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2B
FROM 1B
Central
high 27 points in the
fourth quarter and going
6-for-8 from the free
throw line in the frame.
During the final half-min¬
ute, he missed the back
end of a one-and-one but
regained possession after
the rebound and was
fouled immediately.
This time, he sunk both
freebies, giving the
Bulldogs a 64-59 lead
with 24.4 seconds left.
Cass’ Tony Mitchell con¬
verted a running, one
handed shot in the lane to
cut the lead back to three,
but Jones' l-for-2 foul
stripe appearance with
12.2 ticks remaining
made it 64-61.
Colby Barnes then
tapped the ball away from
Mitchell in the left cor¬
ner, and it deflected off
the Colonels guard as he
fell out of bounds. Custer
made two more free
throws with 2.3 seconds
remaining to top off his
high-scoring night.
“He is certainly a go-to
man, and other teams
know that," Steve Barnes
said of Custer. “You
know what? He doesn’t
have magic mirrors or
anything. It’s because of
the time that he's put in in
the gym. If you come in
any morning, just about,
you're going to find T.J.
Custer shooting baskets."
In a game where the
lead changed hands fre¬
quently and rarely stood
at more than a possession,
the Bulldogs made exact¬
ly half their shots (26 of
52). Center Andrew
Fishier scored 16 points,
and Colby Barnes
chipped in 10.
Mitchell and Kadeem
Sutton each scored 15,
and Jozelle Payne and
Zeke Reed finished with
13 apiece for an aggres¬
sive, up-tempo Cass team
(11-8, 4-5).
"Most nights, we go
into games knowing that
we’re not going to be the
most athletic team,”
Colby Barnes said. “We
know that you don’t have
to be faster than the fish
or stronger than the fish,
you have to be smarter
than the fish. That’s what
FROM 1B
Ashway: Peyton Manning attends NFC Championship
game," Peyton told
Borden.
And when Eli’s calm,
his teammates are calm,
and they perform. Eli put
up the best fourth quarter
numbers of any quarter¬
back in the league this
year, and he led the
Giants to five come-froin
behind victories.
In a crucial w in over
Dallas on December 11,
he led the Giants to two
touchdown drives in the
final five minutes, over¬
coming a 12-point deficit.
Without that win. the
Giants don't even make
the playoffs.
Peyton again: "They
expect to score. That’s
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | forsythnews.com
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■ I 1
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55
L A
Jared Putnam Forsyth County News
Forsyth Central center Andrew Fishier (55) puts
up a shot over Cass guard Jozell Payne on
Saturday at the D.B. Carroll Complex.
we kind of harp on."
A focal point of
Central’s defensive game
plan due to his outside
shooting ability, Reed hit
three first-half 3s but
didn’t score in the second
half. The Bulldogs
switched to a zone in the
fourth in hopes of guard¬
ing the perimeter, and
Reed spent most of the
third quarter and first half
of the fourth on the
bench, as Cass made a
point of getting to the
rim.
Central led 15-12 after
a quarter and 28-22 at the
break. Passing up a few
usual 3-point attempts,
Custer used head fakes to
drive to the rim and score
eight points in the first
quarter. Fishier tipped in
Chap Lindstrom’s 3-point
miss at the second-period
buzzer.
Payne went off for all
his points in the third, hit¬
ting a big 3 and convert¬
ing an and-one layup on
consecutive possessions.
The latter play tied the
game at 41, and another
three-point play by Sutton
and two Mitchell free
throws gave Cass a 47-44
lead heading into the final
impressive.
It’s even more impres¬
sive that Eli could instill
such expectations into a
team seemingly going
nowhere fast during a
four-game losing streak
that left the Giants with a
6-6 record. They looked
to be missing the playoffs
for the third year in a row,
and coach Tom
Coughlin’s job was
thought to be in jeopardy.
The Dallas win stopped
the slide, but a loss to the
Redskins a week later in a
desultory performance
led to the old refrain, “the
Giants is dead.”
Instead, they got
healthy, simplified their
frame.
Custer scored the
Dawgs’ first seven points
of the fourth on two slic¬
ing lay-ins and a 3 from
the right wing, the third
of which gave Central the
lead for good, 51-49 with
5:28 left. Cass stayed
within a possession until
Fishier flushed home
Jones’ missed layup with
2:23 to go.
The rim was still shak¬
ing as flustered Cass
coach Greg Scott called
timeout.
Mitchell drilled 3s from
the top of the key and
right wing during the last
minute-and-a-half, bring¬
ing the Colonels within a
shot of tying or leading
both times.
But for the second
Saturday in a row, the
Daw gs did just enough to
preserve victory in the
final seconds.
"Tonight, we just kept
responding,” said Steve
Barnes, whose squad beat
Rome last Saturday in
double overtime. "We
found a way."
Results from Tuesday’s
game at Chattahoochee
were unavailable as of
press time.
defense, kept their faith in
Eli, and treated the season
as if the playoffs began
on Christmas Eve.
They haven’t lost since.
