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 Official
in Leopards' GAC game to be written up
The Banks County Leopards will have a week of rest and practice
over the holiday break before they return to the court in the
WJJC Holiday Classic in Commerce next weekend.
Banks County is coming off a frustrating 77-45 loss to Greater
Atlanta Christian Friday night.
"We never got a chance to see how we could play," Leopard
head coach Mike Ruth said. "I feel we can play with them
if we are given an equal chance."
GAC went to the free throw line 33 times in the game. The Leopards'
leading scorer Victor Bonds got three fouls in the first two
minutes of the game, and a little over a minute into the third
quarter got his fourth foul and a technical.
Senior Chris Ivey was also removed from the game and suspended
for two more for a controversial intentional tripping call.
Steven Caudell was also called for intentional foul; however,
Caudell was not removed from the game.
"I pulled my starter out of the game midway through the
third quarter to keep them out of trouble," Ruth said.
Ruth also said that he, BCHS principal Jan Bertrang and GAC coach
Tim Vick were planning on writting up the Peach State officiating
crew from Friday's game. Vick could not be reached for comment
on the game.
The process of writing up an official involves filing a form
with the Georgia High School Association, said Doc Sisk, head
of the Georgia Mountains Officials Association. Sisk said the
GHSA reviews the complaints and can view game film, talk to coaches
and administrator or talk to the officials from the game.
"If the GHSA feels the claims are substantiated, they can
take action," he said.
Sisk said the GHSA could suspend an official, the most severe
penalty, or send the official a letter of reprimand.
Friday's loss was the Leopards' first since their season opener
against Johnson in late November.
Mike Ivey led Banks County's scoring with 16 points. Cody Whitlock
was also in double digits with 11 points.
Also scoring were: Casey Murray, five; Ryan Loggins, four; Dustin
Bonds, three; and Will Gordon, two.
VS. UNION COUNTY
The Leopards had a better outing against Union County. Banks
downed the Panthers 71-54.
"They had a one-three-one half-court trap and our kids were
able move the ball against it," Ruth said. "We played
well and had good team effort."
V. Bonds and C. Whitlock both scored 21 points against Union
County. M. Ivey added an additional 18 points.
"Whitlock had a heck of a game," Ruth said. "He
came off the bench and played well."
Gordon added four points in the Leopards' win. Bray Maxwell put
three points on the board and helped with nine assists.
C. Ivey and Murray both had two points each.
Banks County hit three of five free throws in last Tuesday's
game.
Jefferson
thunders over Tallulah Falls
THE STOCKINGS are hung by the chimney, and the shoes are hung
in the locker room.
After blasting through region opponenet Tallulah Falls Friday
at home, the Jefferson Dragons are taking some time off to celebrate
Christmas this week.
Next week, it will be back to the hardcourt, as the Dragons travel
to Habersham Central to participate in the Raiders' Christmas
tournament.
Jefferson's boys set a new school record for points scored in
a single game against Tallulah Falls, with 138. Buzz Wehunt played
only 20 minutes, but led the team in scoring with a school-record
60 points. The effort broke the previous milestone of 59, held
by brother Richard Wehunt.
"This was one of those games where we could have gone out
and played sloppy," remarked head coach Bolling DuBose.
"Good teams don't play down to the level of their competition.
They go out there and take care of business early, and I think
our guys did that."
Dantonio Chandler threw in 21 points, and Michael Newton added
20. Chris Kinsey added two to give the Dragons 103 points from
the two wing positions.
"We're obviously proud of Buzz," DuBose continued.
"There are not many guys who can score anywhere close to
that in a game."
Wehunt was 22 for 29 from the floor, a 76 percent shooting effort.
He hit 10 three-pointers, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the
charity line.
The previous team scoring mark of 124 was established against
Dawson County during the 1992 region tournament.
"We just shot the ball extremely well," DuBose said.
"Everybody got to play."
Tallulah Falls fell behind early, after trying to keep up with
Jefferson's fast-paced full-court game.
