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Inside: Lady Eagles defeat Johnson — page 3B
DECEMBER 3,
2008
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Section B
JCCHS GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lady Panthers win Tip-Off Classic; face Banks Co. Saturday
Jackson County then built on their lead in
the third period, moving up 41-17, before
holding Banks County to only eight points in
the fourth period to win 53-25.
“The Banks County game went pretty well,
overall,” Pittman said. “I felt like at times we
didn't have the intensity we needed at times.
We talked about that at halftime.
“But on a whole, I thought it went really
well.”
Ana Rodriguez scored nine points against
Banks County, along with seven rebounds,
three steals and had four assists.
“She was real active, real involved,” Pittman
said. “I was proud of her and of what she
brought to the table that night.”
Breanna Drew scored 13 points on the
night, with nine of those coming in the third
quarter. She also had eight rebounds.
Pittman said another player he felt good
about was sophomore Emily Elrod.
“I felt good about her play, and her decision
making. I've been really pleased with her and
how she’s played in the first three games.”
Pittman said that while everyone was excit
ed about the win, in every game a team had to
grow and get better.
“The only way we're going to be able to
grow and do better in our region is to be real
consistent and play with a lot of intensity,”
he said.
The Lady Panthers were scheduled to travel
to Johnson to face the Lady Knights on
Tuesday. Results of that game were unavail
able at press time.
Pittman said that when his team faces Banks
County again on Saturday, they will continue
to work on improving.
“To me, right now early on, we’ve got to
continue to work on things and get better in
some areas,” he said. “We're trying to grow
and develop as a team in these early games.
We’re going to continue to work on things that
we’re trying to do and trying to get better at.”
JHS WRESTLING
BIG WIN
The Lady Panthers celebrate their tournament win over Banks County last Tuesday.
Photo by Justin Poole
By Brandon Reed
THE JACKSON County Lady Panthers bas
ketball team continues to ride a wave of early
success this season, going undefeated thus
far, and winning the Panther Tip-Off Classic
with a win over area rival Banks County last
week.
Next up for the Lady Panthers is a trip to
Homer to again face the Lady Leopards on
Saturday. Going into action on Tuesday,
Banks County had a 2-2 record, having scored
151 points in those four games to 100 by
Jackson County in three games.
The big key for the Lady Panthers against
Banks County would appear to be in their
defense, as Jackson County has allowed only
55 points to be scored against them, while the
Lady Leopards have allowed 163.
Jackson County definitely has the historic
edge going in, having won their three previous
pairings prior to last Saturday’s tournament
win.
Tip-off in Homer on Saturday is scheduled
for 4 p.m.
The Lady Panthers started out last week’s
Panther Tip-Off Classic on a high note on
Monday night, as they defeated Tallulah Palls
53-7.
“We were able to get a lot of people a lot of
playing time,” said coach Chad Pittman. “That
included some folks who were able to play
and build their confidence. I was pleased with
everyone's effort as a team.”
Lreshman Ashley Lance led the Lady
Panthers in scoring against the Lady Indians
with 17 points, while Sophomore Alison Dias
scored nine points on the night.
That moved Jackson County on to Tuesday’s
championship game against the Lady Leopards
of Banks County.
The Lady Panthers took control of the game
early, moving out to a 12-5 lead by the end of
the first period, then extended the advantage
to 27-9 by the half.
Mat Dragons ready to start new season at Panther Invite
GETTING READY
Jefferson’s Mat Dragons were triumphant at the state duals in Macon last year. They’ll kick off their campaign foi
another peice of hardware for their trophy case on Friday at JCCHS in the Panther Duals. Photo by A! McLeoc
By Brandon Reed
THIS WEEKEND marks
the next chapter in the his
tory of the Jefferson Dragons
wrestling team.
The defending Class A Duals
and Traditional champs will
start their 2008-09 campaign
on Friday with the Panther
Invitational at Jackson County
Comprehensive High School,
and hope to get their season
off to a strong start.
Jefferson coach Doug
Thurmond says the season is
here, but he’s waiting to see if
his team is 100-percent ready.
“We're probably not going
to be in wrestling shape
because several of our foot
ball players went so long into
the season,” Thurmond said.
