Newspaper Page Text
Houston TJmmtal
FRIDAY/SATURDAY,
NOVEMBER 10/11, 2006
The Home Journal’s
SANPLOT
ON DECK
High school
Football
Friday
■ Region 4-AAAA play-in game:
Mount Zion at Northside, 7:30
p.m.
■ Region 4-AAA play-in game:
Spalding at Perry, 7:30 p.m.
■ Westfield at Sherwood, 8
p.m.
■ Warner Robins at Lowndes,
7:30 p.m.
Saturday
■ Coffee County at Houston
County, 7:30 p.m.
High school
Cross country
Saturday
■ Houston County, Warner
Robins, Northside and Perry at
state meet in Carrollton, 9 a.m.
IN BRIEF
South Coast League to
hold tryout camp
The South Coast League of
Professional Baseball today
announced that its inaugural
tryout camp will be Saturday in
Bradenton, Fla.
The camp will be held at
Robert C. Wynn Field on the
campus of Manatee Community
College, home of the South
Coast League’s Bradenton
Juice. All participants are
required to pre-register for the
tryout. To pre-register, go to
http://www.southcoastleague.
com/tryouts.
The cost to tryout is S4O,
which can be paid by credit
card, check, or money order.
South Coast League uniform
player contracts - including the
Macon Music, which is part of
the league - will be offered on
the day of the camp to qualified
participants.
In order to participate in the
camp, players must have prior
professional baseball playing
experience or have played at
least two years of college base
ball within the last three years.
Bradenton recently joined
Charlotte County, Fla., Albany,
Macon and Aiken, S.C. as the
fifth member of the SCL.
Directions from 1-75: Take
Exit 217 (old No. 41). This is a
westbound exit onto State Road
70. Take SR-70 to 34th Street
West (about eight miles).
Turn left at the traffic signal
at 34th Street West. Go south
through the traffic signal at 57th
Avenue West and the field is on
your left.
Waterford to hold Junior
Golf Clinic
Waterford Golf Course will
hold a Junior Golf Clinic Nov.
20-21. Times are: 10-11:15 for
ages 5-10; 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. for
those ages 11 and up.
The cost is SSO which includes
lunch for both day, prizes and
more. Visit the course to sign
up.
Prep Sports + to air
cheerleader competition
Prep Sports + announced it will
air the GHSA State Cheerleading
Championship Nov. 16 at 7:30
p.m., Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. and Nov.
19 at 12:30 p.m. on Georgia
Public Broadcasting.
The championships take
place Friday-Saturday atthe
Columbus Civic Center.
AAA state championship
to be televised
The GHSA announced
recently the AAA State Football
Championship will be televised
live Dec. 16 on Comcast Sports
Southeast. CSS is available in
5.5 million homes across the
Southeast.
The game is scheduled for
3 p.m.
The class AAAAA and AAAA
finals will continue to be tele
vised live on GPB, along with
all 10 semifinal games from the
Georgia Dome Dec. 8-9.
|o, k
B
jL I KmJ
ll m M Br
AMHHuI SfiEr
-
* Ai... v
*■
ENI/Gary Harmon
Hoy Thurman shows off the trophy he was awarded as Air Force Material Command’s
athlete of the year. He will now compete for Air Force Athlete of the Year.
Robins AFB athlete
earns AFMC honors
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Hoy Thurman, a tech ser
geant stationed at Robins
Ar Force Base, just goes
where he’s supposed to go.
The 20-year veteran of the
United States Ar Force
knew where he had to be at
1600 hours Wednesday, but
Two Demonettes sign letters
ah. ||
Journal Matthew Brown
Demonettes Kittery Maine, left, and Cherie White
cut the cake during their signing at the school
Wednesday.
Sports
he didn’t know why.
Thurman, a part of the
116t,h Arcraft Maintenance
Squadron at Robins Ar Force
Base, would find out he was
receiving the 2006 Ar Force
Material Command Athlete
of the Year Award, which
puts him in line for the Ar
Force Athlete of the Year
honor, which will be named
next week in Las Vegas.
Thurman’s main athletic
claim to fame is in track and
field.
The native of Indianapolis
has been a part of the Ar
Force track and field team
since 1992, competing in
world championship events
held in Belgium,
See ATHLETE, page jB
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Sorry, coaches, you can stop call
ing Tom Mobley about his two
Warner Robins High Demonette
college basketball prospects.
On Wednesday, the first day for
the early signing period of 2006-
2007 graduating college hoops
recruits, Warner Robins seniors
Cherie White and Kittery Maine
signed national letters of intent
with a pair of NCAA Division I
institutions.
White chose to join Eastern
Kentucky of the Ohio Valley
Conference while Maine has
her sights on attending Liberty
University in Lynchburg, Va.
