Newspaper Page Text
Panthers end season with loss
to the Warner Robins Demons
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
Thomas Whitlock scored 29
points, including 21 in the first
half, to lead the Warner Robins
Demons to a 72-66 victory over the
Perry High School Panthers Satur
day night at Perry.
Perry fell behind by 12 points at
halftime before rallying in the sec
ond half, but Steve Crump hit six
free throws in the last 49 seconds to
seal the victory.
Sterling Hayward gave Perry an
early 3-0 lead on a 3-point basket
but Crump cut the lead to 3-2 with
two charily losses with 6:16 left in
the first period.
Tazari Green's basket with less
than five minutes left gave Perry a
7-3 lead but that would be the last
time Perry led.
Warner Robins went on an 8-0
run to open an 11-7 lead.
Setarvin Jackson hit a driving
basket to cut the lead to 11-9 but
Whitlock nailed the first of his five
3-point baskets for the Demons.
Ken Sikes hit two free throws
with 22 seconds left in the quarter
to bring Perry within three at 14-
11.
The Panthers tried to gel their
running game into gear when Green
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Tazari Green goes high for a basket in a recent game
for the Panthers. Perry dropped their finale 72-66.
Hornets jayvee winning streak
comes to end in loss to Tattnall
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
The Westfield Hornets jayvee
squad came into Tuesday nights
game riding a modest 3-game win
ning streak and with a little luck
would extendc it to four but Tat
tnall came out with our ideas.
Tattnall took a thrilling 54-46
overtime victory as Westfield
jtimped out to an early lead, fell
behind in the second half befrore
rallying to tie the game and send it
into overtime.
Westfield took a 10-6 lead at the
end of the first period and led 18-16
Williamson sparks Lady Hornets
jayvee to victory over Tattnall
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
Kaci Williamson and Kim Mar
shall combined for 24 points to lead
the Westfield Lady Hornets jayvee
squad to a 41-24 rout of the Tattnall
Square Academy Lady Trojans
jayvee Tuesday night in Macon.
Westfield battled close for the
Thompson sparks the jayvee
Lady Hornets to win over F.P.D.
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
The Westfield High School
jayvee Lady Hornets rode 10 points
from Laurie Thompson and coasted
to a 31-10 victory over the F.P.D.
Lady Vikings Saturday at Westfield.
Thompson and Jana Abercrombie
scored six points each in the first
half to pace the Lady Hornets to a
17-6 halftime edge.
slammed home a basket to tie the
game at 16 but two Demons bas
kets opened the lead to 20-19.
Hayward connected on another 3-
point bomb to close within one
point, but that would be as close as
Perry could get the rest of the
evening.
Whitlock nailed two 3-pointcrs
and two Stacey Reeves baskets
opened the lead to 30-19.
Jeff Ridley hit a 3-pointer to
close the gap to 33-24 with 35 sec
onds left in the half but Whitlock
hit one of his own with five sec
onds left.
"We played hard the second half.
We played with effort and we played
with intensity," said Perry High
School Head Coach Carl Thomas.
"You can’t fault the effort in the
second half. The question is where
was it the first half?"
Sikes, who had but two points in
the first half, came out to spark the
comeback in the second half.
Perry swapped baskets with the
Demons until Ridley hit another 3-
point basket with 2:45 left. Perry
trailed 42-33 but five seconds later,
the Panthers starting point guard,
Robert Grace got caught getting
into a scuffle with Peach County
transfer Trent Allen.
at intermission.
The Trojans came out with aven
gence in the third period scoring 19
points but only led 35-31.
Westfield used a 12-8 fourth
quarter to tie game at 43. Shane
Hester fouled out with 5:38 left in
the game to leave the Hornets with
one less big person for rebounding.
Lon Talton hit a 3-pointer in the
overtime but Tattnall was too
tough scoring 11 points in the pe
riod.
Geoff Hill led the Hornets with
first period with the Lady Hornets
grabbing a 12-8 lead after one pe
riod.
The Lady Hornets used a 13-8
second period to open up a 25-16
lead going into halftime.
Westfield's stingy defense held
the Lady Trojans to only two
points in the third period and posted
Kim Marshall scored the first
basket of the second half with 5:28
left in the third period.
Marshall's two charity tosses
with 1:59 left in the quarter gave
Westfield a 25-8 lead and when Kaci
Williamson hit two from the char
ity stripe, the Lady Hornets led 27-
8 at the end of the period.
The Lady Vikings hit a free
throw with 4:15 left in the game,
Both were ejected from the game
and will have to miss their teams
next game.
