Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
> FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Thursday, January 14,19>9
Sports Extra
Rowdies
soccer sign
up starts
Saturday
Spring 1999 registration with
the Forsyth Rowdies Soccer Club
will be held at the Forsyth
County Library on the following
Saturdays at the following times:
• Saturday, Jan. 16 from 10:30
a.m. -1 p.m.
• Saturday, Jan. 23 from 10:30
a.m. -1 p.m.
• Saturday, Jan. 30 from 2:30
p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Programs for ages 3-16 will be
available.
If you have questions regarding
the soccer programs, call the
Rowdies Voice Mail at (770)
384-6093, option #2, and leave a
message. Age cut-off date is
August 1. The registration fee of
S6O is due at registration.
The Under-4 Mini Camp fee is
S4O.
■ I
"JAN, 1■» |
V A jkC t-.rt wtrt . I , jrutrtJLl rt B
VWOK »V*v bOHW VS. LuiTtpKin £
(Bib-grade girls, then boys), |
I Forsyth Centra! 9fh-grade boys |
| hwm vs, Gainesville, 6 p.m. I
W» JAN* 15 |
I\ _ U . ~. s I
I South Forayfn home vs. Gilmer Co., I
|: UV «Ms, then bays) 4 p.m„ (varsity |
tfprsylh Central home vs. Fannin I
|. Co, (JV girls, then boys) 4:15 p.m., I
| Wy girls, then boys) 7 p.m.
| North Forsyth at Lumpldn Co., (var- I
then boys) I
I South Forsyth 9th-grade boys at I
I Cass, 5:15 p.m. I
| North Forsyth 9th-grade girls at I
| South Forsyth at Dahon Invitational, I
La. jAN.ie
< Forsyth and Forsyth Central at I
U Forsyth at Fannin Co., (JV
I ,V F then jys) 3 p.m., (varsity I
■
- ->***•'* ■' s ''
Mfam - •
jfl fflfl ■
BfK* fl MB h ■
fll •** 9
fl flfla' fl| fl
IB uuez - 'fl .
fl IhF •• wife
Hfc'A ' Mr fc -
Photo/Stephen Underwood
State champs-to-be
Kasey McPherson smacks one for the Forsyth 14-and-Under All-Star Team One in the GRPA
District 7 softball tourney.
Summer was time for rec
team standouts to shine
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
Fifth in a series
The summer turned hot with
Forsyth rec teams leading the
way in capturing baseball, soft
ball and swimming state titles.
June
22nd-27th - The Coal
Mountain Giants win the sea
son-ending 5-6 year-old baseball
tourney put on by the Forsyth
County Park and Rec
Department, while the Midway
Cardinals take the 9-10 year-old
event and the Cumming Braves
win the 7-8 year-old event.
30th - The signing of North
Forsyth baseball’s Class A
Player of the Year Bo Counts
to Kennesaw State is acknowl
edged at the school’s media cen
ter. Previously, Forsyth Central
grad Nathan Cothran, a senior at
KSU, had been named All-
American for the national run
ner-up Owls.
30th - Lady Raider softball
standout Mindy Bailey, a mem
ber of the ‘97 state champs,
signs with Abraham Baldwin
College (ABAC).
July
6th-llth - Forsyth County
youth baseball and softball
All-Star teams dominate GRPA
District 7 play at several loca
tion, winning six of eight titles.
North MS splits at Dawson Co., Otwell girls nip South
By Jonathan Hamilton and
Stephen Underwood
Sports Staff
If you think that the phrase
“solid defense” better applies to
the gridiron than the basketball
court, you obviously weren’t
courtside for the North Forsyth
Middle School 7th-grade boys’ or
the 7th-grade Otwell girls’ basket
ball action Monday afternoon.
North boys
North took a hard-fought 28-26
triumph from Dawson Middle
School in a game that was a story
of two halves.
The first all belonged to the
Wildcats, who jumped out to a
fast 5-1 lead over the Tigers.
North continued to apply pressure
in the second quarter, building a
13-6 lead at die the half.
Wes Gravitt and Mitchell Moore
1998: The Sports
Year in Review
Softball winners include the
18-and-Unders, the 16-and-
Unders, the 14-and-Under Team
One and the 10-and-Under Team
One.
Baseball winners were the 14-
and-Under Team One and the
12-and-Under Team One.
14th - The Georgia Games
Torch Run travels through
Cumming for the fourth consec
utive year, stopping with a brief
ceremony at the Cumming City
Hall.
16th-17th - The Forsyth 14-
and-Under Team One All-Stars
take fifth in the GRPA state tour
ney in Waycross.
