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♦ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2008
6B
HoCo girls struggle to score; fall to Lowndes
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Houston County High Lady Bear
basketball coach Sid Baxley had no
problems with how hard his team
played on Friday in a Region 1-
AAAAA home tilt against defending
league champion Lowndes High.
There’s still the matter, though,
of getting that basketball to fall
through the rim.
The Houston girls dropped to 1-3
in the region after a 44-35 home
loss to the Vikettes. In three of the
four region games through Friday,
the Lady Bears have scored less
than 50 points and average 41 a
night during that span.
EDGES
From page iB
scoring pass to Brandon
Davey and Rico Anderson
converted what would be
Houston’s final field goal
from an inside feed (57-47).
From there, everything
went right for the visiting
Vikings and none for the
home team. With two stick
backs in a row and a 3-point
er, Lowndes quietly capped
a 9-0 run to make it a 57-56
game with 46.3 seconds left.
Anderson had a steal on
FIRST
From page iB
at the beginning of the sea
son.
“Although the girls fin
ished second, they did a good
job to defeat Camden County.
Looking at the entry times,
we were forecast to finish
29 points behind Camden
and 23 behind St. Vincents.
Given that, and the fact we
had to go with three less
swimmers than our full
team, our girls responded
to the challenge put before
them and did an outstand
ing job.
“Annie Bratcher led the
way for Houston County’s
girls with 24.5 points and
two first place finishes - the
100 free and the 100 breast.
She also was a part of the
second place 200 medley
relay team and the third
place 400 free relay team.
Kaitlyn Merrifield and
Ansley Campbell contribut
ed 15.50 and 11.50 points,
and Kaitlyn Carriker (10.5)
and Kimber Bergo (9.5) were
the scoring leaders.
“All these girls have led
the team in the past,”
Richardson said. “This is
what is expected of them,
and they rise to that level
consistently. Caitlin Wilhelm
also is emerging in this
respect.”
The sophomore girls, he
added, were specifically
challenged before the meet.
“They would have to swim
their best times for HoCo
Watts leads Westfield wrestlers
Special to the Journal
Westfield’s wrestling team competed in
the Trinity Christian tournament this past
weekend in Dublin and ended up fourth
overall from a pool of about 15-20 schools.
Leading the way for the Hornets was
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• Lowndes girls
44, Houston
County 35
goal in the fourth quarter. When
Baxley had to change the defensive
approach late in regulation with
the visitors ahead, the Vikettes
took advantage and stretched the
score out to the nine-point final.
The Lady Bears were control
ling the early pace with a 2-3 zone
Houston’s defensive end near
the sideline with 20 seconds
to go, but he was surrounded
by Viking players while try
ing to move, officials called
a traveling violation. The
Bears had gone up by two
prior to that, but with the
basketball back, Lowndes
put up another shot, grabbed
another rebound, and pulled
back even 58-58.
All the Vikings had to do
in overtime was make one
quick basket and hit three
foul shots while the Bear
offense fell apart. There were
two missed lay-ins early for
Contributed
A Warner Robins swimmer contends in this past week
end's Statesboro Invitational.
to challenge for a trophy
position,” Richardson said.
“April Collins, Elizabeth
Weber and Kristen Robinson
combined with Wilhelm to
finish third in the 200 free
relay and with Bergo for
sixth in the 400 free relay.
These points made the dif
ference.”
“We needed these girls to
do well in these particular
events because we were put
ting Bratcher, Merrifield,
and Campbell in individual
events before and after the
200 free relay.
It’s difficult enough hav
ing to swim multiple events
in a short period of time, but
back to back puts a strain on
the individual and the team.
These young ladies produced
when they had to.”
With the boys, Richardson
said, they are seeing con
Steve Watts in the 125-pound weight class.
He finished first.
Jared Parnell at 119 pounds and Halston
Kirkpatrick at 160 each finished second,
while Matt Mcßride (heavyweight), Ashton
Leavengood (189) and Bryan Thompson
(215), all finished fourth.
It was a competi
tive game with the
Lowndes girls as
the lead changed
hands 10 times.
But after Houston
led 24-22 at half
time, the hosts
could only score
11 in the second
half with one field
the Bears plus two ill-advised
passes, a failed chance to
rebound a missed one-and
one front end and a steal
by Jarrid Nunn Lowndes
got right back with no foul
called. Houston missed seven
free throws from halftime
on, including a sequence
where one Lowndes player
was assessed a technical foul.
The Bears made just one of
those two shots plus a front
end prior to that.
The Bears had no prob
lems scoring in the first
quarter, when five different
players contributed to a 20-
tinuing improvement with
their younger swimmers.
Freshmen Aaron Meece and
Brett Niemantsverdriet, he
said, continue to improve on
their state qualifying times
in the 500 free and the 100
backstroke.
“For the most part,” he
said, “we’re seeing those
who swim heavy yardages in
practice sustain their finish
ing position, but they aren’t
having their best times.
As the workload in prac
tice tapers, we expect the
times to drop and the per
formances improve. We’re
positioning ourselves with
the events each individual
chooses to swim in order
to maximize our options for
state so we can gain the
most points there.