While Eli has had
ample help, the team took
its cue from him. He has
instilled in this team a
feeling that they can get it
done, and that they will
get it done.
The Falcons could have
stayed on the field for
three days and not scored
tmm/Sm 4
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FROM IB
Stops: Richards scores 21
stretch.
“It feels unbelievable, for all of us,"
Martin said, “you know, like a big
monkey’s off our back, and that’s
good. You’ve just got to appreciate
that and appreciate the win It was
heaven-sent, and we’re grateful for
that So yeah, hopefully we can get
a winning streak going now.”
Some of the pains present during
Central’s skid — the only time
they’ve lost eonsecutives games
since the 2009-10 season — hung
around for a quarter Saturday. So
did Cass (2-16, 1-8), which trailed
13-9 heading into the second. The
Bulldogs missed seven of their first
nine shots and corralled only three
rebounds in the opening period.
Then, the clouds seem to lift.
“We got our tempo up, got a few
turnovers," Richards said. “That got
the ball rolling for the rest of the
game.”
Martin employed his patented
full-court, matchup press to start the
second. Cass turned the ball over 13
times and converted one field goal.
Richards led the offensive charge
in the frame, scoring seven points
and hitting a right-wing 3-pointer
that gave Central a 28-11 advantage
with 2:1 1 to go. Point guard Keeley
Chester drew a foul on her running,
one-handed bank shot early in the
period, which the Bulldogs opened
on a 19-2 run.
Chester scored just five points but
was instrumental on defence with
six blocks and four steals. The
Bulldogs spread their scoring out
behind Richards and Chester, far
and-away the team’s leading offen-
BOYS BASKETBALL
Warriors move to 15-3
From staff reports
The H ori z o n
Christian Academy
boys basketball team
returned to region play
against the Crusaders
of Heritage Academy
Jan. 17 at Dobbs
Creek.
In a tighjly contested
game that saw several
lead changes, the
Warriors improved their
region record to 4-0
and 15-3 overall with a
72-69 victory.
The Warriors were
led by Junior Josh
Scaife with 26 points
against the Giants
defense, but Eli and the
offense put on an equally
dominating performance.
More of the same last
week in Green Bay, as
both sides of the ball
dominated their 15-1
opponents.
This one was different,
a mighty struggle. Two
outstanding defenses
refusing to yield. And it
was Eli who turned the
game around.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY
sive producers.
“It was not being able to put a
group out there on the court and
have people step up and make things
happen" that contributed the most to
Central’s recent struggles, Martin
said. "1 hope what it is is just an
old-fashioned slump that several
people were in. That’d be the ideal
thing."
Shooting guard Morgan Shobbe
was one of six other Dawgs to
scofe. Six of her eight points came
in the third as Central outscored
Cass 17-8 and took a 51-22 lead
into the fourth.
There, another positive sign
emerged.
In her first varsity action since
being called up from junior varsity,
Freshman Peyton Ledford scored
nine of the Bulldogs’ 10 points in
the final frame. Her efforts have
brought a renewed sense of compe¬
tition to practices, Martin said, and
he hopes her presence can provide a
bit more depth for a team desperate
for it.
“She’s as athletic as can be, and
she’s hungry,” the coach said. "She
showed some hunger tonight when
she went out there, and I'm hoping
that's contagious. It can work back¬
wards like that, where a youngling
can come in and kind of demon¬
strate.”
Results from Tuesday evening’s
game at Chattahoochee were
unavailable as of press time. Central
hosts Johns Creek at 7 p.m. Friday.
Follow Phil Ervin on Twitter ©PhilErvin
FCN
and Freshman Dakota
Holzclaw with 18.
Seniors Austin Nolting
and Tim Walker each
contributed 1 2
rebounds.
A see-saw game that
was tied at halftime
had the Warriors up by
two at the end of three
quarters, and precise
passing and strong
rebounding allowed the
team to complete a
two-game sweep of the
Crusaders.
The Warriors won the
first meeting 64-58 win
back in December.
Horizon’s win came
The Giants had trailed,
14-10, for much of the
second half. A misplayed
punt gave the Giants a
chance, but they could
only parlay that into a
third-and-15 from the
49ers 17-yard line.
From there, Eli deliv¬
ered a perfect pass —
through the smallest of
openings to Mario
Manningham for the vital
touchdown.
The coverage used by
three days after a 63-31
victory against The
Cottage School
Cougars in Roswell.
Led by Scaife ( 16
points) and Holtzclaw
(12), the Warriors were
never threatened during
the game.
Taking charge early,
the Warriors never
trailed, held a 20-point
lead at the half and fin¬
ished the game with 20
blocked shots and 14
steals.
Horizon was led on
the boards by Nolting’s
13 rebounds and
Walker's 9.
the 49ers had been dis¬
cussed by Peyton and Eli
during their Friday night
telephone “chalk talk,” a
ritual they share during
the season.
"It’s an eight man cov¬
erage," Peyton told
Borden. “We talked about
certain holes and win¬
dows in that coverage. It
was a great throw. That
was really the pivotal
play"
High praise, indeed.