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The Braselton News
Contact the sports department:
Phone: 706-367-5233
Fax: 706-367-9355
kristireed@mindspring.com
IB
Wednesday,
January 23, 2008
JCCHS games
postponed
due to snow
BY BRANDON REED
The bad weather over the past
week had unexpected consequenc
es for both the boys and girls var
sity basketball teams at JCCHS.
First, on Saturday, the sched
uled games against West Hall were
postponed due to the forecasted
snowy and icy weather for the
area.
Next, the scheduled games for
Tuesday night against Habersham
Central were postponed due to
icy weather that prevented the
Habersham teams from traveling.
Those games have been resched
uled for Wednesday night, with the
girls set to play at 6 p.m., and the
boys at 7:30 p.m. at JCCHS.
Both teams next travel to Clarke
Central, where the girls will play
at 7 p.m., and the boys at 8:30
p.m.
Saturday, both teams play host
to Apalachee, with the girls start
ing at 4 p.m., and the boys playing
at 5:30. Weather is not expected to
be an issue.
Panthers win
against Hart
Co., Monroe
BY BRANDON REED
The JCCHS Panther wrestling
team continued their successful
season last week, as they came
away with two victories last
Tuesday, defeating Hart Co. and
Monroe area, bringing their sea
son record to 20-3. The Panthers
first defeated Monroe area 66-9,
then went on to beat Hart County
49-27.
Contributing with two wins were
Cole Meaders in the 112 lb. class,
Ben Lesniak in the 125 lb. class,
Justin Best in the 135 lb. class,
Kevin Spicer in the 145 lb. class,
Andrew Blackwell in the 152 lb.
class, Charles Smothers in the 171
lb. class, Ryan Howe in the 189
lb. class, and Jose Carrillo-Garcia
in the 285 lb. class. Picking up
one victory on the night were
Ryan Shekey in the 103 lb. class,
Chance Bryan in the 130 lb. class,
Andrew Elliott in the 140 lb. class,
and Austin McDonald in the 215
lb. class.
“These two wins were very
important to us coming off a tough
weekend,” said head wrestling
coach Jason Powers. “I was very
proud of how we responded to
this last weekend’s disappointing
fourth place finish (in the area
duals).”
The mat Panthers were next
scheduled to square off against
Habersham Central and Eastside
at Habersham Central. But icy
weather forced the postponement
of that meeting.
Instead, Flowery Branch trav
eled to Jackson County, where the
Panthers defeated them 43-30.
Picking up wins were Shekey
in the 103 lb. class, Lesniak in the
125 lb. class, Justin Best in the
135 lb. class, Spicer in the 145
lb. class, Blackwell in the 152
lb. class, Smothers in the 171 lb.
class, Howe in the 189 lb. class,
and Carrillo-Garcia in the 285 lb.
class.
“It was a big win,” said Powers.
“Flowery Branch won the Hall
County tournament this year, and
they were Hall County champs.
To beat them was a big win for
us.”
Up next for the Panthers is
the Redskin Rumble, held this
weekend at Social Circle, where
Jackson County returns as the
defending champs.
Girls' Basketball
Lady Hawks continue to dominate region, state
TAKE IT AWAY
Tia Williams heads down court after stealing the ball. Williams had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals
in Friday’s game against North Forsyth. photo by Craig Reed
BY KRISTI REED
The Lady Hawks appeared
unstoppable as they contin
ued their dominance of region
7-AAAAA opponents this past
week. Number one ranked
Mill Creek (18-1, 12-0) defeat
ed North Forsyth and North
Gwinnett, further making the
Hawks’ case for a state cham
pionship.
This Saturday, the Lady
Hawks take the court against
region opponent Norcross. In
their last meeting, the Lady
Hawks beat the Blue Devils
66-57. Mill Creek head coach
Ashley Phillips said Norcross
has improved over the past few
weeks.
