SPORTS SECTION
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| SPORTS SECTION - JANUARY 12, 2000 |
See This Week's Raiders Weekly
Lady Tigers Make Early
Run
CHS Girls Pick Up Important 8-A South Wins
Three games in four days does not sound
good. It sounds tiring and taxing. But a 73-33 loss Monday to
all-everything Buford aside, Commerce's Lady Tigers have to be
pleased with their performance in the past week, especially in
the fourth quarter.
The team used a 20-1 run in the fourth quarter to topple Jefferson
69-61 Friday night. Greater Atlanta Christian fell victim to a
26-14 edge in the final period in a 70-61 Lady Tiger victory.
The team also downed Providence 61-47 with a 23-7 edge in the
fourth last Tuesday. Top-ranked Buford (16-0, 6-0 in 8-A South)
continued its blistering pace with a 73-33 win over Commerce Monday
night.
"It's a lot to ask them to play three games in four days,"
Commerce coach Don Watkins said. "But that's the way the
schedule is and we can't help it. In all three of our subregion
wins, we had to come from behind. Those were three big ones. That
should give us confidence down the road."
Commerce will take a break from action this week for final exams.
This weekend, the team will take a break from subregion action
with games against Oglethorpe County on Friday and Lakeview Academy
on Saturday.
JEFFERSON
Things did not look good for Commerce Friday night. Jefferson
had a fairly good handle on the game at the end of the third quarter.
Commerce had cut the Jefferson lead to 33-29 at halftime. By the
end of the third period, Jefferson was up 46-39.
But the action really had not begun.
Jefferson's Lee DuBose hit a layup with 7:00 left in the game
to put the Lady Dragons up 48-40. She would score the next Jefferson
basket more
Please Turn To Page 3B
than five minutes later. In that time, the Lady Dragons managed
one free throw.
Commerce was significantly more productive in that time span,
going on a 20-1 streak. For ninth uncontested point of the run,
Shemika Reed hit Sheka Wheeler for a layup at the 5:13 mark to
give Commerce a 49-48 lead.
Free throws by Charlene Gaither and Lauren Ladd gave Commerce
a 51-48 lead before Jefferson's Annie Goza hit a foul shot.
Commerce went on another 9-0 run to take a 60-49 lead. From that
point, Jefferson sent the Lady Tigers to the line for the rest
of the game. Commerce responded with an 8-12 mark from the line
for the rest of the game. Commerce outscored Jefferson 30-15 in
the final quarter. Compared to 39 points through three quarters,
nearly half of Commerce's points for the game came in the final
eight minutes.
Gaither led the four Lady Tigers in double figures for scoring
with 15 points. She had nine points in the fourth quarter.
Reed had 14 points and seven rebounds and nine assists. Monique
Diamond had 13 points and three assists. Wheeler scored 12 points
and added six rebounds. Anita Pittman had six rebounds and three
assists.
"We had four players in double figures," Watkins said.
"We'll take that the rest of the way."
GAC
The Lady Spartans appeared to have the edge on Commerce Saturday
night with a 35-21 lead at halftime. But the Lady Tigers responded
by outscoring the Lady Spartans 49-36 in the second half to win
70-61.
Commerce had four in double figures again with Wheeler's game-high
16 points. She added seven rebounds.
Reed and Diamond each had 15 points. Diamond added six assists
and four steals.
Gaither scored 13 points and led the team with eight rebounds.
Pittman scored seven points and added seven boards.
Commerce continued to shoot well from the line, hitting on 19
of 25 attempts.
PROVIDENCE
Commerce picked up its first subregion win of the season with
a 61-47 win over Providence last Tuesday.
The Lady Tigers trailed 40-38 at the end of the fourth quarter
before a 23-7 run in the fourth quarter gave Commerce the win.
Gaither scored 19 points to lead Commerce. Reed added 13 points,
five assists, four steals and seven rebounds. Wheeler had eight
points and seven boards. Diamond had nine points and five assists.
BUFORD
Led by 6-6 University of Georgia signee Kristy Thomas, Buford
downed Commerce 73-33. Thomas scored 32 points for the Lady Wolves.
Diamond led Commerce with 16 points.
Foul Line Offers
No Charity
BY DREW BRANTLEY
What is free can cost a lot.
The Commerce boys' basketball team has learned that fact in a
long weekend of basketball.