Ridley hit a 3-point basket to
close the gap to five at 45-42 and
Sikes closed the gap to five at 47-
42 with 17 seconds left but Warner
Robins answered with with five
seconds left in the period to open a
seven point lead.
Hayward hit a 3-pointcr to close
the margin to four points at 56-52
but Whitlock hit his sixth 3-pointer
just seven seconds later.
Hayward closed Perry's deficit to
three at 61-58 with 2:43 left but
Lester Clayton nailed a 3-pointcr
with 1:52 left in the game.
Perry was forced to foul in the
last minute and Crump answered
each call by nailing the charity
tosses despite the partisan home
crowd yelling in hopes he'd miss.
"You can look at the final totals
and sec four men in double figures.
I saw some good things about sev
eral of them," Thomas said. "It (the
technical on Grace) definitely ig
nited Ken Sikes. I didn't think he
played well in any area of the game
in the first half. I thought he did a
poor job defensively, 1 don't think
he ran the Door well, and I don't
think he rebounded well. (He didn't
do) the things you have to do to
cover up for a poor offensive
showing. Everybody’s going to
have a poor shooting night."
Sikes finished with 23 points,
four below his average of 26.9.
"They (Warner Robins) arc not
going to back off from Perry High
School," Thomas explained.
"They've been on the floor against
Southwest Macon, Central Macon
and people like that. They may not
have the best record, they may not
have had the best season but they
have been on the floor against
quality competition and they got
them a nice win."
Warner Robins is 6-13 on the
year for Head Coach Dave Ander
son.
Perry finished the regular season
with a 12-11 record. The Panthers
will travel to Buena Vista to battle
Amcricus in the first round of the
subregion tournament Thursday at
5:30 p.m.
Perry (66) - Grace 1 0-1 2, Sikes 9
5-8 23, Green 6 1-213, Hayward 4
2- 13, Ridley 4 0-2 II Jackson 2
0-0 4, Stokcling 0 0-0 0, Billings 0
0-0 0 Total 26 8-15 66 (3-point
goals - Hayward 3, Ridley 3 Fouled
Out - None Technicals - Grace)
Warner Robins (72) - Whitlock 10
3- 29, Croxton 1 0-0 2, Stella 0
0-0 0, Allen 0 0-0 0, Reeves 4 3-6
11, Smith 1 0-0 2, Clayton 6 0-0
14, Scars 0 0-0 0, Crump 3 8-8 14
Total 25 14-18 72 (3-point goals -
Whitlock 6, Clayton 2 Fouled Out
- None Technicals - Allen)
15 points including lour 3-pointers.
Westfield’s achilles heel was their
free throw shooting hitting only
five for 17 in the game.
With the loss, the Hornets are
now 3-6 on the year.
Westfield (46) - Lo. Talton 2 0-0
5, Anderson 1 2-2 4, Hester 1 0-2
2, Shipley 2 0-0 4, Williams 2 1-2
6, Hill 5 1-2 15, Dunaway 1 0-2 3,
Le. Talton 0 0-10, Dortch 2 0-0 4,
Perfect 11-4 3, Total 17 5-17 46
(3-point goals - Lo. Talton, Hill 4,
Dunaway 1 Fouled Out - Hester)
a 35-18 lead heading into the final
period.
Westfield (41) - Marshall 5 1-2
11, Thompson 2 0-0 4, McDaniel 1
0-0 2, Barr 2 0-0 4, Bishop 2 3-4 7,
Williamson 5 2-2 13 Total 17 6-9
41 (3-point goals - Williamson 1,
Fouled Out - None)
but Jill Barr answered with one free
throw and Jeanna Bishop hit a bas
ket with 3:01 left for the final mar
gin.
Westfield (31) - Marshall 1 3-6 5,
Thompson 4 2-3 10, Abercrombie
2 2-3 6, McDaniel - 1-4 1, Barr 0
1-21, Bishop 2 0-0 4, Williamson
0 4-4 4, Total 9 13-22 31 (3-point
goals - None Fouled Out - None)
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Perrv I™ t ?L m £ n^ ver hiS opponent for a P in in a recent match for the
Perry wrestling team. He lost two matches by one point in the state tournament.
Greene falls short by a point
in state wrestling tourney
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
Woody Greene of the perry High
School Panthers wrestling squad
placed fifth in the state wrestling
tournament in Rome, Georgia Sat
urday afternoon.
Greene defeated an East Hall
grappler Friday night in the first
round and lost a tough 6-5 decision
to Geno Thompson of Rockmart in
the second round.
Jason Stark of Lumpkin County
defeated Greene 7-6 in the wrestle
backs to eliminate Greene from the
tournament.
