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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Frontcount solid for Panthers; Nix leads Perry girls
Season
preview
i
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
In the frontcdurt, there
shouldn’t be much to worry
about for Perry High boys
basketball coach Brett Hardy
in 2008-09. That*s where he
can find somebody to take
over a game late and snatch
a victory when defeat looks
imminent.
That’s the scenario that
played out on Thursday when
the Perry Panthers hosted
Dublin High for a preseason
scrimmage content at home.
Perry won the gatne 66-61 in
overtime behind four driv
ing baskets from 6-4 senior
forward Trey Smith.
It was in the closing min
utes of regulatioh and early
in the four-minute overtime
session that Smith, handling
the basketball at the top of
the key, took the ball through
the lane on the dribble to
score those eight points. He
also grabbed three clutch
rebounds on the defensive
end and made oiie steal.
Smith isn’t the only expe
rienced senior forward
with game-changing skills.
Roderick Jones appeared
ready to make an impact
this season with his play
from the opening minutes to
that time when Perry need
ed a rally against the visit
ing Irish.
Jones in all had about five
steals, including one he took
the other way for a thun
dering dunk at the start
of action. He also scored a
pair of baskets on offensive
rebounds in thb first half
and took in ariother steal
for points in the overtime.
Demonettes a mix ol talent; WR boys have a cause
Season
preview
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sporis Writer
Tom Mobley is never afraid
to put young high school
ers on the basketball court,
even if he is coaching at the
highest level in the state of
Georgia.
With another season of
hoops under way at Warner
Robins High, the veteran
girls coach, known for get
ting these young[ Demonettes
ready for such things as the
college level, will be relying
on a mix of seniors, sopho
mores who played last year
as freshmen and, well, more
true ninth graders.
“We’reyoung,” saidMobley.
“We only have two seniors,
Lakeisha Colbert and Nevia
Lewis. Colbert was a part
time starter last year, and
Lewis was on the JV last
year. Coach (tihip) Malone
was changing the letters on
the board from last year, and
their weren’t many return
ing names on the board.
“After you look at the two
seniors, you look at (sopho
more) Danielle Gazaway.
She was our third-leading
scorer, averaged about 10
points and six rebounds. She
stepped up and played like a
veteran player last year as
Northside girls, boys runner-up at Tilt County meet
Special to the Journal
Northside High School’s boys and
girls swim teams opened their 2008
season by competing in the Tift
County High swimming invitation
al this past weekend.
The Lady Eagles finished second
One other phase of the game
Jones excels in is blocking
shots, and he had two of
those in the second period.
As for the remainder of
his roster, Hardy is looking
to fill one more forward spot
vacated by Akeen Felder.
The biggest question for
the coach as the season pro
gresses is who will step into
the guard roles to replace
the likes of Casey Hayward
and Chase Russell. His other
returning players with expe
rience are in the backcourt:
Reggie Davis and Michael
Walker.
Davis knocked in a 3-
pointer in the first period
against Dublin. Cortez Riley,
a starting forward, scored
on the offensive glass.
Cornelius Warren, starting
at the point, penetrated for
an assist. The scrimmage
had a furious pace the start,
but ultimately settled down
and the Panthers led after
one period 15-13.
Despite Max Vickers’ 3-
point shot, Perry struggled
with shooting in the sec
ond. With Jones’ presence
on defense, the home team
was able to stay in front for
halftime, 26-25.
Hardy’s team would trail
most of the third quarter
due to turnovers but stayed
in contention on 3-balls
made by Walker and Vickers.
Walker also blocked a shot
and Riley scored on a pen
etration feed from Smith. It
was Dublin, though, leading
42-41 after the third.
Riley showed more scor
ing ability in the fourth by
converting a transition lob
from Walker and ending the
press-break offense with
a score assisted by Smith.
With Jones making a 3-
point play the old-fashioned
See SOLID, page iB
only a freshman. In the first
quarter against Northside
she hit three 3’s in a packed
gym. She wants the ball in
the clutch.”
