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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Tattnall eliminates Hornets from state tournament
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Westfield basketball coach Jake
Walls couldn’t complain about the
Hornets’ efforts on defense at the
quarterfinals of the GISA AAA
tournament Saturday. Nor could
he say the offense played poorly
despite the 37-28 season-ending
loss at Georgia Southwestern State
University’s new Storm Dome in
Americus.
“The game versus Tattnall was
SHORT
From page iB
lead, 60-55.
But the Panthers never stopped pressuring the basket
ball or attacking the goal, and with about 17 seconds left
the home team scored bringing Jordan’s lead down to 62-
58. Perry’s pressure made the simple task of inbounding
the ball under the basket difficult for the Jackets.
Michael Walker stole an inbound pass, and a quick
score by Casey Hayward made it 62-60 with about 10
seconds left.
Both benches used all the timeouts they could, but
Jordan nearly lost another inbound only to save the ball
near the Panther bench and get it over the time line.
Perry had to foul, and the Jackets made both free throws
to account for the final score.
Perry’s confidence in this game was built on the
hot early shooting of senior guard Chase Russell. The
Panthers led by as much as eight, 10-2, in the first quar
ter as Russell made four long-range jumpers. In all, he
had 12 of his team’s first 14 points.
Hayward also had an assist in penetration to Roderick
Jones and a stick-back basket.
Jordan had two 3-pointers in the quarter; one coming
with five seconds to go that tied the score 19-19 going
into the second.
This second quarter had a much more deliberate pace
with more passing and tight defense. Russell had another
3-pointer as did Kameron Felder; Jordan countering with
a steal and score from point guard Ivey Winford.
The visitors would miss two one-and-one front ends
while Perry picked the pace back up in the final two
minutes. Hayward scored on a quick jumper and Antonio
Hubbard put on a strong move for two. Felder broke up a
long outlet pass as the halftime horn sounded, and Perry
took a 33-28 lead into the break.
The Panthers kept the third quarter at a low-scoring
tempo though the Jackets took their first lead, 36-34,
making a 3-pointer after a steal. Jordan did miss two
early lay-ins early and had a pair of turnovers, and the
Jackets missed another close-range shot after Trey Smith
tied the game 36-36.
Jordan scored on another takeaway at the 44-second
mark, but as play got rough underneath Perry’s basket
the visitors drew a technical foul. With those shots, the
game was even again, 40-40, with eight minutes left.
One key moment of the fourth came as Smith blocked
a shot, but the Panthers had a lay-up on their side not
go through. Jordan fired the ball quickly to its end and
took its biggest lead at the time, 49-44. Winford also took
control of his offense with numerous deep penetrations
resulting in scores.
Even with that, Perry was back in the lead at 52-51
when Jones scored stealing an inbound and Smith put
back an offensive rebound. Jordan was back ahead 55-52,
but Smith came out of a timeout to nail a tying trey.
Prior to all the final excitement, Winford’s penetration
led to what would be the eventual game-winning score.
Russell led Perry with 17 points. Hardy said afterwards
his team didn’t do a good job of getting him the same
touches in the second half as had in the first. But the
coach said Russell responded to a challenge he issued
before the game that the senior needed to put the ball
in the hole to both be on the floor and give his team a
chance.
Hayward, another senior guard, had 16 points. Jones
and Smith, two junior forwards, each had eight.
FALL
From page iB
the second and had four assists.
She broke down the zone to allow
Antoinette Howell and Parks to
score and give Warner Robins
back the lead at 16-15. Howell
also had an assist passing out
side for a Billings trey (21-19).
Bradwell Institute had an out
side weapon working in point
guard Jammie McLemore. She and
the Tigers had seven in a row from
the perimeter to counter Williams’
score off a steal and Wilkerson’s
pass to LeShoure against the press.
The Tigers also blocked two shots
inside by Howell and led by one,
30-29, at the half.
Thanks to takeaway points,
Bradwell took a quick 33-29 lead
in the third quarter, but thanks
to Gazaway’s 3-pointer and driv
ing lay-up Warner Robins stole
back the lead at 34-33. The Tigers
switched their defense to one
on-one, which allowed for such
plays as a pick-and-roll score from
Wilkerson to Parks (36-35).
The Demonettes did miss some
chances in the third as Lakeisha
Colbert made a fine defensive
stop in the lane. Bradwell then
shot back in front 39-37 after the
third.
