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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1991
2B
Ridley lifts Panthers into subreaion semi's
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Jeff Ridley goes up with an Americus player for the
ball. He hit the winning shot for Perry High School.
Lady Panthers bombard Sumter;
coast into subregion semifinals
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
The Perry High School Lady
Panthers jumped out to a 7-0 lead
and never looked back as Perry took
a 58-32 victory over the Sumter
County Lady Rams.
Perry built their largest lead of 40
points and used the rest of the squad
to finish the last five minutes of
the game.
Aftet Barbara Laster scored the
first Sumter basket to cut Perry's
lead to 7-2, the Lady Panthers went
on a 11-0 run.
Monica Kendrick's free throw at
the end of the quarter gave Perry a
194 lead.
Christy Walker scored the first
basket of the second period with
7:40 left in the half, but Denise
Hickey hit two free throws to start
another Lady Panthers 12-0 run.
Benita Billings basket with two
seconds left in the half gave Perry a
35-11 lead.
'They didn't have a good night.
We didn't play that great but they
had a bad night," said Lady Panthers
Head Coach James Kinchen. "We
did what we wanted to do the first
half and pretty much had control of
the game."
Perry's stifling defense held the
Lady Rams to one point in the third
quarter white the Lady Panthers put
together a 16-0 run to start the pe
riod.
Albertina Davis hit a jump shot
with 6:41 left to start the run.
Sumter had a chance to score two
more points at the buzzer but a
Lady Ram missed to free throws
and Perry led 51-12 heading into the
final period.
Chasity Thornton's basket with
7:50 left in the game gave Perry
their largest lead at 53-12.
Walker got hot for Sumter
County in the final period but it
was too little too late.
Sumter held Perry’s squad score
less for the last 5:06 of the game
but that was against most of the
Lady Panthers jay vec players.
Walker scored 14 points in the
period to make the score somewhat
more respectable.
"I thought our defense was prob
ably better than any part of it,"
Kinchen said. "They double up on
Dee to keep her from getting it.
That was something we practiced
on this week and the other people
had to be able to score. When we
have someone do that to us, all we
rely on Dee for is to concentrate on
the offensive boards. We'll just put
them up and let her rebound."
The Lady Panthers press is what
Kinchen thought was one of the
major factors in the outcome.
"It was a situation where we
probably could have scored a 100
points if we had kept the starters
out there," he said. "But, you don't
want to run the risk of hurting the
kids in a game like this when you
know you have to play tomorrow
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Lekeshia Whitest shows her patented form on a layup
for Perry. They will be back in action tonight at 7 p.m.
night."
Perry went to the bench early in
the first half bringing in jayvee
players such as Jennifer Harris.
"We're going to need them to
morrow night," he explained.
"Tomorrow night is crucial. We
have to beat Upson."
Deidre Williams led the Lady
Panthers with 17 points while
Hickey chipped in 10.
Kinchen liked the way Hickey
shot the ball. "That's what we
worked on," he said. "When they
box in on Dee, like the same thing
the boys did with Ken, what pulled
us out was Sterling hit four 3-
pointers right behind each other.
When people box you in in the
paint, you have to have someone
that can do that. If you can't you're
in trouble."
Kinchen also attributed the play
of Benita Billings. "She hit some
good outside shots," Kinchen said.
"Her confidence level is really
coming around. She's going to be
able to play next year with her
confidence. Course she has helped
this year but I was not afraid to put
her in the ball game now. Next year
she'll be a better ball player cause
we, I mean they, have three starters
to replace. Two of the spots are
taken but they are still fighting for
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
Jeff Ridley, starting in place of
starting point guard Robert Grace,
hit a 3-point basket at the buzzer to
lift the Perry High School Panthers
to a 76-74 victory over the Ameri
cus Panthers in the first round of
the GHSA 4AA South subregion
tournament in Buena Vista Thurs
day night.
Perry led the entire game until
Dwayne Wakefield tied the game at
67 with 2:17 left.
Tazari Green's layup with 2:02
left gave Perry a slim 69-67 lead.
Wakefield converted a 3-point
play to give Americus their first
lead with 1:29 left in the contest.
Wakefield sank two charity tosses
for an Americus three point lead at
72- but Ken Sikes hit a basket
with 42 seconds left.
