Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010
JHS BOYS BASKETBALL
Dragons defeat Commerce, Banks Co.
WATCH THIS
J.J. Damons puts up a shot during Friday’s game with
Commerce. Photo by A! McLeod
By Brandon Reed
WITH THREE wins last
week over North Oconee,
Commerce and Banks County,
the Jefferson Dragons are in
the midst of a seven-game win
ning streak and, more impor
tantly, remain undefeated in
region play heading into the
final five games of the regular
season.
The Dragons will play host
to Oglethorpe County on
Friday, on senior night, the
final home game of the regular
season.
The Patriots enter the week
off of a win over North Oconee
last Friday night with a 4-5
record in the region and 8-8
overall.
In their last pairing, the
Dragons won solidly over the
Patriots, taking a 92-51 victory
back on Jan. 15.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30
p.m.
NORTH OCONEE
The Dragons began their
week with a home stand against
the Titans of North Oconee.
Jefferson took control early,
holding the Titans to only three
points while they took an 11-3
lead in the first quarter. North
Oconee began trying to fight
back, putting 12 points on the
board in the second quarter
while the Dragons added 11
more to their total to carry a
22-15 lead into the half.
The Dragons continued to
control the game, holding
North Oconee to nine points
while they continued to stretch
their lead in the third quar
ter, moving out to a 36-24
advantage by the end of the
quarter. Jefferson put the game
away in the fourth, adding 14
points while holding the Titans
to nine to come away with a
50-33 victory.
J.J. Damons led in scoring
for the Dragons with 15 points
on the night. David Watson
scored 11.
“I thought our defense was
real good all night long,” said
coach Bolling DuBose. “I
thought we rebounded the ball
well. Offensively, we made
the shots we needed to make.
Anytime you can beat some
body by 17, that’s a good job.”
COMMERCE
To say that the Dragons
Nation was looking for revenge
last Friday when Commerce
came to town for their second
meeting of the year would be
an understatement.
In their previous meeting,
the Tigers broke Jefferson’s
10-year winning streak over
them by handing the Dragons
a 63-56 loss.
Now the Jefferson faithful
wanted to see the beginning of
a new streak. They would not
leave disappointed.
The Dragons moved out into
an early
lead,
22-14, by
the end
of the
first quar
ter. They
would
continue to build on that lead
while holding the Tigers to
12 points in the second quar
ter, carrying a 39-26 lead into
halftime.
In the third quarter, the
Dragons went to work on put
ting the game away. They
would add 26 points to their
tally while holding the Tigers
to 12 to make it 65-38 by the
end of the third. Jefferson
didn’t slow down any in the
fourth quarter, adding another
22 points on the board while
Commerce scored 17. In the
end, the Dragons came away
with a decisive 87-55 victory.
J.J. Damons led Jefferson
in scoring with 29 points and
14 rebounds. Darius Minor
scored 23.
“Offensively, I thought we
played well all night by push
ing the ball down the floor,”
DuBose said. “Defensively,
we did a great job shutting
down their scorers. For us,
it was important not to just
win that game, but to win it
convincingly and kind of rees
tablish the fact that we feel
like we "re a better team than
Commerce is.”
BANKS COUNTY
The Dragons wrapped up
their weekend with a make
up game at home against the
Feopards of Banks County.
The game had been postponed
from Jan. 8 due to bad weath
er.
The contest started out close,
with the Dragons taking a sev
en-point advantage in the first
quarter to lead 18-11. Jefferson
then began to move out, adding
22 points to their total while
holding the Leopards to 12
points to make it 40-23 going
into the half.
Banks County began trying
to mount a charge in the second
half, as they scored 16 points
while the Dragons scored 11,
making it a 51-39 difference
at the end of the third quarter.
But Jefferson stayed in control,
scoring 25 points in the fourth
quarter while the Leopards
scored 22, giving the Dragons
a firm 76-61 victory.
Darius Minor led the
Dragons with 32 points on the
night.
DuBose said he didn’t feel
like the team played well
defensively all night.
“Defensively, it may have
been one of the worst games
we’ve played all year,” he said.
“We’ve got to learn how to win
a big game one night and come
back 24 hours later and play
another big game.”
DuBose pointed to the per
formances by Minor, Chris
Jackson and Andrew Bartek as
the hardest of the game.
Jefferson was scheduled
to travel to Walnut Grove on
Tuesday. Results were unavail
able at press time.
Coming up:
WHAT: JHS vs.
Oglethorpe Co.
