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B
Section
February 4, 2021
Recreation league
basketball champions
The Pickens County Recreation Department would like
to congratulate the winners of the 2020-2021 PCRD Post
Season Basketball Tournament.
Players and coaches are listed below.
7-8 Girls - Coach Brooke Teal and Brittany Poole. Play
ers - Jaylen Bozeman, Jett Davidson, Jase Dean, Melodie
Huskins, Savannah Johnson, McKynzie Poole, Rylee Red-
din, Blaklie Smithwick, Charlee Teal, Josie Thompson and
Charlotte Turner.
7-8 Boys - Coach Chip Shutts and Jeremy Carver. Play-
ers-Brody Brotherton, Gavin Carver, Brendne Fowler,
Bryce Gentilesco, Brody Holmes, Slade Jarrett, Sully Ket-
terer, Parks Odom, Isaiah Shutts and Hunter Stone
Pickens swimmers end season
on high note; recognize seniors
Pickens swim team seniors Michelle Pickett, Hannah Palmer, Katelyn Klock, PJHob-
good and Sydney Hall.
The swimming season has come to a close
for the Pickens swim team. The high school
team wrapped up the year last Tuesday with
a meet at Calhoun High School. The group
celebrated their seniors at the event.
It was a very successfully night for the
Dragons as the girls team was able to finally
beat a very solid Calhoun team, and finish in
first place on the night.
The boys team had a very solid showing,
finishing in second place, only behind Cal
houn. As a team, the group finished the night
with a strong second place showing.
The group began their journey in mid-Oc
tober. Due to Covid-19 precautions, this sea
son looked strikingly different from previous
years. Most events were small groupings,
against a small number of schools. The play
ers and parents made every possible sacrifice
to make the season and individual events as
safe and successful as possible.
Even in the face of much larger competi
tion, the Dragons always finished near the
top. Some of this year’s opponents included
Gainesville, Cherokee, Dalton and Calhoun.
While the team will be missing this great
group of seniors, next year has a lot of really
talented swimmers returning to the pool for
the Dragons. This group made great strides
toward improvement throughout the season.
It really took the dedication of all of the
stakeholders including the corporate spon
sors, the parents, and the athletes to make
this season as successful as possible.
The team includes: Anabelle Jordan,
Freestyle; Seniors Michelle Pickett, Hannah
Palmer, Katelyn Klock, PJ Hobgood, Sydney
Hall; Girls’ Relay Team: Anabelle Jordan,
Aria Harrell, Dani Ziegler, Angelina Casey;
Backstroke - Joshua Langford and Ishan
Iqbal; Butterfly - Anabelle Jordan.
See Girls Relay photo on page 3B.
9-10 Girls - Coach Brandon & Tracey Thomas. Play-
ers-Sophia Adams, Sarah Bagwell, Alissa Blevins, Hannah
Flowers, Ansleigh Johnson, Toccoa McGraw, Julianne
Nadolski and Mollie Thomas
9-10 Boys - Coach Anthony Russell and Madison Mc
Clure. Players-Noalt Amos, Grayson Hammontree, Peyton
Krajcovic, Jeffery Lillard, Jesse McCard, Tony McCard,
Noah Rice, Dejaun Russell, Luxington Sewell, Beau Tate
and Bryson Walker.
11-12 Boys- Coach Seth Kirk. Players-Mason Blackwell,
Matthew Cantrell, London Coleman, Trenton Hudgins,
Lane Kirk, Carson MacQueen, Dylan Saben and Kas
Sewell.
Boys’ basketball goes 1 and 1
Last week the boys’ bas
ketball team traveled to
North Murray for a non-re
gion game against the
Mountaineers.
North Murray jumped
out early to a 20-13 lead in
the first quarter. The Drag
ons battled back in the sec
ond quarter by putting up 20
points of their own. The
score at the half saw Pickens
trailing 41-33.
The Mountaineers pulled
further ahead in the third
quarter, putting up 17 point
to the Dragons’ 14. Pickens
closed the gap in the final
frame, but it proved too late.
The final score saw Pickens
fall 68-58. Senior Tucker
Lowe led the scoring with
15 points. Noah Sutton
added 13 points of his own.
In the second game of the
week, the Dragons hosted
the Southeast Whitfield
Raiders. Pickens came out
of the gate firing and took a
19 to 11 lead at the end of
Continued on Page 3B
Nettes at
15-3 after
win last
week
The Nettes had a light
week with only one
game at North Murray
on Tuesday, January
26th. They would make
the most of it pulling out
a 46-27 victory, moving
their record to 15-3. A
22-8 first quarter set the
tone for the game and the
Nettes played stingy de
fense all night.
Kealy Hillhouse led
the Nettes in scoring
with nine, connecting on
three 3-pointer’s in the
game. Bella Howell
added six and led the
team in rebounds with
nine.
Continued on Page 3B
photos/Robin Dunn
Jaden Stewart and #45 Noah Sutton work below the bas
ket for the Dragons.
Will Roland, #25, stretches for two in the Dragons’ win
against the SE Whitfield Raiders 78-31.
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
If Not
Now...
The Southeast Confer
ence released the 2021
football schedules for all
of its members’ schools
during the past week. Did
you have a gander at your
favorite team’s upcoming
slate of games. For me as
an unapologetic and often
maligned UGA fan, I
should begin plans for a
trip to the college football
playoff, but the ever
growing list of disappoint
ing Bulldog performances
has me skeptical.
The simple truth is that
after seeing Georgia’s
schedule for this fall, I
must ask in all sincerity,
“if not this year, when?”
I do not believe that it
is a cupcake schedule by
any means, but to simply
call it “manageable” is a
huge understatement.
Yes! I am aware that
the Dawgs open the sea
son against Clemson
which is likely to be
ranked in the top three if
not number one. It is at a
neutral site though, and
the Tigers must replace a
generational quarterback.
Getting them early in the
season before they estab
lish any offensive identity
gives Georgia a huge ad
vantage. Besides, Clem
son looks like a playoff
contender too, so a close
loss by either team should
not ruin the season or
eliminate playoff opportu
nities for either squad.
A loss by the Dawgs
likely means a must win
in the SEC Champi
onship, but don’t all play
off aspirations hinge on
that game anyway?
The schedule also pits
the Red and Black against
four teams with brand
new head coaches - South
Carolina, Tennessee,
Auburn and Vanderbilt.
Advantage Georgia...
The Bulldogs have zero
back to back away games.
With no experienced
quarterback in Gainsville,
the Gators cannot match
offensive firepower
against Georgia.
Arkansas travels to
Athens in the other east-
west crossover game, and
let’s face it. The Razor-
backs, while much im
proved, remain far below
the conference elite.
Missouri could not
solve Georgia’s defense at
all in 2020, so why would
anyone expect 2021 to be
different?
UAB, Charleston
Southern and Georgia
Tech complete the list of
non-conference oppo
nents. Do you see any
upset potential there? Me
either...
By the SEC Champi
onship Game on Decem
ber 4th in Atlanta, the
Bulldogs should be un
beaten or, at worst, 11-1
with a loss to a top two or
three team. Either way,
Alabama should be their
opponent. Remember;
Bama loses a ton of
starters in skill positions.
Unfortunately, the Tide is
reloading with the highest
rated recruiting class in
history though, and the
master is still head coach
in Tuscaloosa.
Kirby Smart enters his
sixth season as head coach
with a record of 52 wins
Continued on Page 3B