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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS WWln—<tay. F«t»ru»ry 3,190 T
Upon Further Review...
V' 1
Birds grounded, but wait ’til next year!
The Atlanta Falcons finally met
the enemy Sunday. Themselves.
• Denver’s 34-19 win in Super
Bowl XXXIII was a function of
Falcon largess. From the team that
led the NFL in turnover ratio, the
/Broncos garnered three intercep
, tions and a fumble.
. The Falcons ventured into
jßronco territory on both third
possessions. Both ended
With interceptions. Ditto the first
possession of the fourth quarter.
During this vexing stretch, the
Broncos waxed their lead from a
- precarious 17-6 to a comfortable
3-1-6. Game, set, match.
The Falcons certainly had their
chances. All told, eight of 11 dri
ves ended in Denver territory.
Over the final three quarters,
v dyery Falcon drive crossed mid
held save two: one ending at the
half, one ending with Jamal
' Anderson’s fumble with a minute
left.
-And let’s not forget another cul
prit in this sordid affair. Who’d
have thought we’d spend Super
Sunday asking, “Where have you
This Week in Fishing
Cold and rain slow down fishing on Lanier
LAKE LANIER FISHING
REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 3,
1999
■ * A
, Lake Sidney Lanier is down 6.2
feet and the water temperature is
low 50s. The main lake is clear
and the creeks and rivers are
stained. The best day for fishing
will be Friday, Feb. 5 from 8:30
a.m. until 11:20 a.m. The next full
moon is March 2.
*"•;BLACK BASS have been
’•forced into deep points and old
natural ditches.
The up-lake fish are barely fair
and they have been pushed into
the heavy cover with the poor
weather. With the heavy rains and
runoff this cold water brings, bass
are reacting by moving into the
thick cover all over the lake.
Once the weather breaks, bass
will still be under the cold water
influence for several days before
, feeding. All the lake’s bass are
deep at 10 feet and tight on cover.
There is a lot of water flowing
into the lake and the waters will
take more than a week to clear.
The upper lake fish will stay in
the deep cover and worms and
jigs are going to be the better
lures for these fish.
Use all brown or all black
Stanley jigs in the 3/8-ounce size
with a matching Uncle Josh #ll
trailer. Add some extra scent and
SOUTH from IB
31 points - including two triples.
On the other end of the spectrum,
Brian Williamson -a “youngster”
on the team as a ‘9B graduate -
scored 11 points
From the class of ‘95, Jim
Salmond had nine points and Stacy
Geisler, who was coached by her
younger sister, scored five. Geisler
was the only female playing, so
she was determined not to be the
low scorer. Seth Hudgins and Ben
West from ‘96 scored eight and
nine points respectively, West nail
ing two 3-pointers, and Bobby
Heslep (‘94) added four.
For the winning Buccaneers, Kris
Knoebel (*96) had a team-high 22
joints and a game-high four 3-
pointers. Standouts from last year’s
Final Four team, Ken Dixon scored
19 points - including two threes -
and Jonathan Chase had 12 points.
Grads from 1991, Danny Grimes
and Davi Harvey played and
Harvey scored six points. Doug
Mathis (*95) scored five and Josh
Qwings (‘97) four.
•The officials of the game were
three of the present stars at South;
Katie Vaughan, Johnny Jimenez
and Blake Brewer ran up and down
the court ail afternoon with whis
tles in their mouths.
. .'They almost never blew them
unless the ball went out of bounds.
Surely, varsity coaches Debbie
Blake and Richard Porter have
taught them what a foul is - but
mostly it was “no blood, no foul”
and "Let 'em run.”
' The coaches for the Violators
were Kristy Geisler, Jacquelyn
gone, Mr. Robinson?” Safety
Eugene stole the spotlight with his
arrest early on Super Sunday,
apparently looking for love in all
the wrong places.
