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
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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
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REFER TO PUZZLE ON PAGE B9
