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Sixty-one years ago Roger Stetson pulled up a stool and sat down at a long lab table in Mr. Koch's science lab, across from beakers, Bunsen burners and that beautiful girl on the other side of the table.

The two Roosevelt High School 10th-graders quickly formed a friendship, sitting across from each other every home room, chatting about the latest school gossip, the upcoming dance and tennis. Yes, tennis.

Roger was "hooked" on tennis. Shirley would watch from the bleachers, which she continued to do even as the two headed to Iowa State University. They'd later wed and Roger would be called up to the Navy.

After discharge, Roger returned home and the two raised a family of four, all of whom would follow dad onto the court.

They've since picked up whistles and clipboards, focusing now on coaching.

Cruel defeat snuffs out European dream

IN THE end, the emotions were not so much mixed as scrambled to the four corners of Hampden. We had seen Italy score in 70 seconds, we had seen them dominate the early minutes with some chilling football that not only took the fire out of the home support but also shocked Alex McLeish's team to the core. But in the final stages of the game it was the world champions who had the heat coming on them, their lead wiped-out by a scrambled Barry Ferguson goal just after the hour, their assurance of before in danger of being stripped away.

With ten minutes remaining, Scotland drove forward once again, the substitute Kenny Miller linking with James McFadden and sending the most delicious ball across the Italian penalty area. The Azzurri were at sixes and sevens, Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta, two of the game's pre-eminent defenders from two of the world's most glamorous clubs, were over-run.

Crew caps season Tuesday with Tecos exhibition

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew will officially close out its 12th season on Tuesday (Nov. 13) when it plays host Tecos UAG of the Mexican Premier Division in an international exhibition at Crew Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday's match will be broadcast live exclusively via webcast at TheCrew.com, with Neil Sika on the call.

The game is included in all Gold-level Crew Soccer Nation memberships, designated as Special Game "C." Tickets - priced at $12 adults/$10 youth (south end), $17/$13 (north end), $20/$15 (upper sideline), $24/$17 (lower sideline) and $37/$27 (club seats) - are on sale at the Crew Stadium Box Office, all central Ohio Ticketmaster retail locations, via Ticketmaster phone at 614-431-3600 and on-line at TheCrew.com. Group pricing is available and may be acquired by calling 614-447-CREW.

Sports flash

PHILADELPHIA � Kelenna Azubuike made a 3-pointer from the left corner with 6.1 seconds left in overtime, giving the Golden State Warriors a 100-98 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.

The 76ers had one last chance after Azubuike�s basket, but Louis Williams lost his footing in the lane and turned the ball over.

Azubuike�s basket came after Lanphier High School graduate Andre Iguodala gave Philadelphia a 98-97 lead on a runner in heavy traffic with 13.4 seconds left.

Iguodala led the 76ers with 26 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Golden State�s Monta Ellis equaled his career high with 31 points.

It was the second tough loss in two nights for the 76ers, who lost Friday at Detroit.

�We just have to get a win; we have to do more than just compete,� Iguodala said.

Flyers hit quarter in stride

The Flyers reach the quarter mark of the season with today's Black Friday matinee against the Washington Capitals. So, where is John Stevens' team right now? It already has seven more wins than it had last season at this point. This is Game 2 of a five-game segment that closes out November. "We're pretty happy where we are right now," defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "Our team can get better; we can play better. I expected us to win games, and we have. But it's time to get it going." The feeling on the team and staff is that the Flyers' true face still hasn't appeared. Some players, such as Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall, need to boost their games. Carter, in particular, began the season with four goals in his first seven games but has just one goal in his last 11. "I was happy with the start; I got some bounces and things going my way," Carter said.

Warriors want to drink from big cup

The St. Charles West Warriors hockey team is the first from St. Charles County to advance to the finals in one of the three Mid-States Club Hockey Association playoff tiers four times.After three trips to the Wickenheiser Cup finals in this decade, the Warriors were 0-3 in trips to the finals. But last season, they beat Clayton in a shootout to capture the Founders Cup, the county's first Mid-States postseason hardware.But this year's team has higher aspirations. Like challenging for the Suburban North Conference title and earning the right to compete in the highest playoff tier: the Challenge Cup. First-year head coach Brad Schneider and his two assistants, Bill Heisse and Harris Schiff, want to help the Warriors get to Scottrade Center."It's a nice honor, it's always nice to win that last game, but these seniors had played for the Wickenheiser Cup for two years so they were used to being at the (Scottrade Center) competing for something bigger," Schneider said."As far as the coaching staff goes, that (Challenge) is our goal.