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THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY 15, 2007
Lady Eagles spoil Griffin's thoughts of upset
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Sports Editor
With Northside’s girls coming
into the Region 4-AAAA tourna
ment Tuesday at Mt. Zion with a
24-1 record - and the No. 1 seed
- and Griffin coming in at 7-15,
it was entirely possible to think a
blowout was in order.
That way of thinking would have
been wrong.
The good news for Lady Eagle
fans was knowing the team stood
up to the challenge when they had
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Jimmy Beeland falls to the court after making an attempted jumpshot during the Westfield, Beechwood, Baker
Alumni Association’s annual alumni games this past Saturday at the Westfield Schools. Proceeds from the event
went to benefit the Perry Animal Shelter. For more pictures, see Friday's Houston Daily Journal.
Westfield alumni raise money for shelter
By DON MO NCR IEF
Journal Sports Editor
OK, so maybe high schoolers wouldn’t
want the aches and pains that almost
inevitably followed the next morning,
most teen-agers would love to put up
the numbers Westfield’s Beechwood
Baker Alumni Association men did
during their basketball game Saturday
at the school.
The mens Red team scored 94 points
en route to victory over the White - the
latter of which was not too shabby,
either, with 86.
The women - more on them to fol
low - were a bit more modest with the
White team winning over the Yellow
42-32.
But those men. Whoever said their
arms aren’t what they used to be was
wrong. You want proof you say.
More than half the points for the
Red team came from 3-pointers. They
Hornet squads fall in tourney openers
By MA TTHE W BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
At the conclusion of open
ing-round play in the GISA
Region 3-AAA basketball
tournament Tuesday at
Georgia Southwestern State
University in Americus,
Westfield’s boys and girls
squads had a new goal of
avoiding region champions
in the state first round.
The Lady Hornets lost 52-
45 to Sherwood Christian
while the Westfield boys
dropped a 49-39 decision
to Southland Academy, the
tournament host.
Both teams had leads in
their respective games, and
to but a 47-41 win for Northside
might have been a little too close
for comfort.
Things started out as expected.
Northside jumped out to a 4-0
lead. Later, it was 7-2 in its favor,
but the Lady Bears fought back.
scored 48 points from long distance
-16 treys.
And to think their wives probably
accuse them of not being able to throw
their laundry in the hamper.
Leading the way for the Red team,
which jumped out to a 37-22 lead after
one, led 64-42 at the half and 79-61
after three, was Ryan Sims. He hit five
3-pointers and scored 27 points.
So, maybe he’s a young whipper
snapper - class of 2005 - you say. Well,
what about Ben Hurlbert - class of
1997? He scored 19 points, four of
them from long distance.
In fact the next-to-oldest class mem
ber of the Red team - class of 1984 s
Cha Cha Wilson - made two treys and
scored 10 points all together.
The rest of the scoring for the Red
team went as follows: Chad Bailey,
class of 1999, 12 points, two of those
3-pointers the, along with Hulbert
were also the only ones to get fouled
both teams
will return
to GSW for
the con
solation
round on
Friday.
In the
girls con
test, Haley
Way led
Westfield
with 20
points
while
Region 3-AAA
tourney, Tuesday
at GSW
Sherwood
Christian girls
52, Westfield 45;
Southland 49,
Hornets 39
Mason Moreland scored
12. Mallory Eubanks and
Caroline Pfohl each scored
six. Missing from the Lady
Hornet lineup was sopho-
Sports
Region 4-AAAA
tournament, Tuesday at
Mt. Zion
Northside girls 47,
Griffin 41
"We played hard, played smart, but just
could not hit a shot."
- Westfield boys head basketball coach Jake Walls
more guard Hanna Jones,
who suffered a broken hand
in Friday’s regular-season
finale against Sherwood.
Coach Jeff Eubanks
said Westfield had a six
point lead in the first half,
but then fell down by four
late in regulation. He said
Sherwood missed some
clutch foul shots, but would
grab the rebounds to keep
his girls from taking advan
They tied it late in the first at 11,
which is how the quarter ended,
then went ahead with a basket to
start the second.
The Lady Eagles then went on
a 13-0 run to take back the lead.
Late in the second, they enjoyed
their biggest - the largest advan
tage on the night it would turn out
- 24-13.
But, Griffin, by scoring the last
seven points of the quarter, had it
down to 24-20 at the half.
Northside’s Brittany Holder, who
- zero-for-two at the line for Bailey
and one-of-two for Hulbert); Jimmy
Beeland class of 1979 ... well, we love
him, anyway (plus, somebody had to
rebound); Shane Hester, class of 1993,
13 points, nine of his coming from long
distance; Michael Morris, class of 1988,
six points - all from modest range; and
Lon Talton, class of 1994, six points,
his too from medium-to-close-up.
As far as the White team, it should
also be noted it too hit its fair share of
3-pointers - nine in all.
Another “youngster” Rob Tillman,
class of 2005, led it in scoring. He fin
ished with 27 points with three treys.
Someone he no doubt played along
side, Jesse Revis, class of 2005, had 24
- one trey.
Other White scorers were: Chip
Davis, class of 1997, who had seven;
Nathan Greer, class of 1995, who
had 10, Mel Jamison, class of 1986,
See ALUMNI, page ioB
tage.
Two Sherwood players,
including All-State forward
Courtney Mitchell, scored
more than 20 points.
