About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2017)
Page C4 Lake Oconee News Friday, January 27, 2017 PUTNAM COUNTY Gatewood Lady Gators dominate opponents Jacob McMillian sports@lakeoconeenews.us Gatewood School’s girls basket ball team looked to continue its win streak as the Gator girls battled the Monsignor Donovan Ram girls Jan. 17, as well as the Augusta Prep Cavalier girls Jan. 20. Monsignor Donovan proved to be a tough opponent for the Lady Gators in what turned out to be a low scoring contest. The first quarter consisted of a grand total of 18 points scored as the Lady Gators jumped out to an 11-7 lead. However, the Gatewood defense took over. The Lady Rams were held to a lone point in the second quarter; meanwhile, the Lady Gators added 9 points to their total. The score stood at 20-8 at the half. The Lady Gators continued to dominate defensively in the opening quarter of the second half, ceding only 5 points to Monsignor Donovan. With a 19-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Gators cruised to a 38-24 victory. Brenlyn Morris torched the “Mon Don” defense for 18 points on the night, including four steals and three assists. Tanner Fuller owned the paint as she totaled 8 points and 10 rebounds. Sydney Lack pickpocketed the Lady Rams for a whopping seven steals for the contest. The Gatewood girls followed their victory with a thrashing of region opponent Augusta Prep. Gatewood truly showcased its offense in a scoring frenzy as the Lady Gators completed yet another region blowout. The first quarter included an early 15-7 lead for the Lady Gators; Gatewood entered the half with a 31-14 advantage. The third quarter was the most lopsided of the contest, for the Lady Gators exploded for 22 points. If there was ever any doubt concerning Gatewood’s chances, they were eliminated by the start of the fourth quarter. As the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Gators jogged to the locker room with a 63-24 lead under their belts. Brenlyn Morris lit up the score- board once again as she posted yet another 18 point total, which included six 3-pointers. Tanner Fuller completed a double-double by racking up 20 points and 14 rebounds. The Lady Cavaliers had trouble controlling the ball over night, for the Lady Gators stole the ball an astounding 16 times. Robert Betzel/Contributed Gatewood's Brenlyn Morris hits a 3-point shot in the Gator girls win over Augusta Prep Friday night. Gators also give impressive efforts against foes Jacob McMillian sports@lakeoconeenews.us After suffering a region loss to the Westminster Wildcats, Gatewood School’s boys basket ball team sought to get back on track with home games against the Monsignor Donovan Rams and the Augusta Prep Cavaliers. The Gators entered the contest against the Rams crippled by injuries and illness. Major con tributors such as Reid Sasser, Jake Turner and Ross Cheshire were unable to perform; however, Gatewood still managed to remain competitive despite intense defensive struggles. Mon signor Donovan was unstoppa ble in the first quarter, scoring 21 points in the opening eight minutes. However, the Gators found traction in the second quarter as they outscored the visiting team 13-10, which shrunk their deficit to a 31-25 halftime score. Unfor tunately, Monsignor Donovan would not relinquish its lead in the closing 16 minutes, and the final score read 53-43 as time expired. Nearly all of Monsignor Dono van’s 53 points were provided by a three-player combination of 47 points. Matthew Weeks and Luke Haley tied for the highest scoring total for the Gators, collecting 11 points apiece. Weeks added 12 rebounds as well, completing a double-double for the night, and Luke Haley tallied nine rebounds and three assists of his own. Seeking to rebound against Augusta Prep with a healthy squad, the Gators mounted quite an impressive effort. The game began with an ugly start, however, as Gatewood was outscored 13-4. Both teams performed impres sively in the second quarter, for the halftime score totaled 32-19 SEE GATORS » C5 Hubbard Continued from Cl than later. What