Mobley said, while his two play
ers made early commitments and
picked good schools and basketball
programs, he is still getting calls
from other colleges about White
and Maine.
Both jumped from being start
ers on Warner Robins’ Elite Eight
softball team to the basketball gym
to start practice for the upcoming
prep season.
With the college decision all over
and done with, they can focus on
the start of the new campaign on
Nov. 18 at the Ladies Night Out
tournament in Griffin.
See LETTERS, page iB
HoCo leads list
of county's best
All-Houston County
VOLLEYBALL
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Sports Editor
How best to describe volleyball in Houston County?
It came into its own. Nowhere was that better demon
strated than at Houston County High School. The Lady
Bears were the first to begin volleyball - a year ahead of
Warner Robins and two ahead of Northside and Perry
- here so it was perhaps only fitting they should set the
bar for the future.
Houston County finished the year .38-11, the best record
in school history. They won the County Championship
(and the county junior varsity championship) - taking it
from Warner Robins, which in turn had won it last year
- went 8-1 in Area 2-AAAAA and finished Area runner
up.
Twenty-five of Houston County’s matches were against
teams that made the playoffs in their classification. The
Lady Bears’ record against those schools was 15-10. They
were 23-1 against non-playoff teams.
The Lady Bears also made their first appearance in the
state playoffs and made it to the Sweet 16.
All that isn’t a slight against Warner Robins, Northside
or Perry. In the case of the first two, both had new
coaches. Plus, as Houston County head volleyball coach
Tony Jones would tell you - and said on record at least
once this year - all three made tremendous strides as the
year went on.
In the case of the Lady Panthers, that was also trans
lated into a showing at the state tournament.
Yes, volleyball thrived in Houston County this season
- the only thing missing for the Lady Bears personally,
Jones felt, was a lack of recognition in the polls - thus
this All-Houston County team could stand toe-to-toe with
any and every team in the state.
All-Houston County Player of the Year
Morgan Hollars, Houston County
All-Houston County First Team
■ Devon Preston, Houston County
■ Catherine Goodman, Houston County
■ Sam Moncada, Houston County
■ Jennifer Doebereiner, Houston County
■ Catherine Causey, Warner Robins
■ Deanna LeShoure, Warner Robins
■ Courtney Hintz, Warner Robins
■ Brittany Barnes, Northside
■ Ashley West, Perry
All-Houston County Second Team
■ Leah Justin, Houston County
■ Nicole Williams, Houston County
■ Dhwani Patel, Houston County
■ Brittany Pierce, Houston County
■ Katie Hotchkiss, Warner Robins
■ Lindsay Tucker, Perry
Al-Houston County Player of the Year
■ Morgan Hollars
Grade: Junior
School: Houston County
Position: Setter
Impact: Recorded 87 aces (third on team in that cat
egory) and 30 kills and had 656 assists (team leader) and
21 blocks. She has, according to head coach Tony Jones,
knowledge, experience, work ethic, drive and determina
tion. She was a key member in leading the Lady Bears
to a 38-7 record - best in school history - to include win
ning the County Championship, finishing 8-1 in Aea 2-
AAAAA and Aea runners-up as well as making it to the
Sweet 16 round in the state tournament.
Other: She was selected the University of Florida
Team Camp Conference Most Valuable Player and named
to the 2006 Aea 2-AAAAA Al-Aea team.
Coach’s corner: “Last year I said, ‘Morgan eats,
breaths, lives volleyball. Morgan gives 100 percent no
matter what,”’ Jones said. “If we had a team with
Morgan’s drive and determination we would bring the
state championship to HCHS.
“She has only become more determined and a more
balanced player; this year we added an offensive scheme
that allowed Morgan to work and prosper. The results are
in her numbers.”
All-Houston County First Team
■ Devon Preston
Grade: Sophomore
School: Houston County
Position: Outside hitter
Impact: She recorded 162 aces (team leader in that
category), 44 kills and had 4 blocks, 16 assists and 25
digs. She was a key member in leading the Lady Bears
to a 38-7 record - best in school history - to include win
ning the County Championship, finishing 8-1 in Area 2-
AAAAA and Area runners-up as well as making it to the
Sweet 16 round in the state tournament.
“Devon wants to get better every day,” Jones said. “She
pushes her teammates and coaches to get better. As a
result we were a better team every match we played.”
Other: She is on the state’s All-Time Leader’s List:
Season total aces - ranked third; season aces/game 1.51
aces/game 162/107 games served - ranked seventh.
Coach’s corner: “I knew that Devon had grown
from last year when we were at camp,” Jones said. “She
See BEST, page iB
SECTION
B