Late in the first half, Robinson
was looking for Bronco receiver
Rod Smith in all the wrong
places. The 80-yard touchdown,
past a badly-beaten Robinson,
gave Denver a 17-3 lead. It hap
pened so fast that FOX was barely
to break from some of its myriad
commercials to catch the play.
The play came immediately after
the Great Dane, Morten
Andersen, missed a chippie field
goal.
It’s really quite simple. In a big
game against a great team, one or
two plays can make the differ
ence. The Falcons coughed up a
handful.
Now, after all the tumult and
shouting, where do we stand?
Denver gains status as one of the
all-time teams in the NFL, only
the sixth team to cop back-to-back
Super Bowls.
John Elway can ride into the
work the heaviest cover around
docks and deep wood. Use a
Zoom lizard on a Texas rig in
pumpkinseed and all black.
Sharp cuts and points are good
holding areas for the bass. Fish all
baits very slowly and fish in the
backs of the lower lake creeks and
around docks. Use a 7A Bomber
in lime tiger or red crawfish crank
bait, bump the wood and bounce
these baits off rockv points.
The back of Limestone Creek
would be a good location to work
baits from mid day until dark.
Action will be better with any
sunlight to warm the shallows.
SPOTTED BASS are fair and
they are deep. Fish on any main
lake rocky or hard mud point, up
and down lake.
Sandy banks can warm the
waters with some sunlight, but
work the main lake points and in
the deep natural or man-made
structure. Worms, curly tail grubs
and hair jigs with a small pork
trailer will be the best baits.
Dark, small Bulldog Cricket 1/4-
ounce deer hair jigs and a dark
#lOl Uncle Josh pork trailer, as
well as the Zoom Creepy Crawler,
slowly worked can produce some
quality spots. The Chompers jig
in watermelon green has been
working in the deeper waters.
It’s hard to beat a green worm on
a Texas rig, but use a light 1/4-
Evans and Dino Tzortzis. For the
Buccaneers, it was Josh Campbell,
Jennifer Thompson and Sarah
Dotson.
All of the coaches stood on the
sidelines and yelled at players who
were older and slower than they
are. These coaches could not
understand why the alumni could
not run as fast or jump as high as
they could.
After the game, the players gath
ered to eat pizza, drink soft drinks
and describe why they lost. The
reasons were the same coaches
have given ever since the game left
Springfield, Mass.
“My timing was off because I
haven’t played in two years.”
“Yes, as well as I played today, if
I were to have a couple of days to
workout, I could play as well as
ever.”
“We turned the ball over too
much. You can’t win, if you turn
the ball over.”
“My shots just did not drop
today.”
They also described why they
won.
“I know I’ve put on a little weight
from sitting and studying while in
college, but I do go out occasional
ly and shoot hoops.”
“When do you have time to shoot
hoops?’
“Well, I stopped by the gym on
my way to a party the other night
and shot some hoops.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet you did.”
No one complained about the
officials, coaches, or fans. They
wondered how they would feel on
Colorado sunset on top of the
world. What a finish! Two titles
and an MVP performance cap the
career of the guy who couldn’t
win the big one for so long.
And, of course, Mike Shanahan
is the newest resident genius of
the NFL.
But Dan Reeves isn’t far behind.
Reeves now boasts the dubious
distinction of being tied for the
lead in Super Bowl losses as a
head coach.
A quick scan of that list shows
Reeves to be in pretty good com
pany: Don Shula, Marv Levy and
the Great Stone Face, Bud Grant,
also lost four big ones.
In other words, you’ve got to be
good to get to the big dance. And
no one has ever had as far to go to
get there.
Even with the Super Bowl loss,
this was a wondrous season for
Reeves and the Falcons. Future
seasons will lack the mystical
first-time fever of this one.
But future seasons will also have
something previously nonexistent
in Falcon history: expectations.
ounce sinker. Work around the
docks, skipping the jig and pig or
the worm under them.
Don’t put the spoons away just
yqf. Use a 1/2-ounce Sidewinder
on the points and sharp drops
from 20 to 40 feet deep.
