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— 3B
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— 10B
December 14, 2016
Phone: 770-867-6397
Fax:706-621-4115
sthompson@barrowjournal.com
Section B
★★★★
High School Basketball: Apalachee
Missed opportunities
TOUGH GOING
Apalachee’s Omer Ahmed is guarded by a pair of Jefferson defenders during the Wildcats’ 47-40 loss at
Jefferson on Friday night. The loss dropped Apalachee to 4-2 on the season. Photos by Scott Thompson
Poor shooting dooms Wildcats against Jefferson
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
PRESSING UP THE FLOOR
Apalachee’s Brandon Bannis leads a fast break down the floor during the
second half of a 47-40 loss against Jefferson on Friday.
High School
Basketball: WBHS
Lady Bulldoggs set for
Myrtle Beach tourney
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
It would be a tall task
for any team to overcome
17 missed free throws and
a 4-of-28 shooting perfor
mance from 3-point range.
That was indeed the case
for the Apalachee High
School boys basketball team
Friday night as the Wildcats
fell behind early and never
recovered in a 47-40 loss at
Jefferson.
“When you don’t shoot
the ball any better than we
did (Friday), it makes for a
long night,” a disappoint
ed Apalachee coach Kevin
Morris said after the loss.
“Jefferson played a good 2-3
zone and we worked to get
shots. I thought we actually
took a lot of good shots. We
just couldn’t get them to go
in.”
The night started off
promisingly for the Wildcats.
Ethan Morris knocked down
a 3-pointer and was fouled on
the play, but he failed to con
vert the four-point play when
he missed his free throw — a
sign of things to come.
Apalachee would miss
four more consecutive free
throws while the Dragons
went on a 7-0 run to take the
lead for good. The Wildcats
finished the night just 10-of-
27 from the foul line and
missed 13 tries in the first
half alone, managing just 14
points before the break.
“That’s not going to win
you very many games.” Mor
ris said.
Down 21-14 to start the
third quarter, Apalachee
began to climb back in the
game and cut the Jefferson
lead to 25-23 on a 3-pointer
from Omer Ahmed.
After the Dragons
stretched their lead all the
way up to 12 on the strength
of an 8-0 run, the Wildcats
got it back to within three
when Ahmed connected
again from beyond the arc
with 3:06 remaining in the
contest.
Ahmed was Apalachee’s
leading scorer with 14 points.
But another 8-0 run by the
Dragons, aided by a technical
foul call against the Wildcats,
iced the game away.
“We did a good job at the
start of the half and got some
open looks and were able
to climb back in it,” Morris
said. “We just weren’t able to
get it going alter that.”
See AHS on Page 3B
After a slow start, the
Winder-Barrow girls bas
ketball team appears to
be hitting its stride just
in time.
Fresh off a pair of
blowout wins last week
end over Monroe Area
and Lovett, the Lady
Bulldoggs now turn their
focus to next week’s
16-team Crescom Bank
Holiday Invitational
at Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
which will feature several
top-rated programs from
around the U.S.
“There’s going to be
nowhere to hide against
this competition,” Lady
Bulldogg coach Brandon
Thomas said Tuesday.
“The people that put
the tournament on work
hard to make a bracket
with 16 good teams so
it’s a great opportunity for
us to go out and compete
against some top-quality
teams and players.”
Winder-Barrow (5-3),
winners of four straight,
will face Dreher High
School of Columbia, S.C.
at 3:30 p.m. Monday in
their first game. The Blue
Devils went 27-1 last year
with a state tide and are
off to a 4-0 start this sea
son, according to Max-
Preps.
“We’ve got film on
them and they’ll definite
ly be the biggest team
we’ve faced so far this
season,” Thomas said.
“They’ll play with a
lot of athleticism and full
court press on defense,
which we haven’t seen
much of this year, so
it will be nice to play
against a different style.”
The Lady Bulldoggs
have faced mostly zone
teams to this point and
have had to adjust their
offensive game plan
accordingly.
They showed signs in
recent games that they
are beginning to become
accustomed to the way
teams are guarding them,
walloping Monroe Area
66-24 on Friday and
Lovett 64-33 on Saturday.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa
scored her 1,000th career
point against Monroe
Area, and the Lady Bull
doggs also saw the return
of point guard Chellia
Watson, who missed five
games with an ankle inju
ry.
“She got in for a little
bit (in the last two games)
and it’s going to take her
a while to get back to
full speed,” Thomas said.
“But she’s getting there
and we’re getting better.
“We’re not going to
Myrtle Beach just to
show up. We are aiming
to compete.”
Winder-Barrow
boys run winning
streak to three
Meanwhile, the Wind
er-Barrow boys also are
on a hot streak and were
winners of three straight
heading into Tuesday
night’s non-region contest
at Athens Christian.
The latest win was a
64-58 triumph over Mon
roe Area on Friday to up
its record to 5-3.
Lamonta Mack led the
way for the Bulldoggs
with 19 points and 8
rebounds. Jay Griggs had
13 points and 7 rebounds,
Terence Buder chipped in
with 12 points and Deon
Williams had 9 points and
9 rebounds.
The game was back-
and-forth with 10 ties
until Winder-Barrow took
the lead for good in the
third quarter.
The Bulldoggs return
to action in two weeks
when they participate in
the Apple Valley Classic
Dec. 28-30 in Walhalla.
S.C.
Sports correspondent
Hal Miller contributed to
this story.
BIG TEST
Olivia Nelson-Ododa and the Lady Bulldoggs
will face South Carolina power Dreher on
Monday. Photo by Scott Thompson
High School Basketball: Bethlehem Christian Academy
BCA teams making progress as holiday break arrives
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
As they head into the holi
day break, the coaches for the
Bethlehem Christian Academy
boys and girls basketball teams
are optimistic about the progress
their teams have made through a
tough 2-6 start.
The boys’ team is hoping to
build off its 64-20 win at West
minster Christian on Thursday.
The Knights got 15 points from
Drew Peevy, 13 from Chase
Roseland and 11 from Ray
Peevy. Tristen Green added 8
points while Michael Tuscano
had 5.
“Things finally came togeth
er for us in that game.” BCA
coach Mike Elmankabady said.
“(Green and Tuscano) were huge
boosts for us in ways that sim
ply won’t show up in the stat
line. Michael did a great job of
facilitating. Tristen was great on
the boards and Chase was our
catalyst defensively.”
The Knights weren’t as fortu
nate on Saturday night in a 66-54
loss to Briarwood Academy.
“They were a good opponent.
They were big and physical and
shot the ball well,” Elmankabady
said. “Our offense is coming
around, but our defense strug
gled to stop them.”
The Lady Knights also picked
up a win Thursday, knocking off
the Atlanta Girls School 45-12
in a GISA Region 1-AAA battle.
That was followed with a 36-31
loss to Briarwood Saturday.
“Overall, we’re coming
around,” BCA coach Karen Park
er said of her team. “Some things
are falling into place. We’re hav
ing to continue to rely on our
speed and aggressiveness to get
fast breaks and put up some
baskets.”
The teams will return to action
Jan. 3 at home against the Heri
tage School in a region contest.