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Contact the sports department: Phone: 706-367-5233 Fax: 706-367-9355 brandon@mainstreetnews.com IB 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. 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