Newspaper Page Text
War Eagles storm past Bulldogs
South boys
nip Central
in thriller
By Travis M. Chaffin
Sports Editor
It’s always nice to defeat a county
rival at home, but, when it comes
down to it. South Forsyth's 53-45
win over visiting Forsyth Central
Tuesday night was just another
region win.
“Over here, we take 'em one at a
time,” said War Eagles coach David
Sokol, smiling. “All I know is we
have Dunwoody next.”
Indeed, with a full slate of games
on the table and the Region 6-AAAA
tournament just over two weeks
away, there isn't too much time to
celebrate.
As the last few fans trickled out
of the gym and the custodians began
sweeping up, Sokol was already
working on tonight's matchup
against No. 1-ranked Dunwoody, fol
lowed with No. 3-ranked Marist on
Saturday (6 p.m. first tip-off).
“We want to compete and
improve each day, and that’s how
we’re going to approach the game,”
the coach explained. “We really can’t
think about Marist until Saturday
morning, unfortunately. And they’re
two completely different teams
one runs it up and down the court;
one slows the game down. It’s
tough.”
Not that Tuesday night’s win was
a walk in the park.
The War Eagles (9-9 overall, 8-4
in region play) had to overcome cold
shooting early on, battling a scrappy
Bulldog squad for the lead through
out before finally pulling away for
good in the waning minutes of the
contest.
“I thought we played hard, smart
defense for three quarters and about
five minutes,” said Central head
coach Steve Barnes. "That last three
minutes, we didn’t play smart.”
“South did a good job of finishing
See NIP, Page 2B
South girls’ early push
holds off Lady Dawgs
By Travis M. Chaffin
Sports Editor
South Forsyth struck quick and
never looked back Tuesday night,
shutting out rival Forsyth Central
18-0 in the first quarter and leading
for the entire night en route to a 45-
30 win over the Lady Dawgs.
“It’s an exciting win for the
girls,” said South head coach Keith
Gravitt.
“Our girls did a great job
rebounding. We didn't have as
many turnovers and we had more
assists tonight, that’s always impor
tant.”
With senior all-everything guard
Amy Mohr out with a stomach
virus, Forsyth Central (8-10 over
all, 4-8 in Region 6-AAAA) had its
Forsyth swimmers
continue their
drive toward state
From staff reports
Forsyth's swimmers continued their quest for
state glory this past weekend as four more com
petitors earned berth’s into February's finals at
Westminster.
Forsyth Central added another swimmer to their
list of qualifiers when Katie Mitchell beat the
clock in the 50-yard freestyle. Swimming at the
UGA Invitational in Athens, Mitchell finished the
event in :26.46 beating the state qualifying time
by fourth-tenths of a second.
Central swam well overall at the event, almost
qualifying Dallas Crum, who missed the cut in the
50-yard freestyle by .18 seconds.
See STATE, Page 2B
Sports
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work cut out for them. Facing the
18-point deficit entering the second
thanks in part to three first-quar
ter 3-pointers from South’s Kelley
Klein the Lady Dawgs buckled
down and fought their way back
into the game with an 11-point run
that cut the Lady Eagles’ advantage
to an eight-point margin by inter
mission.
Without Mohr, Central was
unable to apply as much pressure
defensively on the backcourt as
they would have liked. Offensively,
the Lady Dawgs still tried to utilize
the same game plan, but had to
throw its players into unfamiliar
waters.
See PUSH, Page 2B
- ■ - - -
Photo/David McGregor
Forsyth Central swimmers added one more
competitor to the state finals last weekend.
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6-AAAA BASKETBALL
North girls win third
straight, Raiders fall late
By Morgan Lee
Sports Writer
The North Forsyth Lady Raiders over
came a rough start to claim their third
region victory in a row Tuesday night at
Riverwood, 51-36. But in the nightcap,
North’s boys dropped a 45-42 contest in
the game’s dying seconds.
Schwimer paces Lady Raiders
After just one quarter of play, the Lady
Raiders outlook was grim Tuesday night at
Riverwood.
North had scored just six points in the
Above,
Central’s Kyle
Peacock and
South’s Derek
Johnson wres
tle for control of
the ball.
Johnson fin
ished with 13
points, eight in
the fourth quar
ter to help lead
South to a close
win. Left,
South’s Faith
Hoyt looks for a
shot over
Central’s
defense. The
Lady Eagles
won 45-30.
Photos/Audra Perry
opening eight minutes, missing shot after
shot while Riverwood grabbed a 13-6 lead.
But scoring nine of her team-high 16
points in the second quarter, substitute
Allison Schwimer provided the boost the
Lady Raiders needed, as North caught fire
and pulled away 51-36.
“[Allison] has been a big spark spark
off he bench for us all year,” said North
coach Jayne Osborne, who rewarded the
junior with a second-half start.
The spark Schwimer lit in the second
quarter continued to blaze after the inter-
See RAIDERS, Page 2B
I Morgan I
Lee
Eagles’ quiet
player makes
biggest noise
Understatement of the (new) year:
Tuesday night’s roundball battle
between South Forsyth and Forsyth
Central was loud.
So loud, in fact, that Bulldog
head coach Steve Barnes whose
face turned red, he was yelling so
hard for a timeout couldn't grab
the attention of referees or his own
players standing a mere eight feet
away.
The crowd had good reason to
cheer (and boo). The season’s second
installment of the county’s oldest
rivalry proved just as exciting as the
first, the two teams trading leads
throughout the night.
Yet on this raucous night, it
would be one of the quietest players
on the floor who proved the game’s
deciding factor.
Entering the fourth quarter down
37-34, the War Eagles needed a
spark. Getting scoring from up and
down the lineup, the Bulldogs had
fought off a slim halftime deficit and
looked to be headed for a regular
season sweep of their old enemy.
And while South had gotten a
good game from post Jake Baldwin,
somebody else had to step up.
Cue senior guard Derek Johnson.
Johnson, who has played most of
the season as a 6-foot-l post
South has just one starter taller than
6-foot-3 isn’t known for his scor
ing. He’s a scrappy defensive player;
one of those guys that does all the lit
tle things that coaches'notice but
doesn’t make the scoresheet.
“He puts his hardhat on goes to
work,” said Johnson’s coach, David
Sokol. “But you could tell he wanted
this game.”
As the Dawgs clamped down on
Baldwin and the Patterson brothers
(Travis and Jacob), Johnson found
space enough to drive the lane and
drop in a fingerroll. Two minutes
later he found himself open in the
lane again and repeated the play
this one giving South a two-point
lead.
Seconds later, Johnson was rip
ping down an offensive rebound (one
of his five on the night) and going
back to the hole, earning two foul
shots for his trouble.
With 1:31 left to play, Johnson
buried both the shots and effectively
sealed the win for South at 47-43.
Forget South’s late free throws and
breakaway baskets scored with
Central’s defense pressing for a steal
Johnson’s eight fourth-quarter
points clinched the win.
“The intensity was there,” said
Johnson, speaking for both himself
and the game in general. “It was my
last chance to play Central at home.
Os course [the intensity is] going to
See NOISE, Page 2B
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