“That was a good thing for the
football team, but it will take
us a little while to get into
wrestling shape.”
Thurmond says there's not
really much the team can do
to try to make up for lost
time.
“A lot of it has to do with
mat time, and there's not real
ly anything you can do to
make up for that,” he said.
“We'll just deal with it for
now, and just do the best we
can until we can get them in
the shape we need them in.”
The Mat Dragons return to
action without three of their
starters from last year. Two of
their senior wrestlers gradu
ated last year, while a third
starter chose not to wrestle
this year.
“We've got some good
young players, and some kids
that we hope will step up in
these places,” Thurmond said.
One big scare for the wres
tling team came during the
final football game of the
season, when it appeared that
senior Patrick Allen might
have broken his ankle late in
the first half of the game.
But it actually turned out
that Allen suffered only some
strained ligaments, and could
wrestle as early as this week
end.
Thurmond said the news
came as a very big relief.
“They really missed Patrick
in the second half of that ball
game, and it would be about
the same for us without him.”
Thurmond said starting
the season off at the Panther
Invitational is a good early
test for the team.
“It will let everybody get
their feet wet, and let the
coaches know where we
stand,” he said, adding that
Coach Bob Gurley is back
with the team this year, along
with a new coach, Lee Roper.
“It will answer some of the
questions for us as to where
some of the younger kids are
that are having to step up.”
Things won't get any easier
for the Mat Dragons from
there. They follow up this
weekend's Panther Invitational
with a very hard Dual tourna
ment on Dec. 12 at Forsyth
Central High School, the
Sawnee Mountain Duals,
which will include a lot of
state and tough 5-A teams.
“We hit the ground run
ning,” Thurmond said. “For
the first couple of weeks,
you just try to get your team
solidified, and try to find the
weight classes that best fits
your team.
“That’s what we want to
do, find where our best line
up is for the team, as well as
individually.”
Once they get that sorted
out, there's no doubt that the
Mat Dragons will work hard
to zero in on another champi
onship season.
JCCHS BOYS BASKETBALL
GOTCHA
Jonathan Baxter (32) tips the ball away from a Banks
County player during last week’s Panther Tip-Off
Classic. Photo by Justin Poole
Panthers defeat Tallulah Falls in tourney
By Brandon Reed
AFTER LOSING their season opener,
the Jackson County Panthers got a boost
in their basketball Tip-Off Tournament
last week.
They opened their tournament play
by defeating Tallulah Falls, then moved
on to the championship game, where
they were narrowly defeated by Banks
County.
Banks County is again on the agenda
for the Panthers, as they will travel to
Homer to face the Leopards on Saturday,
and will look to even the score from the
tournament loss.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
The Panthers were hoping that their
tournament results would help take the
sting out of a season opening loss on
Nov. 20 at West Hall.
The first game showed that the Panthers
were ready for competition, as they dom
inated Tallulah Falls 53-26 for the win.
Joseph Smith led the Panthers in scor
ing with 16 points, and also recorded five
steals against the Indians. Juice Harrison
recorded 11 points, and led in rebounds
with 10. Jonathan Baxter picked up
seven points on the game.
The win moved the Panthers to the
championship round against the Leopards
of Banks County on Tuesday night.
The match up didn’t turn out the way
the Panthers had hoped, despite a strong
showing throughout the game.
The Panthers jumped out to an early
lead, holding a four-point advantage over
the Leopards, 11-7, at the end of the first
period. But Banks County would close
in the second period, and took a 29-26
lead by the half.
In the third period, the Leopards tried
to pull out a bigger lead, but the Panthers
worked hard and stayed within striking
distance, 44-39. But despite their efforts,
the Leopards gained the advantage, and
would pick up the win 62-56.
Smith again led in scoring with 25
points, also recording five rebounds, and
three assists. Smith also went 12 of 13
from the free throw line.
Harrison recorded nine points, nine
rebounds and four blocks against Banks
County.
The Panthers had 24 turnovers against
the Leopards. Coach Britt Beaver point
ed to his team's shooting game as being a
big deterrent in the championship game.
See JCCHS on page 2B