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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