Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The Braselton News
Page 3B
Bovs’ Hoops
Panthers win first clash with rival Eagles
CONTESTED SHOT
Jackson County’s Will Wolter (20) goes up on defense during last Saturday’s win at East Jackson.
Photo by Brandon Reed
BY ALLEN LUTON
The Jackson County boys bas
ketball team picked an ideal time
to grab its first win of the 2007-08
season last Saturday night.
The Panthers traveled to East
Jackson for the first of a home-
and-home set of games between
the two schools, and although the
Eagles are only in their first year
of existence, it’s clear that the two
schools have already formed a
fierce rivalry.
In front of a raucous crowd, the
Panthers emerged with a hard-
fought 64-59 win. They rode the
hot shooting of Joseph Smith to
the win. He netted a team-high 21
points and grabbed eight rebounds.
In addition to shooting a stellar 71
percent from the field on the night,
he was also 10-of-12 from the
free-throw line.
For first-year head coach Britt
Beaver, the triumph over the
Eagles was a sign that his youth
laden squad is already adjusting
to the system the new skipper has
installed.
“I was very proud of my kids,”
Beaver said. “They have only had
two weeks to attempt to adjust to a
new coach and a completely new
style of play.”
Because many of East Jackson’s
students were at JCCHS last year,
the rivalry is one between two
teams that certainly are familiar
with one another. It was one rea
son the game was a big one for
both teams despite coming at such
an early juncture in the season.
“This was a hug victory for us,”
Beaver said. “My kids had the
courage to stay at JCCHS and play
a very, very tough Class AAAA
schedule instead of going over to a
brand new 40-million dollar facil
ity and dropping to a much easier
AA schedule. My sophomores beat
the kids that would have played at
JCCHS as seniors.
“They beat the kids that they had
to sit on the bench and watch play
here last year.”
In addition to Smith’s scoring
out-put, J.B. Baxter also turned
in a double-double performance,
scoring 14 points and pulling down
11 rebounds. Marquice Gillispie,
one of the few returning players
for the Panthers this season also
added 14 points, five steals, and
like Smith, was solid at the charity
stripe, going 7-for-10 at the line.
T.J. Sims also chipped in with five
points and had three assists.
“The kids are starting to buy
into my system and you could
see that Saturday night,” Beaver
explained. “They played smart,
disciplined basketball.”
With a difficult schedule ahead
this season, particularly in region
play, the Panthers may have to
deal with some growing pains, but
wins like the one over the Eagles
will go a long way toward helping
the team’s confidence.
“They played with a ton of heart
Saturday,” Beaver said. “It was a
great night to be a Panther! We have
a long way to go, and this is going
to be a tough year, but we are build
ing the foundation of a winning
program here at Jacksson County.
I will have every player back next
year and most players back the fol
lowing year and that is exciting.”
Girls' Hoops
Jackson County knocks off East Jackson
BY ALLEN LUTON
It hasn’t taken this year’s Jackson
County girls’ basketball team long to
find its form. Just two weeks into the
current campaign, the Lady Panthers
have already picked up several non
region wins.
This past Saturday’s win may have
been the biggest.
That’s when the Lady Panthers
traveled over to East Jackson and
knocked off the rival Lady Eagles
for their third win this season.
This year’s JCCHS team is a
young one that appears to be gain
ing confidence, which could mean
even bigger things lie ahead for the
squad. But considering the circum
stances surrounding the game, last
weekend’s win over the Lady Eagles
was certainly the highlight of then-
season thus far.
East Jackson’s student body is
largely made up of transfers that
were at Jackson County last school
year. That makes the two schools
immediate rivals despite EJCHS
being in just its first season of exis
tence.
“I think it’s one of the biggest wins
this school’s had in a while,” seventh-
year Jackson County head coach
Chad Pittman said. “Everybody’s
excited. It seemed like it was more
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than a basketball game.”
The Lady Panthers prevailed
60-48 in the contest thanks to a solid
collective effort by a host of players.
Freshman Ashley Skelton led the
way for the Lady Panthers with 17
points. Katie Rodriguez added 12
points and Alyssa Esco had nine
in the win. One of the best all-
around performances of the night
was turned in by Breanna Drew,
as the freshman guard tallied eight
points, eight rebounds and seven big
steals in the game.
