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THURSDAY. APRIL 22. 2004 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 1C
Let the
games begin
(without the Hawks)
By Rick Frye
After months of games that do
little but eliminate the really bad
teams (like the Atlanta Hawks), the
season began in earnest for most of
the NBA last week with the start of
the playoffs. Most
of the teams begin
the year, which
started back in
October, with
hopes of reaching
the playoffs and
competing for the
championship.
Some (like the
Hawks) realize they don’t have the
right stuff to have a legitimate shot
and end up playing for the other
end of the spectrum, the lottery and
the hope of landing a high pick in
the draft in hopes of improving
their lot for the future.
There hasn’t been much excite
ment generated in Georgia lately as
far as the NBA-goes. The Hawks
have been pathetic from departed
top executive Stan Kasten all the
way down to the ball boys.
They’ve made awful trades,
brought in players who were the
equivalent of putting a tumor in
your team ( Isaiah Rider and Glen
Robinson) and generally been one
of the worst franchises in the
league for at least the last five
years.
They say they are hoping to
make some noise in the free agent
market this year, having cleared out
most of their big contracts. The
only problem with that is what
player that wants to win is going to
come to Atlanta when there isn't
anybody else that can help them do
so. The Hawks best player this
year, Steven Jackson, who was
signed as a free agent two years
ago, has already said he will not
resign with the club and is off to
trying to find a team he can win
with. Jackson came to Atlanta from
the San Antonio Spurs and is look
ing to get back with a team that has
a shot at winning.
It’s a sad state of affairs when
the most the team can hope for is
that one of their balls will roll out
of the machine first when the
league goes about determining the
draft order for the lottery. Knowing
the Hawks’ luck, they probably
won’t be fortunate enough to get
one of the top picks and, if they do,
chances are the pick won’t be the
right one.
As for those teams that are in
the hunt for a championship, the
lack of harmony on the Los Ange
les Lakers is the big question mark.
After acquiring veterans Gary Pay-
ton and Karl Malone to go along
with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille
O’Neal, most figured the team
would be back in the top spot at the
end of the year. However, it’s been
a roller coaster year for them with
Bryant going from one court (the
legal one) to the other all season as
he tries to avoid prison on rape
charges stemming from an incident
in Colorado last summer. Lots of
bickering and not enough room for
all the egos could be their undoing
as well.
Many are saying this could be
the year for the Minnesota Timber-
wolves with probable MVP Kevin
Garnett. Others say Sacramento
will get it done this year, although
they ended the regular season play
ing poorly and let the Lakers take
Continued on 2C
Rec. Dept.
Update
Summer Camp Registration
We are taking registration for
summer camp at this time. You
may register Monday-Friday
between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Camp
begins the week of May 24, it
will be closed the week of July 5
and the week of July 26 will be
the last week of camp. The cost
is $75. Each camper will need to
bring daily lunch, snacks, drinks,
swimsuit and a towel. For fur
ther information on our summer
camp, please call 253-8862.
PCRD Would Like To Thank
The Pickens Co. Recreation
Dept, would like to say thank
you to South Pickens Storage for
donating several loads of good
quality red clay to distribute on
Field # 1 and thank you to
Stephens Grading & Hauling for
hauling it to us. This was a great
help in getting Field # 1
groomed and ready for play.
Once again, thank you for your
contribution to the Pickens Co.
Recreation Dept.
PHS Track
Dragons and ‘Nettes enjoy successful week in track
By Rick Frye
The track teams had two meets
last week, traveling to Gilmer for a
cold and rainy event on Tuesday,
then hosting Dawson and Forsyth
Central on a much nicer day Friday.
At Gilmer on Tuesday the team
put on a strong performance. Whit
ney Propes paced the effort with
three wins, taking the triple jump
with a leap of 31’ 2”, the 100
meters in 13.35 and the high hur
dles in 19.52. Megan Stephens was
a double victor with a time of
1:12.57 in the 400, and 58.77 in the
300 hurdles and also had Noni Rice
with two wins, in the long jump
with a leap of 15’ 10” and in the
200 meters with a time of 30.19.
Chasity Lohman took the 1600 in
7:04, and Jessica Jarrett won the
high jump at 4’ 4”. In addition, both
the 4x400 relay team and the 4x100
relay team won.
