Hornets

The Pemberton boys' basketball team will start the postseason tomorrow with some serious momentum. The Hornets finished their regular season with yesterday's 73-69 victory over Pennsauken in the Philly.com/Rally Classic at Life Center. Pemberton (15-8) ended with a five-game winning streak. "This is how we wanted to enter the playoffs and we are playing with a lot of confidence," said Pemberton guard Corey Reeder, who was named his team's game MVP. One of the reasons for the confidence has been the play of Reeder, a Villanova football recruit who scored 21 points and was nearly unstoppable going to the basket.

Oxford coach Jerry Emling had to battle a numbers problem last year along with an inexperienced club. All of Emling's players are back from last year, and there are a few fresh faces this year. Emling has both depth and experience to work with and expects his team to be competitive in the Southern Chester County League. With only nine players on the team a year ago, the Hornets found themselves wilting in the waning moments of each game. Oxford was a contender in many of its games, but fatigue seemed to beat the players more than the opposition did. "We played a lot of close games last season," Emling said, "but the other teams were able to stay fresher and consequently, were able to run past at the end of our games.

Dennis Baumgardner's father always told him that "a scared man runs faster than a mad man. " Baumgardner, the Oxford football coach, witnessed a test of that theory Friday night as the Hornets opened their 1992 season with a 19-7 nonleague victory over host North Harford, Md. The test subject was none other than Baumgardner's son, Matt, the team's junior quarterback. The younger Baumgardner showed some unexpected scrambling ability under pressure by the Hawks, his most notable effort leading to the Hornets' second touchdown.

Garnet Valley's Bob Cassidy wishes he could play football against Oxford every week. He has made life miserable for the Hornets two years running, his latest rampage being a three-touchdown, career-best 193-yard rushing performance that spoiled Oxford's homecoming Friday night, 38-14. "That's as well as I've ever seen him (Cassidy) run the ball," said Jaguars coach Mike Ricci after his team halted a two-game losing streak and raised its overall record to 2-3 and 2-2 in the Del-Val League.

Baron Davis' second straight triple-double meant the Hornets will get to play another playoff round in Charlotte. Davis had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Hornets beat the host Orlando Magic, 102-85, last night to win the first-round playoff series in four games. The Hornets are awaiting approval to move to New Orleans. Before the game, deputy NBA commissioner Russ Granik said the move looks "pretty positive," adding that the relocation committee should have its report by the end of the week.

The Charlotte Hornets had their worst shooting game of the season and it was still good enough to beat the team with the best record in the NBA. "We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn," coach Paul Silas said last night after the host Hornets shot 33 percent in defeating Utah, 83-82, in overtime. "But we played mentally tough. And that's what made me proud. I've been preaching to the team that if you play hard, good things will happen. " Charlotte's fourth victory in seven games since Silas took over the team wasn't assured until Karl Malone missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Oxford junior running back Kevin Boddy was determined to help the Hornets win their season opener, despite a sprained ankle suffered on the opening kickoff. Boddy overcame the injury by scoring two touchdowns and helped Oxford to a 34-13 win over Kennard-Dale on Friday night. The Rams compete in the York County League. "I was determined to play because I didn't want to come out," Boddy said. "After all, you can't help the team by sitting on the bench. " For most of the game, he hobbled, but he also sparked a 27-point second half by scoring twice and contributing seven tackles on defense.

Oxford had already clinched a spot in the PIAA District 1 Class AA football playoffs, but the Hornets did very little talking about it at practice last week, keeping their focus on their Del-Val League American Conference meeting with cross-county rival Unionville. That unfinished business was going to be a special event, because the game was to be played under portable lights, making it the first home night football game in Unionville history. For the Hornets there was also a minor matter of a 47-7 thrashing the Indians dealt them last season.

Oxford tailback Shawn Jones stood on the 50-yard line at halftime and smiled. Jones was receiving congratulatory handshakes after the announcement that he had been elected Homecoming King for the 1989-90 school year. It was one of the few times Jones had reason to smile Friday night. Caravel Academy spoiled the Hornets' hopes of a homecoming-day victory, 14-0. The Hornets (0-3-1) have not scored in 10 quarters. They were shut out by Chichester, 20-0, last week and blanked in the second half of the Rising Sun game two weeks ago. The offense was having problems, and the defense was giving up huge chunks of rushing yardage as the Buccaneers threw a potent running attack at the Hornets.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS owner Michael Jordan is changing his team's name to the Hornets, said a person familiar with the situation. The person said Jordan will detail the timetable for the change to be completed at a press conference the Bobcats have scheduled today. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the name change has not been publicly announced. NBA deputy commissioner and COO Adam Silver previously said it would take "about 18 months" for the Bobcats to change their name.