The team shot 44 percent from the foul line over its three games
last weekend, losing two games by a total of five points.
Jefferson topped Commerce 75-73 on Friday.
Greater Atlanta Christian turned the Tigers' foul shot woes to
its advantage even more, hitting 24 of 25 attempts to Commerce's
six of 15 effort. That helped produce a 79-66 win for the Spartans.
Buford downed the Tigers 62-60 in a game that was played on Monday
night in Commerce.
"In all three of these games we did a poor job of shooting
free throws," coach Rex Gregg said. "The good teams
make free throws when they need to. The teams that win in the
state tournament don't miss those opportunities."
THREE IN FOUR
Commerce faced playing three games in four days entering its game
with Jefferson Friday night.
Rescheduling because of the football team's advance in the playoffs
forced Commerce to play two games this season on Monday nights.
The Tigers already had Jefferson and GAC on the slate for the
weekend. Buford would be waiting for the game on Monday.
JEFFERSON
Neither team took a commanding lead at any point during the game
between the Tigers and Jefferson.
Commerce was up 39-33 early in the third quarter, but was down
43-41 with just more than five minutes to go.
A fast-paced game in the final minute of the game, the lead changed
hands four times.
Daniel Carder hit a layup with just more than a minute to go to
give Commerce the 71-70 lead.
Jefferson's Buzz Wehunt hit a running short jumper to give Jefferson
the 72-71 lead with a few ticks more than half a minute to play.
Twion Shealer's layup with 22 seconds left game Commerce its final
lead.
Wehunt hit another short jumper with 14 seconds left made the
score 74-73.
Commerce fouled Wehunt with 1.1 seconds to go. His two free throws
ended the scoring.
Shealer pulled off a half-court shot before the buzzer, but the
ball missed the mark.
Michael Collins scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead
the Tigers.
Shealer added 16 points and seven rebounds. Carder had 15 points
and 10 boards.
Wes Massey had four assists in his first game against his former
team.
Jefferson had the edge at the foul line on Commerce, hitting 18-25
to the Tigers' mark of four out of nine attempts.
GAC
The Spartans used a 23-14 run in third quarter to take the 79-66
win over Commerce.
Collins had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Shealer had 12 points and
five boards.
Monté Williams scored 12 points, while adding six rebounds
and five assists.
BUFORD
Commerce started the final quarter down 48-40 to Buford.
The Tigers responded with a 9-0 run to lead 49-48.
The Wolves regained the edge with an 8-1 run to lead 56-50.
Williams helped lead another Tiger rally with a three-pointer
with 28 seconds to go that cut the lead to 59-58.
Commerce forced a foul with 25.6 seconds to go and had the ball
down 60-58, but could not produce a shot.
Buford hit two more free throws to lead 62-58. Shealer added the
final Tiger basket to make the score 62-60.
Buford inbounded the ball to run out the final 1.1 seconds after
a Tiger timeout.
Commerce Takes 1st
In Hab Duals
After trying for several years, Commerce
came away with its first title at the Habersham Dual tournament
last weekend.
Commerce won all four of its matches in the tournament to claim
first place for the first time under coach Joe Haymes.
The win at Habersham came after the Mat Tigers claimed sweeps
in their two previous tri-matches in the week before.
The Mat Tigers also topped East Hall and North Forsyth in their
first tri-match of the new year. Commerce topped Gainesville and
Banks County Friday night.
HABERSHAM DUALS
Commerce opened the team tournament in Habersham with a 61-15
win over Clarke Central.
Jonathan Beasley, Blake Milford, Kyle Moore, Lee Sorrow, Kevin
Wilson, Wes Smith, Adam Perry, Taylor Massey, Tyson Brown, Eric
Moore and John Martin all had wins for Commerce.
K. Moore, Sorrow and Smith each won by pin.
Commerce set Oconee County down in the next match, 62-11.
Beasley, Milford, Wes Prickett, K. Moore, Sorrow, Arwood, Smith,
Chad Scoggins, Perry, Tyson Brown, E. Moore and Martin won for
Commerce.
Beasley, K. Moore, Sorrow, Arwood and Scoggins had pins.
Habersham Central put up the closest score of the tournament,
as Commerce downed the Raiders 37-28.
Milford, Prickett, K. Moore, Sorrow, Smith, Perry, Brown, Moore
and Martin won for Tigers. Perry, Brown and Martin recorded pins.
