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amaagag^L w*** **** ** ** 0 0 0 The Leader-Tribune, Wednesday, February 20.1991
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S Por ts
Lovvom
Officiating ,
tourney MVP
choices a hit
questionable
I'pi sure most folks
remember all the crying and
co mplaining the Columbus
schools officiating of Region in Fort 3AAA Valley did
about
during football season.
Several of the Columbus
coaches thought officials they were
victims of who recog¬
nized which team paid their
wa y. Well, alter the officiating
at Baker Saturday night in the
sub-region anything championship
games, if was ever
! out of balance (and I don't
think it was) during football
' season, the slate is certainly
r square I have now. lot of
seen a poor
officiating this season, both in
Fort Valley and on the road,
but would up have until Saturday night, I
to say that it was
poor for both parties rather
than biased.
Not so in these two
games. One official in particu¬
lar had a firm of who
would pay him after the game.
Poor officiating is a fact of
life in Ga. high school basket¬
ball, and at times, so is biased
officiating. At playoff time,
though, the associations are
supposed to be sending their
best. Officiating, They seldom do.
the end of though, deal was the
not the raw
PCHS teams received
Saturday night. In this admittedly writer's
opinion, biased, the which choice is of the* Most
Valuable Players was a worse
one than the many question¬
\ able choices made by the offi¬
cials.
The girls’ MVP was
Tamara Johnson of Kendrick.
In the tournament, she played
one game, scoring 32 points,
most of them in the second
half with the game in hand. I
don't think she was even her
team's best player in this
game, as Consuelo Askew did
much more to get Kendrick in
position Lady Trojan to blow out a tired
team in the sec¬
ond half.
Natalie White, on the
other hand, played three
ames in as many nights,
he scored 75 points in those
three games, 2 5 and 32 in the
semi-finals and finals.
When the two tough
games, Baker and Kendrick
were on the line, Natalie was
at her best, scoring 19 points
in the first half against Baker
and 16 aqainst Kendrick. In
those two games, she also
contributed ten rebounds,
eight You steals could and make six assists. the
same
case for Gre Streeter.
Sterling Hicks of Baker played
one game and was named
MVP. He did lead his team in
scoring, but he also missed
two free throws down the
stretch that gave Peach Co. a
chance to win.
Streeter, on the other
hand, scored 72 points in
9 three free games, including in the 13 of
14 throws last two
games. How these selec¬
were
tions made? One lady, who
writes Columbus part-time Ledger, made for the the
choices on her own. In every
other covered, sub-region either tournament the coach¬
IVe
es voted or all media covering
the tournament voted.
We've found out a k)t this
year about how they do things
in Columbus. Here's hoping
that after next year, the GHSA
sees fit to let them do it with¬
out us.
Don’t forget
"Antone Davis
Day” this Friday
in Fort Valley... 1A. ■
See story, Page
1
head for
Both teams reach sub-region finals, lose there
Both Peach County teams
advanced to the region tournament
after making the sub-region finals
in the tournament held at Baker
High in Columbus last week. Both
squads were beaten in the sub
region .title game, meaning they will
play the top team from the other
sub-region (3AAA West) this week,
Coach Maxine Cherry's Lady
Trojans likely fell victim to fatigue
in the championship game Saturday
night, as the game was their sixth in
eight days. opposition, the top-ranked
The
Lady Cherokees of Kendrick, had a
bye to the finals after beating the
Lady Trojans in a playoff for the
top seed Monday night.
Kendrick may have found out
early that Peach was a bit leg
weary, as a fast break explosion
midway through the first quarter
turned a 74 Lady Trojan lead into a
14-7 Kendrick lead. The Lady
Cherokees went on to lead 21-9
after one period.
The Kendrick lead stayed
around 12 for most of the second
period, as a double-teaming defense
kept Natalie White off balance and
the taller Columbus girls outre
bounded the Lady Trojans nearly
three to one.
Toward the end of the half,
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Boys All-Tournament selection
Greg Streeter (34) drives and scores over Baker's Frank Watts in Saturday's sub-region tourney finals.
Streeter was named, along with teammate Marcus Robinson, to the All-Toumament team. Photo by
Eric Zellars.
though, the visitors made a run, cut
ting the deficit to 34-28 at the
break.