Wilkerson, after dishing out six
ADVANCE
From page iB
The Lady Eagles scored the first
two baskets of the third quarter.
Northgate shot 50 percent from
the field during the period but
that wasn’t good because, with
a disappointing loss,” said Walls.
“Defensively it may be the best
implementation of a game plan we
have ever had here. Our kids did
exactly what we asked them to do
on defense.”
The Hornets stifled the Trojans
so much that the game was 13-11
in Westfield’s favor at halftime.
Walls estimated that less than half
of the Tattnall Square total came in
half-court sets, but added that the
Trojans grabbed a couple of offen
assists (eight in the game), made
her first field goal for 3 at 5:32
of the fourth (42-41). That came
after Parks helped on McLemore
and blocked her driving shot. But
Warner Robins would give up
three turnovers and two offensive
rebound baskets to trail 50-42 at
3:47.
The home team got its execu
tion back with Gazaway making
a 3 (from Wilkerson) and pass
ing cross-court to Billings for a
second trey. The Demonettes did
miss two free throws and gave up
a third stick-back to Bradwell, but
it was a press steal and basket for
Wilkerson that tied the game 52-
52. Parks stole away Bradwell’s
last chance for a winning shot in
regulation.
Warner Robins led by as much
as three, 57-54, in the first over
time on five points from Billings
and three steals by Wilkerson. But
there was a front-end miss of a
one-and-one, a takeaway basket by
Bradwell at 1:24, and the l-for-2
free-throw trip that allowed the
Tigers to make a tying score for
double-overtime.
The Demonettes entered the
state tournament as the No. 2 seed
from Region 1-AAAAA and closed
out the season with back-to-back
wins against Coffee County High,
which finished second in the regu
lar-season standings.
Northside’s defense turning up the
pressure, they were only able to
attempt four shots total. The Lady
Eagles, with eight rebounds dur
ing that time to the Lady Vikings’
three, hit on only three of 12
attempts but it did its damage. It
didn’t help Northgate’s cause that
it turned the ball over 10 times in
sive rebounds to score.
“They got several transition lay
ups,” said Walls. “They also made
several free throws.
“Offensively we controlled the
pace of the game but we did not
finish a lot of our opportunities.
We really should have buried them
after they lost (Rob) Rojas with
three fouls in the first half. But we
did not attack the zone very well.”
Tattnall Square won the game
with a 26-15 edge in the second
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Perry cheerleaders and fans cheer for the Panthers Friday at home.
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Perry boys basketball Head Coach Brett Hardy discusses plays with his players during the second half.
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the third alone.
By the time the buzzer sounded
for the fourth, Northside was up
37-25.
Arniska Nelson made it 39-25 to
start the fourth.
That might have cinched it but
Northgate showed a bit of life
following. It scored the next six
SPORTS
half. Westfield freshman forward
James Wurster had 12 points to
lead all scorers in the game.
In fact it was a young Hornet ros
ter overall with just three seniors.
His top scorers for the season,
which ended at 19-10, were juniors
Matt Amrit and John Peake.
“I think this year we continued
to develop an expectation of win
ning,” said Walls, whose program
was coming off seaons of 8-17 and
14-12. “There is a strong mental
points - twice going to the free
throw line and twice converting
both attempts - to cut the lead to
eight, 39-31 with 3:58 showing on
the clock.
The Lady Eagles, however, out
scored them 14-6 from that point
on.
Also scoring in double figures for
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008
edge when student athletes expect
to win. We are growing in our confi
dence as a team and program.
“We also continued to improve
our ability to consistently compete.
We gave a lot of consistent effort.
We had a lot of players contribute
to our team this year.
“I am very proud of our seniors:
Riley Sims, Steven Peake, and
Keenan Malone. They are a sig
nificant reason that our program is
headed in the right direction.”
Northside was Ladarria Clark who
had 13. Josie Toliver had 11, Leah
Daniely 1, Karrisa Lews 2, Nish
Nelson 3, Rasheena Porter 4 and
Shan Sann 2.
The Lady Eagles were next slat
ed to host Glynn Academy, which
beat Thomas County Central,
Wednesday.
3B
Danielle
Gazaway
goes in for a
lay-up in the
Demonettes’
state tour
nament loss
Saturday
to Bradwell
Institute.
ENI/Gary Harmon