In the back of Duckett Mill and
similar river areas, work the baby
bass Zoom finesse worm and doo
dle the docks. Deep marina slips
can offer a few active fish later
each day as the docks warm from
sunlight.
STRIPERS are tough to find
and catch as they move up both
rivers, looking for schools of bait
fish. The fish are not in large
schools and only a few fish are
coming into the shallows at any
one time of the day.
The best way to work these fish
is to pay close attention to the
pockets just off the main river.
There may only be a single swirl
on the surface, but this can be the
only signal that the fish are there.
Watch the birds and loons arid
they will be close to the bait fish.
Start out at Gainesville Marina
and run two flat lines with trout
and two down lines with shiners.
The key is to keep moving.
River Forks Park is holding
some schools of bait and a few
stripers. Trolling large chartreuse
and all white buck tail jigs has
been taking most of the fish.
Sunday and talked about what had
happened since wearing the uni
form of the War Eagles.
Boys varsity game
The War Eagles lost 54-52 to
Class AAAA Milton Eagles. With
the scored tied at 52 and 1:23 left
on the clock. Milton held the ball
then scored the winner with just a
half-second left in the game.
“Our kids played as well as any
one could have asked,” said South
coach Richard Porter. “The game
(Friday) against Central had every
thing high school basketball is sup
posed to have. The coaches and
fans for both schools were into the
game. The emotions went back
and forth and the players gave
everything players are supposed to
give.”
“Our players were drained, but
they played hard tonight,” he
added. “It’s just hard to get up two
nights in a row and defeat two
good ball teams.”
Josh Campbell led South with 14
points and Derek Drew had 12.
Austin Burger added eight, Johnny
Jimenez seven, Josh Tyson and
Blake Brewer four each and Justin
White three.
South led at the end of the first
quarter, 12-9, with Jimenez and
Campbell each getting triples in
the quarter. Jn the second, Milton
scored 14’pbints and South 12.
Drew and Brewer had four points
and South still led, 24-23.
During the third, Milton had four
3-pointers and three field goals.
Campbell had nine in the quarter,
including a 3-pointer and three
Denton I
Ash way
Reeves often told his players
that “champions never stop prov
ing it.” That will be their charge
for next season.
They will expect to win, expect
to challenge for another Super
Bowl berth. And all of us will
expect no less.
This is amazing stuff. In five
short months, our entire percep
tion of the Falcons - and indeed,
the team’s perception of itself -
has completely changed.
You sense that this could be the
start of something big. For once,
you can say “Wait ’til next year!”
and really mean it, really feel it.
And by the way. Isn’t the Super
Bowl in Atlanta next year?
Ken W“|
Sturdivant
The umbrella rig is catching
some fish and trv trolling it 25
feet deep over points and humps
on both rivers. Large all-white
Mac Farr Super Jigs are the old
stand-by lures. If the fish don’t
cooperate, head out to the mouths
of the upper river creek mouths
and keep trolling. The fish have
simply scattered almost every
where up the rivers.
CRAPPIE are deep to 25 feet
and the fish are in large schools in
and around the major deep water
docks.
Use dark Deep South tube lures,
Hal Flies and minnows and try to
fish around any large blow downs
in the creeks. The crappie spend
the colder months around these
deep docks because that is where
their food lives.
Large schools can be picked up
on a good depth finder. Use verti
cal presentations on light 1/16-
lead head jigs. Line sizes are not
heavier than 4-pound test clear
Super Silver Thread.
points on a field goal and a foul
shot. Drew added four and at the
end of three quarter, Milton had a
two-point lead, 44-42.
Both teams scored ten points in
the last quarter. After Milton took
the lead with a half second left,
South missed a long desperation
shot.
Girls
The Lady War Eagles dropped a
45-32 decision. The leading scorer
for South was Jennifer Thompson
with ten points. Erin Mulryan and
Katie Vaughan each scored nine
points.
At the end of the first quarter,
South led 9-6, but Milton scored
ten points to start the second quar
ter and held South scoreless until
the last 36 seconds when Vaughan
and Thompson both hit three
pointers. At the end of the half,
South trailed, 16-15.