Americus took the ball out of
bounds and Setarvin Jackson inter
cepted a pass just past midcourt by
the Americus bench.
Perry found Sikes who was
fouled on the play with 14 seconds
left.
Sikes' first free throw banked off
the backboard in to tie the game and
made the second free throw the
conventional way to give Perry a
73- lead.
Toby Rush was fouled with eight
seconds left and hit both of this
tosses for a one point Americus
lead.
Perry got the ball into Sikes,
who called time-out with six sec
onds left.
After the time-out, Perry tried to
find Sikes or Green down low, but
Ridley came away with the ball and
dribbled past Rush, pulled up and
hit nothing but the bottom of the
net.
"I just didn't want to be the one
one of them. Benita is going to be
able to play for Monica and Al
betina but that third spot is proba
bly be between Shaunda (Thomas)
and Angela (Leggett) unless some
body else moves in the area."
Perry is now 16-8 on the season
and will play in the semifinals
contest against Upson County (35-
34 winners over Americus) Friday
night at 7:00 p.m.
The Lady Panthers split with the
Upson Lady Jackets during the reg
ular season taking a thrilling 41-40
victory in Perry for Coach
Kinchen's 200th career victory but
lost in Thomaston 51-38.
Perry (58) - Whitest 2 3-6 7,
Williams 7 3-4 17, Thornton 2 1-2
5, Davis 3 0-0 6, Kendrick 1 4-8
6, Hickey 4 2-4 10, Billings 3 1-2
7, Leggett 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0-0 0,
Edes 0 0-0 0, Ragin 0 0-0 0 Total
22 14-28 58 (3-point goals - None
Fouled Out - None)
Sumter (32) - Walker 7 44 18,
Garnder 1 0-0 2, Morgan 0 0-2 0,
Brown 0 1-3 1, Laster 10-12,
Evans 1 0-1 2, Tullis 2 1-2 5,
Harden 0 2-5 2 Total 12 8-18 32 (3-
point goals - None Fouled Out -
None)
"I just didn't want to be the one to let Robert go out with
a losing season. That's alright, we practice it every
day,"
Panther guard Jeff Ridley
to let Robert go out with a losing
season," Ridley said after the game.
"That’s alright, we practice it
everyday."
Perry took an 11 -3 lead on a team
that they had defeated this year
twice by an average of over 20
points.
It looked as if the Perry Panthers
would continue to dominate the
much smaller squad, but Americus
had different plans.
One of their plans was to take
Perry's leading scorer Ken Sikes out
of the game by double-teaming him
at every opportunity.
Marvin Stokeling's basket with
1:18 left in the first period gave
Perry an 18-11 lead but Rush hit a
basket with 51 seconds left and
Tony Johnson answered drawing
Sikes' second foul with 42 seconds
left in the quarter. He made both of
his charity tosses to cut the Perry
Panthers lead to three at 18-15.
Perry ran the clock down until
Green took a missed shot and re
bounded the ball up and in for a
basket at the buzzer.
Perry led 20-15 at the end of one
period of play.
Jackson's basket with 7:09 left in
the half gave Perry a 24-15 lead,
but Americus stormed back.
Sikes scored his first two points
on two free throws with 2:21 left in
the half to give Perry a 33-28 lead.
Perry led 35-30 with 40 seconds
left and tried to work the clock
again but a turnover gave Americus
a chance to come within three.
Rec. Dept. Activities
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
Perry Rec. Dept, sponsors soccer
The Perry Recreation Department
is sponsoring Spring soccer for
ages 5-15.
Youth and inexperience on pitching
staff waits for '9l Westfield Hornets
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
Does good hitting beat good
pitching or does good pitching beat
good hitting?
For the Westfield Hornets, the
answer will come when the inexpe
rienced pitching staff takes the
mound on the opening game,
March 14 at Windsor Academy in
Sports Calendar
Saturday, February 16
Basketball: Perry High School Panthers vs. Sumter county Rams in the
second round of the GHSA 4AA South subregion playoffs at Tri-County
High School in Buena Vista at 8:30 p.m. Lady Panthers vs. Upson
County in teh second round of the GHSA 4AA South subregion playoffs
at Tri-County High School in Buena Vista at 7:00 p.m.
