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6B
SportsEXTRA
FROM 5B
Edge: North secures 8th in 11
in each of the last four
campaigns.
This year, they’re 6-3
since the calendar turned
with three regular season
outings remaining — a
far from perfect showing,
but one that gives them a
chance to close the slate
on a four-game win
streak, earn a favorable
postseason spot and pos¬
sibly return to the state
playoffs.
Did their coach con¬
ceive this as a possibility
when he first stepped foot
in Coal Mountain freshly
removed from a state
semifinals appearance
with Chattahoochee? Not
FROM 5B
Stifle: Lady Bulldogs outscore War 4-2 in 2nd
presence makes us
good”
Central scored 10
unanswered points
against South on three
separate occasions,
including a run that
established a 14-5 lead
in the first quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs led
20-12 entering the sec¬
ond quarter and held
South to just 13 more
points the rest of the
game.
FROM 5B
Custer scores 12 in minutes of 4th
7-7 Region 7-AAAA)
will finish a season with
a winning record for the
first time in the 21st
century and keeps them
in the hunt for a first
round bye in the region
tournament.
“We’ve just been kind
of the team that ...
keeps grinding and
grinding and grinding
and finds a way,”
Central coach Steve
Barnes said.
“It took ... every
block, every rebound,
every stop. We just did
what we needed to do
down the stretch ... and
just grinded out another
win.”
Central used a 14-1
run to establish an
11-point lead late in the
first quarter and
remained ahead 20-9 in
the second period.
South (7-16, 2-11)
fought back by closing
the half on an 11-2 run,
cutting the gap to 22-20
going into the break.
FROM 5B
Milton: Johnson leads with 23
be exact in their 15th
straight victory. Only one
game during that stretch
was decided by single
digits, and the Eagles
didn't let up in Coal
Mountain against a team
they held to 11 points ear¬
lier this season.
"They’re the most ath¬
letic team that we’ll play
against,” said North guard
Chris Bureau, whose team
fell to 3-19 (0-9 in region)
and lost its 10th straight.
"They don’t run any great
offense or great defense,
but on the fast break, man,
they can throw it down, as
you can see.”
Evan Nolte, a verbal
commitment to Virginia,
made two free throws at
the First quarter’s 5:28
mark to give the Eagles
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right away.
“We’re definitely
exceeding the expecta¬
tions I had the first day
walking in,” Herrick said,
“but once you see the
work ethic of these kids,
you know, my expecta¬
tions have just gone
through the roof There’s
no limit to what these
kids can do on any given
night, because they do
work hard and they come
ready to play every
night.”
A big component has.
been winning close
games. With its second
edging of Milton (8-14,
5-5), North improved to
Both teams struggled
to generate points in the
second period, when
Central outscored South
4-2. The score remained
20-12 until Kane hit a
jumper off an assist
from Chester at precise¬
ly the 4:00 mark.
The Lady War Eagles’
only points of the period
came on a layup by Ally
Welch with 1:08 remain¬
ing, cutting their deficit
to 24-14 going into half¬
The War Eagles took
the lead on three sepa¬
rate occasions in the
third quarter — each
time via a Mark
McCorkle 3-pointer —
but failed to ever stretch
their advantage beyond
two points. McCorkle’s
third-quarter burst was
the highlight of an oth¬
erwise quiet night for
the senior guard, who
was held to 12 points.
South took its final
lead 37-35 at the start
of the fourth quarter
when Logan Cole
dropped in a basket off
an inbound pass from
Geronimo Cruz.
Fishier responded
with two consecutive
baskets in the paint to
put Central back on top
before a field goal by
Nick Graf (team-high
13 points) tied the game
39-39 midway through
the period.
“They’re hard to
guard,” Barnes said of
South. “I knew it would
the lead. Auburn com¬
mit Shaquille Johnson's
sky-high, two-handed
slam moments later
fully opened the flood¬
gates, and the rout was
on.
Johnson headlined the
merciless charge, scor¬
ing 21 of his 23 points
in the first half. Jalyn
Patterson chipped in 11,
and four other Eagles
produced eight or more
points.
