Newspaper Page Text
2022
Sports
&More
Inside: Legals & Tax Sale 2-5B; People 12B
7 th and 8 th grade
Nettes defeat Dawson
The Jr. High Nettes bas
ketball traveled to Dawson
County January 7 to battle
the Dawson County Lady
Tigers in a region contest.
In the seventh grade
game, Pickens and Dawson
traded baskets in the first
quarter with Pickens taking a
slight edge to end the quarter
up 7-6.
The Nettes played some
strong defense in the second
quarter holding the Lady
Tigers to 3 points while
adding 14 points to take a 21-
9 lead at the half. The third
quarter saw more intense de
fense from Pickens as they
again held Dawson to 3
points in the quarter while
adding 9 of their own. At the
end of the third, Pickens led
30-12.
The Lady Tigers would
not go away in the fourth
quarter. They scored 10
points; however, the Nettes
were able to add 13 of their
own to win the game 40-25.
Reagan Ludington was the
leading scorer for the Nettes
with 18 points while Bree
Jewell added 13 points.
In the 8th grade game, the
Nettes and Lady Tigers went
toe to toe offensively with
both teams scoring 15 points
in the quarter. The second
quarter saw more of the same
as each team was able to an
swer the others' scoring.
Pickens would take a
slight edge at the end of the
half leading 26-25. In the
third quarter, the Nettes
picked up their defense and
held the Lady Tigers to 8
points while adding 12 points
of their own.
At the end of the third, the
Nettes led 38-33. The final
quarter made for some
thrilling basketball as both
teams were able to score bas
kets.
Pickens had a two point
lead with under a minute and
a halt to play when Ellison
Steinhauer found a wide
open Tania Rivera for the
three point basket to take a 5
point lead. Pickens would get
a defensive stop on the next
possession forcing Dawson
to foul. The Nettes finished
the game by making their
free throws down the stretch
to win with a final score of
52-48. Ellison Steinhauer led
all scorers with 40 points.
Photo/Madeline Pool
Local fans make trip to Indy for Dawgs big day - Quite
a few area Dawg fans travelled to Indianapolis for the
Monday matchup between the University of Georgia and
Alabama Crimson Tide that would see UGA win its first
national title in 41 years. Many others here and the op
posing Tide fans sat up well past normal bed times to see
the Bulldogs beat the Tide 33-18, with jokes abounding
at the early Chamber of Commerce meeting Tuesday
about how tired the entire town was.
One person commented, “I’m just trying to get by on
leftover energy from the game and coffee today.” A
speaker at the meeting said all she had to say was “Go
Dawgs.”
Fans in Indianapolis posted numerous social media
pics, many about the frigid temps.
“There’s going to be some property tom up in Indi
anapolis tonight,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said
after the win, paraphrasing a well known quote from late
Georgia play-by-play man Larry Munson.
Wood collectors
cabinet - $75
Great cabinet
for collecting
and organizing
comics/maga
zines/ etc.
Available at
the Pickens
Progress
706-253-2457
PHS girls swim place first and
boys second at seniors meet
On Saturday, January 8, the PHS Dragons
Swim Team traveled to Dalton for the
Coahulla Creek Senior Night Meet to cele
brate Senior swimmers. The Dragons had an
incredible meet, with the girls team finishing
in first place and the boys team finishing in
second place, for a combined total points of
second place.
Both of our girls 200 Medley Relay teams
finished in the top 5, with our first place team
finishing 16 seconds ahead of their nearest
competitor. On the 200 yard Freestyle relay,
the girls teams took first and third places. In
individual competition, in the 200 Yard
Freestyle event, the Dragons finished in both
first and second place with Anabelle Jordan
taking the win, and Arie Stevens finishing a
close second. In the girls 50 Free, Angelina
Casey, Dani Ziegler and Heather Fernandez
all finished in the top 5. Angelina Casey took
the win in the girls 100 Freestyle, with An
abelle Jordan taking second place and Nicole
Chuong finishing in the top 10 as well. In the
500 yard Freestyle, Dani Ziegler finished in
second place, only .17 seconds behind the
first place finisher, barely missing the win in
her first time competing in this event.
In the Women’s 100 yard Backstroke,
Pickens took the top 3 places, with Arie
Stevens, Heather Fernandez and Anabelle
Jordan dominating the race. Our exhibition
swimmer, Savannah Retford, an 8th grader,
finished with a time that would have put her
in 5th place. Continued on Page 2B
Dragons win two tough ones
photo/ Robin Dunn
Caleb Keith defies gravity as he cuts around NW Whitfield defender in the home game
last Friday. The coach praised the team for their work defeating a tough Bruins team.
January 4th the Dragons bounds. Kadyn Hampton had play. The second half saw the
defeated Ridgeland 61-57. a super overall game with 11 Panthers stage a furious
The Dragons were led by rebounds and 8 assists. The comeback to take a late lead.
Caleb Keith with 23 points Dragons jumped out to a 31- The Dragons maintained
followed by Luke Rogers 24 halftime lead with strong their composure and finished
with 14 points and 7 re- defense and solid offensive _ . , „ „„
Continued on Page 9B
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
Dawgs
Win!
The Georgia Bulldogs
(14-1) defeated Alabama
(13-2) 33-18 on Monday
night in Indianapolis, In
diana to win in the all
Southeastern Confer
ence, College Football
National Championship.
It took eight consecu
tive sittings for the
Dawgs to eat that ele
phant, but finally, Geor
gia prevailed over Nick
Saban’s vaulted Crimson
Tide only 37 days re
moved from being
soundly defeated by
Bama in the SEC Cham
pionship Game.
“It [the win] showed
resilience. We were
down to a team which
had not just beat us a few
weeks but left scars over
a long period,” said
Georgia Head Coach
Kirby Smart.
For UGA, there is a
boundless range of sto
rylines which germinate
from this football game.
It validates the uni
versity’s decision to oust
former head coach Mark
Richt in favor of untried
head coach Kirby Smart.
Despite Stetson Ben
nett’s poor first half and
a devastating fumble, the
former walk on quarter
back justified his
coaches’ faith in him as
he threw two late touch
down passes which gave
his team the lead.
Yeah... The Georgia
defense really was that
good and fittingly, the
long anticipated victory
was sealed by an inter
ception return for a
touchdown off Heisman
Trophy winner Bryce
Young with a minute and
a half remaining.
The SEC wins yet an
other football Natty
bringing the total to 12
titles in the last 16 years
and the Vegas oddsmak-
ers have Georgia and
Bama as equal favorites
to win next year too.
The list could con
tinue for 100 pages,
therefore let’s just pause
and enjoy the moment.
Georgia wins the Na
tional Championship!
Isn’t that a beautiful
sentence?
Georgia wins the Na
tional Championship!
Go Dawgs!
Nettes at top
of region
with back to
back wins
It was another solid week
for Nettes basketball starting
with the location. Finally a
chance to enjoy a couple of
home games.
On Tuesday, January 4,
the Dragonettes hosted the
Lady Panthers of Ridgeland.
Coach Brandon Thomas
went back to an old playbook
and played system ball for
this one.
All available varsity play
ers subbed in and out and
pushed a fast pace to ovemin
Ridgeland. Freshman Brylee
Continued on Page 9B
photos/Robin Dunn
Bella Hopkins, above,
and Amanda Nelson, below,
aren’t afraid to mix it up in
side.
Complete
set of Golf
Clubs for
sale
Golf club set with
club head covers,
leather bag and
hand cart. $25 at
the Community Thrift
Store on Samaritan
Drive, Regular
hours, 10 a.m. until
2 p.m. Tuesday -
Saturday