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Sports
Wednesday, February 13, 1985
Lady Bulldogs topple Johnson with late rally
By Greg Little
Sports Editor
GAINESVILLE Junior center Angie Fagan’s last
second rebound followup lifted the Forsyth County Lady
Bulldogs to a 51-49 upset of sub-region leading Johnson on
Friday night, but a game-ending controversy left the
validity of that triumph in question until Sunday.
The controversy arose when, after Johnson knotted the
score at 49-49 with :08 remaining, Forsyth inbounded the
ball and immediately signaled for a timeout. After the
teams’ sideline huddles, during which the game clock
was recycled from four seconds to six seconds, Forsyth
was given the ball at halfcourt.
Johnson coaches immediately balked, arguing that
because Forsyth’s timeout had been called with the ball
still inside the foul line, the Lady Bulldogs should have to
inbound from further down the court. The referees
denied the Johnson plea, however, and allowed the Lady
Bulldogs to set its inbounds play from halfcourt.
Fagan threw the ball in to junior guard Kerensa
Shoemake, who dribbled down the right side, whirled and
fired a desperation shot. The shot missed its mark, but a
hustling Fagan grabbed the rebound and beat the buzzer
with her followup to send Forsyth to an apparent 51-49
win.
The controversy erupted again, however, with Johnson
coaches arguing that had Forsyth been awarded the ball
in the correct spot, there would have been no time for
Fagan’s heroics.
“Some people thought they were arguing about how
much time had been put back on the clock, and some
thought they were arguing about whether Angie got the
shot off in time. But they were still arguing about where
we got the ball (on the inbounds play),” said Coach Jerry
Cauley, who added that he had expected a formal protest
from the Johnson coaches.
But none was forthcoming when coaches met on
Sunday to determine the seedings for this week’s Sub
region 8-AAAA West Basketball Tournament, and the
Forsyth victory stood.
The victory was made all the more sweet by the fact
that the Lady Bulldogs had to overcome a 10-point deficit
in the fourth quarter. They did so as Shoemake domi
nated the game’s pace with 11 points and a pair of crucial
steals.
JV ladies win
fifth in a row
By Greg Little
Sports Editor
GAINESVILLE After opening
the season with three straight losses
(two by single point margins), For
syth County’s junior varsity Lady
Bulldogs finished with a flurry, win
ning their fifth straight decision Fri
day with a 36-28 win over Johnson.
Junior guard Lisa Waldroop
sparked the victory with a game-high
12 points, coming off the bench when
Ellen Fries and Pam Roughton ran
into early foul trouble.
“Lisa normally suits up with the
varsity, but she had one (B-team)
game she could play so we had her
dress out for the last game. Ane even
though she didn’t start, she made a
big difference,” said Forsyth Coach
Jerry Cauley. “When Ellen and Pam
got into foul trouble, and we needed
some help at guard, she came in and
did the job. Her experience (with the
varsity) really helped against John
son’s press.”
Waldroop’s five third quarter
points allowed the Lady Bulldogs to
open a slim 21-18 halftime advantage
to a more secure 30-24 lead, which
Forsyth protected throughout the fi
nal stanza.
The Lady Bulldogs, beset by poor
free throw shooting (12-of-54) in their
previous four games, capitalized on
14-of-24 attempts against Johnson.
“This was the first game in awhile
that we shot over 50 percent from the
line. It sure makes things a lot easier
when you hit the free throws,” said
Cauley, whose team finished the sea
son with a 7-7 mark.
“I think the most obvious reason
(for the five straight wins) was the
fact that we had a full squad. Early in
the season, we only had seven or eight
players because we had so many
playing up on the varsity.
“But then those that weren’t play
ing a lot on the varsity moved down to
get some playing time on the B-team
and that gave us some depth. There’s
a lot of difference in having 13 or 14
players for a game and having only
seven.
“You can do so many more things,
and that depth really comes in handy
when you get in foul trouble like we
did against Johnson.”