Forward Brandon
Rapson led North with
11 points.
Milton led 32-5 after a
quarter and 57-18 at the
half, turning most of
North’s 17 turnovers dur¬
ing that span into easy
transition points.
“We look so afraid of
7-0 in games decided by
five points or less.
Back-to-back
Hardgrove jumpers —
both after North turnovers
— tied the game at 31
with 2:30 remaining.
North’s free-throw run
created a 39-36 lead,
Kasey Meadows’ layup
with 18 seconds left
served as the dagger, and
Corliss’ free throw with
10 seconds to go made it
42-36.
Hardgrove hit a 3 from
the right wing with 2.5
seconds left, but it was
too late.
"It’s all about who
wants it more,” Corliss
time.
“1 think we took our
foot off the gas a little
bit,” Martin said. “That’s
a bad habit to look up at
the scoreboard.”
The second half start¬
ed in similar fashion.
South cut the lead to
24-16 early in the third
quarter, and Central’s
first points didn’t come
until Kane hit a jumper
at the 4:40 mark.
But Kane’s basket
be a battle."
Custer knocked down
a 3-pointer on Central’s
next trip down the floor,
and Fishier came up
with a block on the
other end following two
missed shots by Graf.
The ball found its way
back into the hands of
Custer, who knocked
down another shot from
beyond the arc to
extend the lead to
45-39.
Fishier delivered
another block on South’s
next possession this
time on a Douglas
Cotter shot and
Central capitalized when
Ryder Bowline drove the
lane and passed to
Jeremiah Jones under¬
neath the basket for two
easy points.
“We had some defen¬
sive lapses in the fourth
quarter that led to our
demise,” South coach
Kevin Dankosky said.
“When you give up easy
baskets, that’s never a
the basketball,” Moon
said. “We’ve got to get
good ball handling
instilled in our program.
“You try to get your
kids, outside of the sea¬
son, playing against good
kids. You know, find a
gym that has good play¬
ers and go play there
every day.”
A frustrating cam¬
paign didn’t get any bet¬
ter for the Raiders, even
though few would have
expected them to chal¬
lenge a team that’s
played in the last three
state championship
games.
A 35-point showing
was an improvement
after the Raiders’ 76-11
loss at Milton earlier this
season.
said. "That's what's
allowed us to win these
close ones a few times.”
The teams played with¬
in a possession of each
other for most of the first
three quarters, save for
three separate North leads
of five points and one
Eagles advantage by the
same margin. Blake
drilled two free throws
after drawing a foul at the
buzzer, giving the Raiders
a 27-22 lead going into
the fourth.
Guards Erin Brundage
and Grace Farnsworth,
two of Milton’s more
potent scorers, combined
for 14 points against a
began a 10-0 run by the
Lady Bulldogs that
boosted the lead to
34-16. Central went on
another 10-0 run early in
the fourth quarter to
cement the victory.
Chester had a hand in
many of Central’s bas¬
kets in one way or
another, racking up
assists and forcing turn¬
overs that turned into
points throughout the
game.
good thing.
“We put ourselves in
a good position to win
that game, then the
fourth quarter just a lit¬
tle bit got away from us.
Hopefully we’ll get a
chance to play them
again maybe in the
region tournament.”
Even when the War
Eagles made stops, they
often struggled to
secure rebounds.
A 3-pointer by Cotter
cut the deficit to 50-44
with 1:48 remaining,
but the Bulldogs
grabbed three offensive
rebounds on their next
possession before
Custer knocked down a
jumper from the free
throw line.
With under a minute
to play, Cruz tried to
drive in for layup that
would have cut the gap
to five points. Instead,
Fishier was there to
block a shot one last
time.
Jones then made it a
But there were bright
spots. Rapson’s strength
allowed him to make
some plays in the post at
both ends against players
much quicker and taller
than him. Bureau hit a
pair of 3-pointers with
two defenders in his face
each time.
And a 10-1 North run
to start the second half
against the Eagles’
reserves prompted
Milton coach David
Boyd to re-insert his
starters.