The Lady Cherokees proved in
the third quarter why they are
ranked first in the state in AAA, or
they proved that the Lady Trojans
were much more fatigued than any
one would admit.
With the fast break producing
easy baskets time and again,
Kendrick buried the hopes of the
PC squad with a 29-point quarter
that produced a 63-47 lead after
three.
The gap grew to as many as 30
in the final quarter with the final
count being 84-62.
White led the Lady Trojans
with 32 points, followed by Jocelyn
Howard with 15. Nikki Zachery
contributed 12 rebounds.
White and Howard were named
to the All-Toumament team, with
the girls' MVP award going to
Kendrick's Tamara Johnson.
The Lady Trojans made it to
the finals with a 70-51 win over
Harris County on Wednesday night
and a 70-58 win over Baker on
Thursday night.
Coach Cherry's girls will pre
pare this week for a Friday night
game against Southeast Macon,
The two teams met in the finals of
the Crossroads Invitational
Christmas Tournament in Perry,
with Southeast winning by a score
of 81-78.
The game will be played at
7:00 Friday night at Columbus
High,
Trojans lose close one
to Baker. 65-63
The Peach County Trojans are
also headed for region tournament
action after making the finals of last
week's sub-region tournament.
The Trojans were beaten by
Baker in the sub-region finals, thus
will face Carver on Friday night
while Baker takes on Jordan.
While the girls' game was
decided fairly early, this one came
right down to the final shot. One
could say that the Trojans came
within one shot of wearing the sub
region crown. One could also say,
quite accurately, that the Trojans
came within a couple of officials’
calls of at least having a chance to
wear the crown,
Truthfully, neither coach
appeared pleased with the officiat
ing, but it was fairly obvious that
PC was the biggest victim. After
center Marcus Robinson scored ten
first quarter points from close
range, Baker sagged their defense
on the 6’5" sophomore, and got
away with a magging that would
have had them arrested out on the
streets.
While Robinson was allowed
to play, the Trojans built a 21-9 first
period lead. In the second quarter,
he was held to one basket, and the
Trojans had to score the last five
points of the half to take a 34-28
lead at the break.
Baker caught up in the third
period, and the game went to the
fourth knotted at 48.
Things looked pretty bleak for
PC as Baker built a six-point lead
with one minute left. The last two
points of the lead came after the
officials called an intentional foul,
giving Baker two shots and the ball,
when Greg Streeter clearly lunged
for the ball on the play.
To make that call even more
obvious, Luwon Penamon was
nearly tackled on a fast break less
than half a minute later and the call
was simply a regular personal refused foul.
Still, the young Trojans
to die. Aided by a couple of missed
one-and-one opportunities, they got
within two, then rebounded another
Region 3AAA Tournament
Columbus High
Friday
1. Kendrick vs. Carver (girls) 4:00
2. Baker vs. Jordan (boys) 5:30
3. Peach Co. vs. SE Macon (girls) 7:00
4. Peach Co. vs. Carver (boys) 8:30
Saturday
5. Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 winner 7:00
6. Game 2 winner vs. Game 4 winner 8:30
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All-Tournament selection...
Sophomore forward Jocelyn Howard (pictured) and senior guard
Natalie White were named to the All-Tournament team in last
week's sub-region tourney. Photo by Eric Zellars.
IB
miss with seven seconds.
With no timeouts, Marquez
McGhee fired up a three-pointer at
the buzzer that just missed, giving
Baker a 65-63 win.
Greg Streeter scored 19 points
and Marcus Robinson 14 for the
Trojans. Both were named to the
All-Toumament team afterward.
Coach Dudley Eubanks' squad
made it to the finals with a tremen¬
dous effort on Thursday night.
Against a Harris County team that
had beaten them earlier in the sea¬
son, the Trojans took a 7646 win,
producing a defensive effort that
completely stifled the Tiger game.
Streeter led with 32 points in
that game and Trent Parker added
17.
The Trojans take on Carver at
8:30 on Friday night at Columbus
High.
Friday night’s winners will
meet Saturday for the region title,
with all four teams (boys and girls)
who play Saturday advancing to the
state tournament the following
week.
The Trojans are now 19-7,
while the Lady Trojans are 20-7.