Showing the depth that Cauley re
ferred to, 10 of the Lady Bulldogs’
players scored in Friday’s game,
with Rebecca Wilson, Beverly Gar
ner, Phyllis Ingram and Angie Grant
each tallying four points in s balanced
attack.
In the boys game, Forsyth fell to a
74-46 loss despite 13 points from
Jimmy Peecook and 11 points from
Shane Williams.
Forsyth fell to an early 18-12 deficit,
but managed to stay within striking
distance af halftime as Peecook’s
nine-point second quarter kept the
Bulldogs within a 36-28 margin.
But Johnson bombarded the Bull
dogs with 21 points in the third quar
ter, to Forsyth’s nine, to pull away for
the victory.
Forsyth (now 7-15 overall, 4-6 in sub-region play)
trailed 43-33 with just under six minutes to go when
Shoemake drove for a layup that turned into a three-point
play with her ensuing foul shot.
The Lady Bulldogs outscored their hosts 9-2 over the
next three minutes and pulled into a 45-45 deadlock when
Shoemake connected on a jumper from near the top of
the key. Forsyth’s momentum continued as Shoemake
stole Johnson’s inbounds pass, and guard Lisa Waldroop
gave the Lady Bulldogs their first lead since the game’s
early moments when she hit a 15-foot set shot.
After a missed field goal attempt by Johnson, Forsyth
went to its spread offense in an effort to run out the clock.
Waldroop had a chance to extend the lead to four points
with a one-and-one free throw opportunity, but misfired
on the attempt.
Waldroop atoned for the miss, however, by forcing a
jump ball on the ensuing scramble for the rebound.
Forsyth controlled the tip and, with :48 remaining,
Shoemake sank a pair of clutch free throws to give the
Lady Bulldogs a 51-47 advantage.
But Johnson refused to give up.
A drive by Laurie Burkett was followed by a missed
free throw opportunity by Forsyth’s Gina Sutko, and the
Lady Knights capitalized on their chance with a long
jump shot by Cantrell to tie the score and set the stage for
the final dramatics.
“You just can’t say enough about Kerensa and the way
she played in the fourth quarter. She just took over,”
Cauley said of the Forsyth junior who tied Sutko as the
Lady Bulldogs’ leading scorer with 14 points. “There was
the same look in her eyes that she had against North Hall
when she won the game with a last second shot.
“She came through when we needed it. She hit the big
baskets, she got a couple of steals, she made those foul
shots— and she took the ball for the last shot. When the
game’s on the line, she wants the ball,” Cauley said.
Cauley also lauded Fagan, who hustled from her
inbounds pass to move into position for the decisive
rebound.
“She did exactly what she was supposed to do. She got
position and put the ball back on for the basket.
“We had worked on rebounding and putting it back in
the hole the day before in practice. It was a boring drill,
but this sure made it worthwhile.”
Sub-Region 8-AAAA West
Basketball Tournament
1) Clarke Central
4) Johnson
Thur§., 7 p.m. -
Tues., 7 p.m. _____
5) Forsyth Co.
SaL, 8:30 p.m.
2) Berkmar Sub-region champ
3) Norcross
Thurs., 8:30 p.m.
Tues., 8:30 p.m,
6) ParXview
1) Clarke Central Girls
4) Forsyth
Fri., 7 p.m.
Wed., 7 p.m.
5) Norcross
Sat., 7 p.m.
Sub-region champ
2) Johnson
3 * Berkmar Fri., 8:30 p.m.
Wed., 8:30 p.m.
6) Parkview
Slaton, Elzey
capture berths
in state tourney
By Greg Little
Sports Editor
SNELLVILLE Forsyth County
seniors Mike Slaton and Mitchell El
zey realized their preseason goals of
advancing to the Class AAAA State
Wrestling Tournament by finishing
as medalists in last weekend’s Area 6
competition at Brookwood.
