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Sports
Sunday, February 10, 1985
Lady Dogs edge
past Johnson in
controversial win
GAINESVILLE A controver
sial finish gave the Forsyth
County Lady Bulldogs a thrilling
51-49 win over Johnson on Friday
night. Junior Angie Fagan’s re
bound followup of teammate Ke
rensa Shoemake fell through the
basket as the final buzzer sounded.
But Johnson coaches plan to file
a protest of the game’s final six
seconds, when after tying basket
by the Lady Knights and an imme
diate timeout by Forsyth, the
Lady Bulldogs were given the ball
for the inbounds play at halfcourt.
Johnson coaches argued that For
syth should have had to inbounds
the ball deep in their end of the
court because of the Lady Bull
dogs’ location when the timeout
was called.
But the referee’s ruling stood,
and Fagan’s last-second heroics
gave the Lady Bulldogs the win.
Wednesday’s edition of the news
will include a closer look at the
Lady Bulldogs’ win, and the Bull
dogs 75-56 loss to the Knights.
Bullpups, Lady Gators rule freshman tournament
By Greg Little
The Sunday News
The top-seeded teams in last week’s annual Ninth
Grade Basketball Tournament played true to form, as
South Forsyth’s Lady Gators and Otwell’s Bullpups both
added tournament championships to their regular season
county titles.
A stellar 21-point, 20-rebound performance by Kim
Dixon propelled the Lady Gators to their 43-34
championship game victory over North Habersham
Friday night. For Dixon, who has played the entire
season with a hip disorder that will require surgery in the
near future,
South Forsyth’s Kim Dixon, who has played the entire
season with a hip disorder that will require surgery in the
near future, keyed the Lady Gators to a 43-34
championship game victory over North Habersham on
Friday. Dixon took advantage of North Habersham’s
overplaying tactics on Linda Diggle, who had scored 29
points in the previous night’s 62-37 defeat of North
Forsyth, finishing with a stellar performance that in
cluded 21 points and 20 rebounds.
“That’s the way it’s been all year,” said South Forsyth
Coach Betty Pope. “When Diggle’s having an off night,
Dixon always seemed to have a good game. And when
Dixon’s off, Diggle comes through.
“(North Hab) had watched our game the night before,
when Diggle really played well, and I think they really
concentrated on stopping her,” Pope said of the team’s
leading scorer, who although held to 10 points in the
championship game, contributed 22 rebounds to the Lady
Gators’ cause. “And Kim really played well.”
Dixon scored South Forsyth’s first eight points of the
game, and her 10-point first quarter allowed the Lady
Gators to open a 13-9 lead.
The Lady Gators held a 20-14 lead at the intermission
and, while not exactly dominating their opponent, were
well in control of the game’s tempo.
But a shaky start in the second half saw the Lady
Gators go four minutes without scoring and North
Habersham rallied for a 20-20 tie with 4:08 left in the third
quarter.
“We weren’t going down and setting up the offense. We
were just going down and throwing the ball away or
taking shots we shouldn’t have been taking,” said Pope,
noting that North Habersham’s defensive tactics often
forced South Forsyth to run with the ball in an effort to
beat its press.
Gina Tate broke the scoring drought with a pair of free
throws at the 3:13 mark, and Dixon followed with a three
point play and two more free throws to provide the Lady
Gators with a seven-point cushion they would enjoy the
rest of the way.
JV, junior high
wrestling teams
finish seasons
Forsyth County’s junior varsity
and junior high school wrestling sea
sons came to a close last Wednesday,
thus marking the end of a successful
campaign that initiated an impres
sive group of young wrestlers into the
Bulldogs’ program.
And as Coach Richie Taylor noted,
the future of Forsyth wrestling
brightens with the prospects of this
year’s younger grapplers moving up
to the varsity squad.
“My first year (as wrestling coach
in 1983-84), we had one freshman on
the team. This year we have two. But
next year, if everybody sticks with it,
we’ll have at least 15. If we could get
that many every year, and keep them
in the program til they’re seniors, we
could get something good going,”
Taylor said.
“Wrestling’s not like football or
baseball, where the kids start playing
in the youth leagues and keep on
playing all the way up. We need to get
them involved at the earliest possible
age, and that means we’ve got to
start (at the junior highs).
