Newspaper Page Text
o
o
Barrow’s only award-winning local sports section as judged by Georgia Press Association and Georgia Sports Writers Association
INSIDE THIS SECTION
•Wildcat baseball
— 2B
•Football signings
— 2B
• BCA football honors
— 4B
•First & Ten
— 4B
February 17, 2016
Phone: 770-867-6397
Fax:706-621-4115
cbridges@barrowjournal. com
Section B
★★★★
High School Basketball Scoreboard:
Heritage 69
AHS boys 67
Tuesday, Feb. 9*
BCA boys 46
Weber School 72
Thursday. Feb. 11**
BCA girls 45
Weber School 28
Friday, Feb. 12**
WBHS girls 36
Flowery Branch 41
Friday, Feb. 12***
WBHS girls 36
Gainesville 45
Saturday, Feb. 13***
* 8-AAAAA boys tourney
* * Regular season game
* **8-AAAAA girls tourney
High School Track: Winder-Barrow
McNamara, Dawkins, Weatherford help lead WBHS track
By Chris Bridges
Journal Sports Editor
The conditions were less than desirable
but several Winder-Barrow High School
track athletes exceled during a Saturday
meet at Mill Creek High School.
“We had some good individual perfor
mances,” said coach Chris Davis. “All
of our young kids ran. We held out our
basketball players and a few missed the
event due to the three-day weekend.”
Davis said with the WBHS boys bas
ketball team just completing its season,
he gave those athletes a week off before
beginning their track duties.
Brea McNamara and Ticia King turned
solid efforts for the WBHS Lady Bull-
doggs in the pole vault, placing first and
third.
Hall of Fame coach Cook Holliday is
working with the WBHS pole vault ath
letes again this track season.
Carlana Dawkins won the high jump
and placed second in the triple jump for
the WBHS girls while Sarah Weatherford
placed first in the 400-meter dash and sec
ond in the 800.
For the WBHS boys. Tucker Allen
placed second in the pole vault.
The WBHS sprinters (Sterling Sumpter,
Jamaul Cox and Teague Moore) swept the
top three spots in the 100-meter dash.
Jay Branch won the high jump and
placed second in the 400.
Will Purcell was runner-up in the 1,600-
meter run.
“We were excited that everyone got to
compete,” Davis said. “The conditions
were cold and I thought our kids showed
a lot of grit getting after it in those con
ditions. We got some great experience
having a meet this early that should serve
us well in the weeks to come.”
The WBHS track team will host a
meet Friday. Apalachee High School and
Gainesville High School are scheduled to
compete. The weather forecast calls for a
much better afternoon than the conditions
the athletes battled last weekend.
“With Apalachee and Gainesville being
close, hopefully, we can have a few peo
ple come out and take in the meet,” Davis
said.
Friday's meet at W. Clair Harris Stadi
um is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
UP THE COURT
Winder-Barrow High School’s Chellia Watson played a key role for the Lady Bulldoggs during their
journey through the Region 8-AAAAAA tournament. WBHS gave Flowery Branch High School a battle
to the end in Friday’s semifinal game. The Lady Bulldoggs fell just short in a 41-36 contest against
the Lady Falcons, who are ranked second in the state. WBHS still managed to qualify for the state
tournament, the first time that has happened for the program in more than two decades.
Photo by Jessica Brown
A Return
To State...
Lady Bulldoggs end
two-decade drought,
win opening state game
By Chris Bridges
Journal Sports Editor
T he Winder-Barrow High School Lady Bull
doggs were not satisfied simply with break
ing a state tournament drought which dated back
more than two decades.
On Tuesday night, the WBHS girls, a No. 4 seed,
traveled to Villa Rica and dispatched of a No. 1
seed 53-32. Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored 23 points
to lead the Lady Bulldoggs, who will now travel
to Carver-Columbus on Friday for a second round
contest.
Tiera Mayweather scored nine points in Tuesday's
state tournament win while Lattice Perkins and
Chellia Watson both added seven.
It’s been a long road back for the Winder-Barrow
High School Lady Bulldoggs basketball program.
A streak of not making the state tournament dated
back to a time when none of the current players were
born. Ending the streak has certainly been on the list
of goals for the program each year.
Entering the 2015-2016 season, WBHS coach
Brandon Thomas said he believed the potential was
there to end the streak, but knew it wouldn’t be easy
for several reasons.
First, the Lady Bulldoggs have been a young
team this season with just one senior. Second,
Region 8-AAAAA has several quality teams and
WBHS competes on the same side of its subregion
with Flowery Branch, who enters state as the No.
2-ranked team with just one loss.
Playing against such tough region competition
deary prepared Winder-Barrow for state, however.
Last Friday night the Lady Bulldoggs had a
chance to take down the region favorite. While the
Lady Falcons had swept the regular season series,
WBHS pushed Flowery Branch to the limit in
the first meeeting. When the two faced off in the
region semi-finals, it would turn out to be another
down-to-the wire battle.
See Lady Doggs on Page 3B
ALL
REGION
Bethlehem
Christian
Academy
football
players
Matthew
Kamm,
Brad Toxen
and Brady
Stewart
were each
named All-
Region for
the Knights’
2015 grid
iron season.
Photo by
Kara Maxwell
QUITE A CAREER
The curtain has
come down on the
remarkable career
for Kamar Baldwin
at Apalachee High
School. The senior
has rewritten the
school’s basketball
record book and is
now the all-time lead
ing scorer in Barrow
County history.
Baldwin will contin
ue his hoops career
for Butler University
following graduation
from AHS later this
year.
Photo by
Jessica Brown