Commerce beat Elbert County in the finals by a score of 41-24.
Milford, Sorrow, Arwood, Smith, Scoggins, Perry, Brown, E. Moore
and Martin had wins for Commerce. Sorrow, Smith and E. Moore had
pins.
GAINESVILLE, BANKS
Commerce made easy work of its home match Friday night with Gainesville
and Banks County.
The Mat Tigers downed Gainesville 57-15. Beasely, Milford, K.
Moore, Sorrow, Arwood, Smith, Scoggins, Perry, Massey, Brown and
E. Moore got wins for Commerce.
Commerce forfeited one match to Banks County and won the rest
on its way to an 83-6 win.
Beasley, Milford, Prickett, Moore, Sorrow, Arwood, Smith, Scoggins,
Perry, Massey, Brown, E. Moore and Martin recorded the wins.
Commerce downed East Hall 56-12 in a match earlier this month.
Beasley, Milford, Arwood, Sorrow, Smith, Moulton, Perry, Massey,
Brown, E. Moore and Martin recorded wins.
Commerce downed North Forsyth 36-34. Milford, Sorrow, Smith, Perry,
Brown and Moore recorded wins for the Tigers.
Leopards jump
Jefferson, 75-61
BCHS girls to face top 10 team in Towns
County
BY DREW BRANTLEY
After suffering tough subregion losses before the holiday break,
the Banks County boys have won four of their last four games.
The confidence gained should prepare them for another run through
Region 8-A North.
"If we play like we have in the last few ballgames, we can
play with anybody," boys' coach Mike Ruth said. "Coming
out of the Christmas tournament, we learned to stick together
and not give up. That was a big positive."
Banks County's biggest win of the run came Saturday night at home
against Jefferson, who handled the Leopards in the first meeting
of the game in December.
"Our kids have said that they may get beat," Ruth said.
"But if you do, you had better be ready to play next time.
That's something I like about this bunch. They're not going to
throw in the towel."
Banks County topped Jefferson 75-61 Saturday night. The win came
on the heels of an 81-66 win at Tallulah Falls Friday night.
Banks County will travel to Towns County Friday night before hosting
Oglethorpe County Saturday night.
JEFFERSON
The Leopards jumped on Jefferson for a 25-9 edge in the second
quarter to take a 41-22 lead at halftime.
The Dragons made a run in the fourth quarter to pull within 10
points, but Banks County responded.
"We called time out and Justin Smith came out with a big
three-pointer that put us back on track," Ruth said.
Smith's 19 points and five three-pointers were a big key to the
Jefferson win, but several players have picked up the pace in
the Leopards' recent run.
Blakley Crumley scored 25 points and had 21 rebounds against Jefferson.
Of his points, 12 came from three-pointers.
Mike Ivey has responded as his playing time has increased since
the holiday break. His 12 points against Jefferson were aided
by three shots behind the arc.
Victor Bonds added 17 points inside the paint.
TALLULAH FALLS
Banks County used a 31-13 run in the final quarter to put away
the Indians Friday night.
Crumley scored 23 points to lead the Leopards. M. Ivey scored
19 points. Bonds added 14 points to go with Smith's 13. Bray Maxwell
put in 11 points as the fifth Banks County player to reach double
figures in the game.
GIRLS
The Lady Leopards will have a tough opponent Friday night as they
continue on their Region 8-A North schedule in Hiawassee.
Towns County, ranked number seven in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
poll, offers a team filled with good talent and strategy, Banks
County coach Mike Gordon said.
"They're strong," Gordon said. "Physically they
are very athletic. And they throw a lot of different defenses
at you. They run three different presses. They have three different
halfcourt defenses. On offense, they shoot the ball well.
"And we have to go up there to play. Hopefully we can do
some things to gain some confidence."
Banks County will host Oglethorpe County Saturday night. That
will leave six of the remaining games on the schedule in the subregion.
The Lady Leopards can still make a run for the region tournament.
"We're still in the hunt," Gordon said. "We've
got four of our last five games at home. If we can make a stand,
we'll be right in the hunt."
Taking this past Tuesday off game action during finals week, the
Banks County girls appear ready to hit the floor this weekend.
"We had a spirited practice (Tuesday)," Gordon said.
"I feel like the girls are showing a lot of enthusiasm."
WEEKEND ACTION
The Lady Leopards had a crushing win at Tallulah Falls on Friday
night, but a slow start led to a 73-54 Jefferson win Saturday
night.