17th-18th - The Forsyth 14-
and-Under Team One softball
All-Stars take the GRPA state
tournament in Jesup, winning
two, losing one, then finally
overcoming Cedartown (10-9)
for the championship.
The 18-and-Under softball All-
Stars take third in Wayne
County, while the 16-and-
Unders take fifth in Lyons. The
12-and-Under baseball All-Stars
are fifth in Moultrie.
22nd-25th - The Forsyth 10-
and-Under Team One baseball
All-Stars take their GRPA state
tournament in Jackson County,
rebounding in the “if” game
against Wayne County for an 8-4
win and the championship.
both keyed the strong defensive
effort for the Wildcats.
The Maroon and Gold came out
strong in the second half, but
North was equal to the challenge.
“Dawson was ready to play and
we just weren’t focused,” said
Wildcat seventh grade head coach
Bill Ruma. “I was very proud of
the way our team dug in and
played tough defense to preserve
the victory.”
Christopher Light seemed to be
everywhere on the floor, chipping
in a team-high 11 points and five
assists on offense while grabbing
five rebounds and harassing the
Tigers for four steals.
Dusty Holtzclaw and Adam
Teems each contributed four
points to support the winning
cause. David Patterson was solid,
posting three points on offense
and playing tough defense as
well.
Ryan Whittington, starting in his
<
The 10-and-Under softball All-
Stars take second in Dublin after
a tough 9-7 loss to Moultrie.
25th - At the GRPA District
7 Swim Meet in Gainesville,
The Forsyth Tide qualifies 50
swimmers in 54 individual
events and 16 relays for the state
meet. The Cumming Waves are
close behind with 34 qualifiers
in 29 individual events and 13
relays.
27th - It may still be July, but
Forsyth prep football teams
begin drills for the fall campaign
ahead.
August
Ist - The Cumming Waves
dominate for the second straight
year to take the NGSL title in
Gainesville.
Bth - An incredible effort
from Forsyth County and
Cumming swimmers at the
GRPA state meet in Carrollton.
For the Tide, Amanda Kettles
wins two individual gold medals
in the 8-and-Under age group,
Chris Collins wins the 18-and-
Under 100 free, Nathan Renaud
takes the 10-and-Under 100 indi
vidual medley and Steve Trotta
the 8-and-Under IM. Three Tide
relays also win.
For the Waves, Derek Britt
wins the 12-and-Under 50
breaststroke.
16th - WCW star Bill
Goldberg signs autographs for
3,000 people at Gold’s Gym.
7th-grade basketball
first game, played well on both
ends of the floor.
Otwell-South girls
In a purely defensive game, the
Otwell Lady Bullpups edged the
South Forsyth Lady Eagles, 17-
14, and the strength of a defense
that allowed just one basket in the
second half and an offense that
posted 12 second-half markers.
“We started out slowly,” said
Lady Bullpup head coach Nancy
Carter, whose team outscored
South 12-2 in the second half.
“But everyone continued to hus
tle, until it finally paid off.”
Amy Mohr led the Otwell
offense with 12 points, while
Whitney Gravitt contributed four.
Missy Lamb and Katie Long
grabbed every rebound within
Regional Sportswatch
Unbeaten Lady Dogs
must beat Tennessee
The University of Georgia
women’s basketball team is
undefeated at 14-0 and, in the
process, has set a new school
record for consecutive victories to
open the season. All but one win
has come by more than 10 points,
with an average margin of victory
of almost 30 points per contest.
The Lady Bulldogs are one of
only two unbeaten teams (along
with Virginia Tech) left in the
ladies’ ranks. Everything should
be coming up roses for coach
Andy Landers’ squad - right?
Wrong.
Don’t look now, but Thursday’s
competition comes in the form of
the top-ranked Tennessee team
and UGA must guard against get
ting embarrassed by a group being
hailed as possibly the best in the
history of women’s collegiate bas
ketball. Game time is 7 p.m. in
Knoxville and can be heard on
WNGC Radio, 95.5 FM in Athens.
Forget the Lady Vols’ early loss
to Purdue (stuff happens).
Consider the fact UT has earned
wins over Top-10 teams Louisiana
Tech, Duke and then-No. 1
Connecticut since then. Sunday’s
triumph (92-81) over the Lady
Huskies broke UConn’s 54-game
home winning streak.
The Lady Dogs have struggled
in their last three games, all in the
SEC, before managing to secure
wins over Alabama, Florida and
LSU. Sunday’s record-setting 73-
60 triumph at over the Lady Tigers
was far short of impressive.