In the boys game, coach
Jake Walls said it was a
“tale of two halves” as the
Hornets managed to make
only three field goals in the
first half. The result was a
26-10 lead for Southland’s
See TOURNEY, page ioB
scored nine of her 11 points in the
fourth quarter - five of them from
the free-throw line - then made it
26-20. Griffin then closed again
and even took a short 29-28 lead
midway through the period.
Tai Brown, who led the Lady
Eagles with 16, took it back on the
next possession and from there it
stayed around one. At the end of
the third, it was 33-31 in favor of
Northside.
Perhaps sensing the fact the Lady
Bears were thinking upset, the
"We worked hard, practiced hard,
earned our place there and made the
most of our opportunities/'
- Houston County boys head swim coach Jamey Richardson
HoCo boys earn
Sweet 16 finish
Special to the Journal
Houston County’s boys
swim team notched a Sweet
16 finish - exactly that - at
the state swim meet held this
past week at Westminster.
“In almost every event
we got better each time
we swam,” said Houston
County head swim coach
Jamey Richardson, in regard
to both the boys and girls.
“We worked hard, practiced
hard, earned our place there
and made the most of our
opportunities.”
One case in point: Cameron
Tufts. He qualified in the
100 Freestyle with a time of
51.19. Then, he swam a pre
liminary at state of 50.44 to
earn an llth-place finish in
the consolation finals. There,
he swam a time of 50.61 to
place 13th in the event - also
earning four points toward
the team’s score.
But, he wasn’t finished.
He also qualified for state
in the 200 IM with a time of
2:06.63. At state, he swam a
preliminary time of 2:03.09.
That put him sixth in the
championship finals where
he finished with a time
of 2:05.22. That was good
enough for eighth and an
additional 11 points for the
team.
He still wasn’t finished.
He was also part of the
200 Medley Relay team,
along with Mark Weber,
Brennan Lawson and Justin
Burkholder. They came into
the meet with a qualifying
time of 1:45.92. They then
knocked a bit off of that -
1:45.37 - in the preliminar
ies and in the finals finished
with a time of 1:44.52. That
earned them a 13th-place
finish and netted the team
eight more points.
Tufts still wasn’t done - as
can be said for the rest as
you’ll read. Tufts was also
a member of the team’s 400
Free Relay.
Weber, Josh Morgan and
Lawson were the other team
members for that event.
They qualified with a time of
3:28.06, then swam the pre
liminaries in 3:27.25. That
equated to a 13th-place fin
ish but a spot in the con
solation finals. There, they
swam to a time of 3:29.05 to
finish 16th - and earn two
points.
Now, Tufts was done, but
some of the others weren’t.
Lawson and Burkholder
qualified for the 100
Breaststroke. Lawson quali
fied for it with a time of
1:03.44. He then swam the
preliminaries in 1:02.24 to
secure the eighth-place posi
tion in the championship
finals. There, he had a time
of 1:02.27. That gave him
eighth and added 11 more
points to the team total.
SECTION
B
Lady Eagles turned it up a notch
in the fourth. Holder scored twice
to open the quarter and with an
Arniska Nelson free throw added
in, the Lady Eagles surged out
to a 38-31 lead early. Griffin was
able to get it down to a basket
with just about three minutes left
to play but then Brown (twice),
Janay Wilson, who had 12 points,
Josie Toliver - in her only point of
the game - and Holder went to the
line and made just enough - six-of
-10 - to preserve the win.
Burkholder qualified with
a time of 1:06.64. His time
in the preliminaries was
1:07.15, and the field being
what it was, only enabled
him a 29th-place finish out
of the 40 swimmers in the
event.
He fared somewhat better
in the 200 IM. He quali
fied for state with a time of
2:06.02 then swam the pre
liminaries in 2:06.18. That
put him 15th in the conso
lation finals where he cut
a second-plus off his time
- 2:04.55 - and finished 13th
for four points.
Burkholder also swam as
part of the Bears’ 200 Free
Relay team. Other team
members were: Weber and
Josh and Michael Morgan.
They qualified with a time
of 1:39.13 then cut nearly
two seconds off of that in
the preliminaries, swimming
it in 1:37.04. Once again
the field being what it was,
however, that was only good
enough for 25th out of 38
teams.
Josh Morgan also compet
ed in the 200 Free. He quali
fied with a time of 1:54.88,
swam the preliminaries in
1:53.44 and finished 30th
out of 41 swimmers.
Finally for the boys,
Lawson qualified for the
100 Butterfly with a time of
57.04. He swam the prelimi
naries in 56.12, which put
him 15th in the consolation
finals. There, he' swam to
a time of 55.77 and that in
turn earned him 11th and
the team six points.
“We had good senior tal
ent and leadership that car
ried us through the season,”
Richardson said. “And we
hope to add to our quality
and quantity next year.
“Anytime you have an ath
lete who finishes in the top
eight in our state, he’s done
something special that sees
the practices, dedication and
drive to be great come to
fruition.”
As far as the girls,
Richardson said they were a
young team with more depth
than individual talent.
“That enabled us to do well
in the tournaments through
out the year and win the
county championship again.
“We hope to make sweep
ing improvements in the
next year and sustain the
ground we’ve gained.”
Leading the Lady Bears
was Annie Bratcher. She
qualified for the 100 Free,
100 Breaststroke and was a
member of the 200 Medley
Relay team.
As far as the 100 Free, she
qualified for the meet with a
time of 56.97. She improved
on that - 56.24 - but that
only earned her 22nd out
See FINISH, page 108