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The True Citizen, Wednesday, January 3, 2024 — Page 13
SPORTS
Owen Redd handles the ball while Harrison McClellan looks on during the December 27 game
against Brentwood.
EBA coach says more training needed
The Edmund Burke Acade
my Spartans struggled to make
baskets against Brentwood
December 27 in Sandersville.
“We are making strides each
game and improving in our
ability to take care of the
ball, play team defense and
rebound consistently,” com
mented Head Coach Daniel
Hannah. “Harrison McClel
lan did a good job around the
basket of establishing an inside
presence and as the season
goes on and our shots start to
fall, that is going to be big for
us. Owen Redd did a great job
of controlling the tempo for us
and I'm looking forward to how
this team gels as the season
goes on.”
The final score was 55-39
with Brentwood defeating
EBA.
The EBA Lady Spartans also
played against the Brentwood
Lady Eagles in Sandersville
Dec. 27.
“We got off to a slow start
against Brentwood and found
ourselves down by 11 early
before fighting back to take
the lead and eventually find
ourselves down by 4 at the
half,” commented Hannah. “In
the second half, we struggled
to score in the 3rd quarter and
did a terrible job of rebound
ing and they took advantage
of multiple opportunities to get
put backs. Leila Eastmead led
us in scoring and did a great
job of getting to the rim as
did Zaylie Baker. We showed
flashes of our potential, but we
have to do a much better job of
controlling our emotions and
focusing on the things we can
control.”
The final score was 82-55
with the Lady Spartans de
feated by Brentwood.
Lady Bears go 1-2 in Pizza
Joint Christmas Tournament
BRANNON BRADDOCK
Jbraddo4@gmail.com
Last week the Lady Bears
basketball team traveled to
participate in the Pizza Joint
Christmas Tournament at Ev
ans High School.
In total, they played three
games; one against Grovetown,
another against Butler, and the
final against Evans.
They lost their first game
against Grovetown 31-64.
Accounting for almost half of
the Lady Bears points were
Deondra Page (fourteen) and
Londyn Williams (ten.) “The
Lady Bears came out hot in the
first quarter and led 15-7,” said
head coach Leslie Lawrence.
However, over time, the of
fense gradually slowed and
Burke County was outscored
37-5 during the second and
third quarters.
Their game against Butler
yielded a similar score, with
Burke County losing 38-61.
Londyn Williams was the Lady
Bears’ leading scorer with
eleven points, but Tre’Yonna
Jones followed closely with
ten points. The Lady Bears
had a slow start to this game,
giving up seven three-pointers
in the first half. At the half, the
Lady Bears were down 17-35,
and they never could mount a
comeback.
The Lady Bears’ game
against Evans was a different
story than that of the first two.
Their offense and defense
were clicking on all cylinders.
Burke County went on to win
the game 65-15, with many
Lady Bears scoring in the
double digits. Deondra Page
led the Lady Bears with eigh
teen points; Tre’yonna Jones
had seventeen points; Londyn
Williams followed with twelve
points; and Destinee’ Smith
had ten points. “The Lady
Bears came out on fire on de
fense and were able to create
some easy offensive baskets,”
said Lawrence. This led to an
18-2 first quarter lead. The
Lady Bears never lost the lead.
“Our goal at this point is to
go back to practice and get
better offensively while fixing
some flaws in our defense,”
said Lawrence, “as these non
region games have come to an
end, we will focus on getting
better and playing our best
in our region games.” “Our
goals for this season have not
changed,” she continued, “We
have to be better and I feel
that every player and coach in
our program will be.” Region
games for the Lady Bears will
start on Lriday, January 5, at
home against a solid Wayne
County team. Everyone needs
to come out and pack out the
Bear Den for the Lady Bears
as they begin region play.
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Bears go 2-1 in Evans
Christmas Tournament
BRANNON BRADDOCK
Jbraddo4@gmail.com
The Bears took a little bit of
time to enjoy their Christmas
holiday, but it was back to the
grind almost immediately for
the Burke County athletes.