“Winning was the only good
thing we did,” said Landers. “We
didn’t play very hard, we didn’t
shoot well, we didn’t pass well,
we didn’t find the open player, we
didn’t manage the clock well and
we made too many fouls.”
Thursday’s matchup will be the
most intensely-played basketball
game you’ll ever want to see. It
will involve more talent on the
same floor than you’ll find any
where else in America.
The two coaches, Landers and
Pat Summit, love nothing better
than to beat'the tar out of each
other. The phrase “no love lost”
fits their relationship to a tee.
It’s a shame this one won’t be
televised, because it’s going to be
a war.
The same two teams meet again
on Jan. 28 in Athens. If you’re a
sports fan of any level of competi
tion, make be in the
Stegeman Coliseum on that partic
ular Thursday night.
Whatever happens this week in
Knoxville won’t be the end of the
story - only a spirited beginning.
No Birds in Palmetto State
Pinch me. The Falcons are one
game away from the Super Bowl!
Is this a great country or what?
My wife’s family holds its
“Christmas get-together” in early
arm's length.
Kathryn Perkins came off the
bench with a strong effort for
Otwell.
South Middle opened up a 10-2
first quarter advantage in front of
their home crowd, but in the sec
ond both teams couldn’t put the
ball through the net as Otwell
managed three points while their
hosts could manage a lone bucket
for a 12-5 halftime lead.
The Lady Eagles struggled to get
their offense working in the third
quarter to no avail as the Lady
Bullpups cut the deficit the 12-9
with one quarter remaining.
Otwell is at Lumpkin next
Tuesday.
North girls
The North Forsyth 7th-grade
girls basketball team fell to 4-4
Monday when they were beaten
by Dawson County, 26-20.
Forsyth teams continue
Region 7-AA wars
FRIDAY
I Danny
Daniels
January each year and making the
five-hour trip to eastern Soutl
Carolina has never been a huge
burden. Not until this year have
the Falcons proved worthy of mj
attention and, wouldn’t you know
it, the NFC semi-finals were
scheduled for the same day as the
“get-together.”
I covered a pair of high schoo
games for newspaper, radio anc
TV (don’t ask!) Friday night anc
got home to Athens at 12:30 a.m
My head hit the pillow at 1 a.m
and the alarm sounded five hours
later. It was 6 o’clock on i
Saturday morning, but I was anx
ious to get up and hit the road.
Only six-and-a-half hours awaj
until kickoff!
We arrived at our destination 1!
minutes before game time and
immediately took off for the near
est television. I figured I coulc
visit my in-laws later - it was time
for the Dirty Birds!
I sat down with remote in hanc
and began to punch numbers
Nothing but static and snow on th<
screen. What’s going on?
Cable TV is a funny thing. If the
lines are down, the blame thifi|
doesn’t work. Seems my brother
in-law had had some trouble witi
ice on the lines and it snapped the
cable near his home.
Why now? Why me? OK, caln
down, it’s gotta be on radio. So,
started fidgeting with the dial anc
found basketball, music, preachin,
and talk. No Falcons football. No
a single station in the eastern par
of the Palmetto State supplied th<
biggest game in Atlanta history.
To make a long story short,
sweated for four hours and didn’
know the outcome until we startec
west at 4:15 p.m. and heard th<
final score on some little AH)
gospel station.
I had missed a victory over thi
mighty 49ers.
Wanna know what’s even mon
frustrating? I call the play-by-pla;
for a television station in Winde
that tapes the Georgia women’
basketball games.
Guess when the schedule-make
has placed the next Lady Bulldo
game?
While the Falcons are trying ti
slow down the high-powere<
Vikings this Sunday, I’ll be court
side for Georgia-Auburn.
I’ve never tried announcing oft
game while listening to anothe
one. Hope I can do it!
Danny Daniels is the sports edito
of The Winder News. His regiona
sports column appears each wee
in the Thursday edition.
The game was close at the en<
of each quarter, but North wa
outscored 6-2 in the final stanza.
“We had 12 steals and playe
excellent defense," said Nort
coach Paula Atkins. “Howevei
we had too many turnovers. An
we could not convert the stea
into points.”
The Lady Cats had a balance
attack, with Harley Ward scoria
six, while Katie Gravitt, Shanna
Cleland and Ashley Watson adde
four each. Cleland led North i
rebounds and steals, but overal
the Lady Tigers had too much. .
“Dawson hurt us on the boart
late in the game,” said Atkin
“and they made us pay for it b
capitalizing on our mistakes.”
The winners had leads of jui
one and two after the first an
third quarters respectively, and th
score was tied at the half, 12-12.
North’s next 7th-grade game
are Tuesday vs. Vickery Creek.";