"The first quarter doomed us in again Saturday," Gordon
said. "If we can get by the first quarter and not make the
mistakes we made, I think we can play pretty close with people."
Jefferson took a 22-10 advantage in the first period. After that
point, the Lady Dragons took a 51-44 edge.
Bree Whitlock and Laura Carlyle led Banks County with 11 points
each.
Other scorers against Jefferson included: Haley Crumley, seven;
Johnna Williams, seven; Michelle Snipes, five; Holly House, two;
Kate Whitfield, two; Ashley Freeman, two."
Getting a big win Friday night did not help the team prepare much,
Gordon said.
"You don't learn a whole lot from a game like that,"
Gordon said. "We didn't shoot the ball well, but they didn't
either."
Dragons split
with local teams
Ladies trying to stay out of fourth
BY TIM THOMAS
Jefferson's basketball teams will begin the second half of their
subregion schedule next week, Dragons split with local teamswith
games at Greater Atlanta Christian and Providence Academy, as
well as a boys' game at home with Riverside Military Academy.
Both Dragon teams have struggled early in subregion play, and
the Lady Dragons are hoping to stay out of the dreaded fourth
spot. The fourth seed in the subregion tournament is a virtual
death knell, with that team almost certainly being matched up
against the state's top team, Buford, in the semifinal round.
The top two teams in the subregion tournament will move on to
both the region and state sectional tournaments.
The zookeeper must have been on vacation this week, as Jefferson
saw action against Tigers, Leopards and Pythons.
Subregion opponent Commerce left Jefferson Friday with a split,
winning the girls' game to remain undefeated in subregion play.
The Tigers went on to beat GAC Saturday, and lose to Buford Monday
to go to 3-1. Jefferson's boys were victorious over Commerce,
76-73.
Buzz Wehunt led Jefferson with 24 points, followed by Daniel Goza
(15), Michael Newton (11) and D'Antonio Chandler (11). The game
marked the return of former Dragon Wes Massey, who was displeased
with the amount of playing time he saw at Jefferson.
The game was a see-saw affair, with Jefferson leading by one after
the first period, and Commerce up by two at intermission. Jefferson
closed the gap in the third, and outscored the Tigers 22-18 in
the final frame to take the win.
The Lady Dragons lost their second subregion game of the season,
69-61 to Commerce. Going in to the game, the two teams were ranked
13 and 14 in the state. Jefferson led by four at the half, and
seven after three quarters, but the Lady Tigers shot their way
back, outscoring Jefferson 30-15 in the fourth. Lee DuBose scored
25, Staci Childress 11 and Brooklyne Marlowe eight.
In Homer Saturday, the girls rebounded and the boys floundered.
Childress led the Lady Dragons with 20 points in their 73-54 win,
DuBose had 17 and Marlowe 11. A 22-10 effort in the opening frame
got Jefferson off on the right foot.
The boys were not as fortunate, falling behind 16-13 in the first.
Banks County blew them away in the second, outscoring Jefferson
25-9. Jefferson struggled back a bit in the second half, but took
the loss, 75-61.
Wehunt led Jefferson with 16, Goza had 12, Chandler nine and Nick
Sheridan eight.
LATE SCORES
In Tuesday's games, the Lady Dragons defeated Paideia 63-51, and
the boys lost to the Pythons, 88-77.
Dragons edge Panthers
in Amicalola
Keen: 'What a tournament!'
BY TIM THOMAS
There's something magical about the Amicalola Classic. Each year,
local wrestling coaches point to the Amicalola as the time when
their grapplers start to reach their potential. This year's Classic
was one of the most magical in recent years.
The entire tournament came down to the final match, and the Jefferson
Dragons squeezed by Jackson County to take their fourth tournament
title of the season by four points. To put that in perspective,
if any one of about 40 matches had come out differently, the two
teams would have reversed positions in the final standings.
"I looked at coach [Doug] Thurmond, and I said, 'what a great
tournament,'" said Jefferson coach Jack Keen. An unusually
large number of matches in the tournament were decided either
in the final moments or in overtime.
Going into the final round, Jefferson held a half-point lead.
Jackson County had the advantage, with seven wrestlers in the
finals, compared to only five for the Dragons.
Three of the 14 championship matches featured Jefferson and Jackson
County wrestlers going head-to-head.
