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Houston j@aily
THURSDAY,
DECEMBER 28, 2006
The Home Journal’s
SANDLOT
'm-mnwinffr"
ON DECK
High school
basketball
Friday
■ Northside at JB Hawkins tour
nament, teams and times to be
determined
Saturday
■ Northside at JB Hawkins tour
nament, teams and times to be
determined
High school
wrestling
Thursday
■ DEA and Mount de Sales at
Westfield. 2 p.m.
IN BRIEF
YMCA has job opening for
fitness director
The Houston County YMCA
is now accepting resumes for
the position of full-time Fitness
Director. Qualified candidates
possessing a strong desire to
build a quality program, man
age their own department and
be part of the national and local
YMCA movement may submit
their resume to Jim Mercer, CEO
at jmercer@hocoymca.org.
Salary and benefits are com
mensurate with experience,
education, certification and a
proven track record. Resumes
will be accepted until Jan. 5,
2007 with the position start date
to be mid-to-late January.
Red Cross to hold
inagural bowling tourney
The Houston-Middle Georgia
Chapter of the American Red
Cross will hold its inaugural
“Roll into the New Year” Bowling
Tournament Jan. 20, 2007.
The tournament will be held at
the Gold Cup Bowling Center on
Russell Parkway and will start at
10 a.m. and last until 1 p.m.
According to a release from
the American Red Cross,
“Everyone is encouraged to
participate regardless of bowl
ing experience, as this will be a
scratch tournament.”
The entry fee is $l5O for
a six-person team. It includes
pizza and soda. Registration will
be available on the day of the
tournament.
Visit www.middlegeorgiared
cross.org for a registration form
or call 923-6332 to sponsor the
tournament.
Museum to host its
annual walk/runs
The 11th annual Museum of
Aviation Foundation marathon,
half marathon and 5K run/walk
will be held at the Museum of
Aviation Jan. 13, 2007.
All three courses are USA
Track and Field certified and all
threes are also run on Robins
Air Force Base. Runners and
walkers whose registrations are
postmarked by Jan. 5, 2007 are
guaranteed, according to the
release, a “quality colorful long
sleeve shirt on race day.”
Entry fees are SBO for a relay
team. S4O for the marathon, S3O
for the half marathon and $lB for
the 5K run/walk.
A variety of trophies/awards
will be offered. The start time for
the marathon and half marathon
is 8 a.m. The 5K run/walk will
start at 8:15 a.m.
On-line detailed race informa
tion can be found at http://robin
spacers.org or www.museumofa
viation.org.
A $5 surcharge applies for reg
istrations after Jan. 5, 2007.
Race packets may be picked
up at the Museum of Aviation
Century of Flight Hangar on race
day only between 6:30-7:30 a.m.
A picture ID is required at regis
tration/check-in.
Award ceremonies start Jan.
13, at 9:30 a.m. in the Museum’s
Century of Flight Hangar.
To register or for more infor
mation call Race Director John
Hunter at 478-926-6686 (day) or
478-953-5335 (evening) or email
him at hunterjh@cox.net.
Or, contact June Lowe or Mary
Lynn Harrison at 478-923-6600
or email MaryLynn.Harrison@m
useumofaviation.org.
Perry eapns Beap Brawl title
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Kameron Felder may have
walked away with the Most
Va 1u a ble
Player
award, but
there was
more than
one reason
the Perry
High School
Panthers
won the
boys half
of Houston
County
High’s
Chick-fil-A
Bear Brawl
Chick-fil-A
Bear Brawl
Perry 70, Houston
County 50
basketball tournament.
Felder did have a game
high 16 points to join one
of three Panthers in double
figures Saturday as Perry
tamed Houston County 70-
50 in an intensely played
championship game.
This was the third meeting
in the month of December
between the Panthers and
the Bears, with each team
winning the home at-home
series games on their home
floors.
But Perry won the Bear
Brawl rubber game after
taking yet another rubber
game against a county rival.
The Panthers beat Warner
Robins High (after a split of
games played Nov. 28 and
Dec. 14) in Friday’s semifi
nals.
“I think we beat two good
basketball teams,” said
coach Brett Hardy, who led
Perry to the Bear Brawl
championship in 2004. “We
just played well (Friday) and
we played well (Saturday).
That’s a credit to our kids
because last week both of
them beat us.”
Roderick Jones was
behind Felder in scoring
with 14 points, and Antonio
Hubbard tallied 11.
The balanced effort from
Perry included eight points
by Eric Askew, seven by
Casey Hayward and six by
Trey Smith.
Houston County High did
not get a player in double
digits as high-point hon
ors went to Vic King and
Jon Nolton, each with nine.
Ryan Stallings scored eight,
Eric O’Neal seven and Craig
Presley and Dexter Holman
had six each.
Felder’s 16 points includ
ed four 3-point baskets. In
the last three minutes of
the first half, he hit two
Campbell knocks
out Demonettes
North Clayton takes overall title
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Sports Writer
Warner Robins was
the last, best hope for the
county, but
Campbell
didn’t care.
