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SATURDAY,
FEBRUARY 24, 2007
Hornets come up short to Riverside Military
By MA TTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Westfield boys basketball coach
Jake Walls left Stratford Academy’s
gym Thursday feeling as proud,
perhaps more proud than he has all
season in the effort of his basket
ball Hornets.
That despite his team coming
out on the wrong end of a 58-55
decision against Riverside Military
Academy in the opening round of
the GISA AAA tournament.
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SBB sit
ENI Gary Harmon
Houston County’s Lauren Dupis scores in the Lady Bears’ win over Peach County Thursday.
HoCo girls shuts out Peach County
By MA TTHEW BROWS
Journal Sports Writer
Kailey Garrison, taking over a role
on Houston County High’s front line
left open by graduated senior Candice
Clark, had four goals Thursday in
a Lady Bear soccer home win, 9-0,
against Peach County High.
Lauren Dupuis, a returning
Houston starter playing on the wing,
Schmidt leads Bears in 9-0 rout of Trojans
By MA TTHE W BRO WS
Journal Sports Writer
Senior Christian Schmidt had two
first-half goals for Houston County
High Thursday. The Bears did all of
the scoring in the home boys soccer
tilt with Peach County High in the
first half and sent the Trojans hack
to Ft. Valley on the short end of a
Lighten your grip,
get more distance
The question that I get
asked most frequent
ly is, “How can I get
more distance?”
Try this tip to gain control
and distance: Loosen your
grip!
Believe or not gaining dis
tance is a simple as lightening
your grip pressure.
I see so many golfers grip
ping the club so tight that
they restrict the natural
movement of the golf club
during the golf swing.
•A tight grip also decreases
club head speed, which is a
must for more power and dis
tance.
t
Westfield had the last shot of
the game with a chance to tie but
missed.
“When we got down, we contin
ued to fight,” said Walls. “They
were probably more talented than
we are, but we played together.”
didn’t do to bad either with a three
goal match for the 3-0 Lady Bears.
Houston County, playing against a
Peach County goalkeeper who could
punt the ball past the midfield line,
struggled to get control of the match
for almost 20 minutes. It was the
Lady Trojans of Ft. Valley, behind
those strong kicks, that kept the
advantage even without any close
shots on goal.
4-0 final.
A major catalyst for head coach
Chris McCook’s attack on Thursday
was senior outside midfielder Jacob
Primm. He was working in tandem
on the left side with junior striker
Eric Atkins for the first 15 minutes
of play before Houston County could
finally get on the scoreboard.
Four minutes into the first half,
If yoq grip
a baseball as
tight as you
can and try
to throw it,
it will not
go very far.
If you grip a
baseball with
a relaxed
hand or light
grip, you can
throw the
mi mm
Kraji Wood yard
Director of Golf
Instruction,
Waterford Golf Club
ball with power and ease.
This same concept applies to
gripping a golf club.
Remember this sim
ple rhyme, “firm or light,
See GRIP, 6B
Sports
GISA AAA state
tourney, Thursday at
Stratford
Riverside Military 58,
Westfield 55
WR drops Westside
From staff reports
Warner Robins High School began its year
on the tennis courts with a near perfect day.
The Demons and Demonettes hosted Westside
Thursday on the courts of the Warner Robins
Recreation Department with the girls winning
5-0 and the boys only dropping one match for a
4-1 victory.
For the girls in singles, No. 1 Catherine Causey
beat Westside’s Pretoria Cheely 6-0, 6-0. No. 2
Katie Causey beat Ginny Garrison 6-1, 6-1 and
No. 3 seed Monique Tobias won over the Lady
Seminoles’ Mary Kathryn Brundige 6-2, 6-2.
In doubles, the No. 1 combo of Emily Fowler
and Colby Wilkason beat Chelsea Wilson and
Kyla Dewees 6-1, 6-2 and teammates Diana
Jarsinska and Amy Hutcheson in the two-spot
beat Sabuwra Portillo and Rebecca McCook 6-2,
and in a tough one, 7-6.
For the boys, the only one to fall was Richard
Skillen, the team’s second seed, and his went
three matches. He lost 6-4, won 6-3 but then
See DROPS, page 2B
It was the final high school game
for Hornet senior center Nash
Murph, and Walls said Murph
played with authority against
Riverside’s zone defense. Murph
had 25 points, 17 coming in the
first half, to go with 10 rebounds
and three shot blocks.