Pittman could not have been more
pleased with the effort of his team in
the road victory and he said he was
glad to see their hard work pay off
with in the end.
“They were out there busting then-
guts to try and win the game not only
for their school, but almost for their
community as a whole,” he said. “It
seemed like it was a little bit bigger
than just a basketball game. There’s
no doubt about it, it was a big win
and I was real proud of the kids.”
Jackson County went ahead 35-22
before East Jackson cut the lead to
41-35 in the second half. The Lady
Panthers then pushed the margin
up to 45-36 followed by a 53-39
difference. In the end, the team had
enough to hang on down the stretch
and pick up a third win this season.
“We played well in stretches,”
Pittman said. “It was a game of runs
for us and thankfully, we had enough
of those to get us over the hump...
It was pretty even really, I think we
shot the ball better than they did and
that was the difference really.”
East Jackson will come to JCCHS
for a return game at The Pit on Dec.
15.
Saturday’s win sent the Lady
Panthers into this week’s play with
a 3-1 record. They are in the midst
of a five game road stretch that also
includes away contests at Alcovy
and Habersham Central before the
squad returns home on Dec. 14.
Last Friday night at Apalachee
saw the Lady Panthers also come
out on top in their first road test of
this season. In addition, the 58-45
triumph over the Lady Wildcats sent
JCCHS above the.500 mark on the
season. Jackson County led 56-35
late in the game before Pittman
emptied the bench the rest of the
fourth quarter.
Drew led the way with 20 points
and nine rebounds and Skelton
chipped in with 13 points and five
steals.
Pittman said the win was yet
another night when his team was
collectively solid.
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Wrestling
PANTHER INVITATIONAL
Jackson County’s Andrew Blackwell (top) positions an oppo
nent this past weekend during the Panther Invitational.
Photo by Lyn Sengupta
Jackson Co. takes third as
host of Panther Invitational
The finish by Jackson County
was an improvement on last
year’s placing at the event, as
the Panthers were fifth a year
ago. The improvement is even
more impressive when consid
ering that the Panthers have
seen a host of grapplers gradu
ate and transfer to East Jackson
during the offseason.
“I was very pleased with
our performance at the tour
nament.,” first-year Jackson
County head coach Jason
Powers said. “We put six in the
finals and three finished first.”
In addition to those JCCHS
grapplers that made their way
through the brackets to Saturday
night’s finals, Powers said he
was also pleased with some
of the other less-experienced
wrestlers that also excelled
during the event.
Among them was freshman
Ryan Shekey who placed third
in 103-pound weight class.
“I am very proud of our
team and how we performed...”
Powers said. “I was especially
pleased with our two under
classmen placing in the tourna
ment (Howe and Shekey).”
Up next for the Panthers is a
trip down to South Effingham
where they will take part in the
Rebel Invitational this week
end. The event begins Friday
and concludes on Saturday.
BY ALLEN LUTON
The Jackson County wrestling
team rode on the strength of its
leaders last weekend as host of
the annual Panther Invitational.
And that core helped the squad
secure a top-3 finish amidst
a 24-team field full of some
of the more talented wrestling
teams in the state.
The squad’s five team cap
tains — Ben Lesniak, Justin
Best, Andrew Blackwell, Kevin
Spicer and Jose Carrillo-Garcia
— all advanced to the finals of
their respective weight divi
sions. In all, the team had six
grapplers in the finals and was
in contention throughout the
tournament. That could be
a sign of some good things
to come this season for the
Panthers.
Carrillo-Garcia (215 pounds),
Lesniak (130) and sophomore
Ryan Howe (189) all brought
home individual titles from the
event.
Placing second for the
Panthers after making it into
the finals of their respective
weight divisions were Best
(135), Blackwell (152), and
Spicer (160).
Overall the Panthers third-
place showing was behind
only second-place Gilmer
County and the event’s winner,
Jefferson.
DRIVING RIGHT
Jackson County’s Ashley Skelton (21) drives to the basket last
Saturday at East Jackson. Photo by Brandon Reed
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