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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Northside boys take early Dodge Director's Cup lead
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Managing Editor
“We’re No. 1!” “We’re No.
1!”
No doubt that statement
was more worn out than a
Ware .County Gator follow
ing Northside’s Class AAAA
title win this month.
It also applies, of course,
to the Eagles’ ranking
among other things (stats)
and currently it applies
to their standing in terms
of the G@orgia Athletic
Directors Association’s
Dodge Directors Cup, a mea
sure - an award to recognize
all of a school’s athletic pro
grams.
With 110 points, Northside
presently is atop the stand
ings for the boys. Chapel
Security Bank of Jones County Holiday Classic
lift County boys hold off Panthers
By MA TTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Perry High boys basketball coach Brett
Hardy knew he had perhaps the toughest
first round draw Thursday for the 2007
Security Bank of Jones County Holiday
Classic.
Tift County High of Region 1-AAAAA
ended the first half on an 11-4 run, and
Perry’s offense couldn’t catch up in the
second half. The result was a 49-43 win for
the Blue Devils of Tifton in a contest held
at Gray Station Middle School.
Free-throw line
does in WR girls
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
If there ever were a time when 50 percent foul shoot
ing would be acceptable in basketball, Tom Mobley would
have taken it Thursday in the opening game of the 2007
Security Bank of Jones County Holiday Classic.
Mobley’s Warner Robins High Demonettes lost to
Sandy Creek High from Fayette County by seven 61-54
at Jones County High School. At the free-throw line, they
missed a total of 14 attempts, which means if only 50
percent of those misses go in ...
Antoinette Howell, a forward, led Warner Robins with
13 points while, fellow post player Lakeisha Colbert had
eight. Three of the Demonettes had seven points: Danielle
Gazaway, Deanna LeShoure and Tiandra Billings.
The Warner Robins free throw shooting ended up being
55 percent, 17-for-31. Top scorer Symone Wilkerson was
held without a field goal with all of her four points com
ing at the line.
Howell represented what little offense Warner Robins
got in the early going, but also represented her team’s
dominance early on the boards.\Vith the struggles at the
line showing up early, Sandy Creek took its first lead, 7-6,
with tough one-on-one perimeter defense. LaShoure hit
two long jumpers - one for three points - to get Warner
Robins back ahead 13-9 after one quarter.
With three takeaways in a row leading to three bas
kets, the Lady Patriots tied the game 15-15 at 6:38. That
was just the first of several surges by both sides, as a
Colbert lay-up assisted by Wilkerson put the Demonettes
back ahead 21-16. Sandy Creek’s response was to
See LINE, page iB
Lady Eagles blast Twiggs;
Carrollton routs Perry girls
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Two county girls bas
ketball teams found dif
ferent kinds of results in
the 2007 Security Bank
of Jones County Holiday
Classic opening round
action Thursday at Gray
Station Middle School.
The Northside High Lady
Eagles, defending champi
ons on the girls side, had
Hill is second with 100, fol
lowed by Ware County with
90.
What currently gives the
Eagles the edge - they were
not at the very top at this
time last year (they were
third for the boys and 12th
overall) - was the 10 points
its cross country runners
earned from being in the
state tournament (you only
get points for first getting
in).
The Lady Eagles also
earned 10 points in cross
country (for their 24th-place
finish) and 20 in softbaH for
making the Sweet 16.
That puts them 29th in
the standings for the girls.
The combination of the two
sexes efforts has Northside
10th overall - overall being
Akeen Felder, showing off a lot of ener
gy in a starting role for Hardy, led the
Panthers with 10 points. Roderick Jones
came off the bench to score eight. Together,
those points represented more than the 17
Perry had in the first half with only six
coming in the second quarter.
That first half looked more like the
kind of defensive struggle seen between
two quality high school football programs.
Tift County didn’t even score until 3:30
showed on the first-quarter clock, and
Perry pushed the ball right after that field
goal to get a lay-in from Jones.
20 points from Tai Brown
in a 62-22 win against
Twiggs County. Nineteen
of Brown’s points came in
the first half.
Carrollton High breezed
to a 76-26 win against the
Perry High Lady Panthers.
For Perry, Kim Burgess
had 15 points and blocked
four shots.
Carrollton had five
3-pointers in the first
See BLAST, page 2B
« m BASKETBALL
B/\ w L BALL
the “big picture” so to
speak.
Marist and Starr’s Mill
are currently tied for first
overall with 250 points.
Northside has 140 - needing
90 to crack the top five.