WHERE: JHS
WHEN: Feb. 5 @
8:30 p.m.
S&ML&eltoft/
^femelrw & ($ead dTww
continues
February 6 & 7
New & Estate Jewelry
Get an early start
to your
§ Valentine shopping!
Bring your
broken or
unwanted
gold jewelry
and get cash!
Jewelry Dealers will feature:
~ Hand blown glass pendants
~ Vintage brooches, bracelets, etc.
~ Glass beads to make your own
~ New sterling silver rings, necklaces, etc.
~ And more
A large number of table top jewelry display stands for sale. Bring your
broken costume jewelry and ask for Donna for inexpensive repairs!
Braselton Antique and Gardening Festival
April 24-25 - Braselton Park.
JCCHS GIRLS BASKETBALL
Lady Panthers face Oconee Co. Friday
SCORING PLAYER
Victoria Fontana scored nine points against Stephens
County Friday.
Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
IT WAS a hard week for
the Lady Panthers of Jackson
County, as they dropped two
region contests to Franklin
County and Stephens County
last week.
The Lady Panthers are hop
ing to get back on track in the
last four games of region play.
On Friday, they will travel
to Oconee County to face
the Lady Warriors. Oconee
County came away the victor
in their last pairing, 46-37,
back on Jan. 15.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7
p.m.
FRANKLIN CO.
The week got started on
a rough note for the Lady
Panthers, as they played host
to the Lady Lions of Franklin
County last Tuesday.
Things did not go well at the
start, as Jackson County found
themselves trailing 27-12 at
the half.
Things went better in the
third quarter, as the Lady
Panthers were able to close to
within 12 points of Franklin
County, 39-27, by the end of
the quarter. Jackson County
appeared to be on a roll early
in the fourth quarter as they
pulled to within three, 39-30,
early on.
But missed opportunities by
Jackson County and success
ful foul shots by Franklin gave
the Lady Lions the edge they
needed as they went on to win
54-34.
Victoria Fontana led in
scoring with 14 points on the
night.
Coach Chad Pittman said
that the loss to Franklin County
was similar to the previous
week’s loss to Hart County.
“It seems to be a recur
ring theme of our rebound
ing being a problem,” he said.
“Our defense was pretty good,
but we just couldn’t convert
around the basket and gave
them too many second chance
opportunities. That was, real
ly to me, the biggest difference
of the game.
“It’s hard to beat a team
when you give them too many
second chances.”
Pittman said the defensive
effort by his team was pretty
good.
“Nobody for them really
killed us. But for me the
difference was, just as with
Hart County, that we lost the
battle on the boards and then
we didn’t convert on some
opportunities for us around the
basket offensively.”
STEPHENS COUNTY
Up next was another home
stand on Friday night, as
Jackson County played host to
the Lady Indians of Stephens
County.
Despite trailing early, the
Lady
Panthers
worked
hard
to stay
within
shouting
distance
of the Lady Indians, who held
an 11-8 advantage at the end
of the first quarter. While both
teams seemed pretty evenly
matched in the second quarter,
Stephens County was able to
increase their lead slightly as
they carried a 24-20 lead into
the half.
The second half proved to be
the turning point, as the Lady
Indians pulled out their advan
tage over the Lady Panthers
down the stretch. In the end,
Stephens County came away
with a 49-38 victory.
Bree Drew led Jackson
County in scoring with 13
points. Victoria Fontana
scored nine.
“We had not taken advan
tage of some of our opportuni
ties in the first half,” Pittman
said. “Our play around the
basket, both defensively and
offensively, was not where
it needed to be. Then that
recurring theme, that I unfor
tunately have to keep talking
about and hope that it sinks
in, they had too many second
chance points. Again, they
had double-digit points off of
offensive rebounds.”
“We have got to do a better
job of boxing out and limiting
them to one shot,” Pittman
added.
The loss dropped Jackson
County to 4-6 in region play
and 12-9 overall.
The Lady Panthers were
scheduled to travel to Elbert
County to face the Lady Blue
Devils on Tuesday. Results
were unavailable at press
time.
DIAMOND DOLLZ
10U FASTPITCH
SOFTBALL
Is looking for anyone interested in playing with us
this upcoming season. We are looking to fill ALL
positions! If interested please email us for more
details at diamonddollzfastpitch@yahoo.com
or call 706-248-1846.
Coming up:
WHAT: JCCHS @
Oconee Co.
WHERE: Oconee
WHEN: Feb. 5@7
p.m.