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March 10 -16, 2016 » Page 12A
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game, they shot 26.4
percent from the field.
Southwest DeKalb shot
66.7 percent from the
free throw line, which
was slightly better than
its season average of 57
percent.
Southwest DeKalb
coach Kathy Walton
said the placement of
the backboards was
unfortunate and should
have never happened.
“Although, the 2016
GHSA state basketball
tournament is over and is
now in the history books,
I believe the placement of
the backboards affected
the quality of play,”
Walton said. “I don’t
believe the teams that
played this past weekend
were able to put their best
foot forward, nor given a
chance to showcase the
amazing basketball talent
in the state of Georgia.”
The team’s two
top scorers—Daisa
Alexander (8 of 29) and
Jada Walton (2 of 25)—
did not have their best
shooting performance in
the championship game.
Coach Walton said she
and her team knew during
warm-up something
was off with the basket
placement.
“However, at that
time, we had more
pressing issues, in getting
prepared for the game,
and chose to block
that out,” she said. “As
the game progressed,
it was apparent that
the placement of the
backboards was affecting
our play. Some of
the players made the
adjustment by telling each
other there was a depth
perception adjustment
they had to make.
However, towards the end
of the game, because our
shooting percentage was
so horrible, I finally had
to instruct the players not
to take any more outside
shots.”
Greenforest girls’
basketball coach Allison
Prather said her players
were upset about missing
their free throws.
“Even when they
made adjustments their
shots were still short,”
Prather said. “I think
GHSA should have taken
care of this as soon as
they were made aware of
the situation.”
Greenforest shot 42.9
percent from the free
throw line and was 26.4
percent from the field.
Phillips said that while
the misplacement of the
baskets “was not an ideal
situation, we think the
conditions were fair for all
the teams.”
“And, more
importantly, it was the
same for all the teams,”
he said. “We have plans
to make sure this never
happens again, but we
have no plans to change
anything that happened
this week in Macon.”
Tucker coach Robin Potter looks on as Tucker struggles with its offensive against McEachern. Photo by
Travis Hudgons
Tucker girls fall to McEachern in 6A title game
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
The Tucker Lady Tigers did not have
enough to top McEachern and fell 71-51 to
the now three-time defending champions in
the Class AAAAAA title game on March 5 at
the Macon Centreplex.
After being down 15-9 in the first quarter,
Tucker went on a 15-14 run in the second
quarter to come within a five-point deficit at
halftime.
However, McEachern opened the third
quarter on a 7-0 run to pull away for the
20-point victory. Tucker coach Robin Potter
said after the game that despite the loss her
team had a great season.
“We talked about at the beginning [of the
season] getting back to the championship
game,” Potter said. “We were returning
nearly the whole team. We graduated two
[players] last year, so I knew we were senior
heavy and we would be very competitive.
Adding Kierra Johnson-Graham and Jayla
Morrow really solidified the whole group. We
did it. We got back, even though I think we
were not expected to necessarily. We proved
a lot of naysayers wrong, but McEachern is
a great team.”
Morrow and Najla Shamsid-Deen led
the team in scoring with 15 points each.
Shamsid-Deen added 10 rebounds and
Johnson-Graham led the team in rebounding
with 12.
Tucker alum Solomon Jackson died Feb. 29 after suffering a
medical emergency during a conditioning session. Photo by
Travis Hudgons
Former Tucker football
player dies
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
The Tucker High School community is
mourning the loss of a former student and
standout football player.
The Tucker football Twitter account an
nounced March 1 that Solomon Jackson
passed away that morning. Jackson, a
sophomore defensive end for the Univer
sity of Buffalo football team, was hospi
talized Feb. 21 after suffering a medical
emergency during a conditioning session,
according The Spectrum, the university’s
student newspaper.
The newspaper said Jackson was in
critical condition on Feb. 22, but no update
was given on his condition.
Jackson played in 19 games for Buf
falo where he accumulated 16 total tack
les, three tackles for a loss and two sacks
During his senior year at Tucker in 2012,
Jackson had 33 total tackles, four sacks
and 10 tackles for a loss.
Tucker football coach Bryan Lamar
said Jackson was more than a talented
football player.
“He was a great kid,” Lamar said. “He
was a leader, a hard worker, [and] he had
an infectious personality. He had a huge
smile on his face all the time. He was
talented but more so he was just a great
person.”
Lamar said he will miss Jackson’s
smile the most.
“Every time you would see him he
[had] this huge smile on his face,” Lamar
said. “He was just a jovial person, he was
a fun kid. We’re going to miss that energy
from him.”