Newspaper Page Text
SECTION B
ForsythSports
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
BOYS BASKETBALL
hand No. 6 Woodland first loss
Lambert rallies from 14-point deficit
From staff reports
On the surface, a
matchup with the No.
6-ranked team in the state
didn't look like a prime
opportunity for Lambert’s
boys basketball team to
halt a five-game losing
streak.
GIRLS
BASKETBALL
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Jared Putnam Forsyth County News
Forsyth Central guard Keeley
Chester passes out of a dou¬
ble team against Cass on
Saturday at the D.B. Carroll
Complex.
Lady Dawgs
stop slide
By Phil Ervin
phil ervin@forsythnews.com
Struggling Cass ran into
Forsyth Central at the worst pos¬
sible time
Three straight losses by 14
points or more had the Lady
Bulldogs fuming, and they took
out their angst on the second-to
last Lady Colonels in a 61-27
victory.
“We came out trying to
‘redeem ourselves,” said forward
Kayla Richards, who scored a
• game-high 21 points. “It was
just such a relief to get that first
win back under our belt after we
had a tough time with the last
three games.”
Central swatted away 24
shots, retiped 21 steals and held
Cass to nine points or less in
every quarter. The Dawgs’
man-to-man limited the
Colonels’ trips across the D.B.
Carroll Complex’s half-court
stripe, and the visitors were
hard-pressed to work the ball
into the paint.
When they did, nearly every
shot was contested, especially
during the final three quarters.
“We win with our defense,”
Central coach Andy Martin said.
“We always have. Even when
we had a bunch of scorers, still,
our defense has dictated our
tempo and our offense. ... You
know, the rim seems to get a lit¬
tle bit bigger when you’re able
to get turnovers and steals.”
Room for improvement
remains even after snapping a
three-game skid that included
losses to Lambert, Rome and
Creekview. Central struggled
shooting early and was out
rebounded 31-20 against a
team that’s won two games all
year.
With cortlests left against
Chattahoochee, Johns Creek,
Sequoyah. South Forsyth and
Lambert to close out the regular
season, the fourth-place Dawgs
(14-6, 6-4 Region 7-AAAA)
now have ground to make up in
the region standings.
Their coach hopes the blowout
can carry them through the final
See STOPS12B
Sports Editor lared Putnam can be reached at sports@forsythnews.com or (770) 887-3126 ext. 513.
But, as evident in their
second-half comeback,
the Longhorns thought
otherwise.
Lambert erased a
14-point halftime deficit
Saturday to earn a 50-47
victory against previously
undefeated Woodland in
Cartersville.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Bulldogs clip Cass
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Jared Putnam Forsyth County News
Forsyth Central assistant coach Greg Dirst, left, and head coach Steve Barnes celebrate as the Bulldogs take the
lead against Cass late in the fourth quarter Saturday at the D.B. Carroll Complex.
Custer scores 27 in Centrals 12th
By Phil Ervin
phil.ervin@forsythnews.com
Every Forsyth Central boys
basketball practice ends the
same way.
Five minutes are entered
on the scoreboard, and for
that duration, the Bulldogs
scrimmage five-on-five with
as much intensity and physi
cality as they can muster.
“We’ll have a ‘five-minute
war’ type thing, we call it,”
forward Colby Barnes said.
Eli his
For a younger brother, noth¬
ing quite compares to the joy
of gaining praise and approval
from your older brother.
And when your older broth¬
er just happens to be one of
the greatest quarterbacks ever
to play the game, it’s going to
be a warm day in San
Francisco before he doles out
kudos for your own quarter
backing.
But that’s exactly what Eli
Manning got from big brother
Peyton on Sunday, after Eli
led his Giants to a heart
pounding, 20-17 overtime vic¬
tory against the 49ers.
Peyton attended the game,
which propelled the Giants
The Homs had lost their
previous five contests by
an average margin of 15
points.
“(It was a] big lift,”
Lambert coach Derrick
EX-Witt said. “(We] got the
ugly giant monkey off our
back.”
The streak began with
“It’s just going as hard as we
can for the last couple min¬
utes of practice, just spilling
it out there, and 1 think that
translates over to the games.”
Central’s seen its fair share
of late tight battles in games
recently, too, and Saturday
evening's 67-61 victory over
Cass at the D.B. Carroll
Complex was no exception.
The Bulldogs (12-8, 5-5
Region 7-AAAA) needed
four successful free throws
from T.J. Custer and
DENTON ASHWAY
Columnist
into the Super Bowl, but he
didn’t tell Eli. Instead, he
waited in the tunnel leading to
the visitor’s locker room, and
surprised his brother after the
game.
"I told Bim 1 loved him,"
Peyton said to Sam Borden of
the New York Times. “I told
him I was proud of him."
losses to Creekview and
Chattahoochee, two of the
region’s top three teams
along with Woodland, but
ended with a 12-point loss
to South Forsyth Friday.
Logan Bush (11 points,
8 rebounds) led the way
for the Longhorns (12-7
overall, 3-6 Region
7-AAAA) against
Woodland (18-1. 8-1), and
Lambert returned to its
Jeremiah Jones and a lock
down defensive play by
Barnes inside the last 30 sec¬
onds to secure the win.
Central’s last three region
wins have each come by
seven points or less and been
decided during the final min¬
utes. They remained in the
top half of the 7-AAAA
standings with five contests
left on the schedule, starting
with a road trip to
Chattahoochee Tuesday.
“You’ve got to put yourself
For Eli, there can’t be any
higher praise. But on this day,
there was plenty to praise.
The Giants faced a 49er
defense ranked second in scor¬
ing and fourth in yards
allowed in windy, rainy condi¬
tions that ranged from bad to
worse. And for most of the
second half, the Giants offen¬
sive linemen failed to keep
their backfield free of 49ers.
Eli threw 58 passes, suf¬
fered six sacks, and was hit on
at least 20 occasions, but he
never turned the ball over.
The lasting impression of
the game may have come late
in the fourth quarter. Eli com¬
pleted a long sideline pass to
spread-the-love offensive
ways with five players
scoring six or more points.
Corey Tobin scored a
game-high 15 for the
Wildcats.
The Longhorns trailed
30-16 at halftime and
39-27 after three quarters
but produced a 17-5 run to
start the fourth.
Forward Danny
Edgeworth turned a length-
there [in close situations]
several times and then have
some success with it,” said
coach Steve Barnes (Colby’s
father). “Every time that you
have a close game or over¬
time and pull it out, or even
when we don’t, if you learn
something from it—this
team, well, we’ve gotten so
much better, 1 think.”
Custer was his usual clutch
self, scoring 13 of his game
See CENTRAL 12B
Ahmad Bradshaw, who cer¬
tainly had to be Eli’s final
option on the play.
Eli paid the price for going
through all of his progres¬
sions. When the camera found
him after the play, his shoul¬
der pad had escaped the
shroud of his jersey, his chin
strap protected his nose, and
his skewed helmet was caked
with clumps of turf.
Yet he retained the presence
of mind to immediately call
time out.
“Eli’s just as calm in the
fourth quarter as he is in the
first quarter of a preseason
See ASHWAY 12B
of-the-court pass into a
three-point play with two
minutes remaining. His
layup and successful free
throw gave the Horns a
47-44 advantage they
never relinquished.
Woodland entered the
game as one of two AAAA
teams with unblemished
records. Chattahoochee
took over possession of
first place in the region.