"They helped get a lot more possessions than we normally
would," DuBose said. "Obviously, it was a good night.
We played well against them offensively and forced a lot of turnovers."
Also playing well against Tallulah Falls were Kevin Jacobs' Lady
Dragons.
Annie Goza dropped 22 points through the hoop, and Brooklyne
Marlowe contributed 13 to Jefferson's overwhelming 88-25 win.
Nearly half of the Lady Indians' points came in the fourth quarter,
after the game was well out of reach.
In the latest Atlanta Journal-Constitution rankings, updated
Tuesday, Jefferson's boys are fourth.
Buford is sixth in the girls' Class A rankings. Despite giving
top-ranked Class AAA Hart County a scare recently, the Lady Dragons
did not crack the top 10.
TIGER TRANSITION
Transition is a key word in basketball, but more so at Commerce
this week.
Hampered by tremendous success on the football field, the Tiger
basketball team was scheduled to face its first opponent Wednesday.
Commerce was slated to meet Prince Avenue in the Spartan Invitational
at Athens Academy.
The Tigers are ranked seventh in the AJC poll, due mostly to
the fact that Michael Collins is considered one of the top 100
prep players in the nation.
Jefferson and Commerce will meet in a region showdown Jan. 5
in Commerce, and will close the regular season Feb. 9 in Jefferson.
 Panther
grapplers short by a nose in Avado Brands Invitational
THE JACKSON County wrestling team is taking time off for the
holidays before resuming its season Jan. 3 in a three-team dual
match at North Forsyth.
The Panthers continued a season of dramatic improvement last
week with a second-place showing in the Avado Brands Invitational
at Morgan County.
The feat marks the second time in as many weeks that Jackson
County fell second to Morgan's first. The margin was much closer
this time, however. In fact, it couldn't have been closer.
When the final tally was completed, Jackson County was a mere
half-point behind the host Bulldogs in team points. A single
match featuring either Jackson County or Morgan County could
have swung the outcome in the Panthers' favor.
Still, second by one half-point to the defending Class AA state
champions on their home turf is an impressive accomplishment.
Nine of 14 wrestlers earned medals in the tournament, including
three tournament champions.
Jason Powers (103), Rusty Colley (125) and Jared Herrington (135)
took the next step in what is already an impressive season for
each, all winning gold medals in their respective weight classes.
Chris Kubiak was second at 145. Five Panthers Matt Potts
(130), Adam Ledbetter (152), Travis Ingram (160), Casey Berryman
(215) and Brian Gower (275) finished third in the event.
Potts' and Berryman's only losses in the tournament were to the
eventual champions in their classes. Chris Kinsey and Chris Autry
both won matches and contributed team points, but lost to eventual
tournament champions. Jonathan Sanders (140) also scored team
points.
Michael Henderson fell victim to a bad draw in the 189-pound
bracket, losing to top seed and eventual champion Jay Bernstein
of Morgan County in the opening round. Lee Reece (171) also participated
in the tournament.
In the crucial area competition, Jackson County finished ahead
of area powers Elbert County and Loganville for the second straight
time.
The Panthers have area dual matches coming up against such teams
as North Forsyth, Eastside, Elbert County and Winder-Barrow,
in addition to a number of tournaments where they will also see
area teams.
 Lady Tigers Beat Leopards
In Overtime
It took the Lady Tigers an extra period but they were able to
beat Banks County 70-61 on Saturday.
Commerce jumped ahead of the Lady Leopards early, taking a 14-10
first quarter lead. Again in the second quarter, the Lady Tigers
stayed ahead of Banks County, going into the half with a 32-28
lead.
Commerce made a run in the third quarter, nearly doubling their
lead to 49-38 by the end of the quarter.
But in the fourth quarter, the game changed hands. With less
than three minutes to play, the Lady Leopards shut down the Commerce
offense and began making a run to tie the game.
With only 11 seconds in the game, Banks County inbounded the
ball and hit a three to tie the game at 59 with less than five
seconds to play, sending the contest into overtime.
