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REGION 6-AAAA BASKETBALL
Late surge nets Raider win
Light’s 20 leads
North Forsyth
past St. Pius X
By Morgan Lee
Sports Writer
The North Forsyth Raider basket
ball programs split contests at St.
Pius X Friday night in Atlanta. The
Raiders ran their region record to 3-
1, pulling away with 29 fourth-quar
ter points in a 69-51 victory, while
the Lady Raiders fell 53-27.
Raiders catch fire in fourth
The offensive breakout that the
North Forsyth Raiders had been
waiting for came at just the right
time Friday night.
After fending off a stubborn St.
Pius X squad for three quarters, the
Raiders dominated the fourth
including nine points from Chris
topher Light to bury the Lions 69-
51.
The victory extends the Raiders’
(6-1 overall, 3-1 in Region 6-AAAA)
solid start to the season as they pre
pare for Tuesday’s county showdown
with rivals South Forsyth.
Light paced North throughout the
night, dropping in a game-high 20
points, including three 3-pointers,
while three Raiders scored in double
figures.
North's Matt Womack (13 points)
and John Jennings (10 points) also
played well, while Matt Helland
buried two 3-pointers to finish with
nine points.
The Raiders proved accurate from
beyond the arc, drilling seven 3-
pointers on the night to distance
themselves from the Lions.
North took the early initiative,
grabbing a 16-12 lead after the first
quarter.
But the Raiders couldn’t pull
away from the Lions, scoring just
one more point than Pius in the sec
ond quarter to take a 29-24 lead into
the half.
Pius continued to keep the game
close during the third quarter,
outscoring North 12-11 to pull within
40-36 as the fourth quarter opened.
But the Lions’ push only served to
ignite the North offense.
Surging forward, the Raiders
exploded for 29 fourth-quarter
points, as Light caught fire, zeroing
in from long range to do most of his
damage within just a few minutes.
Meanwhile, the Raider defense
limited the Lions to just 15 points in
the final frame, as Pius’ Aaron Parr
(16 points) and Gill Boland (15
points) were held in check.
The Raiders played Chamblee
Saturday at home (score not avail
able at press time) and will travel to
South Tuesday night to take on the
War Eagles.
Early blitz trips Lady Raiders
The North Forsyth Lady Raiders
allowed 32 first-half points and could
never catch host St. Pius X Friday in
Atlanta, eventually falling 53-27.
See SURGE, Page 2C
WRESTLING
Raiders in top 10
despite injuries
By Travis M. Chaffin
Sports Editor
The wrestlers at North
Forsyth may be a bit banged
up, but that hasn’t stopped
them from winning.
With a team record of 7-4,
the Raiders are currently
ranked as the No. 8 Class
AAAA program in Georgia,
tied with Lakeview-Fort
Oglethorpe, according to a poll
of coaches around the state.
And while that recognition
is nice. North Forsyth head
coach Travis Jarrard doesn’t
want to put too much emphasis
on polls.
“The rankings are really for
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the fans, to give people stuff to
talk about. I mean, you've got
the BCS sitting there,” Jarrard
laughed. “We all know rank
ings aren’t worth much. But
it’s fun to look at and fun to
talk about. 1 participate in the
poll, so it’s not that I’m against
them.”
Jarrard said the rankings
shows that coaches of other
programs acknowledge North
as one of the best in the state
and that’s a good thing.
“The kids gets a kick out of
seeing their team’s name up
there, and I like it for that sort
of thing,” he added.
See TOP 10, Page 2C
Sports
iwFiw
Photo/David McGregor
South Forsyth’s Ashley Bostic, seen earlier this
season, scored a team-high 13 points on Friday.
Forsyth County News—Sunday, December 14,2003
North Forsyth
senior
Christopher Light,
above, scored a
game-high 20
points against St.
Pius X, including
three 3-pointers,
leading the
Raiders past the
Lions on the road.
At left, Elizabeth
Benedict, seen in
white earlier this
season, finished
as the Lady
Raiders’ top scor
er Friday with
nine points,
including one
3-pointer.
Photos/David
McGregor
War Eagles falter
against Dunwoody
By Morgan Lee
Sports Writer
The South Forsyth War
Eagles suffered a sweep at the
hands of Dunwoody Friday
night in Atlanta. The Lady
War Eagles nearly pulled off a
thrilling comeback before
falling 38-35, while the War
Eagles dropped a 68-52 con
test.
Free throws almost
rescue Lady Eagles
Despite committing 35
turnovers and scoring just
eight first-half points, the
South Forsyth Lady War
Eagles found themselves well
within reach of victory Friday
night.
Photo/David McGregor
Forsyth Central’s Justin Fulkerson,
seen earlier this season, scored eight
points against Tucker on Friday night.
Bulldogs
drop two
at Tucker
By Travis M. Chaffin
Sports Editor
Coming off Tuesday’s home victory over
cross-county rival South Forsyth, perhaps
Forsyth Central was due for a letdown. At
times Friday night, the Bulldogs played
Tucker with the same intensity exhibited
against the War Eagles, but their scoring came
in limited doses and, eventually, the home
Tigers pulled away for a 60-39 win.
“We just had a big ol’ piece of humble pie
tonight,” said Central boys coach Steve
Barnes following the game. “We still haven’t
won on the road yet.”
The Bulldogs coach said his squad still
needs to be ready to adapt when the shots
aren’t falling, something they came close to
accomplishing Friday. However, Central (3-5
overall, 3-3 in Region 6-AAAA) didn’t exe
cute the offense when they needed big shots.
“We almost did that tonight, but almost
doesn’t count,” Barnes said. “Tucker [was]
the better team tonight. We’ve just got to
regroup and come back tomorrow.”
Early in the contest, the. Dawgs showed
promise, even taking a 7-6 lead thanks, in
part, to six of Judd Gravitt’s nine points on
the night —at 3:31 of the first quarter.
But eight unanswered Tiger points gave
Tucker a 14-7 lead entering the second. And it
didn’t stop there eight more points by the
Tigers put Tucker ahead 22-7 with 4:53
remaining in the first half.
To their credit, the Bulldogs didn’t panic,
instead bouncing back with to pull within 27-
16 at intermission.
“I challenged them to come out and win
the third quarter, which we did,” Barnes said.
Outscoring Tucker 17-13 in the third,
Central trailed by just seven points, 40-33,
entering the final period of play.
“We nipped away and came close in the
fourth, but we just couldn’t get over the top,”
the Bulldog coach added.
With 7:11 left in the game, Justin
Fulkerson (eight points) sank a basket to pull
Central within five points, 40-35. It would be
as close as the Bulldogs could get, however,
as the Tigers kicked into high gear for a 20-4
See DROP, Page 2C
Sinking 23-of-30 free
throws, the Lady Eagles
clawed their way into the con
test, pulling within 36-35 with
1:29 left in the game. But in
the end, the Lady Eagles’ 16-
point fourth-quarter comeback
fell just short, as Dunwoody
escaped with a 38-35 victory.
“You’ve got to protect the
ball,” said South head coach
Keith Gravitt. “That’s wha’ it
boiled down to. We played
fine defense, and it was a
great second-half effort by the
girls. But we’ve got to learn
from this and regroup.”
Trailing 20-8 at the half, a
South Forsyth comeback
seemed unthinkable. After tak-
See FALTER, Page 3C
c