Opportunities

With four seconds on the clock and the 76ers down, 103-102, Jerry Stackhouse drove into the lane and, looking for his 33d and 34th points, flicked up a six-footer. He drew iron off the front of the rim. "Jerry is in the locker room right now, kicking himself," coach John Lucas said after yesterday's 104-102 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, which dropped the Sixers to 12-48. "But I told him that, in the same situation, I wanted the ball in his hands. Next time, I just want him to take it to the hole.

Baseball has been around since at least the 1840s, yet it's still a game largely reserved for men and boys. But a new area league plays with a twist. It's just for the girls. The Philadelphia Women's Baseball League, now in its second season, features three teams playing every Sunday during the summer. (On Saturdays there are exhibition games against local men's teams.) And while the players aren't professional, the action is still intense. There is no corporate sponsorship - players provide their own equipment and pay the field and umpires' fees - but the Phillies donate catching equipment, balls and bats.

Brian France is not bent on world domination. Not yet, anyway. NASCAR's chief executive officer discussed his sport's future - and several other topics - while holding court with a handful of reporters yesterday in the Nextel Cup Series transporter, parked in the garage area of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Seated in a leather captain's chair in the soundproof cabin, which shut out the sounds of teams preparing their cars for the afternoon qualifying session and the electric fiddle of country band Emerson Drive performing trackside, France painted a rosy picture of where stock-car racing is headed.

Only four years ago, Philadelphia Force general manager Jesse Rappaport was making money overseas playing basketball. A starter at shooting guard for tiny Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y., the 6-foot-2 Rappaport had spent one school term in Jerusalem as an exchange student in 1995 and parlayed that opportunity into tryouts with a few Israeli professional teams after he graduated in '96. Now, in his role with the National Rookie League team...

The field, once a speck in Ricky Bottalico's rearview mirror, is catching up. Bottalico got off to a great start, saving 11 games in 11 tries by May 3. He hasn't had an opportunity since. Friday night, he watched Dodgers closer Todd Worrell get his 10th save, moving into second place behind him. "I notice," Bottalico said yesterday. "I mean, you've got to think somebody should have passed me by now. How long can you hold on to a lead when you go 12 games without a save?" Bottalico has pitched well in several outings since his last save.

After announcing months ago that he would not seek reelection this fall, Burlington County Sheriff Gary L. Daniels said yesterday that he was resigning his post in two weeks to act on private-sector opportunities. Daniels, 44, a Republican who has been sheriff for nearly six years, declined to be specific about the job possibilities except to say that he was considering offers from a two private law firms as well as other opportunities. "I am elated that the citizens of Burlington County trusted me to become sheriff of Burlington County," he said.

Peter Laviolette appeared annoyed at hearing yet another question about the Flyers' trying to reach a level the coach considers way too low. When the Flyers host the Ottawa Senators in Saturday's noon affair at the Wells Fargo Center, they will be attempting for the seventh time this season to scale Mount .500. The Flyers (10-11-1) are 0-6 in their other attempts to reach .500 and have been outscored by 29-12 in those games. "Five hundred isn't going to do anything for us," he said following a long practice on Friday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees.

John F. White, the state's Secretary of Public Welfare, urged about 1,200 students at West Chester Henderson High School to "say no to drugs and alcohol" and to take "full advantage of the learning opportunities afforded you right here and right now. " White spoke Wednesday as part of Black History Month events.

THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE of Gateway Regional High School recently held its first meeting. Among those attending were (from left) panel member Joseph Smith, teacher Jack Gregory and panel member Mark Murphy. The panel is to guide Gateway on employment opportunities.

The dominance was everywhere but on the scoreboard for Delran's girls' soccer team yesterday. For the second year in a row, Delran's season ended with a one-goal loss in the state championship game. Despite controlling play throughout, Delran suffered a 1-0 defeat to Ramsey in the state Group 2 championship game at the College of New Jersey. Unlike last year, when Delran was outplayed for long stretches in a 2-1 overtime loss to favored Mendham, the Bears took control yesterday for virtually the entire contest.