Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wednetday, March 17,2004
Local Sports
Baseball
• North Forsyth at Dawson
County. Wednesday.
March 17. 5 p.in.
•
Soccer
• North Forsyth boys vs.
Marist. Thursday, March 18,
7 p.m.
• Forsyth Central girls at
Lakeview Academy,
Thursday, March 18,6 p.m.
• South Forsyth vs. Tucker at
North DeKalb Stadium,
Friday, March 19, 5:30 p.m.
• Forsyth Central boys vs.
Milton. Friday. March 19.
7 p.m.
Golf
• South Forsyth girls vs.
Forsyth Central at Laurel
Springs. Wednesday, March
17, 3:30 p.m.
• North Forsyth vs. Lumpkin
County at Birch River.
Wednesday. March 17
• South Forsyth in St. Pius
Par-3 Classic at Peachtree
Golf Center. Wednesday,
March 17
Tennis
• South Forsyth vs.
Riverwood. Wednesday.
March 17, 4 p.m.
• North Forsyth vs. Tucker.
Wednesday, March 17,
4:30 p.m.
Hoops camp
seeks applicants
Applications are now
being evaluated for the Ten
Star All-Star Summer
Basketball Camp. The
camp is by invitation only.
Boys and girls ages 10-19
are eligible to apply. A
camp will take place this
summer in Atlanta. Call
(704)373-0873.
More Than
’ way to
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Look out UConn, here comes Taylor
Taylor Coppenrath might
just be the best college bas
ketball player I’ve seen this
year. He also might be the
best college basketball player
you’ve never heard of.
That’s because Coppenrath
toils in the relative obscurity
of the America East
Conference, plying his trade
in the green and gold of the
University of Vermont
Catamounts.
But don’t let that fool you.
Saturday morning,
Coppenrath played as good a
game of basketball as I’ve
seen since that night in 1978
when Jack Givens lit up Duke
for 44 points in the NCAA
Championship game.
All Coppenrath did was
score 43 points and grab 13
rebounds to lead Vermont past
Maine, 72-53, and into the
promised land that is the
NCAA Tournament. It took
Vermont 103 years to get
there, and now they’ve made
it two years running.
Gee that’s something
the University of Georgia has
never accomplished, albeit
that Vermont has managed
their feat in a much weaker
conference. Yet that’s a fact
not lost on Vermont coach
Tom Brennan, who played
and got his degree at UGA.
But back to Coppenrath.
The 6-foot-9 junior from West
Barnet. Vt.. was questionable
for Saturday’s conference
tournament championship
game. He hadn’t played in a
month, since breaking the
scaphoid bone in his left wrist
RALLY from IB
very good outing for Ryan
(Johnson), but there are still
things that we all have to
work on.”
The War Eagle offense was
keyed by a pair of homers
Tom Morris’ grand slam in the
fourth inning followed by sen
ior Joe White two-run shot that
put South on top I I-2 in the
fifth.
Denton L J
Ashway XaF
on Feb. 15.
The early prognosis was
disquieting. Coppenrath was
expected to miss the rest of
the season. But doctors
removed his cast last Monday.
On Tuesday, he was able to
practice with the team.
After the game, Brennan
admitted, “Tuesday, I knew he
was going to play. I don’t
know when he knew.”
According to Coppenrath,
”1 thought 1 was going to play
limited minutes and just con
tribute what I could, however
much I could. I just decided to
go out and do what I could,
see how the wrist felt, and
take it from there.”
Os course, a little shot of
adrenaline from the crowd
couldn’t hurt 3,228 lucky
patrons wedged themselves
into the ancient Roy L.
Patrick Gymnasium in
Burlington to cheer on their
’Cats. When Coppenrath was
introduced with the starting
lineup, the place was up for
grabs The faithful even broke
out Phish for the national
anthem, resplendent in their
Vermont jerseys.
Then the game began, and
as Maine's coach. Dr. John
Giannini, observed. “He
became a legend for the ages.”
South Forsyth was sched
uled to visit Brookwood on
Tuesday (results not available
at deadline).
This weekend, the War
Eagles hit the road for a pair of
games in LaGrange, facing
Hardaway on Friday and the
hometown Grangers on
Saturday.
"Our kids are continuing to
work hard." Strickland said. “I
just hope they stay focused
and concentrate on the little
Ninety seconds in,
Coppenrath got Vermont off
the schneid, scoring on a put
back, drawing a foul, and
making the free throw. He fol
lowed that with a short
jumper, a spin to the basket,
assorted rebounds, and anoth
er put back. He was every
where at once, and missing
from nowhere.