“We’ve got it going this year, but
(because of transportation problems
and a lack of funds) we only have
wrestlers from Otwell. We’d love to
get North (Forsyth) and South (For-
See WRESTLERS, Page 4B
Forsyth teams overpowered by Clarke Central
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Angie Fagan, Gina Sutko and Christi Woodham defend against shot by Clarke player
Dixon and Diggle each scored six points in the fourth
quarter to offset North Habersham’s rallying attempts
and secure the victory.
“Winning the tournament was one of the goals we set at
the first of the season, and I’m telling you, it really feels
great to get it,” Pope said. ‘This was probably the best
all-around game they’ve played they picked the right
■ time for it.”
South Forsyth’s Gators almost pulled a sweep of the
tournament title, forcing the boys championship game to
the wire before Otwell finally rose to claim a 47-43
triumph that capped a season of success for the Bullpups.
Guard Billy Kemp “played his best game of the year,”
according to Otwell Coach Steve Barnes, scoring 19
points to lead all scorers and controlling the Bullpups’
offense.
Kemp’s six first quarter points triggered the Otwell to
a 12-6 advantage, but the Gators came storming back in
the second stanza to catapult themselves into a 24-19 lead
by intermission.
South Forsyth’s inside muscle paid off the the Gators in
the rally, as center Scott Stanfield made his presence felt
on the boards. Stanfield and forward Eddie Stowers
combined for 10 points in the Gators’ surge, and Brad
Carver found his outside shooting touch for another six
pointsas South Forsyth outscored Otwell 18-7.
As in the two teams’ second regular season meeting,
South Forsyth carried a lead into the fourth quarter,
despite Kemp’s nine-point effort in the third period.
But in the final stanza, Otwell’s quickness and de
fensive pressure became prominent. David Holbrook
sparked the Bullpups’ press that, while not overwhelm
ing the Gators, did manage to force turnovers at critical
moments.
A pair of Matthew Hughes foul shots gave Otwell its
first lead since early in the second quarter at 34-33, and
the final 5:06 proved to be a nail-biting spectacle.
The Bullpups never allowed South Forsyth to reclaim
the lead down the stretch, but three times the Gators
managed to pull back into a tie, the last time on an assist
from Carver to Stanfield for a layup that knotted the
score at 41-41 with 2:58 left.
Holbrook connected on the front end of a one-and-one
free throw opportunity to give the Bullpups a 42-41 lead,
and then forced two straight turnovers from the Gators.
Otwell had to wait until the final minute to clinch the
win. After a Kemp free throw opened up a two-point lead,
Kelly Whitmire twice rebounded errant foul shots by the
Bullpups, taking the second and driving for a layup that
gave Otwell a 45-41 advantage.
Hughes countered a rebound followup by Stanfield with
a pair of foul shots to clinch the victory.
“This is why I love to coach it feels so good to win a
game like that,” said a wearied Barnes after the contest.
1
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Otwell eighth grader Ron Seay rallied for a third period pin of Riverside opponent
Forsyth County News
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Li: J i li
South Forsyth’s Lady Gators celebrate championship victory over Hab Central
“This was one of the goals we set for ourselves at the
start of the season and it’s great to get it.
‘We said we wanted to win at least seven games outside
of the county, and we did that. We wanted to win at least
10 games overall and be county champions, and we did
that. And the last goal was to be tournament champs.
And we are.”
Hughes added 16 points to the Bullpups championship
cause, while Carver and Stanfield finished with 12 points
apiece for South Forsyth.
Otwell entered the championship bout with a 13-1 mark
that included the previous night’s 59-57 win over North
Habersham that came when Ritchie Pirkle connected on
a pair of foul shots with four seconds on the clock. South
Forsyth went into the title game with a 4-11 mark and
fresh off a similarly close 42-41 win over North Forsyth in
By Greg Little
The Sunday News
ATHENS Clarke Central’s var
sity basketball squads carry the repu
tation of being extremely tough to
beat on their home court and the
Gladiators and Lady Gladiators
added credence to that fact last
Wednesday with lopsided wins over
their Sub-region 8-AAAA West mates
from Forsyth County.
The postponement of the games
originally scheduled for Tuesday, but
not played because of the icy
weather, may have been an omen for
the Forsyth squads.
The Lady Bulldogs dropped a 48-24
decision to the Lady Gladiators while
the Bulldogs fell victim to an 84-58
defeat in the boys contest.
In the girls game, Forsyth (6-15
overall, 3-6 in sub-region play) was
seeking to avenge an earlier loss to
the Lady Gladiators. And through the
first, the Lady Bulldogs appeared to
be playing well enough to attain that
goal.
