
the hands of the referees.

"I was stupid, stupid, stupid,"
she was quoted as saying to the

‘press after the game. "If you give

the refs an opportunity to call
fouls, they will."

Michelle finished up her
appearance against the best
teams of NAIA basketball with a

‘three-game total of 64 points.

The Clan opened with a 96-45

‘thrashing of North Carolina's

Pembroke State. They demolished
their opponents in an apparent
effort to bury last year’s memory
of a first-round loss to Indiana-
Purdue U. That had eliminated
the favoured Canadians.

In her 24 minutes of play

against Pembroke, Hendry had 24
‘points. Next victim was Kenne-
‘shaw State Lady Owls.

The Clan responded with a
77-60 win against the Owls to
move into the final eight (quarter-
finals) against St. Edward’s,

Michelle had come up with
another 24 points, and they
seemed to be on their way toa
possible tournament title.
Then came St. Edward’s.
Although the Clan was
ranked number one in the 32-
team series, the Austin team
seemed to have found the
Clan’s Achilles heel. The Clan
had only one lead in the con-

test, and that was 9-8 in the
first five minutes.

Michelle le Hendy: ‘Considering?
volleyball.

St. Edward’s coach said
his team’s success. was based
on stopping. Hendry. .Michelle’s
early foul problems took care of
that.

So its back home to Simon
Fraser with the six seniors turn-

ing in their strip in a career-.

ending move as they graduate.

Now it’s decision time for the
best female basketball player ever
to graduate from Caledonia Sen-
ior Secondary. With her college
eligibility now used up, Michelle
heads east at the end of March
for another. crack at Canada’s
Olympic-bound National squad.

The 6’2" Terrace product could
have a fifth year of varsity eligi-
bility if she plays a sport other
than basketball. i

“If I-go back to school next
year, I’m thinking about playing
volleyball," she’. said recently.
She’s currently enroled in the
kinesiology program,

Another option is going for a.

Terrace Review — March 13, 1992

PDP degree (professional develop-

ment program).

Right now it’s the National
team in her sights. They'll train
at Toronto, then head overseas to
Poland and possibly Sweden.

She’s also considering playing _
in Europe after the Olympics. She
has relatives in Holland, and one
of the Dutch teams would pay her
a handsome salary. .

Salmon Arm’s Bev Smith. is
reportedly making $85,000 (US)
annually on the European circuit.

In any case, it would appear
that our Michelle might wind up
being just an occasional visitor to
Terrace in future.

In other Northwest basketball
news, the Senior AAA’ Northwest
Zone champs from Prince Rupert
(Rainbirds) wound up the high
school’s 16team tourney at Maple
Ridge in 16th place. They played
and lost all three matches..