In the third quarter, South again
scored just six points. T\vo baskets
by Mulryan and two free throws by
Vaughan. Milton scored 14 points
to pull away, 30-21.
In the final quarter. South scored
11. Thompson had five, including
a triple. Mulryan, Vaughan and
Evans scored two points each.
Milton scored 15 points, including
eight foul shots late in the game
when South started fouling hoping
to catch the Lady Eagles.
South will play three region
opponents this week. On Tuesday
they played Cartersville on the
road and will host Lumpkin
County on Friday and White
County on Saturday.
GIRLS from IB
If people doubted that the 2-8
Otwell girls’ squad was for real
coming into the tournament they
found out different as the tough
team refused to bend to teams
with far better regular-season
records. It was their sheer deter
mination that carried them to the
top.
“They just keep working so
hard,” said Carter. “They kept
playbooks on their own. They
even wanted to practice on
Monday.”
After their big victory on Friday
night over Dawson, the Lady
Pups rode the tidal wave of emo
tion to their 29-21 championship
victory over the Lady Wildcats -
outscoring them 13-2 in the final
period to erase a 3-point deficit.
Otwell held leads of 6-2 and 10-
8 at the first two breaks, but North
outscored them 11-6 in the third
period to take a 19-16 advantage.
Amy Mohr had a game-high 13
points, to bring her tournament
scoring average to 16.0. Whitney
Gravitt added 10 huge points and
Colette Cochran and Misty Lamb
chipped in with four and two
respectively. Cochran and Lamb
were forces under the basket,
grabbing several key rebounds.
The North attack was led by
Katie Gravitt with six points,
while Harley Ward and Shannon
Cleland each had five.
Otwell fans hoped the third time
would be the charm prior to their
Friday night showdown with the
unbeaten Dawson Lady Tigers,
the Lady Pups having already
fallen twice to their 10-0 rivals.
One could also say that Mohr
was better - Amy Mohr, that is.
Leading a see-saw game 20-19
in the final quarter, Otwell finally
pulled ahead to stay behind the
strong offensive play of Mohr,
Melissa Cochran and Gravitt.
Fittingly for the Lady Pups, the
Mohr scored the final point on a
free throwp; she led all scorers
with a game-high 18 points.
Gravitt added five, Long four and
Katherine Perkins two.
Otwell started off strong, taking
a 6-4 lead behind the hot shooting
of Mohr and the tough rebound
ing of Lamb and Gravitt. Going
into halftime, the Lady Pups still
held a 13-11 advantage.
Every time that the Lady Tigers
tied the game, Otwell surged back
ahead.
BOYS from IB
to the victory. Though the upstart
Tigers shaved three points off the
margin in the third quarter, North
went on a 16-6 run to end the
game in the fourth.
Adam Teems and Christopher
Light led the Wildcats in scoring
with 19 and 10 points respectively
- with Teems hitting 9-of-12,
adding seven rebounds and four
steals, while Light had seven
assists. Justin Hamilton aided the
cause with six points and four
steals.
Dawson was paced by Jamie
Bowen, who collected seven
points.
“I’ve never seen the team exe
cute the press that well. It’s a joy
to watch them move,” said Ruma.
“And we only committed 13
turnovers.”
“I was really excited for the
kids,” he added. “I have been real
ly lucky to get to work with a
great bunch of players.”
The day before, the Cats used
rebounding and defensive pres
sure to hold off Lumpkin -
despite 25 percent shooting.
Hamilton netted 12 and Matt
Womack 10, the latter getting
eight rebounds, too. Teems added
eight points and six boards, while
Light picked up seven points, six
boards and five assists.
Ruma also praised Mitchell
Meadows and Joel Hensley for
their play off the bench. Lumpkin
stayed close by hitting five three
pointers, among other things.