Over in AAAAA where
Warner Robins flirted
with a top 10 finish and
Houston County threatened
to get into the top 15, things
haven’t started out well.
Warner Robins is current
ly 24th overall and Houston
County is 28th. The first has
80 points, the second 50.
Ten of Warner Robins’
points came from the boys
who finished 20th at the
state meet. Because that’s
the school’s only scoring for
the boys right now, they are
currently 31st, which is also
Wmmt
ENI/Gary Harmon
Warner Robins’ Deanna LeShoure battles with a pair of Sandy Creek players during their Security Bank of Jones
County Holiday Classic game Thursday in Jones County.
Demons come up short to Jonesboro
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Every time the Warner Robins
High Demons looked like they were
primed to take over their first round
game of the 2007 Security Bank
of Jones County Holiday Classic
Thursday, Jonesboro High would
find that open man and squash
all the momentum. Jonesboro’s
Cardinals defeated Warner Robins
40-30 at Jones County High School.
Kenny Fluellen had 15 points -
half the team total - to lead Warner
Robins. Ricky Ritter was next with
seven.
Jonesboro led by 11, 13-4, at
AAAAA
School Points
1 Walton 280
2 Peachtree Ridge 270
3 Collins Hill 210
3 Grayson 210
3 Kennesaw Mountain 210
6 Lassiter 190
6 Harrison 190
8 North Gwinnett 180
9 Brookwood 170
9 Parkview 170
11 Lowndes 160
24 Warner Robins 80
28 Houston County 50
last but they’re in good com
pany as 15 other schools also
have 10. (Note: Schools with
no points aren’t listed.)
Two more of Hardy’s reserves, Casey
Hayward and Reggie Davis, connected
together on a screen-and-roll, and back-up
guard Michael Walker scored a 3-pointer
working the two-man game with starting
center Trey Smith. Jones and Smith com
bined to block three Tift shots in the quar
ter, which ended with Perry leading 11-6.
The Blue Devil offense warmed up in
the second period with three 3-point field
goals. Felder finished off a long outlet
from Hayward to answer one trey, but Tift
came back with another to take its first
lead at 14-13 (4:32). But Perry’s offense
the end of the first quarter with a
patient offensive set focused on ball
movement.
With the Demons playing too
aggressively up top, the Cardinal
guard found his teammate roving
the baseline for an open two.
Fluellen had a pair of steals in the
period, but Warner Robins could not
cash either in.
While Fluellen ran the floor twice
to get baskets in the second quarter,
Jonesboro went 6:35 of this period
without making a field goal. The
Cardinals were still patient with
the basketball, and that first basket
of the quarter kept them ahead at
GACA Dodge Director's Cup
Top 10 overall (Source: GADAonline.net)
AAAA
School Points
1 Marist 250
1 Starr's Mill 250
3 St Pius X 240
4 Northgate 230
4 Chapel Hill 230
6 Mclntosh 190
7 Whitewater 180
8 Dacula 160
8 Greenbrier 160
10 Northside 140
The Demonettes are cur
rently 19th. They earned 40
points for their Elite Eight
showing in softball, 20 for
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2007 ♦
AAAA
School Points
1 Westminster 290
2 Blessed Trinity 280
3 Oconee County 270
4 Columbus 220
5 Sandy Creek 200
6 North Hall 160
6 Chamblee 160
8 Harris County 130
8 Northside, Columbus 130
8 West Forsyth 130
11 Flowery Branch 120
26 Perry 60
cooled down as much as Tift’s heated up
with one rare basket coming on Hayward’s
penetration after Smith blocked a shot on
defense.
Tift, with a third-chance basket to go
with its third 3-point shot, led 25-17 at the
break.
The Devils led by as much as 11 in the
third quarter as a straight steal near mid
court led to a 31-20 advantage. With Jones
grabbing an offensive rebound and finding
a cutting Antonio Hubbard, Perry pulled
to within seven at 33-26 (1:26) only to
See PANTHERS, page iB
16-11. Jonesboro just beat the half
time buzzer over the reach of Jared
Fluellen and led 18-11 at the break.
Kenny Fluellen practically owned
the third quarter with a third
chance basket and points off his
own steal. Ritter also scored off a
steal and tied the game 23-all. Jared
Fluellen’s baseline drive resulted
in a three-point play, and indeed
Warner Robins finally surpassed
Jonesboro at 26-25 at 1:50 of the
third.
Quietly, the Cardinals found a
way to get back ahead 27-26 when
the fourth quarter started and
See DEMONS, page jB
finishing 16th in cross coun
try and 10 for being in the
final 32 in volleyball.
See CUP, page iB
1B