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Pickens County
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Mountain City
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PHS Basketball
’Nettes and Dragons vs. SE Whitfield
Sports Fanatic
Getting Cute!
Both the Dragons and Nettes
traveled to Southeast Whitfield
this past week to take on the
Raiders. The Nettes continued to
have the hot hand, while the
Dragons fought hard, but could
not keep up with Southeast’s
high powered offense.
The Lady Raiders would at
tempt to keep up early on with
the Nettes offense, only trailing
15-13 after the first quarter.
However all offensive produc
tion would come to a halt in the
second quarter for Southeast.
Pickens would outscore the Lady
Raiders 16-3 to take a 31-16 lead
into the halftime break.
Southeast would attempt some
adjustments for the second half,
scoring 11 points in the third and
16 in the fourth, but the Nettes
continued to be machine-like in
their offense. Pickens would add
31 more points after the half to
win 61-43.
Leading the way for the Nettes
was Haley Kalson with 18 points
and 9 rebounds. Mackenzie
Hampton scored 11 points and
had 7 rebounds. MaKayla Payne
put up 9 points for the Nettes.
The Dragons would be next,
and find themselves on the oppo
site end of the offensive produc
tion. Southeast would more than
double the Dragon’s points in the
first quarter, leading 29-13. Pick
ens would pick things up before
halftime, but the Raiders still
managed to out-score Pickens
23-21. The Dragons would trail
52-34 at the half. Pickens could
not get any offense going after
the break only scoring 10 points
in the third to the Raiders’ 26.
The final period would be much
of the same and in the end, the
Dragons would fall 92-56.
Shannon Brooks and Walker
Lawrence both recorded 13
points for the evening, Lawrence
had 6 rebounds also.
Senior Shannon Brooks has
been named to the 7-AAAA All-
Region team. “Shannon has had
a very successful year and we are
all very proud of him” stated
Coach Brad Steinhauer.
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Photo/Laiken Owens
Shannon Brooks drives to the basket against a SE Whit
field defender in the Dragons loss last week. Brooks has been
named to this year’s 7-AAAA All-Region team.
Photo/Laiken Owens
Paula Pickett scores a basket in the “Pink Out ” game for
breast cancer against Southeast Whitfield. ’The Nettes won
the game 61-43.
By Tommy Gartrell
In hindsight, the Monday
morning quarterback is afforded
the ability to think and rethink
and question
countless de
cisions in
yesterday’s
football
games, but in
the wake of
the Seattle
Seahawks’
28-24 loss to the New England
Patriots in the 49th edition of the
Super Bowl, I am compelled to
say that getting cute cost Seattle
a victory.
Football is at its core the abil
ity of one team to physically
exert its collective will upon op
ponents and move the football
down the field. When guile, in
telligence and trickery enter the
equation, you get professional
football. On Sunday evening,
with 20 seconds left on the
clock, the ball rested at the 1
yard line on second down and
the Seahawks elected to pass.
They got cute because one of the
most accomplished running
backs in the sport was poised to
cross the goal line and claim a
consecutive Lombardi Trophy.
The brain trust of Seattle
elected to pass the ball which re
sulted in an interception to es
sentially end the contest. One
yard, one timeout, Marshawn
Lynch in the backfield, ample
time for two plays... Why pass
the football?
Seattle head coach Pete Car-
roll told us after the game that
the player matchup was not fa
vorable for a nmning play. In ad
dition, we learned on Monday
morning that Patriots comerback
Malcolm Butler who intercepted
the pass read the play perfectly
because New England practiced
repeatedly defending that partic
ular play prior to the game. I say
that in that situation, the only
choice is to run. Pit power
against power and let the chips
far where they may.
If the play had resulted in a
touchdown, the play would have
been called brilliant. No! It was
still cute. If two runs, failed to
score and Seattle lost, the world
could accept that ending, but in
actuality, this ending felt like
watching the final minutes of
“Old Yeller” to Seahawk fans.
It was the only interception
from the 1 yard line in the NFL
this season. Not even the dys
functional Falcons made such a
mistake, yet the reigning Super
Bowl champions lost a second
consecutive championship on a
foolish play choice.
Now, fans must endure Tom
Brady being celebrated as the
best quarterback in NFL history.
I am sorry folks; his team was
beaten until Seattle got cute with
that play selection. The decision
proliferates the “Worldwide
Leader’s” belief that the only
professional teams worth cover
ing are from the Northeastern
United States as well.
Certainly, in the 60 minutes
of the game, dozens of decisions
impact the game and lead to
questions. To put the Super Bowl
Championship in jeopardy on
anything other than your team’s
strength is madness, the Sea
hawks got cute and they de
served to lose.
Dragons girls soccer starts
new era with new coach
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Reinhardt University’s women ’v head soccer coach Andy Kaplan, center, surrounded by
the 2015 Dragons. Front row, Reinhardt University soccer players Amber Jent, Katie Hale
and Yanci Akselsen.
The 2015 Pickens High
School girls’ soccer team starts a
new era under the leadership of
head coach Alan Jent. The 2015
season will field varsity veterans
as well as significant freshman
players and new to the sport tal
ent. This past Friday, the team at
tended an event which featured
Reinhardt University’s women’s
head soccer coach Andy Kaplan
and three of the Lady Eagles’
soccer team. Addressing the
team, Kaplan told them to “really
value the opportunity you have
in front of you.” Kaplanstressed
the value of being part of a team
and working together. He said,
“As a group, you are better.”
On Friday, February 6, the
Dragons will have their first op
portunity to formally play as a
group during a pre-season scrim
mage against Union County with
a 5 p.m. kickoff.
Just a mouse click
away
www.pickensprogress.com
U*S*A
Universal Sports Academy
101 Mountain Park Road, Jasper, GA 30143
Upcoming Events:
TEE BALL UNIVERSITY'
Every Tuesday in February 6:30 - 7:30
_Ages 4,5,6 ^$_30 per_player_
No School Camp on February 16
Baseball and Softball 9 am -1 pm
Ages 7-13 $30 per player
Spring Swing
Every Thursday in March 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Ages 10-13 $30 per player
To register Tor anyof The above camps and classes"go to our
website at www.universalsportsacademyinc.com
“Changing athletics in North Georgia one sport at a time”
PHS recognizes seniors from the 2014-15 basketball season
Photo/Laiken Owens
Seniors (l to r): Shannon Brooks, Javier Zuniga (Manager), Luna Brooks, Jordan Noland, Rachel Whitman (Manager),
Breanna Wigington (Manager), Haley Kalson, Paula Pickett and Makayla Payne.