Second place finishers for the
girls included Kelly Hales in both
the shot and discus, with throws of
26’ 6” and 69’ 3” respectively,
Yolanda Washington in the long and
triple jumps at 12’ 3” and 26’ 11”
and the 200 at 31.98, Tifani Smith
in the high jump at 4’ 2” and pole
vault at 7’, Stephen in the high hur
dles at 19.86, Kenya Washington in
the 800 at 3:18 and Jessica Jarrett in
the 300 hurdles at 59.69.
The boys were led by Bo Qualls
and Kevin Hussey with wins in
three events. Qualls took the shot
with a toss of 37’ 8”, the discus
with a throw of 108’ 2” and the pole
vault at 9’ 6”, while Hussey took
the long jump with a leap of 19’,
the 100 in 12.35 and the triple jump
at 38’. Other wins came from Jacob
Gise in the 1600 in 5:39, Joel
Stephens in the 400 at 58.89 and
Dustin Herndon in the 200 at 25.88.
Both relay teams were also winners
for the boys.
Second place winners for the
boys were Cale McDaniel in both
the shot and discus with 34’ 7” and
98’ 7”, Stephens in the long and
high jump with 16’ 8” and 5’ 6”,
James Wigington in the 100 at
12.97 and the 110 high hurdles, and
Chris Wallace had three seconds
with a triple jump of 37’ 1”, a high
hurdles time of 18.78 and the 300
hurdles in a time of 48.09.
On Friday in much better condi
tions, the performances got better.
Propes again had three wins with a
100 time of 12.08, a high hurdles
time of 17.98 and a triple jump of
34’. Stephens and Rice repeated
their double wins with Stephens
getting the 400 in 1:08.84 and the
300 hurdles in 53.89 and Rice get
ting the long jump in 15’ 10” and
the 200 in 27:07. Smith won the
pole vault a 7’ and Jarrett took the
800 in 2:55.
Seconds went to Smith in the
triple jump at 28’ 11”, Loman in the
3200 at 14:49, Rice in the 100 with
a time of 12.65 and Stephens in the
high hurdles at 18.52.
The boys got wins from Qualls
in the shot with a great toss of 43’
1” and the pole vault at 9’, Hussey
won in the triple jump and 100,
with 41’ 7” and a 11.46 time, Gise
won the 800 and the 1600 in 2:19
and 5:22 and John Reynolds won
the 400 in 54.87. The 4x400 relay
team also won.
Seconds went to Qualls in the
discus at 126’, Reynolds in the high
jump with a 5’10” effort, and Wal
lace was second in both the 110
high hurdles and the 300 hurdles
with times of 17.92 and 46.4. The
4x100 relay team took second as
well.
The team wrapped up the regular
season with a home meet Tuesday,
then the girls have region on Friday
and Saturday at Johnson. The boys
region will take place next week
end. Both teams are hopeful of
good performances at the region
meet, and that they will be able to
qualify several athletes for the state
meet. On the regular season, the
girls ended up 10-1, while the boys
had a record of 8-3.
PHS Baseball
PHS Baseball Rides On
By James N. Golden
This week in baseball includes
some good solid baseball, a “car
diac” victory and a “final” defeat.
There’s three more weeks left in the
season and time to still make a
mark in this region. This team is
battling and can still move into the
post-season with a good finish.
Let’s review this week’s action:
Monday afternoon in Fannin
County was a threatening but dry
game. The Dragons played hard all
the way through this match-up with
the Rebels from the North. That
sounds funny, doesn’t it? But Fan
nin is north of our area. Justin
Lester pitched through a game
when he could not find the “stuff’
that had commanded 14 or 15 strike
outs in previous outings. But
you’ve got to hand it to this young
man. He fights and battles and does
not give in to batters. The Rebels
scored in each of the first four
innings with the big blow coming
right off the top in the form of a
three-run home run in the first.
Meanwhile, the Dragon bats were
sluggish in the early going. But
when they got it going, they really
went to work. We scored one run in
the third when Alex Williams, who
reached on a double, crossed the
plate on a hit by Andy Golden. I
must say, these two have been on
fire and continued their ways this
week. The fourth frame for Pickens
was also active as Jason Johnson
slammed a home run off a car in the
nearby parking lot and Kevin
Buchanan added a hit. We contin
ued in the fifth when the “A” broth
ers, that’s Alex and Andy, each
reached on hits and Sean McDonald
plated one with a double and John
son plated the other with a broken
finger sacrifice fly. So, by the end
of the fifth we were down 7-5, but
very much in the game.
