Warriors

If there's one thing West Chester Henderson's Rich Stankewicz knows how to do, it's how to tackle West Chester East fullback Joe Magolon. "You have to hit Joey high," said Stankewicz, a middle linebacker-tight end. "If you don't, he'll just run you over. " Both players are three-year starters and stars, and the Thanksgiving clash at West Chester University was the sixth high school game they have played against each other. But they've been knocking heads for six years. "We've been playing together or against each other all our lives," Stankewicz said.

Steve Cullen started from scratch last year in his first season as Bristol's head coach. And, after losing his top three scorers and leading rebounder, he'll be starting all over again this winter. "I didn't know what to expect last year," Cullen said. "No one really stood out. Then Gerald Ross went out and scored 29 and 32 in the first two games. " Ross averaged 28 points per game last year in leading the Warriors to a second-place finish in the Bicentennial League. But he graduated, as did point guard Tony Fusco and center Troy Keys.

Jack Dobbins says his Gloucester Township Tech girls are ready to play varsity basketball this year. "We played a JV schedule last season," Dobbins said. "We beat some teams and when we played them again, the names were different. Maybe those girls got married since the first game. Or maybe they used varsity players. That's OK. The girls gained confidence from doing well early in the season. " Dobbins expects his Warriors to struggle in the American Division of the Olympic Conference this season, then enjoy closer competition when they move to the National Division in 1987-88.

If there was any one question about Upper Dublin this season, it was how quickly its guards could acclimate themselves to the Cardinals' system and the rigors of the Suburban One American Conference. The question has apparently been answered. The scoring capabilities of center Larry Brown and forward John Papiano bought guards Dave Newman and Mike Root the time, and Friday night at Methacton the guards appeared to have established themselves. Newman connected for a pair of 3-point jumpers in the second quarter to give Upper Dublin some breathing room, and Root scored a career-high 12 points to help pace the Cardinals to a 72-65 victory over the Warriors.

Akiba Hebrew's basketball team continued its mastery over visiting Woodlynde School on Tuesday afternoon, and Cougars' coach Steve Gittleman cited a solid defensive effort for the victory. The Cougars dumped Woodlynde, 71-38, in a Tri-County League game for their second win over the Warriors this season and ran their overall record to 10-12 and 9-3 in the league. "We played excellent pressure defense," Gittleman said. "Once we started pressing them, they weren't able to stay with us. Good defense has helped us out in all of our wins this year.

A strong Swarthmore Academy defense, coupled with some inconsistent shooting by Woodlynde, led to the Warriors' downfall Tuesday afternoon in a Tri-County League game. The Warriors did not shoot the ball particularly well and did not do a good job of protecting the ball in a 77-34 defeat. Woodlynde (2-12 overall, 2-6 league) fell behind 20-6 after the first quarter and could not recover. "We shot terribly all game," said Woodlynde coach Dave Shank. "In the first quarter, we missed six layups.

Woodlynde School coach Dave Shank had one thing in mind while preparing his team for its Tuesday afternoon Tri-County League game with Kimberton Farms: Stop the Cougars' setup offense. The Warriors did just that, placing three players in double figures and picking up a 53-48 victory. Woodlynde (3-12 overall, 3-6 league) was down 11-9 after the first quarter but came back to lead 27-25 at the half and 44-36 going into the final eight minutes of play. "We utilized a half-court trap to throw off the setup offense," said Shank.

You think Rocky Balboa was an underdog? In "300," the classic graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, the army of Persia is poised to crush Greece, which stands out as an oasis of reason and freedom in a desert of mysticism and tyranny. Standing between Greece and this tsunami of destruction is a tiny group of only 300 warriors. However, as we are reminded throughout the tale - which is told from King Leonidas' point of view - these are not mere warriors, these are Spartans.

A week after their second-half heroics led Bristol to a 41-20 win over Lawrence (N.J.), quarterback Jerry Devine and halfback Chris Light were at it again. Saturday they faced Pitman, another rival from across the river. This time the Warriors' dynamic duo fell short. The Panthers eked out a 28-26 victory. The loss dropped Bristol to 3-4, and Pitman improved to 3-1-1. "They controlled the line of scrimmage," Bristol coach George Gatto said. "They outweighed us by 40 pounds per man and took away our inside power game.

Through the Warriors' first two games of 1990, West Chester Henderson head coach Mike Hancock has been waiting for his running game to show up. He saw glimmers of it in the season-opening win over Archbishop Carroll, and cameo performances of it in the loss to Malvern Prep. But the good old grind-it-out, up-the-gut running game - which has been Hancock's offensive staple throughout his 21 years at Henderson - had yet to make a full-fledged appearance. On Monday against Chichester, the running game arrived.