Newspaper Page Text
December 31, 2002
WR rallies to win fifth straight
championship in thrilling finish
By Will Kieman
Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS - If you
paid five dollars to see the girls
championship of the Ninth
Annual Bear Brawl Christmas
Tournament, you got your
money’s worth.
If you stayed and watched the
boys championship, you got the
deal of a lifetime and should
have left an extra five dollars on
your way out.
The Demons demolished the
Bears 21 point lead in the sec
ond half, outscoring the Bears
27-11 in the fourth quarter
alone, to win their fifth Bear
Brawl title by a score of 67-65 at
the Bears Den.
“You can’t come back from 19
points in one shot, you just have
to take your time,” said Warner
Robins head coach Chip
Malone. “Travis Nelson just
shot the lights out of em, he
played a heck of a game tonight,
heck of a game.”
The Bears loss put their
record at 7-2 while Warner
Robins improved to 9-1 overall.
“We don’t want to just play
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Photo by James Tidwell
Warner Robins celebrates with the boys championship trophy after winning the 2002 Bear Brawl.
HC pair honored with tourney MVP
By Will Kieman
Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS - The
honored players definitely
earned their spots on the All-
Tournament team at the 2002
Bear Brawl, despite what they
might tell you.
It seems that the best players
always play lower than their own
expectations but higher than
their coaches.
It was no fluke that Houston
County players Jade Wacker and
Daniel Northern were chosen as
Most Valuable Players for the
girls and boys teams, respective
ly-
Wacker put up 14 points in the
championship game while play
ing an invaluable role on defense.
Northern, likewise, put up 29
points in his championship
game, and who knows what the
Bears defense would look like
without the 6-8 player blocking
Photo by James Tidwell
Warner Robins
player Shante
Fuller (20) is pre
sented with the
third place trophy
and All-
Tournament team
medalian at the
2002 Bear Brawl.
Bear Brawl Boys
Championship
WR 57, Houston Co. 65
Warner Robins, we want to beat
them and we can,” said a confi
dent Bears Coach Greg Nix.
“When I went in to talk to my
team I didn’t talk about losing
the game, I talked about our
accomplishments up until this
point.”
The championship match saw
an epic battle between two
extremely talented players as
Travis Nelson carried the
weight of the game on his shoul
ders and finished the night with
33 points. Nelson had nine
shots go through the hoop 11
shots and coming down with
countless rebounds.
“It feels really good ,” said
Wacker. “I wasn’t really sure if
I’d get (the Most Valuable Player
award) because everyone on our
team played really good.”
Accompanying Wacker and
Northern on the All-Tournament
team, came a few selections from
the championship games.
Shaunte Small and Shaquana
James were selected from
Timmonsville, along with
Wacker’s teammate Tiffany
Lewis.
James went home with 21
points in the championship game
while Lewis attributed 20 points
to the Lady Bears, total. Lewis
and Wacker played the entire
championship game for Houston
County, except for a single
minute that Wacker sat out.
“Tiffany is a big time player,”
said Houston County head coach
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2002 Bear Brawl
from outside the three-point
line.
Not far off of Nelson’s total
was Daniel Northern who dom
inated the paint all night with
29 points for Houston County.
Only three other players made
it into double digits, though.
Houston’s Jordan Poole and
David Graham had 12 and 13
points, respectively while Scott
St. Cyr ended the night with 10
points.
“The whole team was MVR
I’m going to buy trophies for all
of em, even the ones that didn’t
get on the court,” said Malone
half-jokingly. “And a medal.”
With 1:53 left in the game, St.
Cyr was fouled while attempt
ing a three point shot. Though
St Cyr made only one of his
three attempts from the line, it
was enough to break the 61-61
tie and give the demons the lead
for good.
Brice Hart followed up St.
Cyr’s shot with a field goal to
increase the lead by three with
1:30 left to play.
See Demons on Page 4B
tHijs pCmtsi on Jlame Journal
Sid Baxley.
On the boys’ side, Travis
Nelson from Warner Robins was
chosen to the team.
Nelson came down with 33
points in the championship
game. Nelson sank nine three
point shots during that game.
