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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Chlck-fil-a Bear Brawl
Boys bracket
Wlram
Thursday, 5:30 p.m.
Game 4 '
Friday, 5:30 p.m.
Westslde Game 7 I I
Thursday, 8:30 p.m.
Game 5
Warner Robins Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ______
Hawkinsville Game 12 Champion
Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
Game 1 ——————————-
Northside Friday, 8:30 p.m.
Peach County Game 8 I
Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.
Game 2
Houston County
Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
Game 11 third place
Loser game 1
Thursday, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3
Loser name 2 Saturday. 2:30 p.m.
Loser game 4 Game w Finn place
Friday, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6
loser game 5
Girls bracket
Hawkinswille
Wednesday, 4 p.m.
Game 1
Warner Robins , 7
Friday, 7 p.m.
Campbeli Game 7 I I
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Game 4
Percy Saturday, 7 p.m.
Bye Game 10 First
North Clayton
North Clayton Thursday, 4 p m
Peach County Game 3 \
Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Game 2
Houston County loser game 7
Loser 080161 Saturday, 4 p.m.
Game 9 Third
Friday, 1 p.m.
Game 5
loser game 2
loser game 5
Saturday, 1 p.m.
loser game 4 Game 8 j Fifth
Friday, 4 p.m.
Game 6
Loser game 3
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2006 ♦
BRAWL
From page iB
against Peach County at 8:30 tonight.
Coincidence? Clever scheduling?
“We don’t play (Peach) in the regular
season,” said Nix. “Warner Robins did, and
Perry plays them in the regular season. We
didn’t get to schedule them this time. I just
thought we needed to play them.”
This isn’t going to*be your 2005-2006
Peach County Trojans with Henton and
Chris Slaughter having graduated. It may
not even be the complete 2006-2007 ver
sion of the Trojans since Peach County
just finished winning a second state foot
ball championship on Saturday.
But there still were some Trojan bas
ketball games with the football playoffs
still in progress. That included a split with
Warner Robins when the Demons too were
missing several components that were still
playing football.
“I don’t know how many players (Peach)
had playing football,” said Nix. “It looks
like they have a pretty good team.”
When looking at the rest of the Bear
Brawl boys field, just the county match
ups alone would make for an exciting
event. Warner Robins and Perry split ear
lier games with the Demons beating the
Panthers on Thursday on a Kenny Willis
3-pointer with three seconds left. Houston
County just finished a split with Perry.
“This is where (Warner Robins) always
seems to play well,” said Nix. “Perry has
been playing good basketball. Northside is
just coming out of the football playoffs, so I
don’t know what they will be doing.”
As for out-of-county visitors, there is
Hawkinsville of Class A and Hiram, which
came to the Bear Den last year and won two
games. Westside-Macon has a little winning
streak going. Other first-round matchups
are Hawkinsville-Northside, Hiram-Perry
and Westside-Warner Robins.
The Bears, with its football program
playing into the quarterfinals, are just now
getting its full squad together. Nix had six
in all come from the girdiron and steadily
worked them all into the lineup.
“It looks like everybody’s getting into
the basketball way of things,” said Nix.
“Every year I’ve been here it’s been a real
good tournament.
“I want to win every game in it, but
we’ve played one game with our full team,
Saturday against Perry. I want to use
(the Brawl) to get ready for January and
February.”
For the Houston County Lady Bears, the
Chick-Fil-A Bear Brawl was a bit more of
a pleasant memory. With Candace Clark
winning the Most Valuable Player award,
Houston’s girls swept through the compe
tition and kept one more first-place trophy
home. In fact, the Lady Bears have owned
the Bear Brawl four times in the last five
years.
“That’s what we like to go in thinking,
that we’re going to win it,” said head girls
coach Sid Baxley. “Most of the girls who
have been here the last four years have
won more than one of them. And the good
thing about it, every one we’ve won, we’ve
had a different MVP”
Houston County also carried the momen
tum of winning the Bear Brawl into the
postseason with a championship run in the
Region 1-AAAAA tournament.
Amid this year’s field for the Bear Brawl
is Warner Robins High, a team Houston
County must contend with later in region
competition; opening-round opponent
Peach County (7 tonight), Perry, North
Clayton and Campbell, the No. 2-ranked
team in Class AAAAA.
“Perry is a high-quality team,” said
Baxley about the club his girls have already
played twice this year. “Hawkinsville hasn’t
been in it for a while. North Clayton made
it to the finals three years ago. We have a
strong field.”
But for the Lady Bears it starts with
Peach, a team Warner Robins beat twice
already. In a game held at Warner Robins,
the Demonettes jumped out on top big
early. However, the Lady Trojans didn’t
give up and kept the final score at 15
points, 64-49.
“They’re athletic,” said Baxley. “They
can run, quick jumpers. We have to keep
them off the boards. I saw them play
Warner Robins, and they shot lay-up after
lay-up. The key is if they get off to a slow
start, take advantage of it, try to build a
lead and hold on.”
The presence of a club like Campbell will
give both Houston and Warner Robins a
look at one of the teams to beat in this high
classification.
“They came looking to us,” said Baxley
about Campbell’s interest in playing in
the Bear Brawl. “I think the word has
spread with Hiram’s boys up there and
North Clayton. They know they can come
down here and get some good competition.
Usually an exciting tournament is the
result.”
Other opening games for the girls side
are Hawkinsville-Warner Robins and
Campbell-Perry. North Clayton plays the
Houston-Peach winner on Thursday.
The Lady Bears are coming off a tight
five-point win at home against Perry giv
ing them a regular-season sweep.
“We’re doing some things real well,”
said Baxley. “We’ve won three in a row.
Now we’re not shooting free throws well.
Anybody who was at the game Saturday
could see that. Other than that we’re play
ing decent and getting better.
“We want to make sure we get better
every night (in the Brawl). We have region
play coming up in January. We like win
ning the Bear Brawl, but it’s not as impor
tant as doing well in the region.”
3B