No action for Fannin in that
frame as Jeremy Carver came in
relief, gave the boys in green anoth
er at-bat. And the hitters did that
hitting thing. Buchanan slaps a dou
ble and the “A” team strikes again.
Williams rips a double and Golden
gets a single and we score two more
runs. But then Fannin woke back up
or got mad or something and scored
three big runs in the bottom of the
sixth punctuated by a two-run blast.
But I’ve said it before, our guys
don’t give up. We’ve come back all
season long and this was no excep
tion. Johnson starts the inning with
a hit that was negated by a pretty
but deflating double play by Fan
nin. But Josh Green raps a single
and designated hitter Buchanan
crushes a ball to deep left center
over the barrier and we score two
more. By the way, this one didn’t
hit a car. But the magic ended with
a strike-out and the Dragons came
up one short, 10-9. A well played,
but very disappointing game for our
guys.
Next we faced the intimidating
and powerful Gainesville squad
back home on Wednesday. And
there was no home field advantage,
no power outage and no last inning
heroics. We got beat. I was hoping
just one time in our tenure of Pick
ens baseball, we would beat those
guys. I wanted this group of seniors
to have one chance to enjoy and
gloat. But it was not to be. Maybe a
Continued on 2C
PHS GoIf
Busy Week For the Golf Teams
By Ron Hunter
Members of the Pickens High
School Golf Teams delayed their
spring break by a day to participate
in the Field’s Ferry Tournament
hosted by Calhoun High School on
Monday, April 5. The Pickens boys
shot a 333 total in extremely windy
conditions to tie for 8th in the
strong 17-team field. The Marist
School won the boys tournament
with a 303 total. Jarod Trammell hit
14 of 18 greens but could not con
vert anything with the putter as he
shot six over par 78 to lead the scor
ing for Pickens. Brett Lange of
Marist was medallist with a 74.
Jonathan Heard shot 83, Zach Dob
son shot 85 and Greg Pickett shot
87 to round out the scoring for the
Dragons.
The girls side of the tournament
also featured some very good teams
and Pickens finished 10th out of 12
teams in that event with Ashley
Poole posting a score of 93. Wood
ward Academy won the girl’s com
petition with a team total of 153
with Lauren Folgosa earning medal
list honors with four over par 76.
Mallory Chastain produced the
other counting score for Pickens.
Following spring break, the boys
team returned to action on Monday,
April 12 with a match against
region opponent Flowery Branch at
Royal Lakes Golf Club in
Gainesville. The Dragon golfers
recorded their best score of the sea
son by far in shooting an excellent
team total of 304. Number one
player Jarod Trammell had the put
ter working as he recorded five
birdies on the day against only two
bogeys for a sparkling three under
par score of 69. Unfortunately,
Trammell had to take relief from
hazards on each of the two holes on
which he recorded bogey. Jonathan
Heard also played well as he
matched two birdies against five
bogeys for three over par 75 for his
high school career low round. Zach
Dobson played very well also but
suffered a triple bogey finish to
shoot seven over par 79. Dobson’s
ball striking was solid as he hit 15
greens on the day. Brent Dunn
played his best golf of the season in
shooting an 81 for the other count
ing score for Pickens. Dunn also
suffered a disappointing finish.
Flowery Branch cancelled the girl’s
match.
On Tuesday April 13, both teams
hosted Dawson County in a match
held at Big Canoe. The match was
reduced to a 9-hole match due to
the brutally cold, windy conditions
that existed on this date. Pickens
Boys posted a team score of 182 in
the tough conditions to defeat Daw
son’s team total of 195. Jonathan
Heard battled the tough conditions
and posted a very respectable score
of four over par 40 to lead Pickens
to the victory. George Weaver also
battled the conditions well enough
to post his best nine hole score of
the season with 46. Stephen Hunter
and Greg Pickett rounded out the
scoring with matching scores of 48.
Ashley Poole played well enough in
the bone chilling weather to earn
match medalist honors in the girls
match with a score of 48, but the
Girls Team lost to a good Dawson
County team 108 to 120. Mallory
Chastain recorded the other count
ing score for the Lady Dragon
golfers.
