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Inside: Eagles win over Dawson Co. — page 3B
DECEMBER 23,
2009
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Section B
JCCHS GIRLS BASKETBALL
LOOKING FOR AN OPENING
Sierra Roncardi looks for a shot during Saturday’s
game against East Jackson. Photo by Brandon Reed
Lady Panthers pick up
win against East Jackson
By Brandon Reed
THE JACKSON County Lady Panthers continued their hot
streak into the Christmas break by picking up wins against
Morgan County and East Jackson last week.
After the break, the Lady Panthers will return to action on
Dec. 29 against Sequoyah at Pickens County in tournament
play.
MORGAN COUNTY
The Lady Panthers began last week with a trip to Morgan
County where they took on the Lady Bulldogs in region action.
Jackson County took control early, but the Lady Bulldogs
stayed close and by the end of the third
quarter, the Lady Panthers held a slim
32-30 advantage.
As time ran down, the score remained
close, as Jackson County led 36-34. The
Lady Panthers hit a three-pointer to make
it 39-36, followed by two free throws by
Ashley Skelton to move away. Morgan County made a late
charge, but couldn’t overcome the deficit as Jackson County
won 41-38.
See JCCHS on page 2B
Coming up:
WHAT: JCCHS vs
Sequoyah
WHERE: Pickens
Co.
WHEN: Dec. 29
JCCHS BOYS BASKETBALL
CAREER MILESTONE
Joseph Smith, pictured with coach Britt Beaver, scored
his 1000th career point during Saturday’s game against
East Jackson.
Jackson County defeats
Eagles, face Tigers Dec. 28
MORGAN COUNTY
Last week’s play started
last Tuesday for the Jackson
County Panthers with a trip
to Morgan County to face the
Bulldogs.
It was a close game from the
outset, with Morgan County
taking a slim 8-7 lead by the
end of the first quarter. Things
would stay close in the second
quarter, with the Panthers tak
ing a one-point lead, 17-16,
into the half.
Jackson County would work
hard in the third to retain that
lead, coming away with a
See Panthers on page 2B
By Brandon Reed
THE JACKSON County
Panthers enter the Christmas
break this week fresh off a
victory over in-county rival
East Jackson over the week
end.
The Panthers are next slat
ed to host
Commerce
on Dec. 28.
Tip-off is
scheduled
for 4:30
p.m.
The team’s first game after
the New Year holiday will be
on Jan. 5, when they play host
to Habersham Central.
Coming up:
WHAT: JCCHS vs
Commerce
WHERE: JCCHS
WHEN: Dec. 28 @
4:30 p.m.
JHS BOYS BASKETBALL
go 4-0 against region teams
TAKE THE SHOT
Andre Daniel puts up a shot during a recent game. The Dragons have gone unde
feated against region foes so far this season. Photo by A! McLeod
Dragons
By Brandon Reed
THE JEFFERSON Dragons
entered the holiday break
unbeaten in region play after
defeating the Riverside Military
Academy Eagles last Tuesday.
Up next for the Dragons
is a trip to Pickens County
where they will face the Kell
Longhorns in the Pickens
County Holiday Tournament.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30
p.m.
RIVERSIDE
The Dragons wrapped up
their first stint of region play
last Tuesday as they hosted
Riverside.
The Eagles set the tone of
the game from the start as they
jumped out to an early 9-0 lead,
Coming up:
WHAT: JHS vs Kell
WHERE: Pickens
Co.
WHEN: Dec. 28 @
5:30 p.m.
Jefferson’s defense began step
ping up in the last three minutes
of the quarter, and by the end of
the first, the Dragons had cut
the lead to seven points, 23-16.
In the second quarter, the
Dragons outscored Riverside
19 points to nine to take a
35-32 lead at the half. They
were aided by David Watson,
who hit three three-pointers in
the first half and Tyler Bailey,
who hit three three-pointers
in the second quarter to give
Jefferson a boost.
“For the last 11 minutes of
the half, I thought we played
really good basketball,” said
coach Bolling DuBose. “We
played good defensively.”
The third quarter was pretty
even between both teams until
Riverside lost one of their play
ers on two technical fouls with
about three minutes left.
In addition, Jefferson got
four free throws and hit a
three-pointer to put together
seven points in a row, making
it 49-42. By the end of the
third quarter, the Dragons led
53-44.
Riverside would cut the lead
to five points twice and got to
four points once, but would get
no closer as the Dragons went
on to win 63-58.
“I thought we handled the
ball well,” DuBose said. “We
hit free throws when we needed
to. We didn’t play great in the
fourth quarter, but we certainly
did a good job of protecting the
ball and doing what we had to
do to win the ball game.
“I thought the way the game
started when we were down by
13 early, it was a very big win
for us.”
David Watson led the
Dragons in scoring with 23
points. Darius Minor scored
12. J.J. Damons scored 10.
Tyler Bailey scored nine.
“Riverside is really a good
basketball team,” DuBose said.
“We knew they were going to
be good. Of the four teams
we played from the other sub-
region, they were without a
doubt the best.”
and at
one point
pulled out
to a 15-2
advan
tage.
JHS WRESTLING
Jefferson picks up win at Suwanee
By Brandon Reed
THE JEFFERSON Mat
Dragons added another win
to the 2009-10 tally this past
weekend, as they came out on
top of the Lambert Invitational
in Suwanee over the week
end.
Up next for Jefferson is a
trip to Winder-Barrow for the
Winder-Barrow Invitational
on Dec. 29 and 30.
Jefferson scored a total of
335 points in last weekend’s
Lambert Invitational, taking
top honors over second place
West Forsyth, who scored
252. West Laurens, North
Forsyth and South Forsyth
rounded out the top five.
Among those picking up
wins in their weight classes
for Jefferson was Isaac Kelley
in the 112 lb. class, Caleb
King in the 119 lb. category,
Cutler Finch in the 135 lb. cat
egory, Cain Finch in the 140
lb. class and Zack Allen in
the 215 lb. class. Other plac
ers included Clay Richardson
taking second in the 125 lb.
category, Daniel Barber tak
ing second in the 130 lb. class,
Wayne Elliott taking third in
the 145 lb. category and Forest
Przybysz in the 160 lb. class.
“We were just real pleased,”
said coach Doug Thurmond.
“It’s a different kind of for
mat. The
first day,
you wres
tle three
or four
matches
in a pool,
then they
seed you the next day based
on what you did the day
before. All our guys made it
in, and we had a different line
up. We had some JV guys in
there, and several of our guys
stepped it up and did well.”
“We were real pleased to be
able to pull it off,” Thurmond
added. “We were proud of the
guys that wrestled, they did a
real good job.”
The Mat Dragons were slat
ed to take part in the Pigeon
Forge Invitational Monday
and Tuesday in Pigeon Forge,
Tenn. Results were unavail
able at press time.
THIRD PLACE
Wayne Elliott (top) gets a hold on an opponent at a recent match. Elliott took third at
Suwanee last week. Photo by Ben Munro
Coming up:
WHAT: Winder -
Barrow Invitational
WHERE: Winder-
Barrow
WHEN: Dec. 28-29