“They’re playing
better and better,”
Phillips said. “As the
season goes on, the
team is getting more
on the same page with
what [their coach]
wants to do.”
“They’re a very athletic team
and they have a very strong post
player. They’re a tough team
because of their athleticism,”
he said.
RAIDERS NO MATCH
The Lady Hawks started
strong and never let up as they
soundly defeated North Forsyth
on Friday. The Lady Raiders
hustled, but were no match for
the more powerful Hawks.
Mill Creek jumped out to a
21-9 lead by the end of the first
period, in one stretch scoring
12 unanswered points. The
Lady Raiders closed the gap to
29-19 by half time, but never
really threatened top ranked
Mill Creek.
By the end of the third peri
od, Mill Creek had widened its
lead to 43-27. Ten players put
points on the board for the Lady
Hawks, resulting in a final score
of 61-35.
Porsha Porter led the Hawks
with 15 points. Monique
Weathers added 11 and Olivia
Towers-Solis scored ten. Tia
Williams chipped in seven
points, seven steals and four
assists.
Phillips said his team played
well, but he was not entirely
pleased with their performance
early in the game.
“The first half, I
wasn’t real happy
with some of our
decision making
on offense,” he
said. “We made
some bad passes,
not because of
pressure, but because of bad
decisions.”
“We focused on defense for
this game. [We talked about]
our half court man defense and
how we had to do a better job
with that. We didn’t press at all
the first half because I wanted
to put pressure on them to play
good half court defense and
they did,” he said.
Phillips said the Lady Hawks’
play improved in the second
half.
“We got some transitions,
made some nice passes for
layups,” Phillips said. “They
did a much better job the sec
ond half, much sharper offen
sively.”
The Lady Hawks were sched
uled to play Saturday in the
Peach State Basketball Battle
of the Southeast girls basketball
showcase. Due to the threat of
inclement weather, tournament
organizers postponed the event
which would have pitted Mill
Creek against South Carolina’s
top ranked J.L. Mann.
Phillips did not know if the
Lady Hawks would be able to
participate at a later date due to
previously scheduled games.
On Tuesday, North Gwinnett
(16-7, 8-4) traveled to Hoschton
hoping to avenge the team’s
previous loss to Mill Creek.
The last time the teams met, the
Lady Hawks emerged victorious
beating the Bulldogs 47-39.
This meeting proved no better
for the Bulldogs. Porter scored
22 points to lead the Lady
Hawks to a 60-52 win. Megan
Basile contributed 12 points and
Williams added eight.
Phillips said North Gwinnett
is a tough team to beat.
“They do a good job making
you play the slower pace that
they want you to play,” he said.
“They really defend the basket
area. It’s kind of a contrast
in styles when we play them.
Their style of play is not neces
sarily the way we want to play.
It’s a push and pull to see who
can get the game played at the
tempo they want.”
UP NEXT
This Saturday, the Lady
Hawks play host to the Norcross
Blue Devils. The Blue Devils
(9-8, 7-5) are the fourth ranked
team in region 7-AAAAA.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
in Hoschton.
Coming up:
WHAT: Mill Creek vs.
Norcross
WHERE: Mill Creek
WHEN: Jan. 26 @6:00
p.m.
Bovs’ Basketball
BACK OFF
Chris Avery defends against a North Forsyth player in Friday’s
game. The Hawks strong defensive effort resulted in a 43-33 win.
photo by Craig Reed
Coming up:
WHAT: Mill Creek vs. Norcross
WHERE: Mill Creek High School
WHEN: Jan. 26 @ 7:30 p.m.
BY KRISTI REED
The Mill Creek boys’ varsity
team had a mixed week, winning
against North Forsyth and losing
to North Gwinnett. The Hawks
(6-13, 4-8) now prepare to face
top ranked Norcross at home
next week in what will likely be
the team’s hardest game of the
season.
