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Wednesday,
December 5, 2007
Bovs’ Basketball
Mill Creek picks up first win
COMING YOUR WAY
Zach Landis challenges his opponent during Friday night’s game against South Forsyth. Landis was ejected from Saturday’s game
against Dacula after a scuffle with a Falcon player. Both Landis and the Dacula player will serve a two game suspension.
Photo by Kristi Reed
of the season
Hawks travel to N. Gwinnett Fri.
BY KRISTI REED
The Mill Creek boys’ varsity team is off to a rough start this season,
but Coach Phil Bollier is optimistic that his team will improve with
time.
“We’re going to get the whole thing corrected,” he said. “We just need
to get our program solvent. You can talk all the jargon and use all the
basketball terms you want, but we’re just going to get this thing straight
ened out.”
After a 66-34 loss in their home opener against S. Forsyth last Friday,
the Hawks (1-6, 1-2) lost 71-55 in Saturday’s game against Dacula. The
Hawks ended their six game losing streak on Tuesday with a 51-48 win
over N. Forsyth.
POSITIVE OUTLOOK
Bollier said that his team must remained focused on the present and
not worry about recent setbacks.
“We’ve got a lot of new people in the program,” Bollier said. “We’ve
only been together for five practices total with our football guys. So,
we’ve still got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. We’re play
ing games and trying to adjust as we go. We’ll get better.”
“This is my responsibility, I’m the head basketball coach,” he said.
The Hawks face the North Gwinnett Bulldogs (3-4, 1-1) on Friday.
Bollier said positioning and consistency are key concerns as they get
ready for Friday’s matchup.
We’ve got to have a more consistent performance from our whole
crew,” he said.
Bollier said his biggest concern about the team is positioning.
“You know basketball’s a game of position and, if you get out of posi
tion, you’re going to be in trouble,” he said. “This is something our kids
know.”
Positioning was a factor early in the S. Forsyth game.
“We were out of position defensively to start the game and they got
two [three point shots],” Bollier said. “We shot the ball too quickly; we
didn’t have energy and enthusiasm. We gave up way too many wide
open shots.”
On the positive side, Bollier felt his team had improved in the area of
turnovers and said he was satisfied with their rebounding effort.
The Hawks trailed by only six points at the half. By the end of the
third, the deficit had increased to 25 points. Chris Avery was the only
See BASKETBALL on page 2B
Girls' Basketball
Lady Hawks soaring high, remain unbeaten
Mill Creek travels to N. Gwinnett on Friday
BY KRISTI REED
The Lady Hawks (7-0, 3-0)
remain unbeaten after winning its
home opener against S. Forsyth
and road games against Dacula
and N. Forsyth.
Mill Creek faces North Gwinnett
Friday in what Lady Hawks’ Head
Coach Ashley Phillips expects to
be a difficult game.
“It’s going to be a really tough
game,” Phillips said. “They do a
really good job of slowing things
down. They play good defense in
the lane and try to make you take
outside shots. It’s going to be a
challenge for us.”
Phillips said his plan for the
upcoming week is to focus on
fundamentals.
“We do a lot of the same stuff
week in and week out,” he said.
“We focus on the fundamental
things, but we’ll definitely work
on finishing layups in traffic.
We’re doing a good job of get
ting the shots we want, but we’ve
got to be able to finish a higher
percentage.”
“I feel our conditioning still
needs a little work. We try to
play a full court game and it just
takes a lot out of you. We’ve
got to be in really good shape
and we’re not quite there yet,”
Phillips said.
The Lady Hawks outscored the
South Forsyth War Eagles 63-47
in Friday’s home opener. Porsha
Porter led the Hawks with 18
points. Moneshia Simmons added
10 points and 14 rebounds.
Despite the win, Phillips said
he was frustrated with certain
elements of the Lady Hawks’
play.
“I was frustrated when we
didn’t finish some of our layups,”
Phillips said. “We missed a lot
of good shots. There were a few
times we didn’t make good deci
sions. [South Forsyth is] a good
team. They are solid offensively
and defensively.”
On Saturday, the Lady Hawks
traveled to neighboring rival
Dacula. Once again, the Lady
Hawks soared to victory led by
Porter with 19 points. Simmons
grabbed ten rebounds and scored
seven points in the 52-25 win
over the Lalcons.
Phillips said the Lady Hawk’s
defense played well and did a bet
ter job converting shots. Phillips
said his team still has work to
do.
“Teams are really starting to
pack it in on us with different
types of defenses,” he said. “We
have to learn to attack those dif
ferent types of defenses.”
Mill Creek continued their win
ning streak Tuesday night with a
61-41 victory over the Raiders
of North Lorsyth. Porter led the
Hawks with 12 points. Olivia
Towers-Solis and Simmons added
10 each.
Expectations are high for the
Lady Hawks, currently ranked
number three in the state. Coach
Phillips said he and his team have
to focus on the present.
“The only game I’m concerned
with right now is the one that’s
next,” he said. “The only ranking
I’m concerned with is the one at
the end of the year.”
Mill Creek travels to North
Gwinnett on Lriday. The Lady
Hawks tip off against the Lady
Bulldogs at 7 p.m.
BRINGING IT BACK
Tia Williams brings the ball down the court during Friday night’s game against South Forsyth in Mill
Creek’s home opener. The Lady Hawks defeated the War Eagles 63-47. Photo by Kristi Reed
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