Golf: Perry Country Club Invitational Four Man Scramble (Scratch) Golf
tournament Tee time is 9:00 a.m.
Monday, February 18
Basketball: Championship game at Tri-County High School in Buena
Vista. Teams TBA. Girls start at 6:00 p.m. while the boys action beams
at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 19
Basketball: GISA region 2AAA playoffs at Monroe Academy in
Forsyth. Westfield Lady Hornets vs. TBA and Hornets vs. TBA. Times are
also TBA.
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Corrensky Iverson hit two free
throws with 15 seconds left to puli
Americus to 35-32.
Jason Brown scored with six sec
onds left sending the Perry Panthers
into the locker room with a 37-32
lead.
"We played hard tonight. I can
not fault our effort in any shape,
form or fashion," said Perry High
School Head Coach Carl Thomas.
"We did some things that you
would have to consider dumb, but
they played hard and you have to
give Americus an awful lot of
credit. They took away Ken Sikes
and the rest of our kids came
through."
Americus scored the first two
baskets of the third period to trim
the lead to one point but Derrick
Edwards answered with two free
throws with 7:07 left in the period
to give Perry a 39-36 lead.
Wakefield tied the game at 39 on
a 3-pointer with 6:30 left but Perry
went on an 8-0 run to open a 47-39
lead with 4:18 left.
Eric Mitchell cut the lead to five
at 49-44 with a basket that was
credited to him after a goal tending
call on Sikes, but Sterling Hayward
hit his first of five 3-pointers with
1:46 left in the period.
Perry led 52-46 heading into the
final frame.
Americus opened the fourth pe
riod with a basket but Hayward hit
his second 3-pointer and by the
time he hit his fifth 3-pointer of the
second half, Perry had what looked
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
Registration for soccer will run
through Saturday Febuary 16 at the
Perry City Hall.
Macon.
Pitchers and catchers reported to
practice on Wednesday afternoon
with the rest of the squad tenta
tively scheduled to report on Mon
day, February 18.
"Our pitching experience is
virtually none,” said Hornets Head
Coach Bert Brown. "So going into
the year we're going to spend a lot
to be a commanding nine point lead
at 64-55 with 5:11 remaining in the
game.
Two free throws by Ridley gave
Perry a 67-59 lead with 3:48 left in
the game but Americus went on an
8-0 run to tie the game and set up
the final two minutes.
"We adjusted in the second halff.
I have to give Coach Vickers (Perry
assistant coach Max Vickers)
credit," explained Thomas. "The
adjustment we made to their defense
was something he saw, when we
were down screening for Kenny, and
the back side was open. Hayward
was able to toe the 3-point line for
about five possessions in a row.
Now, I'm going to church Sunday.
There is no doubt about that. When
Ken Sikes' foul shot banked in. We
had a break down in the last little
set. That was not what we were
trying to do (Ridley getting the
shot).”
One of the keys to the victory
was the Panthers free throw shoot
ing. Perry was 14-17 from the
charity stripe on the evening.
With the win Perry advanced to
play Sumter County (73-67 win
ners over Upson County) Friday
night in the second round.
Perry is now 13-11 on the year
while Americus finished 8-14.
Perry (76) - Sikes 2 4-4 8, Ridley
1 2-2, Green, 8 2-3 18, Hayward 6
0-0 17, Edwards 2 4-4 8, Stokeling
10-12, Jackson 6 2-3 14, Brown 2
0-0 4, Billings 0 0-0 0 Total 28 14-
17 76 (3-point goals - Ridley 1,
Hayward 5 Fouled Out - None)
Americus (74) - Rush 4 4-6 12,
Johnson 3 2-2 9, Mansfield 0 0-0
0, Mitchell 5 1-211, Wakefield 10
5-8 27, Iverson 3 5-6 11, Baisden 2
0-0 4 Total 27 17-24 74 (3-point
goals - Johnson 1, Wakefield 2
Fouled Out - None)
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.
The cost is sll per player. For
more information, contact Ben
Hamick at Perry City Hall at 987-
1911.
of time working with defense."
The Hornets will take the
philosophy of "just get the ball
over the plate and let the other team
hit the ball. We'll play defense."
Brown stressed that by using this
philosophy at least his squad will
have a chance. "There's no defense
for walks."
Please see PITCHING, Page 4B
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