Nelson did much of the Demons’
scoring throughout the second
and third quarters.
“He was on fire, he had a great
shooting night,” said Warner
Robins head coach Chip Malone
of Nelson. “He rebounded when
we needed the rebounds and he
shot when we needed the bas
kets.”
Cassie Miliner and Taneshia
York were chosen from the con
solation game to be on the All-
Tournament team as well.
“It feels good to be honored as
an All-Tournament player,” said
Miliner. “I didn’t think I played
that well, but it feels good.”
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Houston County hangs on to claim
second championship in a raw
By Will Kieman
Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS -
Houston County overcame a
Whirlwind of talent against
Timmonsville in a 39-40 edge
of-the-seat nail biter to become
the 2002 Bear Brawl
girls Champions.
“Early we couldn’t shoot well
at all overall, I had a couple of
players who just didn’t produce
offensively,” said Timmonsville
head coach Perry Stokes.
“Defeftsively, we played hard
and gave ourselves the opportu
nity there at the end.”
Baxley’s team improved to 8-
1 while the Lady Whirlwinds
received their second loss of the
season, falling to 7-2 overall.
“We were going to try to take
away the three point shots,l
knew that if they didn’t get the
threes then they would play a
slow tempo game like they
did,’’said Baxley.“We knew that
all five of their girls were real
quick, and we worried about
them stepping in the passing
lanes and trapping us, making
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Photo by James Tidwell
Houston County senior Jade Wacker is awarded the girls MVP at the 2002 Bear Brawl.
WR captures third in girls bracket
By Will Kieman
Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS -
Warner Robins won the consola
tion game easily against the
Upson-Lee Lady Knights, as
every player saw time on the
court en route to a 61-46 victo
ry.
The Demonettes wanted to
win the Bear Brawl champi
onship but an early loss to
Timmonsville placed the
Demonettes in the consolation
game with the Lady Knights.
“Everybody played the first
half and the second half and
Bear Brawl Girls
Championship
HC 40, Timmonsville 39
us throw over them and giving
them the opportunity to make
easy baskets.”
Shaquana James finished the
night with 21 points for
Timmonsville while the other
game high score came from
Houston’s Tiffany Lewis with
20 points.
“In a close game, Tiffany
Lewis is always around the ball
and always making big plays,”
said Baxley.
After a first half of battling
back and forth, the Lady Bears
Bear Brawl Girls
Consolation
WR 61, Upson-Lee 46
that was good,” said Warner
Robins head coach Tom Mobley.
Photo by James
Tidwell
Houston
County fans
cheer as
Houston
County senior
Jade Wacker
(34) accepts
the 2002 Bear
Brawl girls
championship
from Houston
County boys
head coach
Greg Nix last
week at the
Bears Den in
Warner
Robins.
took a 15-13 lead off of Lewis’s
field goal with 2:33 remaining
in the second quarter. Lewis
would open the second half with
another field goal. The Lady
Bears would go on to outscore
the Lady Whirlwinds 14-11 in
the third quarter.
Though outscored in the third
quarter, the Lady Whirlwinds
did have a run of seven unan
swered points. An eight point
run orchestrated by Warner
Robins, including six points
scored by Wacker, followed
Timmonsville’s run.
Timmonsville answered
Warner Robins early fourth
quarter drive with a 15 point
run of their own. The Lady
Whirlwinds’ 15-5 run started
with 5:25 left in the game and
ended at 1:55. The drive started
with two three pointers by
Washington, followed by a
series of shots from the free
throw fine in which Dubose and
James added three more points.
Dubose and James then added a
field goal each to the total to
See Houston on Page 4B
The Demonettes, because of
their shared playing time, had
well spread scoring. Shantae
Fuller had 11 points, followed
by Cassie Miliner with the team
high 13 points. Also in double
digits were C. C. Jackson with
10 points and Drahcir Ross with
12 points. Adding to the points
total were no less than six other
Demonettes who sank at least
one shot for the night. Miliner
was selected to the All-
Tournament team, as well.
“I just thought it was the first
and second place teams,” said
See Consolation on Page 4B
PAGE 3B