The guy was in a zone.
The kid who hadn’t played in
a month picked up an entire
team and carried them on his
back. When the first half
ended, Coppenrath had hit 11-
of-14 shots. The rest of the
Catamounts had canned 3-of
-14. Incredibly, Coppenrath
outscored Maine all by him
self, 28-23. Overall, Vermont
led 40-23.
Proving that his doctorate
was no gimme, Giannini dou
ble-teamed Coppenrath in the
second half. “It gave us a
chance to make the game
competitive. I'll wish all off
season I had two people on
him from the start.”
Maine was able to cut the
lead to 49-41 with 11:47 left,
but that was as close as the
Black Bears got. T. J.
Sorrentine and Germain Njita
were able to open things up a
little bit, and Coppenrath did
the rest. Soon the Vermont
students were serenading
Maine with the chant, “You
can't stop him!”
Right they were. He fin
ished with 14-of-l9 on field
goals, and 14-of-15 free
throws.
When Brennan finally took
things right now."
Red Elephants
too much for Dawgs
After topping Gainesville
High School earlier in the
week as part of the Ivey-
Watson Tournament, the
Forsyth Central Bulldogs fell
hard Saturday as the Red
Elephants stormed through
Cumming for an 11-0 win.
Central hurler Pat Belt got
the loss.
Coppenrath out with 34 sec
onds remaining, ol’ Patrick
Gym literally shook with
cheers. Brennan greeted his
star with a long embrace, his
teammates followed suit, and
the entire scene conveyed one
simple message: this is what
college basketball is all about.
Said Vermont guard David
Hehn, "This wasn't a game, it
was a party, and Taylor was
the deejay!”
As for coach Brennan, he
was looking ahead to the
Tournament. Clearly, last
year’s debacle was on his
mind. The ’Cats got stranded
in Denver for two days during
a snow storm, arrived in Salt
Lake City only 14 hours
before tipoff, and lost, 80-51
to Arizona.
“I'm not hoping for any
body particularly, but I’m
hoping to be in Orlando,”
noted Brennan whimsically
on Saturday. "If the commit
tee has any heart at all, we’ll
be in Orlando on Friday. And
we’ll leave, like, Monday
morning!”
Sorry, coach. You and the
’Cats have a short trip this
time —just a little shuffle
west to sunny Buffalo.
But look at the bright side.
You get to go up against
Eineka Okafor and the rest of
Jim Calhoun's Connecticut
Huskies. And they haven’t a
clue what’s in store.
B7ien not practicing his
avocation, Denton Ashway
practices his vocation with the
law firm of Ashway and Haldi
in Cumming.
The Bulldogs were sched
uled to host Lumpkin County
on Monday (results were
unavailable at deadline and
will be included in Thursday’s
edition).
On Friday, Forsyth Central
travels to Elbert County before
visiting Franklin County next
Tuesday. Next week's home
date against Elbert has been
moved up a day as the Blue
Devils visit the Dawgs on
Wednesday, March 24.
KUMAR from IB
As for Kumar, the
games proved an eye-operi
ing experience, not just for
his brief encounter with
Schwarzenegger, but for his
time spent around several
other bodybuilders.
“[Schwarzenegger] asked
me why I don’t get into
bodybuilding, but I told him
1 need more flexibility," said
Kumar, who may have had a
change of heart. “But now I
will probably start doing
some bodybuilding.”
In the meantime, Kumar
is going to continue prac
ticing possibly for next
year’s World Champion
ships in Australia and
enjoy a little bit of just
what he’s accomplished.
“I’m not even really in
good [shape],” said Kumar.
“But I can still say I’m the
best.”
After pressing the flesh
with the Last Action Hero,
who could doubt him?
UPPER from IB
For those hardy enough
to withstand the cooler night
air, white bass and striper
fishing can be productive
under artificial lights, using
either threadfin shad or com
mercially raised shiners. The
best places for nighttime
fishing are under Wilkie
Bridge on the Chestatee and
both Clarks and Lula Brid
ges on the Chattahoochee.
The striped bass and their
cousins, the white bass, are
headed north again, and for
those lucky enough to locate
a large school of either
species, it can be an explo
sive experience.
Bill Vanderford has won
numerous awards for his
writing and photography,
and has been inducted into
the National Freshwater
Fishing Hall of Fame as a
Legendary Guide. He can be
reached at (770) 289-1543,
JFishsl @ aol.com, or at his
Web site: www.fishing
lanier.com