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Inside: Eagles go 2-0 to open season — page 3B
MARCH 3,
2010
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Section B
JHS BOYS BASKETBALL
JCCHS SOCCER
Late tip-in sends Jefferson to round two
Dragons defeat Manchester to advance in state play
By Brandon Reed
FOR 31 minutes, things
looked tough for the Dragon
Nation, as Jefferson worked to
close the gap on the Manchester
Blue Devils.
But a three-pointer followed
by a tip-in in the last 16 seconds
of play left the crowd cheering
and meant the Dragons would
be continuing on in state play
with a one-point victory over
Manchester.
Now the Dragons must
focus on the next hurdle in
their state quest, as they face
off against the Westminster
Wildcats tonight (Wednesday)
in a game delayed by weather
from Tuesday.
The Wildcats come to
Jefferson off a close victory
over Dade County, where they
won by just a two-point mar
gin.
Westminster went 15-13
overall this season, and 7-7 in
region play.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7
p.m.
MANCHESTER
From the start, it was a tough
battle for the Dragons.
Up against a very athletic
Manchester team, Jefferson
found themselves trailing
early. The
Coming up:
WHAT: JHS vs.
Westminster
WHERE: JHS
WHEN: March 3 @
7 p.m.
Dragons
were able
to come
back to tie
the score
7-7 with
just over
two-and-a-half minutes left in
the first quarter, but the Blue
Devils fought back, and held
a one point lead, 12-11, at the
end of the quarter.
GETTING BY
J.J. Damons (right) looks to get away from a Manchester defender during last week’s
state playoff game against the Blue Devils. Jefferson went on to win 68-67.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Things got ugly for Jefferson
in the second quarter, as
Manchester began breaking
out. By the end of the eight-
minute stretch, the Blue Devils
had outscored Jefferson 27-15
to take a 39-26 advantage into
halftime.
“I felt like at halftime, even
though we were down by 13, if
we could just slow down a little
bit and get everything under
control, and slow them down a
little bit, that we had plenty of
time to come back and get into
the game,” said coach Bolling
DuBose.
The Dragons came back out
in the second half looking to
make up some ground. They
were able to close the gap to
just nine points, outscoring
Manchester 18-14, making it a
53-44 lead for the Blue Devils.
Now that they were within
shouting distance, the Dragons
began working hard to catch
Manchester. For the first two
minutes of the fourth quarter,
Jefferson held the Blue Devils
scoreless while they moved to
See Dragons on page 7B
ON THE RUN
Jackson County’s Christian Sanchez (22) works to beat
a Jefferson player to the ball during last week’s game
against the Dragons. Sanchez scored two goals and
had two saves against Jefferson. The Panthers went
on to defeat the Dragons 5-1. Photo by Brandon Reed
Jackson County picks
up wins over Jefferson
By Brandon Reed
IT’S BEEN a strong start to the season for the Jackson County
soccer teams, with both the boys and girls recording wins over
Jefferson in their season-openers last week after matches with
East Jackson were postponed due to rain.
Jackson County will travel to Madison on Friday for area
matches against Morgan County.
The girls are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m., with the boys'
match slated for 7:30 p.m.
JEFFERSON
The Lady Panthers opened up their season last Wednesday
against Jefferson. Jackson County came away with a victory,
See JCCHS on page 2B
JCCHS BASEBALL
JHS BASEBALL
Panthers open season with trio of wins
By Brandon Reed
THE JACKSON County
Panthers got their 2010 season
off to a strong start last week,
winning their first three games
against Lumpkin County,
Forest Park and Johnson.
Up next for the Panthers is
a trip to Gainesville to again
face Johnson Thursday. The
Knights enter play this week
with a 2-1 record, their lone
loss having come at the hands
of Jackson County.
First pitch is scheduled for
5 p.m.
LUMPKIN COUNTY
The Panthers opened their
season last Friday by play
ing host to the Indians of
Lumpkin County.
The Indians jumped out to
an early lead, but the Panthers
stayed close by putting two
runners across in the bottom
of the inning to make it a 3-2
game. After hitting the lead-
off batter, pitcher
John Florentine
settled in and held
the Indians to one
run in the top of the
fifth. Meanwhile,
the Panthers’ bats
came to life in the
bottom of the second, putting
five runs on the board to take
a 7-4 lead.
With Larry Evans now on
the mound for the
Panthers, both teams
remained scoreless
through the next two
innings. Lumpkin
County would add
two runs in the top
of the fifth, but the
Panthers answered by putting
four runners across in the bot
tom of the inning. Lumpkin
County again tried to mount a
comeback, putting three more
runs across in the top of the
sixth, only to see two of them
answered by Jackson County
in the bottom of the inning.
The Indians would try again to
close in the top of the seventh,
but got only two of the runs
they needed, as the Panthers
held on to win 13-11.
Evans got the win from the
mound, with Matt Bridgman
coming on in the seventh to
get the save.
Ken Miller led the Panthers
at the plate, going 3-4 with a
double and three RBIs.
‘‘It was freezing cold out
side and the game was sloppy
at times, but we’ll take a win,”
said coach Tommy Fountain.
‘‘Lumpkin County is a good
ball club that was ranked in
the top ten for most of last
season. They graduated a
good bit of seniors, but they’ll
win plenty of ball games this
year.”
FOREST PARK
The Panthers played host
in a pair of games Saturday
See Panthers on page 2B
GOT HIM
Austin Robinson (standing) tags a Lumpkin County runner as he attempted to steal
second during last Friday’s season-opener. The Panthers went on to win 13-11.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Coming up:
WHAT: JCCHS @
Johnson
WHERE: Johnson
WHEN: March 4 @
5 p.m.
PHILLIPS PITCHES
Conner Phillips sends a pitch to the plate during last
week’s season-opener. Photo by Brandon Reed
Dragons fall to Warriors,
defeat Madison Country
By Brandon Reed
THE JEFFERSON Dragons
split their opening two games
of the 2010 season, losing
their opener to Oconee County
before recording
a victory on the
road over Madison
County.
Up next is a home
stand for Jefferson,
as they will host
the Red Raiders of
Madison County on
Thursday. First pitch is sched
uled for 5:55 p.m.
On Saturday, the Dragons
will host their in-county nem
esis, the Tigers of Commerce.
Commerce enters the week
0-1 in this young season, and
looking for some early trac
Cominq up:
WHAT: JHS vs.
Madison County
WHERE: JHS
WHEN: March 4 @
5:55 p.m.
tion. On Saturday, they’ll be
looking to break the strangle
hold the Dragons have held on
the win column in the ongoing
feud between the two teams.
The Dragons have
been victorious
against Commerce
in their last eight
matchups, dating
back to March of
2006.
First pitch is
scheduled for 1
p.m.
OCONEE CO.
The Dragons started their
season off with a home stand
against the Warriors of Oconee
County last Wednesday.
See Jefferson on page 7B