Keen pointed to the 125-pound championship match between Panther
Jarad Herrington and Jefferson's Justin Gooch as "one of
the top 10 individual matches I've ever seen." Gooch came
out on top in the aggressive, action-filled contest, with an 11-8
decision. The pair have met one other time this season, with Herrington
winning, 11-9.
In the 15-team competition, local wrestlers combined to bring
home 16 of the 56 medals from Dawsonville.
Jackson County and Jefferson have met in tournaments four times
thus far, with the Dragons finishing ahead three times. In the
four tournaments, the two teams have been separated by an average
of just over 10 points. The Panthers and Dragons will square off
twice more before the season ends, this weekend in the Patriot
Classic at Oglethorpe County, and next weekend in the Viking Invitational
at East Hall.
Lady Panthers atop 8-AAA north heap
BY TIM THOMAS
The race is far from over, but Jackson County's Lady Panthers
have made established themselves as the team to beat in subregion
8-AAA north. With Friday's 56-47 win over Stephens County, the
Lady Panthers completed a sweep of the first half of subregion
play, extending their subregion record to a perfect 5-0. A 72-55
blowout of Athens Academy Saturday improved the team's overall
record to 11-4.
West Hall trails the Lady Panthers by two games, and Habersham
Central and Madison County are both three back. Though subregion
standings do not directly determine which teams will see post-season
action, they are used to determine the seeds in the region tournament.
Region 8-AAA rules state that the team with the best record in
the north will open the tournament against the team with the worst
record in the south. The top four finishers in the region tournament
advance to the state sectionals.
Though not on top, Ron Garren's boys are also strong contenders
for the number one seed in their subregion. At 3-2, the Panthers
are only a game back of North Hall. The Trojans, who defeated
the Panthers with a quick start in December, will visit Jackson
County Friday.
Against Stephens County, the Panthers had 27 turnovers, and shot
58 percent from the field in a 78-68 losing effort.
"I was real disappointed," said Garren. "We didn't
take care of the basketball."
Jackson County started well enough, as Dustin David hit a three-pointer
to take the first lead of the game. A three-point lead after the
opening period was stretched to seven early in the second.
Stephens answered by capitalizing on Panther turnovers, going
on a 16-5 run to assume the lead before intermission. Jackson
County closed to within one in the third, but the fourth belonged
to the Indians.
Turnovers early in the fourth had Garren beside himself, and a
13-7 run put Stephens up by 12. As the Panthers lost pass after
pass, the Indians put on a shooting clinic, but controversial
calls kept the crowd in the game until the final buzzer.
Rodrick Gresham finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds, and David
scored 17 and grabbed nine.
David led Garren's squad back with an overtime win Saturday over
Athens Academy. The Spartans held a five-point lead at the half,
but the Panthers stayed close until the end. David hit a three-point
shot with five seconds left to tie the game at 57 and force the
overtime. Jackson County outscored the Spartans 14-10 in the extra
frame, led by Blake Wilson's 6-for-6 performance from the free
throw line. The six shots capped off a perfect 11-for-11 night
from the stripe for Wilson, who has hit 80 percent of his free
throws on the season.
"I felt like we bounced back against a very good team,"
Garren said of his team's win. "Our two transfers, Tavares
Daniel and Justin Lott, played their best games of the year."
Lott finished with eight points and three blocks, giving him 15
on the season. Gresham swatted three of his team-leading 23, scored
14 and picked up 10 rebounds. Wilson had 17 points, and David
scored 15 and hauled in eight on the boards.
LADY PANTHER RESULTS
April Cantrell surprised the crowd Friday against Stephens County,
scoring 17 points, including a beautiful half-court shot to end
the first half. Stephens County stayed close early, but an eight-point
run in the second quarter gave Jackson County a 27-14 lead. Stephens
County could not get within nine after that point.
After Stephens grabbed a steal early in the third, Toya Thomas
broke up the ensuing fast break before the Lady Panthers went
on a 10-0 run to end the quarter up 43-26. Stephens evened the
score a bit in the fourth, mostly against Jackson County's bench,
but the gap was too wide to overcome. Everyone but the injured
Carly Parr saw time on the floor for Jackson County. Monic Stewart
led the team with 18 points.
In the victory over Athens Academy, Stewart and Abrielle Varnum
teamed up for 42 of Jackson County's 72 points, each with 21.
Cantrell continued her good play, scoring 12.
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