The final matches last week had
the Boys Team hosting Region 7
AAA opponents North Hall and
West Hall in a tri-match at Bent
Tree and the girls team traveling to
Cumming for a match against South
Forsyth on Thursday, April 15. The
boys team won both ways as they
shot a respectable team score of 325
in much improved weather condi
tions. North Hall shot 341 and West
Hall shot 415. Jarod Trammell hit
12 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18
greens with solid ball-striking but
37 putts led to a four over par 76 on
the day. Zach Dobson played solid
golf as he shot nine over par 81 on
the day. Stephen Hunter and Greg
Pickett rounded out the scoring for
Pickens with scores of 84. In the
girls match at Olde Atlanta, South
Forsyth posted a very good team
score of 90 to defeat the girls from
Pickens who had a 112 total. The
counting scores for Pickens were
produced by Ashley Poole and
Samantha Pinson.
This week the boys team had
home matches at Bent Tree on
Tuesday, April 20 against White
County and Fannin County and on
Thursday, April 22 against
Gainesville High School and White
County. The girls team had away
matches against Gilmer and Fannin
counties on Tuesday at Whitepath
and against Gainesville High
School at Chattahoochee Golf Club
on Thursday. Both teams are near
ing the dates of their regional tour
naments.
PHS Soccer
Amanda Emert (pictured above) had a good game against
Gilmer County. She scored the second goal in the defeat over the
Bobcats.
Jasper Middle School Golf
Gregory Mason, of Jasper Middle School, shown above on
hole #9 at Arrowhead Country Club. Gregory was responsible
with his teammates Brice Eaton, Nicholas Cain, Dillon Smith,
and Kevin Cain, for their win against Cass Middle School. Jasper
Middle School's coach is Larry Williamson.
Cass Middle School's coach is Mr. Mackessy and the players
are Adam Rogers, Allen Graham, Treavor Odom, Chase Daven
port, Tracy Prouty and Preston Givens.
Tennis teams
head to region
By Rick Frye
The tennis squads at Pickens
High School closed out their regu
lar season last week with matches
at Fannin and Johnson, with the
girls beating Fannin 3-2 and John
son 4-1. The boys lost to Fannin 0-
5, but beat Johnson 3-2.
Thursday against the Rebels
Nicole McArthur played #1 singles
and dropped a 0-6, 5-7 decision.
Mallory Rich came back after los
ing the first set at #2 and won 3-6,
6-0, 6-1. Jessica DeLoach gave it a
good effort at #3, but lost 4-6, 5-7.
Both doubles teams won to pull out
the match, with Jenni Weaver and
Linsey Franklin winning 6-1, 6-3,
and Dakota Childers and Gensi
Gise were the victors by a 6-3, 7-6
count.
The boys had John Witmer at #1
losing 3-6, 3-6, Will Waller at #2
fell 2-6, 4-6, Mike Hett played #3
and lost 2-6, 2-6. The #1 doubles
team of Cory Watson and Brad
Baird put up a good battle but went
down in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 5-7. #2
doubles team Justin Burgess and
Christopher Golden also played
tough, but lost 4-6,4-6.
Against Johnson, Rich played #1
for the girls and won 6-1, 6-3.
McArthur was also victorious at #2
by a score of 6-1, 7-6, while Gise
played the #3 singles and suffered
the lone defeat by a count of 4-6, 2-
6. Doubles had Weaver and
Franklin winning 6-2, 6-3, and
Childers and DeLoach teamed up at
#2 to win 6-3,6-2.
Waller played #1 singles against
Johnson and lost a close one, 6-7,
5-7. Watson went at #2 singles and
also had a narrow defeat by a 5-7,
4-6 count. Hett won at #3, 6-3, 6-3,
and both doubles teams were victo
rious with Witmer and Baird team
ing up at #1 and winning 6-2, 6-2,
and Burgess and Golden took their
match 6-2, 6-3.
Region was Wednesday in
Gainesville. The girls ended up in a
tie for second in the sub-region, but
got the #3 seed because of their loss
to the team they were tied with,
North Hall. They took on White
County in the first round. The boys
ended up 5th in the sub-region and
faced #4 seed Gilmer to start the
tournament. Look for results in next
week’s edition.
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