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Photo/Stephen Underwood
Repeat!
Jeff Biggs exalts after claiming his 2nd straight Class A title.
Biggs wins second title
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
What a difference a year makes.
Vast February, a third-place fin
ish’ in the Class A finals was gen
erally a cause for celebration for
tfie North Forsyth wrestling team:
major team placing and
High hopes for the future.
after a winter of No. 1
rankings, dominating victories
ain(i a roster seemingly full of
placers, things didn’t
spqm quite as sweet last weekend
Calhoun - even with another
tremendous individual champi
onship from Jeff Biggs and a fine
thard from Travis Wareham.
.Again, the Raiders were better
than all but two teams in the
sjtftte. But the way it happened
atjd the title hopes that were had
gelng in were cause for a little
disappointment.
’When head coach Jim Bishop’s
team came down to take what
Seemed like a miniature thfrd
pface trophy for their 124-1/2
point total, trailing Walker (162)
and Irwin County (154), there
was still a lot of success to point
to:
'<•- Biggs blazing through a field
'135-pounders en route to title
Nb. 2, the climax coming in a 11-
.1* 'domination of Landmark
Christian’s Joey Muchnick.
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- Wareham making the Raider
contingent explode with a dra
matic come-from-behind triumph
for the third-place medal at 171,
pinning Lyles of Jefferson with
three seconds left in the match ...
“The kids tried hard, but things
didn’t work out,” said Bishop.
“(But) Jeff wrestled as good a
state tournament as you could
wrestle ... ”
In fact, the senior 135-pounder
said, “It’s the best I’ve ever wres
tled.”
He knew his final opponent was
third last year and would be hard
to pin. “I knew it would be a
high-scoring match.”
But Biggs scored takedowns
and reversals and a three-point
near-fall in the second period. He
allowed just a measly point in the
final two minutes and when the
buzzer finally sounded, he leapt
in the air with joy.
Biggs also had pins in the first
two rounds and an 18-1 decision
in his semifinal, prompting his
coach to say at that point, “He
has wrestled picture-perfect.”
“I’ve been waiting for this a
long time,” he said. “We worked
a lot harder this year ... and the
coaches got me real confident.”
Published February 18,1998
BEST STORIES OF '9B
War Eagle hoops makes Final Four
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
The Class AA state tournament
and the South Forsyth boys bas
ketball team may have seemed
like strange bedfellows at various
times this season - especially
when a 3-game losing streak a
few weeks ago knocked them into
fourth place in their region.
But no more.
In fact, try the Class AA Final
Four, because the high-flying War
Eagles are bound for Macon, and
it’s going to take an awfully big
effort to bring them down.
With a stupendous performance
Saturday night, the War Eagles
overwhelmed fifth-ranked
Gainesville, 79-64, probably their
best game against a good team in
school history.
“We knew it would be the
biggest challenge of the year,”
said Ryan Campbell, who along
with Wesley Ellis played impor
tant backcourt roles off the bench.
“We came together and ran our
offense. We were looking for each
other.”
Now South will be following
their cheerleading counterparts to
the big dance in Macon, but this
time in the spacious Coliseum.
And the ante will be upped for the
8:30 p.m. Thursday night game,
as they will have to face No. 3
Perry - which sports a 29-1
record.
“This is something they’ll have
all of their lives,” said head coach
Richard Porter of the Final Four
experience. “People have told me
Perry is the quickest team we’ll
play all year ... it’s going to boil
down to if we play our game.”
And the War Eagles likely fear
no one now. Unlike Thursday’s
Rockmart game, South was on top
of every phase of the game all
night long and continued to
ascend to the level of the potential
they’ve always been thought to
have.
They controlled nearly the entire
game, especially when they start
ed the second half with a 13-3 run
to take a 47-32 lead. Every time
Gainesville came close after that,
South had an answer, the final
reply coming when the margin
dropped to six with 1:08 left and
they made nine of their last 12
free throws.
The War Eagles made 21 of 35
field goals (60 percent) and 33 of
42 charity tosses (79 percent).
Ken Dixon, in fact, was 22-of-26
from the stripe all by himself, en
route to tying his school-record of
32 points.
There was plenty of help, too,
like dynamic wing Derek Drew’s
19 points, and another fine game
inside from Jerimiah Thompson,
who added 10.
But it certainly was a “total team
effort”, overall.
“We broke their press and 90
■ w tI jt? ’Py
(V i/wsii i
h
, , Photo/Chris Pugh
Emotions of victory
The War Eagle boys basketball team lets loose after routing Gainesville in the Class AA quarters.
percent of the time kept our com
posure,” said Porter. “We were
working for good shots.”
Take the third quarter for
instance. South led 34-29 at the
half, then saw Drew come right
out and drain a 3-pointer to get
their fans going. Moments later,
Dixon had a great pass to
Jonathan Chase inside and it was
suddenly a 39-29 game.
Two plays later, it was Ryan
Campbell driving the lane for an
acrobatic layup and the margin
just kept growing. Dixon later
nailed two threes and two free
throws and it was finally 55-42
with eight minutes left.
South shot 9-for-13 in the sec-
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or forgotten, that's okay. Just because a
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doesn't mean he quits trying; next time he /% LF I I W I
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ii T
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thur»d«y, January 14,1999
ond half from the field.
Gainesville closed the margin to
nine early in the fourth after
threes by Josh Davis and Michael
Thurmond, but a traveling call
stopped their next trip and Drew
hit a free throw moments later.
Then Johnny Jimenez rebounded
Drew’s second attempt, and a foul
and a timeout later, Thompson
scored off another pass from
Dixon.
That made it 60-48 with 5:00
left in the game and it became a
foul-fest from there. South would
score their last 19 points on free
throws, including a handful from
two technicals called on
Gainesville.
The War Eagles grabbed a 6-2
lead right off the bat, but the Red
Elephants briefly pulled out to a
9-6 advantage. But Drew had
eight points in the quarter and
Carlos Jimenez a three to give
their team a 15-11 edge at the first
break.
In the second quarter Gainesville
scored six straight early and
briefly held leads at 19-17 and 29-
28.
But South scored the final six
points of the half on free throws
from Dixon and Thompson and a
bucket by Dixon.
Published March 4,1998
PAGE 17C