Newspaper Page Text
Page 10 - Tuesday, February 21, 2023
The Jenkins County Times
thejenkinscountytimes.com
James Allen drives in for a layup Friday in the
championship game. Even though the War Eagles
fell short, they will host state playoffs on Wednesday
night. The game will start at approximately 7:30 PAT.
(photo submitted)
Tyler Williams skies above the opponents as he goes
for a layup, (photo submitted)
War Eagles Regional
Runner-Up
Last week the War Eagles hosted the Class A Region
3 Tournament. The War Eagles, because of an excellent
regular season, entered the tournament as a two-seed and
had a bye in the first round. Because of the bye, the War
Eagles would face a very good McIntosh County Academy
(MCA) team that they had already seen twice this season.
In the first matchup, Jenkins County
lost in overtime, and then in the second matchup the War
Eagles won big.
The War Eagles took an early 31-18 halftime lead.
However, MCA started chipping away at the lead in the
third quarter only trailing by 8 when the quarter ended.
The fourth quarter would provide the most excitement,
especially in the final minute of play. The game became a
back-and-forth affair with MCA taking the lead with seven
seconds remaining in the game. The ball was inbounded to
Marcus Golphin who handed the ball off to ZZ Wilson. As
time was expiring quickly, Wilson launched a 3-point shot
that went through the net as the buzzer sounded. This
propelled the War Eagles to the championship game.
The championship game would be played on Friday
against rival Portal. Portal entered the game ranked second
in Class A Division 2 and had previously beaten the War
Eagles in both matchups during the season. The War
Eagles took an early lead and continued that lead through
the first three-quarters of the game, leading by as much as
10 points at one time. Portal continued to inch closer to the
War Eagles throughout the third and fourth quarters.
Eventually, they were able to take the lead over the War
Eagles and they would hold on for the championship
victory 61-50.
The Jenkins County War Eagles with their second-place
trophy. While it was a tough loss, as any loss is, the War
Eagles have nothing to hang their head about, finishing
second place in a very tough tournament.
(photo submitted)
State Playoffs
Start Wednesday
Both War Eagles and Lady War Eagles finished in second
place in the regional tournament. After record-breaking
seasons and an excellent finish in the tournament, neither
team has time to rest! Both teams will continue postseason
play as the number 2 seeds in the state playoffs, and they
will both face the number 3 seeds, Telfair County. The
games will begin on Wednesday at 6:00 PM, followed by
the boys’ game at approximately 7:30 PM.
Telfair County girls’ team competes in the 4 th region
of Class A Division 2. They were 14-12 overall and 6-4
in their regional play. Entering the tournament, they are
ranked 25 th in the state.
The only common opponent between the two teams was
Montgomery County. They lost both matchups to Mont
gomery County, losing 65-39, and 60-55.
The Telfair County boys’ team finished the season 19-4
overall record and 9-1 in regional play. When the season
ended, they were ranked 11 th in the Class A Division 2.
Common opponents between Jenkins County and Telfair
include ECI, who Telfair beat 80-41 and wins over
Montgomery County 78-60 and 73-68.
The War Eagles enter the tournament ranked 16 th in the
state. The Lady War Eagles are ranked 10th in the state.
Any updates from the state playoffs will be posted as soon
as it happens on the Jenkins County Times Facebook page.
Coach Jason Boynton prepared to lead his players
Friday night as the Lady War Eagles played in
the championship game against 2 nd ranked
ATontgomery County. The Lady War Eagles will host
the first round of the state
playoffs starting Friday night.
(photo by Brad Asbury)
Left:
Neveah Campbell drives the
ball down the court on Fri
day night during the champi
onship game.