Head coach Phil Bollier said his
team has a tough fight ahead, but
hopes to limit the Blue Devils’
productivity.
His goals for Saturday’s
matchup: “Don’t turn the ball
over for scores, limit their offen
sive rebounding, and control the
ball without turning it over,” he
said.
Bollier said his team has made
strides as the season progressed.
“We’re still not where we want
to be, but I think our effort is
there,” he said. “Now effort with
results is what we are looking
for.”
HAWKS HUSTLE PAST
RAIDERS
The Hawks took the court with
a different look for Friday night’s
game against the North Forsyth
Raiders. With regular starter
Travis Bollier out due to an ankle
injury, Bollier made some adjust
ments to his starting lineup.
“We’re trying to get a little
depth,” Bollier said. “We’re try
ing to play better defensively.
We wanted to change it up and
see if we could get something
done that way.”
The change was good for the
Hawks as they took an early
lead against the Raiders. Mill
Creek played very aggressively
on defense and moved the ball
well on offense to take a 27-16
lead at the half.
The Hawks lost some of the
team’s earlier momentum in
the third period. North Forsyth
played its best defense of the
night, blocking several shots and
forcing a couple of turnovers
during the period to narrow Mill
Creek’s lead to 31-25.
“We felt like we just dribbled
the ball too much instead of mov
ing it on the pass. We’re just
going to correct that,” Bollier
said.
North Forsyth made Mill Creek
work for every point the team
scored in the fourth. Strong
defensive play by both teams
kept the final period scoreless
for almost the first two minutes
of play. The Hawks held on to
win 43-33.
Zach Baker led the Hawks in
scoring with ten points. Chase
Anderson added eight to the
effort.
Bollier
said his team
will continue
to work on
moving the
ball better
and getting
the shot they
want. Bollier
said the team
is currently
shooting 35
percent and
he hopes
to see that
improve over
the next few
weeks.
“We want to give ourselves a
chance to compete with every
body we play,” he said.
Bollier praised North Forsyth
for the effort they gave in Friday’s
game.
“They do work very hard,” he
said. “They don’t have great size;
they have to play the way they
do. Their coach does a nice job
getting them ready.”
BULLDOGS ON A ROLL
Heading into Tuesday’s game
against North Gwinnett, Bollier
said his team had two main
objectives.
“We’ve got to defend and shoot
a higher percentage,” he said.
North Gwinnett (12-9, 8-4) was
on a roll as the Bulldogs traveled
to Hoschton on a two game region
winning streak. Last week, the
Bulldogs routed North Forsyth
84-41 and then upset third ranked
Collins Hill 66-53.
The last time the Hawks faced
the Bulldogs, North Gwinnett
scored a narrow 54-52 victory.
Tuesday’s game
was another close
contest. The
Bulldogs trailed
Mill Creek at the
first period 15-13.
By halftime. North
Gwinnett had
pulled ahead 30-26
as the Hawks were
plagued with out
side shooting trou
ble and numerous
penalties in the sec
ond quarter of play.
By the end of
the game, North
Gwinnett had gone
to the free throw line 25 times
for a total of 24 points. The
bonus points were more than
enough to tip the scales in the
Bulldogs favor as they extended
their region winning streak with
a 71-67 win over the Hawks.
“It was not the consistent 32
minutes of effort that we need,”
said Bollier.
Chris Avery was the Hawks’
top scorer with 16 points.
UP NEXT
Mill Creek hosts Norcross at
home this Saturday. In their
last meeting, the Blue Devils
beat the Hawks 83-42. Norcross
(16-1, 12-0) is the number one
team in region 7-AAAAA, two
time defending state champions
and currently the #13 team in
the country according to USA
Today.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30
p.m. on Jan. 26 in Hoschton.
“We’re still not
where we want to
be, but I think our
effort is there. Now
effort with results is
what we are looking
for.”
—Mill Creek basketball
coach Phil Bollier