On December 27, 28, and 29,
the Bears traveled to Evans
to participate in an annual
Christmas tournament there.
“This was a great tournament
for us,” said head coach Purvis
Dukes. Overall, the Bears went
2-1 dropping a single game to
Butler, but playing strongly
against Midland Valley and
Horse Creek Academy.
In their solo loss, the Bears
allowed almost a forty-point
point differential, losing the
game 38-76. Kelly Williams
and Bryce Wimberly led the
game in points, scoring eleven
and fifteen respectively; lead
ing the team in rebounds, a new
face for this years’ basketball
articles, Senior Brytin Jones
with four; Carlos Lambert,
La’Quintin Morgan, and DJ
Streetman each had three as
sists; and sophomore Omarion
Cobb led the team in steals
with two. “We played what
we thought was a pretty good
first half,” said Dukes. The
second half, however, was a
different story, as the Bears
“didn't match Butler’s inten
sity,” and things started going
wrong for them. “I thought that
once things started going bad
for us we didn't play at that
same level we had in the first
half,” Dukes continued. Burke
County only shot 32% from the
held on the night and 30% from
the foul line. When playing a
solid team like Butler, “you
will get beat.”
The Bears were able to win
out the tournament, facing
Midland Valley next. Winning
by an overall margin of 57-
47, the Bears were led again
by Kelly Williams (eleven)
and Bryce Wimberly (ten) in
points-scored; Wimberly also
joined Jayden Lambert as the
leading rebounder with seven
and six respectively; Carlos
Lambert had five steals and
La’Quinton Morgan had four;
and Carlos Lambert led the
team with six assists. “We led
the entire game,” said Dukes,
“We told the guys that in tour
naments you have to be able to
play back-to-back games, and
that we couldn't let the first
night beat us on the next two
nights.” Evidently, the message
sunk in for the Burke County
athletes.
The Bears’ last game against
Horse Creek Academy was a
blowout. “We gave the same
type effort as the night before
and were able to jump out
to a huge lead early,” said
Dukes. Burke County won
86-27. Kelly Williams dropped
eighteen points; DJ Streetman
had thirteen; Brytin Jones had
eleven; and Bryce Wimberly
had ten. DJ Streetman and
Brytin Jones each had six re
bounds. DJ also led the team
with four steals. Additionally,
La’Quinton Morgan led the
team in assists with nine.
“We had some guys that
stepped their level of play up
during this tournament,” said
Dukes, “and that was huge
for us.” Bryce Wimberly was
named All-Tournament for his
performance. “This group of
guys really plays well together.
They play hard, and, as we
enter into the New Year, we
hope that will continue,” Said
Dukes.
The Bears begin region play
this Lriday against a struggling
Wayne County. Be sure to
come out at 8:30 pm to support
the Bears as they look to move
to 1-0 in region.
Region 3-AAAA All-Area Team
BRANNON BRADDOCK
Jbraddo4@gmail.com
While the football season is
long gone, many Burke County
players were recently hon
ored on the Region 3- A AAA
All-Area team. This honor is
given out to some of the re
gion’s best players each year.
All told, Burke County had
four players make first team,
four make second team, and
four make the honorable men
tion list. Additionally, Senior
Brandon Lively was named co
defensive player of the year for
the region. See the individual
honorees below:
Co-defensive player of the
year:
LB Brandon Lively, BCHS
Sr.
First team
WR - Ronderius Gray- Sr.
RB - A'merre Williams- Jr.
DB - Jensen Brantley- Sr.
OL - Owen Adams- Sr.
Second Team
QB - Sean Vandiver- So.
DB - Jeremy Richardson- Sr.
LB - Cadyn Bracely- Jr.
K - Blake Burden- Sr.
Honorable Mentions
OL Chase Allen- Sr.
DL Darius Jordan- Jr.
DB Jakari Crawford- Sr.
DB/WR Rashad Carter- So.
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