happens when he goes? Losing Dale Jr. could have catastrophic effects on NASCAR if it doesn’t solve its problems while he’s still a competitor. That brings us to Monday night. NASCAR announced its most drastic format change ever seen. To put it simply: races are now going to be divided into three segments, each Mexican Restaurant FREE SMALL 1 CHEESE I W/PURCHASE OF *20 OR MORE | PRESENT COUPON WITH PURCHASE EXP: 2/3/17 NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER OFFERS J Ii MON - THUR 11:00AM - 10:00PM FRI & SAT 11:00AM - 11:00PM 102 N. JEFFERSON STREET • DOWNTOWN EATONTON • 706-749-8255 '/CHICKEN FINGER PLATE 4 FINGERS Always 5 FINGERS a * h 0 e j^ f 6 FINGERS flavor. o aMffib GEVo Dairy Queen of Eatonton 113 Gray Rd • Eatonton, GA 31204 706-484-2445 HARDEST WORKING HAPPY 0 I HOUR ©! DRINKS THAT DO DOUBLETIME! WEEKDAYS 2-5 PM DQ BAKES! SNACKMENU Oven-Hot.and sized perfectly foijsnacking UNDER * 1 * 1 $ - Potato Skins Snack Wraps ■ Pretzel Sticks w/ Zesty Queso accounting for about 30-35 percent of the race’s total laps. The segments will be separated by a mandatory caution period. The drivers running in the top 10 at the end of each segment will earn bonus points, and segment winners receive points that will count toward the playoffs, incen- tivizing drivers to race hard throughout the entire event and not hold back until the end. Gone is the “Chase for the Cup,” too. NASCAR’s just calling it the playoffs now. Gone also is the reset of drivers’ points once the playoffs begin. In years past, the “Chase” automat ically put everyone on the same level, so a driver who’d won five races in the regular season, for example, would be cut down to the same starting point as a driver who hadn’t won a thing and barely made it into the “Chase.” Now, drivers will have 2,000 points added to those they accrued during the regular season, whether by way of a victory or segment win. This new system is fairer. My biggest gripe about the “Chase” was that, as I mentioned, the hard work drivers put in for the first 26 races was basically undone before the final 10. Now, every race means something, and those drivers who excel all year long will reap the benefits in the playoffs. There are more updates, but those are the primary ones I want to focus on. NASCAR fans are un derstandably divided over the new format. Of course, NASCAR fans are divided over every change that gets made. We’ve seen the leaders of the sport make great changes and bad changes. I think this new format will be a great one. The on-track action should be much improved which is a big plus and should be the goal of every change NASCAR makes. I’m encouraged by the drivers’ reactions since the updates were announced. Just about all of them think the sport is heading in the right direction with this new set of rules. If they can get excited about the updates, then I think we as viewers can, too. The only real issue I have with the changes is race length is unaffected. Races are entirely too long, and I’d hoped they would be short ened. I’m all for keeping the iconic events - the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Coca-Cola 600 - at their traditional lengths, but do we really need to have a 300-500-mile race week in and week out? Hopeful ly, this year’s changes will spur conversation about that very issue. Monday’s festivities could become as important to the history of NASCAR as Bill France’s original meeting with car owners to start the organization in the first place. I believe these changes will ultimately make or break NASCAR. For the sake of the sport and my fellow fans who would be disappointed to see it dissolve, I sincerely hope it’s the former. CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS 12 M 16 19 N D U 21 25 o 34 s 35 H 36 R 39 M O U 42 0 L D 47 G E E N 26 R B G 9 E 10 N 11 T ■ 114 A R I A 15 s 118 E N R E i 23 C E N T 127 B 148 H 44 O 28 145 T 149 B 55 T 56 H 57 A i 6^ Y 62 s A L 67 P R 0 N E ■ 7 °t E S J 64 68 71 H 46 T 31 P 32 E 33 T 38 0 V A 41 c L I P A L L S T 52 F 53 E 54 W 61 H I N 0 66 A L T 0 69 S E R F 7 P R v ■ REFER TO PUZZLE ON PAGE B9