The No.
2 state
ranked Lady
Spartans
beat the
Demonettes
58-41 Friday
in the semi
finals of
the Chick
fil-A Bear
Brawl. With
Houston
H
Chick-fil-A
Bear Brawl
Campbell girls 58,
Warner Robins 41
County’s Lady Bears and
Perry’s Lady Panthers both
falling in action earlier, that
meant an all-outside finals
pitting Campbell against
North Clayton.
The latter of those two
won 41-38.
Sports
treys and added an assist to
Jones that took Perry from
a three-point lead, 26-23, to
a 12-point advantage, 39-27,
at halftime.
As Hardy continues to
rotate players in and out
of the lineup at varying
intervals, it gives several
Panthers a chance to carry
the team through a spell of
the game.
Even in the third quar
ter, Chris Willis had a steal
and four points to cap a 6-0
spurt. Perry led at that point
50-33.
“We practice real hard
and take pride in practicing
real hard,” said Hardy. “I
can’t ask guys at practice
to take charges and dive on
the floor if I’m not going to
allow them to play when the
lights come on. It’s a credit
to what they do at practice.
I’m going to let them play
during the basketball game.
“Everybody wants to play
the whole game, but in our
situation right now we have
a lot of guys who can play.
It’s hard when you are on
a roll and have to come out
of the game, but our phi
losophy is if you play real
hard we’ll give you a break
so you can go play real hard
again.”
Houston County’s only
lead of the championship
game was 4-2 on consecu
tive assists by Josh Nelson
to Nolton and King. It was a
3-pointer by Jones that put
Perry ahead for good, and it
was followed by a steal and
score by Askew.
Perry’s run didn’t stop
until it had 15 in a row.
Jared Fluellen had his had
in back-to-back baskets as
he took an offensive rebound
and made an assist inside
to Smith. Fluellen then fin
ished off a Hayward steal
with a dunk.
Holman and Nolton got
the home Bears back within
six at 17-11, but a Hayward
trey ended the first quarter
with a 22-11 Panther lead.
Houston had a 6-0 run
to start the second quarter
thanks to two Perry turn
overs.
When Presley’s offensive
board turned into a three
point play, the Bears stood
as close as they would the
rest of the game.
Felder’s 3-pointer at 2:17
until halftime capped a 6-
0 run (32-23). Stallings
snapped the streak with a
trey, but. Felder got some
help on a steal and score by
The Demonettes in turn
went on to beat Peach
County 61-36 Saturday to
capture third in the annu
al tournament hosted by
Houston County.
Leading up to that,
Houston County first fell 48-
22 to North Clayton, which
had a bye in the first round
and into the semifinals. That
was on Thursday. That put
them into the losers bracket
where they lost Friday to
Perry. The Lady Panthers
in turn lost to Campbell
Thursday in the first round
and then fell 59-47 Saturday
to Hawkinsville in the battle
for fifth.
As far as Friday against
Campbell, the Demonettes
trailed by three, 10-
7, after one. They had a
chance to make it a one
point game heading into the
second quarter but as the
first buzzer sounded they
See OUT, page iB
"We practice real hard and take pride in practicing real hard.
I can't ask guys at practice to take charges and dive on the
floor it I'm not going to allow them to play when the lights
come on. It's a credit to what they do at practice. I'm going to
let them play during the basketball game."
- Perry boys head basketball coach Brett Hardy
Smith to put Perry up by 12
at the break.
Felder and Stallings trad
ed 3-pointers at the start
of the second half. Before
Willis could get a hot hand
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ENI/Gary Harmon
Perry’s Roderick Jones (22) and Houston County’s Rashad Turner battle at the basket
during their teams’ Chick-fil-A Bear Brawl finale Saturday at Houston County High
School.
A 1
M A m 1
A am A
~sis Mb t JHk. jgfe. „ i
Journal/Don Moncrief
Warner Robins’ Liza Gaines grabs a rebound in the
team’s semifinal game against Campbell Friday at
Houston County High School.
going, Hayward led a break
for Smith to score two more.
Hubbard closed out the third
period strong with a 3-point
er and an assist to Hayward
off a turnover (61-36).
SECTION
B
Prior to Perry’s 3-0 sweep
in the Bear Brawl, the
Panthers had a little two
game skid going.
But Perry opened the
See TITLE, page iB
On lumps ot coal,
local basketball
It’s Christmas day and
the lumps of coal Santa
brought me have been
unwrapped and placed in
the fireplace. I don’t know
what I’d do
for heat if
I were nice
instead of
naughty.
I take
time now to
muse about
the future
of sports
in middle
Georgia.
Joe Sersey
Journal
Correspondent
The Bear Brawl showed me
that as long as the Houston
County schools’ boys teams
don’t have to play each other,
they should do all right.
If the Bear Brawl is an
accurate indicator, Perry
needs to show some consis
tency if it wants to finish
strong in its region.
Actually, from what I’ve
seen and read, the Panthers
look to be the strength
See STRENGTH, page iB