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Inside: JHS Wrestlers honored
page 2B
MARCH 17,
2010
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Section B
JHS BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Dragons fall just short in state title bid
Jefferson loses to Thomasville in state semi-finals
HOLDING ON
J.J. Damons works to keep the ball away from defenders during Thursday’s semi
final game in Macon.
Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
FOR ONLY the third time
in school history, the Jefferson
Dragons last week traveled
to Macon for the final four
in state basketball playoffs.
They were hoping to be able
to make it one more game,
to the championship game on
Saturday.
But it didn’t pan out that
way, as the Dragons came up
short against the Thomasville
Bulldogs, losing 69-43.
The Bulldogs would go on
to fall in the state finals, losing
to Greater Atlanta Christian.
FINAL FOUR
The Dragons knew they
would have to put forth one
of their best efforts of the year
when they tipped off against
the Thomasville Bulldogs
Thursday in Macon.
With several big players,
Thomasville came to town
with a 23-4 record, having
lost only one region pairing in
the season.
From the start, Jefferson
worked hard to find an edge
and to stay with the Bulldogs.
By the end of the first quarter,
the Dragons had managed to
stay within shouting distance,
trailing by just eight points
at the end of the first eight
minutes, 18-10. The Dragons
would begin working hard
on Thomasville, and actually
outscored the Bulldogs in the
closing minutes of the second
quarter, 9-2, cutting the lead
to seven points, 34-27, going
into the half.
“I really felt like the way
we settled down in the last
three, three-and-a-half min
utes of the second half was a
good sign for us,” said coach
Bolling DuBose.
Over the course of the last
AUTO RACING
several weeks, the Dragon
Nation had seen this scenario
play out several times. The
Dragons would be down early
only to surge back late to take
the win.
“I’ll be honest, at halftime,
I felt like ‘we’ve done this
before, we can do it again.' ”
DuBose said.
But in the third quarter,
the Bulldogs turned up the
pressure. Over the course
of the next eight minutes,
JCCHS BASEBALL
Thomasville outscored
Jefferson 24-8 to take a com
manding 58-35 advantage at
the end of third.
‘‘We got careless with the
See Dragons on page 6B
EJCHS BASEBALL
WAIT FOR IT
Josh Chumley waits on a pitch during Monday’s game
against Banks County. East Jackson lost 8-6 to the
Leopards. Photo by Justin Poole
Eagles fall to
Jefferson, Banks Co.
AFTER OPENING with back-to-back victories, the East
Jackson Eagles have spent the following games looking for
traction. So far, it's eluded them, as they dropped their last two
games, both of which were region pairings.
The Eagles" next chance to get their season back on the right
path comes on March 23, when East Jackson will play host to
Walnut Grove.
The Warriors enter the week with a 3-2 record, having won
their only region pairing so far in the season against Oglethorpe
County.
First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
JEFFERSON
The Eagles traveled to Jefferson to face the Dragons last
Tuesday night.
Things went bad from the start, as the Dragons put five runs
on the board in the bottom of the first. East Jackson would
score one run in the top of the second and another in the top of
the third, but would move no closer as the Dragons scored eight
runs in the bottom of the fourth, and went on to win 13-2.
See Eagles on page 6B
WINNING PERFORMANCE
Augie Grill celebrates in GMP’s victory lane after
dominating Saturday night’s Super Late Model season
opener. Photo courtesy GMP Media
Grill opens season at
Gresham with victory
Undefeated Panthers face Hart County Wed.
AUGIE GRILL domi
nated the Champion Racing
Association (CRA) Super
Late Model season opening
event at Gresham Motorsports
Park Saturday.
The Hayden, Ala., driver
served notice early that he
would be the driver to beat
posting fast time in quali
fying with a 16.169 second
tour of the GMP half-mile
oval. Grill started third on the
26-car starting field after the
post-qualifying inversion and
wasted little time moving to
the front taking the lead from
Ryan Lawler on Lap 16.
From there on out, it was
smooth sailing for Grill as
he survived a series of late
restarts to win the 125-lap
headliner going away.
Meanwhile, a series of chal
lengers took their turns bat
tling for the runner-up spot.
Lawler held on to the position
until Chase Elliott inherited
the spot on lap 48 when Lawler
headed to the pits with rear
end problems. Several drivers,
including Casey Roderick and
T.J. Reaid, all took turns in the
top-five only to fall out of con
tention. Only a late caution
made it close as Grill roared
to victory over Elliott, Bubba
Pollard, Jason Hogan and Mike
Garvey. Scott Hantz, Dacula's
Russell Fleeman, Jeff Fultz,
Gainesville's Greg Simpson
See Gresham on page 6B
By Brandon Reed
THE JACKSON County
Panthers remained undefeated
after picking up their eighth
win of the year, and their
first region win of the season
Monday over Mountain View.
The 8-0 Panthers now
look to carry their early sea
son success forward today
(Wednesday) as they travel to
Hartwell to face the Bulldogs
of Hart County.
Hart County enters play this
week with a 2-5 overall record
and 1-0 in the region.
First pitch Wednesday is
scheduled for 5:55 p.m.
MOUNTAIN VIEW
After Saturday’s rematch
with West Hall was rained
out, the Panthers next played
host to the Mountain View
Bears on Monday.
Mountain View took a brief
lead early on, putting one run
ner across in the top of the
first to make it a 1-0 game.
It would stay there until the
bottom of the second, when
the Panthers broke through
with six runs, with each one
coming with two outs on the
board. The stretch included
a three RBI double by Zach
Sticher.
The Bears cut into the lead
in the top of the third, but
Jackson County added three
more to their tally in the bot
tom of the inning, including
a two RBI double from Rob
Williams and an RBI single
from John Florentine.
Neither side had the chance
to add to their tally in the
fourth or the fifth, but the
Panthers were able to get
some steam up in the bottom
of the sixth, scoring twice,
including an RBI single from
Sorrells.
The Bears would make a lit
tle more noise with a two-run
homer in the top of the sev
enth, but would get no closer
as the Panthers won 11-5.
Austin Robinson recorded
the victory, giving up four hits
and sitting down four in five
innings.
Trey Sorrells had three hits,
two runs and an RBI on the
night. Rob Williams had two
hits and two RBIs. Robinson
had two hits and two RBIs.
Zach Sticher had one hit and
three RBIs.
The win tied the team’s win
total from last year.
‘‘We have reached one of
our goals on the year by beat
ing our cross-county rival
East Jackson,” said coach
Tommy Fountain. ‘‘This win
puts us one game closer to
reaching our second goal of
improving our win total from
last year. We’ve got to play
better than we did (Monday)
for that to happen Wednesday.
We came out extremely flat
today and did not play like
we’re capable of playing, but
a win is a win, especially
See JCCHS on page 6B
HERE IT COMES
Jackson County’s Larry Evans prepares to fire a pitch to the plate during a recent
game. Photo by Brandon Reed