An outstanding defensive effort
held Clarke’s leading scorer Rena
Know, who exploded for 36 points in
the teams’ first meeting, to but two
points by halftime. And sophomore
the opening round.
Butßames noted that despite the disparity in the two
teams’ records, he did not expect an easy time. “You’ve
got to give all the credit in the world to South Forsyth.
(Coach) Troy Collins has really brought them around,
and they played their hearts out.
“I’m proud of the team. They had to play well to win.
South kept us out of our offense for most of the game, but
when we had to do it, we did. That’s the way it’s been all
year. They’re winners,” Barnes said.
North Forsyth’s teams captured victories in the tour
nament’s consolation games to place third. The Lady
Wildcats used a 22-point performance by Scarlett Martin
to defeat Otwellby a 51-44 count, while Tommy Francis’
17 points keyed the Wildcats’ 58-51 win over North
Habersham.
Forsyth wrestlers 8-8
after loss to Riverside
A winning season was on the line
for Forsyth County when the Bull
dogs’ varsity wrestlers took to the
mats last Wednesday against River
side. Already assured of no worse
than a breakeven regular season re
cord, the Bulldogs were hoping for
one last win and a finishing mark of 9-
7.
But a strong Riverside squad
spoiled Forsyth’s hopes with a 41-24
victory in the match postponed from
Tuesday’s original date due to the icy
weather.
The Bulldogs thus ended their regu
lar season campaign with an 8-8 re
cord.
Senior co-captains Mike Slaton and
Heath Williams each marked the
final home match of his high school
career with a win to highlight the
Bulldogs’ efforts.
Slaton upped his individual record
to 22-1 with a hardfought 4-2 decision
over Richard Bisao in the 170-lb.
class. A third period takedown pro
vided Slaton with the eventual win
ning margin in a match in which he
never trailed.
Williams moved into a tie with
Slaton for the team lead in pins (16)
with his first period stick of Eddie
Ardell in the 129-lb. match. With the
pin, Williams raised his individual
mark to 18-5.
Gina Sutko’s nine-point half kept the
game in a see-saw state through
much of the early going.
But Lisa Britton and Sharon Mc-
Kinley connected on a pair of jump
shots in the final minute of the second
quarter to allow Clarke to carry a 19-
16 advantage to the locker room.
Clarke then reeled off the first nine
points of the second half, and that
proved to be all the Lady Gladiators
needed for the victory as Forsyth’s
offense turned suddenly cold. The
Lady Bulldogs managed but two field
goals and eight points in the second
half.
Sutko finished as Forsyth’s top
scorer with nine points, while Britton
and McKinley paced Clarke with 14
points each. Knox finished with but 10
points.
Clarke’s boys put on a run-and-gun
floor show that resulted in the Bull
dogs’ worse defeat of the season
despite an 18-point, four-slam dunk
performance by senior center Randy
Chester.
Clarke slowly pulled out to a 19-14
advantage in the first quarter, paced
by Danny Riddle’s eight-point effort.
But Forsyth rallied early in the ensu-
See BASKETBALL. Page 4B
Sophomore Timmie Shadbum re
corded the Bulldogs’ only other pin of
the match. After dominating Jamie
Kidd and narrowly missing pins with
a pair of early near falls, Shadbum
beat the clock with a pin in the final 11
seconds of the 135-lb. match’s initial
period.
Shadbura's victory followed Wil
liams’ pin and a 5-1 decision by sopho
more Tim Halyak over Kenny
Donalotso in the 122-lb. class to nar
row Forsyth’s early deficit of 18-0 to
18-15.
But Riverside claimed wins (two by
pins, one by a major decision) in the
next three classifications to expand
its lead to a match-clinching 35-18
advantage.
David Price earned Forsyth’s other
points by virtue of a disqualification
of Riverside’s Don Williams in the
118-lb. match. Williams injured Price
with an illegal body slam that ren
dered the Forsyth junior unable to
continue wrestling and thus resulted
in a forfeit by the Riverside grappler.
“We were hoping to get a win and
finish up 9-7,” said Forsyth Coach
Richie Taylor, noting that a winning
season was one of the Bulldogs’ goals
at the start of the season. “But 8-8 is
nothing to be ashamed of. Especially
when you realise we’ve got eight
wrestlers coining back next year-
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