But in overtime, the Lady Tigers regrouped and took over the
game.
Commerce outscored the Lady Leopards 11-2 to take their third
win of the season.
Monique Diamond led the scoring for Commerce with 16 points.
The Lady Tigers were scheduled to play Wednesday at the Spartan
Invitational. They'll take on the Oconee County Lady Warriors
at 4:00. Win or lose, they play again on Thursday.
 Lady Raiders pick up
wins, momentum
Riding a six game winning streak, girls' head basketball coach
Tim Cook said his improving squad is on the verge of accomplishing
a team goal set early in the season.
"Our goal after losing two games early was to win the rest
of our games before Christmas, and we're two games away from
doing that-but these games don't really count. The real season
starts Jan. 6," Cook said, referring to the date that region
play kicks into full swing.
Madison County, ranked number 10 by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
this week, kept their focus over the weekend, according to Cook.
The team trounced Monroe Area 68-31 Saturday while topping Loganville
48-31 on the road Friday. The squad now carries an 8-2 mark heading
into the Athens Academy Christmas tournament Wednesday.
"(The players) were mentally ready and that's a credit to
them," Cook said. "That's the key to our success- to
be mentally ready."
Cook added that he hopes they have yet to play their best ball.
"I hope we're not peaking now," Cook said of his squad's
recent winning streak. "We've reeled off five or six wins
against some quality teams...We've just got to keep focusing
and do what we do best."
The Lady Raiders will have a chance to extend their wining streak
to eight games during this week's action. The team will face
Athens Academy in the opening round of the Christmas tourney
tonight (Wednesday). Should they win, they will face the winner
of Oconee and Commerce at 7 p.m. Thursday. The consolation game
is set for 4 p.m. that afternoon night.
SATURDAY VS. MONROE AREA
While the Lady Raiders fought, scratched and clawed to pick up
a 39-30 win Dec. 1 over Monroe Area on the road, Saturday's home
match-up with the Purple Hurricanes was a different story.
By the time the third quarter rolled around, the Lady Raiders
found themselves up 58-18 as they coasted to a 27 point win.
"We're playing a whole lot better as a team now," Cook
said comparing the team's performance with the last encounter
with Monroe Area. "I think we caught Monroe at a good time,
they'd just played Hart and had to turn around and come play
us in our place."
The team suffocated the Lady Purple Hurricanes with defense in
the first half, allowing only four points in each of the first
two quarters to build a lopsided 34-8 lead.
In fact, Monroe Area didn't get into double figures in scoring
until they hit a bucket with 4:51 left in the third quarter to
make the score 44-11.
The Lady Raiders eventually built up a 40-point lead in the second
half before whittled the lead down in the fourth quarter against
the Lady Raiders bench players.
Brittany Escoe turned in her second consecutive double-figure
performance in the win, picking up 14 points on the evening.
FRIDAY VS. LOGANVILLE
The Madison County Lady Raiders did a number on Loganville defensively
Friday, surrendering only 16 points over the last three quarters
of the contest to claim a 17-point win.
Cook said a key defensive switch after a quarter of play led
to the Lady Raiders' stymieing of the Loganville offense.
"Loganville does a great job with their man offense,"
Cook explained. they can just wait around and pop one on you....I
think we did a good job defensively in the first quarter but
we shifted to a zone defense and the kids responded well and
took charge....I think we took control of the game midway through
the second quarter even though we trailed at the half. They were
confident and didn't panic and that comes with an older group
of girls."
The Lady Raiders, who bested Loganville 52-33 earlier in the
season, fell behind 15-7 after the first quarter. After Cook
made his defensive change, the Madison County responded by outscoring
the Lady Red Devils 8-2 in the second period, and then dominated
Loganville in the third quarter, outscoring them 21-7 lead to
take a 36-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
Senior Ashley Myers was the offensive force the second half for
Madison County, scoring 12 of her team-high 16 points in the
second half. Escoe also registered in double figures with 10
points on the night.
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