Newspaper Page Text
JUNE 30,
2010
Inside: Local all-star
teams win big — page 3B
www.MainStreetNewsSPORTS.com
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Section B
SKY HIGH
Jefferson
shooting
guard David
Watson
rises to the
rim during
a Jefferson
High School
basketball
summer
workout.
The Dragons
are coming
off a Final
Four finish
in 2009-2010.
Photo by Ben
Munro
Prep Basketball
Reloading starts
now for JHS boys
Dragons at a glance
•’09-’10 record: 25-7
•Advanced to Class AA
Final Four last year
•Lose top two scor
ers and rebounders
By Ben Munro
JEFFERSON thrives on
an up-tempo game on the
hardwood and hopes to be
sprinting up and down the
court again in 2010-2011.
Despite the loss of five
seniors and the top two
scoring options off last year’s Final Four team, the area
basketball powerhouse should be able to play its usual
fast-paced brand of basketball based on what longtime
coach Bolling DuBose has seen during summer ball.
See JHS on page 4B
NEARING TWO DECADES
The Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department will celebrate its 20th anniversary this
year. Photo by Ben Munro
Jackson Co. Parks and Rec turning 20
By Ben Munro
ACKSON COUNTY
has changed a lot in the
past two decades.
So has its recreation depart
ment. Just ask Rick Sanders.
This December, the Jackson
County Parks and Recreation
Department will celebrate its 20 th
anniversary, having expanded
to six parks now and added
amenities to meet the chang
ing needs of the nation’s 22 nd
fastest-growing county.
“What folks expect now, it’s
a challenge to keep up with
those things,” said Sanders,
who was JCPR’s director for
its first four years and again
for the last 10 years. “You’ve
got a diverse county now.”
The department started in 1990
after the county government
formed a 22-member committee to
establish county-wide park service.
Prior to that, each city or com
munity ran its own organization.
Around the time of the
rec department’s formation,
Jackson County had only
JCPR: 20 years of growth
•Started in Dec. 1990 by the
Jackson County BOC.
•Has grown to include four active
parks and two passive parks.
•Added Hoschton Park this year
30,000 or so residents. There
are now over 63,500, accord
ing to recent census estimates.
“Now you have all kinds of
demographics, all kinds of profes
sions here, you’ve got really a
mix of folks that have all differ
ent kinds of ideas and different
frames of reference from what
they came from,” Sanders said.
And JCPR — which built
its first athletic facility, Famar
Murphy Park, in 1996 — has
changed with the times.
The department has added
four new parks in the last
eight years, with East Jackson
Park and Hoschton Park being
the most recent additions.
East Jackson Park opened its
gates last year, giving JCPR a
presence in southeastern Jackson
County. Hoschton Park was added
this year and will provide a soccer-
football complex with a baseball
field and a walking trail for the
far- western portion of the county.
“Each time we open a new
park, we get really excited about
it, because it’s something for our
citizens to enjoy,” Sanders said.
While facilities are one
thing, programs are another.
The department’s core pro
grams are baseball, softball,
basketball, football and soccer,
but JCPR has to be perceptive to
new sports on the horizon and
the public’s changing needs.
Sanders uses a sport like
lacrosse and its growth out
of Atlanta as an example.
“We’re already getting
calls from folks wanting
to use Hoschton (Park) for
lacrosse out of Mill Creek
High School,” Sanders said.
And it’s not just kids wanting
sports programs these days, either.
See JCPR on page 4B
RISING SENIOR
Jackson County senior Sierra Roncadori goes up strong
to the hoop in a scrimmage. Photo by Ben Munro
Prep Basketball
Lady Panthers
settling in
under new coach
By Ben Munro
NO ONE’S sleeping in
late this summer on the Lady
Panther basketball team.
Instead. Jackson County
players are in the gym at the
break of dawn under new
coach John Hawley, honing
their individual skills to gear-
up for 2010-2011.
Senior guard Ashley Skelton
calls her team’s daily routine
“pretty intense.”
“We get up at the crack of
dawn, go for two hours, then
we come back later in the after
noon.” Skelton said. “We’ve
gotten a lot better individually.”
Skelton is one of four seniors
playing under the newly-hired
Hawley, who takes over for
Lady Panthers
at a glance
•’09-T0 record: 13-12
•Have new coach, John Hawley,
who has 30 years experience
•Have four seniors on
this year’s roster
former coach Chad Pittman.
Seniors are usually the most
well-versed players in a system
but a coaching change meant
adapting to a new way of doing
things.
“I mean, I thought it was
going to be tough at first,”
Skelton said. “But he’s been
See JCCHS on page 4B
Professional Tennis
JHS tennis players had
ties to Wimbledon star
By Ben Munro
AS IF THE world’s longest tennis match
weren’t captivating enough, John Isner’s
11-hour, five-minute Wimbledon epic with
Nicolas Mahut Thursday carried extra
intrigue for two Jefferson High School
standouts.
Rising junior Zach Bost once shared the
court with the world’s 19 th -ranked player,
while rising senior Blair Buffington served
as Isner’s ball boy during the 2007 NCAA
championships.
Bost had the privilege of playing oppo
site of Isner in doubles a couple years ago
at Athens Country Club in what he called
“a little pro-am.”
“We’re members at Athens Country club,
so they just randomly paired up people to
play against him,” Bost explained. “I was one of the lucky ones
that got to.”
See Isner on page 4B
ON TO
COLLEGE
Jefferson
High School’s
Brittney Smith
signs a softball
scholarship
with Emmanuel
College.
Pictured are
(front, L to R)
Steve Smith,
Brittney
Smith, Cathy
Smith, (back)
Emmanuel
head coach
Ricky Sanders
and Jefferson
High School
coach Brad
Puckett.
Prep Softball
Versatile Smith joins college ranks
By Ben Munro
SURE-HANDED JEFFERSON catcher
Brittney Smith will continue her softball career
in college.
Smith, a middle infielder-turned-catcher who
earned the nickname “Brick wall” for her abili
ties behind the plate, signed a scholarship with
Emmanuel College Friday in front of family,
friends and coaches.
“I’m a little nervous as far as balancing
school and softball, but I’m definitely excited,”
Smith said.
Smith was also courted by LaGrange
College and Gordon College before deciding
on Emmanuel, where she’ll play for coach
Rick Sanders.
“She’s just a great kid,” Sanders said. “She
comes from a great family. We’re excited to have
her.”
Jefferson coach Brad Puckett described
Smith as a fierce competitor, one that wasn’t
afraid to charge headlong into a wall for a foul
ball — even in a summer game.
“She led by example,” Puckett said. “She
gave 110 percent. It didn’t matter what the
situations was.”
Catcher isn’t Smith’s natural position. In
fact, Puckett called her one of the best middle
infielders in the state. But Jefferson needed to
fill a hole behind the plate a few years ago, and
Puckett called on Smith, who took over varsity
catching duties her sophomore year.
See Smith on page 4B