Voodoo Blow Out 2-0 Storm, Take 1st Place In Southern Division

Dany Wimprine and the New Orleans Voodoo took down their division rival Tampa Bay with a big time 76-55 win to put the Storm at 2-1 and the Voodoo at 2-1. The Voodoo have first place based on their 2-0 division record. The Voodoo will go on to play the Cleveland Gladiators on Friday night in the arena, “The Graveyard”.

QB Dany Wimprine was named AFL Offensive Player of the Week last week for his outstanding performance against the Orlando Predators and did no worse of a job in this blowout over Tampa Bay.

KEY PLAYS:

> The VooDoo took a 7-0 lead on an 8-yard TD pass from Danny Wimprine to Javarus Dudley.

> Tampa Bay answered on an 8-yard TD pass from Brett Dietz to Hank Edwards.

> Wimprine connected with James Jordan on a 36-yard bomb to make it 14-7 VooDoo.

> The Storm evened the score on a 17-yard pass from Dietz to Edwards.

> Jordan scored again on a 33-yard strike from Wimprine to give the VooDoo a 21-14 lead.

> Lin-J Shell picked off a deflected Dietz pass and ran it back 35 yards for a TD and a 28-14 New Orleans advantage.

> Lauvale Sape outhustled the Tampa defenders to recover a missed field goal and ran it 4 yards into the end zone for a TD and a 34-14 VooDoo lead.

> Wimprine hit Wendall Williams on a 15-yard TD pass to extend the lead to 41-14.

> Williams closed the half by returning a missed Tampa field goal 58 yards for a TD and a 48-14 lead.

> FB/LB Torrance Marshall dove in from 1 yard out for a Tampa Bay TD.

> Jordan caught his 3rd TD pass of the game, an 8-yarder for a 55-21 New Orleans lead.

> Wimprine hit Javarus Dudley on a 21-yard TD strike to make the lead 62-21.

> Edwards broke free to catch a 41-yard TD from Dietz at the end of the 3rd quarter.

> Dietz found Edwards again for a 15-yard TD to cut the lead to 62-35.

> Jeroid Johnson picked up a missed field goal and returned it for a TD to make the score 62-41.

> Jordan caught his fourth TD of the game to push the lead to 69-41.

> Dietz and Edwards connected for a 5th time on a 3-yard TD to make the score 69-48.

> James Lynch rumbled for a 7-yard TD to extend the lead to 76-48.

> Dietz scored a 5-yard TD run to cut it to 76-55 in favor of the VooDoo.

Hornets Come Back To Beat Bulls

The Hornets, behind MVP candidate Chris Paul, rallied after being down 9 entering the 4th in a sluggish game to beat the Chicago Bulls 108-97. The Bees were down by as much as 12 points and every time they got within reach of the Bulls, they seemed to answer and pull away again. You had to figure that with David West out with an ankle injury and Chris Paul’s ankle about 70%, the Hornets were going to drop this game too heading into a tough match-up with the Houston Rockets. Paul had different thoughs, fueling a 33-13 Hornet closing quarter. The Hornets are now 45-21 as we move closer to June and the playoffs. With L.A. losing yesterday, the Hornets move back up to 2nd in the crazy tight Western Conference. The Hornes are behind only the Rockets who have a 22 win streak going into tonights game with the Celtics.

Field Goals				Rebounds
	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	+/-	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	ba	pts
C.Paul	G	42:20	15-21	2-3	5-7	+12	1	3	4	13	1	3	2	0	0	37
M.Peterson	G	24:17	2-5	0-2	0-2	-7	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
R.Bowen	F	11:16	0-3	0-0	0-0	-12	0	2	2	0	3	1	3	0	0	0
P.Stojakovic	F	44:30	6-19	3-11	6-6	+12	4	6	10	2	2	1	2	0	0	21
T.Chandler	C	43:20	3-8	0-0	2-4	+5	3	8	11	0	4	0	2	1	0	8
B.Wells		26:54	6-13	0-0	7-8	+23	3	1	4	2	3	1	1	1	3	19
J.Pargo		23:56	2-5	0-1	1-1	+16	0	2	2	4	5	2	0	0	0	5
J.Wright		18:47	6-8	1-1	1-1	0	1	3	4	0	4	0	1	1	0	14
M.Ely		04:40	0-0	0-0	0-0	+6	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

NEW ORLEANS, March 17 (AP) - Hornets coach Byron Scott called point guard Chris Paul a Hall of Famer in the making Monday night.

Paul said he wasn’t ready for those credentials, but his teammate Tyson Chandler was quick to put him in the race for MVP.

Paul had game highs of 37 points and 13 assists in New Orleans’ 108-97 win over the Chicago Bulls.

He made an open 3-pointer with 2:47 left in the fourth quarter to tie it 96-all. After a steal by Jannero Pargo on the next possession, Paul found Chandler for a thundering alley-oop dunk to give the Hornets their first lead since halftime.

“It was all Chris Paul,” said Chandler, who finished with eight points. “The little man was all over the floor. It was incredible. It’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from him yet. He, at least to me, made his bid (Monday night) to consider him the MVP.”

Paul’s shooting touch kept the Hornets in the game as they trailed throughout almost the entire second half. He finished the game 15-for-21 from the floor. Paul also had three steals and only two turnovers.

Bonzi Wells, who scored 19 points, added two free throws and a dunk in the next two possessions to seal the Hornets’ victory.

New Orleans outscored Chicago 33-13 in the fourth quarter.

Peja Stojakovic added 21 points for the Hornets, but made only six of 19 3-point attempts. Rookie Julian Wright added 14 points for New Orleans.

Ben Gordon came off the bench to score 31 points for Chicago, but he knew Paul deserved the kudos.

“He took the game over single-handedly,” Gordon said. “Every basket he made, they needed it to win.”