“He dominated,” said Walls. “If
he hadn’t, we are looking at getting
beat by high double figures. They
tried to take him out with a zone,
but we kept getting it in to him.”
Westfield was down as much as
Kiersten Whorton, at one point,
fought her way through three
defenders just to get the ball back
to Houston’s offensive end only to
see Peach regain possession through
a handball. The Lady Bears were
also called three times for offsides in
those 20 minutes.
It was in the 19th minute
that the home team put all the
See SHUTS, page 6B
Primm took a free kick two yards
from the top of the penalty box only
to miss the goal high. Atkins stole
the ensuing goal kick and took a shot
saved by the Trojan goalkeeper.
At 27:07 of the half, Primm drilled
the ball from the defensive end
to Atkins standing in the middle.
Atkins kicked the ball ahead of him,
See ROUT, page 6B
"When we got down, we continued to fight. They
were probably more talented than we are, but
we played together."
- Westfield boys head basketball coach Jake Walls
nine in the second quarter, but
Walls brought in his sophomore
unit for extra defensive pressure.
That group responded and helped
bring it down to a one-point deficit,
.31-30, at halftime.
Senior squad leads
Demons into state
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Success in the game of bas
ketball is dependent upon
chemistry and teamwork.
Chemistry and teamwork on
the basketball court are the
responsibility of those in the
backcourt.
Warner Robins High School
recently won a region tourna
ment championship for the
second year in a row with four
seniors in its backcourt lead
ing the way.
What do you get out of Chip
Malone’s guard rotation? You
get scoring from Pierre Miller
and Kenny Willis. You get
deadly accurate outside shoot
ing from Miller and Willis.
You get ball handing and
playmaking from Miller and
Xavier Jackson. And you get
blazing speed and defensive
tenacity from Jackson and
Laron Scott.
And you get the heart and
soul of a Demons team looking
to turn the Region 1-AAAAA
tournament title into the first
GHSA state championship in
basketball for the normally
football-crazy Warner Robins
High. Jackson and Scott cer
tainly know about champion
ship success on the football
field, and Scott even adds a
few high accolades from run
ning on the Demon track and
field team.
XAVIER JACKSON
As a free safety in football,
Jackson never met an oppor
tunity to hit somebody he
didn’t take with full impact
and intensity. But even his and
his teammates’ best efforts
weren’t enough to get past
the AAAAA semifinal game
in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome
against Peachtree Ridge back
in December.
“It was a heartbreaking
loss,” said Jackson, adding
all he could do was shift his
focus immediately to basket
ball. “We have to move on to
the next step.
“A lot of people thought we
weren’t going to make it that
far, but if you believe in your
self you can make it as far as
you want to.”
Jackson and the Demons
won its region as a AAAA
school for 2005-2006, then
they pulled a bit of a repeat,
even though they were in a
different classification.
“We just come out here and
work hard,” said Jackson
about the hardwood success
for WRHS. “And be the best
that we can.”
When it comes to basket
ball - which doesn’t require
as much hitting as football
- Jackson thinks of himself as
“the conductor of the whole
triangle.” It’s his role to back
up Miller at point guard, but
what really happens is that
Miller will start at the point,
and then Malone brings in
Jackson and moves Miller to
the shooting guard.
“They are good athletes,”
said Jackson about his back
court mates. “I try to get
them in a rhythm. When they
are hot, I keep getting it to
them.
“I think we have a good
SECTION
B
Riverside came into the game
with the fourth-best record in the
AAA classification and a second
place finish in Region 1-AAA to
North Cobb Christian, which lost
just once in the regular season.
e i&j
JACKSON
WILLIS
MILLER
A'li-V, *
SCOTT
chance to win. If we play
together like we’re supposed
to, we’ll come out victorious.”
KENNY WILLIS
Early in the 2005-2006 sea
son, Willis - then a junior -
caught the attention of those
who maybe didn’t know about
him with seven made 3-point
attempts in one game. So it
would be easy to expect that
kind of production outside
the arc night in and night
See DEMONS, page 1B