North led 13-12 after a quarter,
then netted just seven in the sec
ond - but a defense that held
Lumpkin to three gave them a 20-
15 edge at the half. The lead was
extended to 30-22 after three.
“We couldn’t buy a basket,” said
Ruma, “... but the players showed
fortitude by not giving up. In my
opinion, it was our best game of
the year; we hung in there when
things got tough.”
Third-place/Other semi
In the boys third-place game, the
South Forsyth Eagles exploded in
The Lady Bullpups showed
great determination under the bas
ket at the offensive end, getting
two and three shots each trip
down the floor.
Mohr wound up with 182 points
for the season in 13 games, a 14.0
average.
Third-place game
College basketball has done
away with the consolation game
because it was felt that the teams
really had nothing to play for And
that spectators didn’t care, either.
The Vickery Creek Lady Vipers
and Dawson Lady Tigers proved
that to be an incorrect assump
tion, as both squads left it all on
the court. The first-year Vipers
prevailed, 21-17, in a tough
defensive contest.
“I am so proud of this team,”
said Vickery Creek head coach
Jennifer Davies. “They played
well on offense and defense. They
never gave up.”
“We looked pretty good out
there, too.” joked Viper player
Sarah Patten.
The gleeful cheers of 12-year
olds filled the hallway following
their third-place finish.
After a rough and tumble first
quarter, Dawson held a 4-3 lead.
The Maroon and Gold offense
picked up the pace in the second
quarter, taking a 10-6 lead to the
locker room.
Amanda Gilleland and Katie
Shelburn were playing strong at
both ends of the floor for the
Lady Tigers. The Teal and Black
were getting solid all-around team
play from Kasey McPherson,
Stephanie Platt and Kayleigh
Neuman.
The Vipers cut the deficit to
three, 15-12, as the third quarter
buzzer sounded, then scored the
first two of the final period as
McPherson swished an inside
basket to pull within one point.
From a tangle of players the
Vipers miraculaously hit a bucket
to grab the 16-15 lead. One fast
break later McPherson was fouled
and hit l-of-2 free throws for a
17-15 advantage. Jane Turpin
sealed the triumph, intercepting
an inbounds pass with 34 seconds
to play.
McPherson led in scoring with
10 while teammate Neuman
added four. Gilleland led the Lady
Tigers with nine and Megan
Edwards chipped in five.
the third quarter to pull away for a
49-34 victory over Lumpkin
County.
The game was a tight contest in
the first half, with South taking a
22-19 lead to the locker room.
Zack Adams came out and
scored 10 of his game-high 16
points in the third quarter as the
Eagles put the Indians away. Luke
Smith helped out the South cause
with 12.
The Eagles lost to Dawson
Friday wasn’t decided until the
final buzzer. The Eagles had three
chances to win, but the tipped
balls fell just short of the rim as
Dawson took the hard-fought vic
tory, 26-25.
Amazingly the guests held the
high-powered South offense
scoreless in the first quarter, tak
ing the early 6-0 lead after the ini
tial six minutes of play. In the sec
ond period the hosts fought back,
cutting the lead to 11-10 at the
half.
In the second half South staged
a 7-4 run in the opening minutes,
keyed by Smith’s three-point
bomb, to tie the game at 15.
South then fell behind, 20-16,
but never quit.
Smith nailed another three
pointer to cut the deficit to 20-19
and then cut through heavy traffic
in the paint to can an under-hand
ed lay-up shot for a 21-20 Eagle
lead. Thirty seconds later he
swished another three-pointer to
swell the South margin to 24-20.
Dawson proved they wanted the
win as well as they knotted the
score at 24-24 with just over two
minutes remaining in the contest.
Zack Adams pulled the hosts
ahead 25-24 .with a free throw
with 1:34 showing on the clock,
but Josh Reser put the Tigers
ahead to stay on a bank shot with
1:20 left. The Dawson “D” did
the rest.
Smith lead South in scoring with
a game-high 13 and Chandler
Deloach contributed five. Jamie
Bowen paced the Maroon and
Gold offense with 11 points.