Among Mobley’s juniot
class, and he has seven
of those, is point guard
Quinshay Williams, who is
the likely starter in place
of graduated four-year start
er and now college player
Symone Wilkerson.
“She’s not real tall but has'
a lot of quickness and han
dles the ball real well,” said
Mobley. “I’m expected a lot
out of Stephanie Duncan, a
junior, coming up off the JV
as an off guard.
“Courtney Johnson (5-11
junior) and Brittney Utorrii
(5-10 junior) are two of our
post players. Jilesha Orange
is a junior. We have a lot c>f
juniors who have been oh
the JV the last two years.”
Then there are those ih
the Warner Robins program
who bypass the junior var
sity level, like Gazaway, by
earning immediate varsity
time. Diamond Hudson (5-
7) and Kenyona Armstrong
(5-6) are good shooters and
ball handlers, Mobley said,
who played with the varsity
at summer camps and could
challenge the older players
for starting jobs.
“The big key’s going to
be rebounding,” said Mobley.
“We’re not real tall. We don’t
have anybody six feet. We
place in the team standings. The
Lady Eagles were led by Junior
Taylor Parker who finished first
in the 200 yard and 500 yard free
style. Parker’s time in the 500 free
was 25 seconds faster than the sec
ond place finisher.
The girls 400 yard freestyle
SPORTS
•.■.*,-fc |
' #, J
' ' , , »Win ’’ ><
•' ?'I y f
ENI/Gary Harmon
Perry’s Roderick Jones breaks into the open and goes up for a slam dunk in the Panthers’ scrimmage against Dublin
this past week.
ought to be a decent shoot
ing basketball team. We will
have to play good defense and
be fundamentally sound.”
While Wilkerson was a
great floor leader and another
lost senior, Tiandra Billings,
was a deadly shooter and
defensive player, Mobley said
Duncan shows good hustle
and is a strong player like
Billings. He said Duncan just
needs to play under control
and keep her fouls down
much the way she keeps her
grades up as a straight A
student.
“We would rather have
them too aggressive and tone
them down than have to jack
them up,” said Mobley. “A
lot of these girls play AAU
and go to big tournaments
with big crowds. Hudson, in
a packed gym for the county
championship at Northside,
sank two free throws to win
the Bth grade championship
for Bonaire Middle.
“I’m hoping we will
improve as the season goes
along. Last year we knew
what we would have and
didn’t know how much room
for improvement there was.
This team is a lot less experi
enced. We won a lot of games
this summer at different
places, so I think we are
going to be competitive.”
With Northside added to
Region 1-AAAAA, Warner
Robins will get in one league
game before the holiday
M. | . - i nfnnn
Ifer- 4 A
ENI/Gary Harmon
Warner Robins’ varsity and junior varsity players scrimmage during a practice at the
school Tuesday.
break. The Demons host
county rival Houston County
High on Dec. 12. They could
face the Bears again in the
Chick-Fil-A Bear Brawl,
relay team of Taylor Parker, Katie
Thornburg, Hanna Buzzell and,
and Erica Diegan also swam to a
first place finish.
Other top performances were
turned in by Leslie Douglas and
Twinkie Gray both picked up indi
vidual third place finishes, Douglas
which begins Dec. 20.
Demon boys have a cause
It may not be the type of
inspiration they wanted,
third in the 200 free and Gray in
the 100 fly.
The boys, led by Chris Maddox,
also made a strong showing by
finishing second in the team stand
ings. Maddox finished first in the
200 free and third in the 500 free.
The boys 200 free relay team of
SECTION: B
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2008 ♦
but Warner Robins High’s
basketball Demons will
go into the new 2008-09
season with something
See TALENT, puge jB
Trent Sapp, Tyler Mims, Zack
Dunkan and Maddox, which was
seated eighth place at the start of
the meet, swam, according to coach
James Parker, “to a very impres
sive and exciting overall first place
finish.”
Other notable performances, he
added, were turned in by Shawn
Douglas and Felix Thielaman.
The team will next swim at the
Bainbridge Invitational Dec. 6.