Thompson went on to win his
second consecutive state champi
onship.
Thompson was the 130-pound
state AA champion in 1990 while
winning his the 135-pound state
AA championship this year.
"Probably one of the most excit
ing matches fought of the entire
tournament was the one between
Geno and Woody," Head Coach
Tony Thrift said. "Woody carried
him to the limits. He went on to
defeat Kembrick Walters of East
Laurens in the finals 2-0. Walters
didn't even score on him."
Greene was the most competition
for Thompson in the entire tourna
ment.
"Woody could have very easily
won it," Thrift said. "You're only
talking about one point. He lost it
6-5 and with a little break. 1 guess
you could call him 'Hard Luck
Woody' this year. He had some very
tough matches and he lost some
very controversial matches. I told
everything you look at the opposite
end of the pendolum for next year,
then next year should be his year
because everything goes for him
that's gone against him this year,
he'll be there."
Greene was leading Stark in the
wrestlcback 6-5 before Stark man
aged a reversal to win the match 7-
6.
"It was nip and tuck all the way.
Registration
for Perry Jr.
League set
Registration for the Perry Junior
League softball and baseball pro
grams will be held on February 16,
23, and March 2.
Registration will take place at
Ochlahatchee Club House from
10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. each
day.
The age limit is 6-13 for girls
junior league softball. A Senior
League for the girls has been added
and will be for ages 13-17. The
boys baseball program is for ages
5-12.
there will also be a boy's senior
league for ages 13-15 if enough
boys register. For information, call
987-9530.
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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY T 3, 199
Woody Greene
One person would have control of
the match and then the other person
would," Thrift said. "Then Stark
pulled ahead of him on a reversal.
Woody had him 6-5 but he was un
able to get a good grip and stop
him from the reversal."
Thrift explained that Greene
needed to work on his strength and
looks forward to him returning for
his senior season.
"He’s got a lot of potential. He
has to get on the weights and work
real hard," Thrift explained. "When
we go to camp, I’d have to say he
will be one of the favorites next
year to even win a state champi
onship. He has that heart and desire.
He just needs to be stronger."
Greene was the only Panthers
wrestler to advance to the next
round as the other four, Chris
Stone, Randy Mi/.cll, John Row
land, and Darrell Passinault were
eliminated when the grapplcrs that
defeated them, lost in the second
round.
"1 think it was very obvious that
some of our other wrestlers did not
have the strength to compete up
there,” he added. "It's nothing that
surprised us. We tried to tell them
all along. Sometimes you have to
let someone be an example and I
think we were an example. They
wrestled some tough competition.
They could have done better if they
had had the strength. They all have
the knowledge but that's something
Perry Rec. Dept,
sponsors soccer
The Perry Recreation Department Perry City Hall,
is sponsoring Spring soccer for The cost is S1 j pcr p i aycr . For
ages 5-15. more information, contact Ben
Registration for soccer will run Hamick at Perry City Hall at 987-
through Saturday Febuary 16 at the
gji lip
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SPECIAL! ts?
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inspect blades, clean air filter, pressure wash mower!
NOTE: Additional parts extra
(Blades, Pulleys, Belts, Air Lifts, Etc.)
629 GEN. HODGES BLVD. . PERRY, GA • (912) 987-5507
fjflgl
wc'rc going to work on between
now and next season, coming up
with that strength."
Greene defeated a grappler from
East Hall High School with a
Fitzgerald in his very first match of
the tournament.
"I knew once he got it on him, it
was all over," he said. "All of his
matches, he was in control and they
could have went cither way. It just
wasn't his year but he did a good
job. Geno and Stark were probably
a tad stronger than Woody but they
didn't know any more than Woody.
I think he saw that and he wants to
do something about it."
Mizell went the distance in his
match but was unable to pick up a
victory.
"Once he got a move on him (his
opponent) he got it right back," he
added. "The same thing happened
with Chris Stone."
Rowland lost his match by two
points going the distance as well.
Rowland had missed two days ol
school with an illness and was not
wrestling at 100 percent.
"1 think he could have beaten the
guy he had wrestled in the first
round," Thrift said. "He just didn't
have that get up and go. You could
tell he got drained in a hurry. That
was something we didn't have any
control of with him being sick."
Now, the Panthers will return and
prepare for the 1991-92 season and
Thrift is very optimistic about the
future.
The squad will have wrestlers re
turning in 12 of the 13 weight
classes.
"You have Woody, Darrell and
John returning and that’s three guys
that went to state," he concluded.
"Then we have some new guys
coming along. We're going to work
real hard and be an improved team
next year. Next year is going to be.
better, but it was a good year."
3B