“I told our guys, you
know, you make them
put their starters back in,
that’s probably a posi¬
tive,” Moon said. ’That’s
out of respect for you
that they had to do that.”
The score was 62-31 at
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2,2012
stingy half-court matchup
defense.
The Raiders celebrated
their eighth victory in
their last 11 games, but
attention quickly turned
to meetings with
Northview, West Forsyth
and Centennial. North
lost to Northview by 14
and West by 13 earlier
this season and barely
edged Centennial in over¬
time.
A second-place region
finish behind 16-3, 8-0
Alpharetta was up for
grabs as of Tuesday night.
Herrick sees no reason
why his team can’t be the
one to ascend to that spot.
“Tonight she had a
couple of transition
baskets where she
showed that pretty
much when she wants
to get it in there and
get a look, she can,”
Martin said. “We just
need more of that from
her and Kayla working
inside for those tough
baskets.”
Central closes out the
regular season at 7 p.m.
on Friday at Lambert,
four-point swing for
Central by hitting two
free throws that boosted
the lead to 55-46 with
50.5 seconds to play.
Custer added four free
throws in the closing
seconds, and Barnes’
son, senior Colby
Barnes (7 points),
tacked on two more to
seal the win.
“I’m just proud of the
Central family,” said
Steve Barnes, reflecting
on the season as much
as the game.
“Our students have just
been awesome. Senior
night, you know, to get a
win here, my son being
part of that makes it even
more special.
“It assures us of a
winning record. ...
That’s just awesome.
Hopefully the best is
yet to come.”
The victory also com¬
pleted the Bulldogs’
regular season sweep of
the War Eagles. Central
won the only other
that point, with 1:20 left
in the third.
North would score
only twice the rest of the
way.
“You’re trying not to
give up,” Bureau said. "It
can get frustrating. Me
personally, 1 just try
playing as hard as 1 can.
That’s the only thing you
can do. Against a team
like that that’s really get¬
ting after you, you’ve
just got to be aggressive
back at them and not
bend over to them"
A handful of North
students waited outside
the visitors’ locker room
after the game to ask
Johnson and other
Milton players for their
autographs. Guard
Charles Mann is headed
“We want to win them
all,” he said. “This
region’s tricky. [Seeds]
two through seven, it hon¬
estly doesn’t matter
because anybody can beat
anybody on any given
night. ... Realistically, the
five, six and seven from
this region could go to
state.
“There’s no question
you want to be playing
your best ball.”
How far North’s truly
come in its first year
under Herrick is about
to be revealed, starting
with Friday’s 6 p.m.
contest at home against
Northview.
while South plays host
to Johns Creek on
Friday (6 p.m.) and
Woodland on Saturday
(4 p.m.).
The Lady Bulldogs
will enter the region
tournament in the sec¬
ond round on Feb. 14 at
Cass High School in
White. South will play
in the first round Feb. 11
when teams seeded 6-11
are paired against one
another.
meeting between the
two squads 74-59 on
Jan. 10 at the Eagles’
Nest.
Central closes out the
regular season at 8:30
p.m. on Friday at
Lambert, while South
plays host to Johns
Creek on Friday (7:30
p.m.) and Woodland on
Saturday (5:30 p.m.).
The Bulldogs, cur¬
rently in sixth place in
the region standings,
will need some help in
order to secure a first
round bye in the region
tournament. They must
secure a victory against
Lambert on Friday and
hope that either
Northwest Whitfield or
Sequoyah closes the
season with back-to
back losses.
South, ninth in the
region standings, will
begin the region tourna¬
ment Feb. 1 1 when
teams seeded 6-11 are
paired against one
another.
to Georgia next year,
while Glass has yet to
pick a college.
Even Bureau was a bit
awestruck.
“I was telling my par¬
ents before the game,
maybe one day [Milton’s
players] will be in the
NBA and I’ll be saying,
‘hey, I played against
them,”’ the senior said.
“I can tell my kids that.”
North remained at the
bottom of the region
standings and will close
out the schedule against
Northview, West Forsyth
and Centennial. Friday’s
home tip against the
Titans is scheduled for
7:30 p.m.
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