Neveah will seek to lead
her team through the state
tournament starting Wednes
day at 6:00 PAT. (photo
submitted)
BRAD ASBURY pastorbradasbury@gmail.com
Under the Bleachers
WA
P
By Brad Asbury, Sports Editor
for
The Times
The Jenkins County Tennis teams faced off against
Swainsboro this past week. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams
lost 1-4. The doubles team of Caleb Asbury and Jesse Lane
won in a 3 rd set tie breaker giving the boys’ team their only
win. Emily Nelson and Riley Dorrity won in straight
sets for the girls’ team! The tennis team will be back on the
courts February 27th as they travel to Statesboro and on
February 28 th as they head to Dublin.
In other spring sports for the War Eagles, Middle School
Baseball will play Saturday in Swainsboro for their first
game of the season. Wednesday, March 1 st , the Middle
School Track and Field team will travel to Screven County
for their first meet of the new year. High School Track has a
few more days before their new season.
As of writing this article. Major League Baseball Opening
Day is 40 days and 21 hours away. (But who is counting?)
The first game of Spring Training will be on February 24 th
. As the season begins its countdown. Under the Bleachers
will have news about the Atlanta Braves and other MLB
news from around the league. Unfortunately, for the Braves,
pitcher Mike Soroka is still not 100%. After being injured in
2020, he has faced numerous setback that has not allowed
him
to pitch in 2021 or 2022. This year was supposed to be his
much-anticipated return. There are still many questions
concerning Soroka as he was sidelined earlier in the week
with muscle tightness.
Believe it or not, on February 21 st, 1968, Major League
Baseball announced a minimum annual salary of $10,000.
In 2023, the MLB league minimum for a player is $720,000.
The NBA finally reached its All-Star break this past
weekend. Team Lebron lost to Team Giannis 184-175.
Obviously, the defense was rather absent from the game.
Learning to win well in life and learning to lose well in
life can shape a young man or a young woman. In sports,
very few people will ever go through their life without a
loss. Trevor Lawrence, the standout quarterback from
Cartersville, GA, went through high school with zero losses
in football and lost only two games in college. Yet, there is
still the reality that he faced losses. As a college basketball
fan, very few teams have achieved undefeated seasons and
won the national championship. The longest winning streak
of the MLB was 26 games in 1916.
All of this is to say that loss is a part of sports. Learning
how to lose in sports is a character trait. This past week,
a young man who played for McIntosh County Academy
showed what it looked like to lose well. During the regional
playoffs, his team was defeated on a last-second shot by
the War Eagles. This young man shook hands with every
player who played for Jenkins County congratulating them
on the win. He showed us all what humility and losing well
looked like.
Sports teach us much about life. One of the hardest lessons
is losing. It goes against human nature to lose. Proverbs
16:18 reminds us, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty
spirit before a fall.” Losing is good for us all, in many ways
it keeps our pride low. How we recover and how we press
forward after the fall will make the difference.
Until next time, send me your pictures and your sports
stories for Jenkins County Times Sports. Tell me the stories
that you see from the bleachers and show me the pictures
you take; you may even have a few stories from “under the
bleachers” as well, send me those too!
The Lady War Eagles finished second in the regional
tournament. Congratulations on a second-place finish! As
a result of the second-place finish, the team will enter the
state playoffs as a number two seed and they will have the
opportunity to host the first round.
Lady War Eagles
Regional Runner-Up
The Lady War Eagles took to the court Thursday after
noon for an early tip-off against McIntosh County Acade
my. The game tipped off at 4:00, and from the opening top,
the Lady War Eagles charged ahead. With 37 points scored
in the first half, there was no doubt that the Lady War
Eagles were planning to be in the championship game. The
final score was 56-43.
The championship game was a much-anticipated rematch
with the 4 th -ranked Montgomery County Eagles. In both
matchups of the season, Montgomery County defeated the
War Eagles.
In the first half, Montgomery County jumped out to a
23-9 lead, and they would not let up. The Lady War Eagles
could not get the basket to fall in the first half. The third
quarter finally saw the War Eagles heat up with 17 points
scored, but Montgomery County matched Jenkins County
with 17 points. In the end, the first half’s slow start hin
dered the War Eagles and they lost 53-37.
Jashlyn Allen scored a team-high 12 points in a
difficult championship game, (photo submitted)