Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The Braselton News
Page 3B
Girls' Basketball
Lady Panthers hold off Lady Eagles
Bovs' Basketball
Panthers earn season
sweep over rival Eagles
BY ALLEN LUTON
Winners of three of their
last four games overall, the
Jackson County girls head into
this week’s rare Thursday night
game at West Hall playing some
of their best basketball this sea
son. But regardless of how the
rest of the campaign plays out,
the squad may still not produce
a result as satisfying as the
one it came up with this past
Saturday night — at least not in
terms of emotion.
On that occasion, the Lady
Panthers not only topped new
ly-found rival East Jackson in
front of the home fans at The
Pit, but in so doing it also
earned a season sweep of the
Lady Eagles, claiming victory
for the second time in as many
meetings this year.
JCCHS used a solid first half
flurry of points to take a 24-16
lead at the half. And although
East Jackson fought back, it was
the youth-laden Lady Panthers
that showed that despite their
inexperience, they are capa
ble of finishing games in the
clutch..
In the end, Jackson County
made enough plays, combined
with a few important free
throws, to pull out a 34-32 low-
scoring win.
Normally known as a team
that looks to push the pace of
the game, the Lady Panthers
were reduced to changing their
strategy on Saturday. When the
several key starters got into
foul trouble head coach Chad
Pittman called on his bench to
step up and show the team’s
balance.
“I’ve been really pleased with
the kids. I think if you watch
our team, they play together and
I think the kids play hard and I
think what’s been really helpful
for us this season, that every
night it seems like we’ve got
one person or two people that
stand up every night.”
Because of those foul prob
lems, the Lady Panthers opted
to take the air out of the ball in
the second half. What eventu
ally resulted was a few nervous
moments near the end of the
contest, but yet still another vic
tory for JCCHS.
Lollowing the win, Pittman
not only praised the play of the
Lady Panthers down the stretch,
but also his team’s ability to
adjust the style of play when it
AT THE LINE
Jackson County’s Alysa Esco
prepares to shoot a free throw
as the home fans look on at
The Pit this past Saturday.
Photo by Lyn Sengupta
mattered most.
“I went into the stall and
backed it out into four corners
because I felt like we weren’t
having the best offensive night
we’ve ever had and we were in
foul trouble,” the JCCHS coach
said.
East Jackson out-scored
JCCHS 7-6 in sluggish third
quarter of play. Jackson County ’ s
lead proved too difficult for the
Lady Eagles to overcome in the
second half.
The JCCHS coach said the
inaugural rivalry between the
two schools this year is a good
one for both teams and the fact
that his squad was able to sweep
East Jackson makes it all the
more memorable for the Lady
Panthers.
“I think it’s great,” Pittman
said. “I think the atmosphere
and energy in the gym was
tremendous. If you’re a high
school kid, you can’t ask for
much better. It kind of simulates
a state tournament-type game.
The communities and the
adults and everybody kind of
got into it. Ultimately, we’re
playing a basketball game out
here, but really you’re repre
senting two different communi
ties.
“This is kind of history this
year, this is the first time their
school has opened and I said
to my kids that it’s kind of like
when Georgia and Georgia Tech
play — when you win, you kind
of get to brag for a year and the
loser sort of droops their head
for a year.”
BY ALLEN LUTON
T’S taken the Jackson
County boys’ basketball
program just a few short
weeks to rediscover the lost sensa
tion of optimism.
This past Saturday night, the
Panthers (3-5, 1-0 in 8-AAAA
North) earned a season sweep of
an East Jackson squad that, despite
being in just its first season of
existence has already become a
major rival to JCCHS.
In the process, this
year’s Panthers have
already managed to
accomplish something
that hasn’t been done at
Jackson County in more
than three years — win
more than two games
overall. What’s more,
the team has reached the
three-win mark just several weeks
into the season.
Jackson County’s 50-45 victory
over the Eagles came thanks to a
poised performance that saw the
team jump out to a 10-point lead
from the start, a lead it never relin
quished. The Panthers were up
nine at the half, 12 later on in the
third and eventually held on down
the stretch.
East Jackson did its best to rally,
but despite several Panthers in foul
trouble, the Eagles could not take
the lead. The Jackson County team
was clutch at the free throw line
on the night, converting 18-of-25
shots at the charity stripe.
Marquice Gillispie led the
Panthers with 20 points and seven
rebounds. Joseph Smith added 11
points and Will Wolter chipped in
with eight.
The home win for the Panthers
came two weeks after the squad
also was victorious at East
Jackson. For Jackson County head
coach Britt Beaver, the fact that
his youth-laden squad was able
to outperform a more experienced
EJHS team for the second time
this season was impressive.
“I was very proud of the way my
guys played as a team,” Beaver,
in his first year at the helm at
JCCHS, said. “Everyone contrib
uted and when we lost a few key
players to fouls, our bench stepped
up and gave us great minutes.”
The victory over the Eagles
capped a 2-1 week for
the Panthers. They also
defeated sub-region foe
Habersham Central on
the road on Dec. 11 and
then lost to Heritage this
past Friday night. Beaver
credited his players for
coming out ready to play
on Saturday despite being
blown out 77-34 the night
prior against the Patriots.
“We were tired after taking a
beating from a very good Heritage
team on Friday night, but the kids
sucked it up and did what they
had to do to get the win,” Beaver
explained. “We are improving
in all areas and that is good to
see. Our students did an excellent
job displaying good sportsman
ship and supporting our team. The
school is full of excitement and I
am proud to be a Panther.”
Due mostly to a large number
of transfers to East Jackson, many
of the athletic teams at JCCHS
have had to go into re-building
mode after the opening of the new
$43 million EJHS facility back in
August.
With players on both teams hav
ing played together last season at
JCCHS, its no wonder that a rival
ry has already developed between
the two schools. But, at least
for this inaugural season of play
between the two, Jackson County
has earned bragging rights.
Up Next:
WHAT:
Jackson County vs.
West Hall
WHERE:
The Pit at JCCHS
When:
Thurs., 7:30 p.m.
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