“We’re especially thank
ful we have such good sup-
SPORTS
defense using the height of Tonia
Williams, Kourtney Thomas and
Alexis Hewitt in the middle. It led
to several takeaways and cold out
side shooting for Lowndes.
Thomas had six points con
verting passes in the post from
Williams, Janesa Johnson and
Hewitt. But with only eight total,
the home team trailed 9-8 after
the period. Lowndes scored late on
a breakaway steal and hit its first
3-pointer with under 45 seconds
to play. ,
The second quarter was more
like an outside shooting contest.
Williams, who struggled from the
perimeter in her last game, scored
five points from the same spot put
point outburst. Head coach
Jody Dean was looking for
a wide-open full court, game.
Lowndes responded in kind
with full-court pressure of its
own, but the Bears handled
it well with Davey finish
ing off two transition passes
from Nunn and Anderson.
Houston led 20-15 at the
end of the quarter, but the
Vikings, with a pair of put
backs, stayed within three
points at 24-21. The Bears
couldn’t establish that same
fast tempo from the opening
quarter and thus didn’t have
quite the offensive output.
ting Houston up 17-12. Lowndes
found a few hot hands and made
four 3-pointers in the quarter (no
2-point baskets).
Ashlee Burkett had two steals in
the second, and Johnson worked
with Williams on a give-and-go
to keep the home team up at the
half.
The 2-3 zone worked better in
the third quarter with Thomas
creating a lot of problems on her
side. She had two more steals, one
in which Williams turned into a
transition assist to Johnson. The
score was 28-27 at that point and
stayed that way for a long time
until the Vikettes made another
trey at the 48-second mark.
port from our community.
Premier Aquatics, Swim
Macon, the Macon Waves,
and the Warner Robins
Aquanauts have been out
standing in their working
relationship with our team,
and this enables us to merge
our talents into what suc
cess we’ve had so far.”
As far as the Demons, who
improved to 57-16, they were
led by Sophomore standout
Erik Hanson, who had a sec
ond-place finish in the 200
IM and the 100 Free for 14
points total. He was followed
by Jordan Carhuff with 7
points. Those came from his
third place in the 200 Free
and finishing eighth in the
100 Fly. Earning 4 points
each were Stanley Jackson,
Stephen Persson, Jackson
Smith and Paul Poorman.
Other scorers were Travis
Boggs with 3points, Michael
Gregory 2, Yusuf Uddin 2
and Adam Kingsley 1.
“Our relays on a whole
need to focus more on
the exchanges in order to
improve our times,” said
Coach Barbara Hawkins.
The 400 Free Relay was
second with 14 points with
Persson, Smith, Carhuff and
Hanson as its team mem
bers.
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officers that are not readily available at other agencies.
Late in the first half, Davey
tried to finish off another
break chance, but drew a
foul. He didn’t make a free
throw, but Perine rebounded
only to see the Vikings block
the ensuing shot. The result
was a transition basket for
the visitors to bring them
within two, 28-26.
The half ended with Davey
saving possession for his
team, and Perine drove in for
two to make it 30-26 at the
break. The third quarter saw
Lowndes push the ball three
times for scores and Houston
counter with Anderson scor
The WRHS Demonettes
improved to 65-11. Senior
standout Anne Culpepper
won both of her events for
18 points in the 200 IM and
the 100 Back. Rachel Sundry
had a strong showing with 12
points earned with a second
place IM behind Culpepper
and fourth in the 100 Back.
Other scorers were Brittani
Wharton with 5, Carly Daly
4 and Holly Odom 1 point.
Senior Brittany Marchbanks
dropped more than 10 sec
onds for a seventh-place fin
ish and a personal best swim
in the 500 Free.
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HOUBTON HOME JOURNAL
The Lady Bears missed a lot of
inside shots during that scoreless
spell, but worked the ball in to
Hewitt in the closing seconds, and
she tied the score 30-30 going into
the fourth.
The only basket for Houston in
that quarter came early on a high
post jumper by Farrah Lewis. The
Vikettes took a 36-33 lead with
less than five minutes to play. With
Houston switching to one-on-one
defense, the visitors came out of a
timeout and penetrated to the bas
ket for the first time. The result
was a 38-34 lead and a gap the
Lady Bears couldn’t make up.
Williams had 14 points and
Thomas finished with 10.
ing on half-court penetrations
by Stotts and Roger Stanton.
The Bears had their chances
to pull away, but could not
take advantage of four steals
plus two blocks from Davey.
Phillips had both a basket
and assist late in the third to
offset two more Viking fast
breaks keep the home team
up by five heading into the
fourth.
Stotts had a team-high 14
points while Davey scored
10. Anderson finished with
nine points and Perine eight.
The Bears dropped to 2-2 in
1-AAAAA, 4-10 overall.
The 200 Free Relay earned
a first place and a state cut
with members Carly Daly,
Lesley Haller, Holly Odom,
and Anne Culpepper.
“Seven of the team’s relays
dropped time but we need
to improve all facets of the
events in order to be com
petitive in the state champi
onship,” said Hawkins.
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