Slaton gained a berth in the state
tournament for the third consecutive
year by placing second in the area’s
167-lb. division, while heavyweight
Elzey advanced with a fourth place
area finish in his first season of
wrestling.
Slaton, seeded second in the tourna
ment, raised his season win total to 24
with decisions over South Gwinnett’s
Jenkins and Norcross’ Rivas, which
placed him in the area championship
match against Scott Romine.
Romine, the class’ top-seeded wres
tler from Berkmar and the defending
state champion, was responsible for
Slaton’s only regular season defeat
and showed why he is a good bet to
defend his title with a second period
pin of the Forsyth co-captain.
Forsyth County News
“Mike has trouble (with Romine)
because he’s taller than Mike is. He’s
got longer arms and legs, and that
gives him a lot more leverage,” said
Forsyth Coach Richie Taylor. “It’s
hard for Mike to work anything on
him because of that.”
Elzey captured a pair of pins in the
tournament in route to a fourth place
finish that qualified him for this
weekend’s state tournament.
Elzey opened the competition in the
heavyweight class with a victory over
South Gwinnett’s Shumate, a win
which was followed by a pin at the
hands of Berkmar’s Matt Mayhue,
the eventual area champion.
But with a state berth on the line in
the wrestlebacks match with Central
Gwinnett’s Hamby, Elzey came
through with another clutch victory.
Norcross’ Ireland captured third
place with a first period pin of Elzey
in the consolation finals.
The biggest disappointment for the
Bulldogs came when senior co-cap
tain Heath Williams, going for his
second consecutive state berth, was
Continued on Page 2B
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Bulldogs uninspired in
75-56 loss to Johnson
By Greg Little
Sports Editor
GAINESVILLE - Perhaps lulled
into a false sense of security by their
previous romp over Johnson, the For
syth County Bulldogs played an
uninspired game against the Knights
in last Friday’s rematch and came
away the victim of a 75-56 defeat.
“We just didn’t have the determin
ation to go out and win the game. It
was an instance of us taking them too
lightly because of the way we had
beaten them the first time,” said
Forsyth Coach Doug Fields, referring
to his team’s 78-57 rout of Johnson in
January.
“They were coming off a big win
Teams open tournament play
Regular season play in the 1984-85
high school basketball campaign
ended last weekend, and the Forsyth
County Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs
will now compete in this week’s Sub
region 8-AAAA West Basketball Tour
nament at Berkmar.
The Bulldogs finished the regular
season with a 10-12 overall record and
a 3-7 mark in sub-region play. Seeded
fifth, the Bulldogs were to face
fourth-seeded Johnson (3-7) in the
opening round of the sub-region tour
nament on Tuesday night (providing
Monday night’s snow and ice did not
force a postponement).
The tournament opener will act as
a rubber game between the two
(over Norcross on Tuesday) and they
were emotionally high. And we
played poorly.”
Offense or better, a lack of it
proved the Bulldogs’ biggest problem
in the initial period, as Johnson’s zone
repeatedly denied Forsyth access to
the inside, instead forcing the cold
shooting Bulldogs to launch ill-fated
shots from the outside.
The Bulldogs connected on but 2-of
-17 attempts from the field in the first
quarter.
But were it not for the talents of
senior center Kevin Bailey, the
Knights may not have been able to
take advantage of the Bulldogs’ lack
Continued on Page 2B
teams, as Forsyth rolled to a 78-57
win over Johnson in the season’s first
meeting while the Knights avenged
that loss with a 75-56 win in the season
finale.
The winner of that opening round
game will face top-seeded Clarke
Central (10-0) in a game scheduled
for Friday at 7 p.m.
In the other side of the boys tourna
ment bracket, third-seeded Norcross
(4-6) was to play sixth-seeded Park
view (2-8) in Tuesday’s other opener,
with the winner to play Berkmar (8-2)
Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
The boys championship game is set
Continued on Page 2B
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