THE NEW ORLEANS Hornets are moving ahead with plans to change their name to the Pelicans next season, people familiar with the decision said. The people spoke to the Associated Press Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the Hornets have not announced the name change. The people say that is expected to come Thursday, when club also will unveil the proposed new color scheme of blue, gold and red. Hornets owner Tom Benson has said since buying the NBA club last spring that he wanted a new name representing New Orleans and Louisiana.

WHEN 76ERS coach Doug Collins saw that his team's defense was pretty much making the game a shootout, he made the only adjustment he could. Instead of looking for defense, he decided to run with the bulls instead of trying to stop them. Down 18 points to begin the fourth quarter, Collins inserted recently shelved Nick Young. Looking for more of a defensive unit, Collins had pretty much relegated Young to the bench, not playing him at all in Saturday's win over Houston and sitting him for the first 36 minutes Tuesday.

Everything was in place for the 76ers to put two wins together for the first time in almost six weeks. They had an opponent that was dead last in its division, ranked 28th in the league in scoring, and the recipient of a beating by the Sixers earlier in the season. But that Nov. 7 loss seemed years away for the New Orleans Hornets Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Another lifeless and often-booed performance by the Sixers resulted in their sixth loss in seven games. The Hornets defeated them handily, 111-99.

Everything was in place for the 76ers to put two wins together for the first time in almost six weeks. They had an opponent that was dead last in its division, ranked 28th in the league in scoring, and the recipient of a beating by the Sixers earlier in the season. But that Nov. 7 loss seemed years away for the New Orleans Hornets Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Another lifeless and often-booed performance by the Sixers resulted in their sixth loss in seven games. The Hornets defeated them handily, 111-99.

Carmelo Anthony was hungry, and not just to end the Knicks' losing streak. He wanted something to eat. Anthony, struggling to keep his energy up while fasting for two weeks, snapped out of a slow start by scoring 18 of his 27 points in the second quarter, and New York ended its three-game skid with a 100-87 victory over the visiting New Orleans Hornets on Sunday. The all-star forward said that he hadn't had any meats or carbohydrates in 15 days, and that his body just felt "depleted out there.

CARMELO ANTHONY scored 29 points and the visiting New York Knicks extended the undermanned New Orleans Hornets' losing streak to four games with a 102-80 victory Tuesday night. Raymond Felton and J.R. Smith each added 15 points. Felton scored all of his points on five three-pointers as New York hit 14 treys as a team. Tyson Chandler grabbed 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who've won two straight since their first loss of the season and are 8-1 for only the third time in franchise history.

THE CHARLOTTE Bobcats acquired forward Hakim Warrick from the New Orleans Hornets for guard Matt Carroll on Tuesday. In 499 games over eight NBA seasons with five teams, the 6-9 Warrick has averaged 9.5 points and 4.1 rebounds with a .494 field goal percentage. "We are very excited to add a player of Hakim's ability and overall NBA experience," Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said. Warrick, who starred at Friends' Central and Syracuse, played in only one game this season after being acquired by the Hornets in July.

BOSTON - When familiarity is not available, sometimes instinct is just the way to go. Wednesday at New Orleans, the 76ers and the Hornets put together one of the most horrendous halves of basketball ever to be played in the NBA. Consider: * The two teams combined to make three of their first 18 shots, and halfway through the first quarter the score was 5-4. * The teams made three of the 17 three-pointers they attempted. * The Sixers shot 9-for-17 in the second quarter to boost their first-half shooting to 43.6 percent after an 8-for-22 first quarter.

NEW ORLEANS - Doug Collins never promised this first portion of the journey would be pretty to watch, only that it had to happen. As the Sixers wait to learn if their savior center will even do a decent deep knee bend this season, the schedule keeps insisting they must play these games with a mismatched roster of virtual strangers. "We're getting to know each other," Collins said Wednesday night. "We're having these moments together for the first time. It can be painful, but necessary.