Newspaper Page Text
Dublin takes scramble—3B
Perry sports
.-A
. > T\
Mark Blumen
HHJ Sports Editor
What really
happened
Saturday?
What happened this past week
end? I'm going to tell you what
happened as far as the Perry High
School Panthers go and Head Coach
Carl Thomas would agree.
In fact, with talking to him about
this very subject, we came to some
of the same conclusions.
Perry ran into a fine basketball
team in Sumter County and pretty
much held their own.
Last year the team had problems
with Mary Persons and this year it
just happened to be the Rams.
Perry did squeak out one victory
but had to rally from 15 points
down to do it.
Some of the things that happened
in this game could have been at
tributed to the season as a whole.
Perry struggled for one half and
would come back and play hard in
another.
According to Thomas, he feels
that the team played better with
their "backs against the walls.”
That is, when they knew they
would be in for a battle, the team
gave it their all, but when it was a
push-over, such as Americus the
first two times, they play lack
adaisical.
The next time the two schools
met, Americus almost pulled off
the upset. Why? Perry thought the
game would be easy.
Just think about all the games
the Panthers lost this year.
Central Macon was a different
story but think about Macon
County.
Realistically, the Panthers should
have split with them.
Peach County should have been
handled twice rather than once
Instead of being 3-1 against these
two teams, Perry was 1-3.
Jackson and Warner Robins were
good enough to get a split with
when the Panthers should have been
4-0.
That is four more wins than the
team had. With four wins, Perry
would have been 17-8, almost
identical to a year ago.
What about Crawford County in
the Christmas tournament?
That is another win so that
makes them 18-7.
A split with Sumter County and
Tri-County is realistic and that s
what the Panthers did
A 2-1 record with Dodge County
is realistic but had they not lost to
Crawford County, Perry would not
have played Dodge County in the
tournament.
Okay. So what does all this mean
about this past weekend?
Perry went out and had their
backs against the wall trailing by
five points at the end of the first
quarter.
What did the Panthers do? They
came out in the second quarter and
looked like world beaters.
"By the second quarter, we ad
justed to what they were doing to
Ken and got the ball to him and he
made four field goals in that quar
ter," Thomas explained. "Hayward
hit a couple of three's and Ridley
hit a three so what we were doing
was by hitting outside shots, it
freed us up inside."
Sumter actually scored more
points in the second quarter than
they did in the first period, but
Perry put 28 points on the board in
the period.
After the Panthers got their game
plan going and no longer had their
backs up against the wall, here
comes the lax attitude.
Sumter came out with an 8-0
run. Again, Perry has the backs up
against the wall. The Panthers
come back and reclaimed the lead.
By now it is a dogfight to the end
and Sumter County won the race to
the finish line.
Perry has the talent and every-
Please see BLUMEN, Page 2B
Lady Panthers bow out of tourney
m m
JBSEgk ' ' y
’’"{■Cl'm-. yjijp,
A ./tfe § jfe fc 'in Jr m « i
- WKmw:.*: '• JF^*-
Monica Kendrick looks inside for an open player. She
finished out her playing career by scoring four points.
Tattnau Boys Brackets
Mt OeSales
Thursday ______________
9:00 p.m.
Wednesday 8:10 p.m
Flint River
— Friday 7:00 p.m.
Westfield H
Thursday
5:40 p.m.
Monroe 1 11 1
Girls Brackets
Tattnall
Mt. DeSaies
Thursday
Wednesday 6:30 p.m. 7:20 Pm.
Monroe
“ Westfield Fr,da y 8:40 P m -
Thursday
4:00 p.m.
Flint River
■ k ~* Ul&tKr. ■■!
- ||p flJf ' V: -I^MI
mLy
'iOs'®" 'i~ awr wK’x, Jr 1 j**s4^®^W%iyiiiiSl^K
IP Jk v % *
j^^jj
aJL Jgjf . fcjjlPf jH|H^
Ken Sikes looks to find one of his team mates against
Sumter County He had 22 points In his final game.
si
Wednesday, p
Feb. 20,1991 ID
IMcCullerleads Rams to champbnship
Sumter County eliminates
Panthers from tournament
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
The Perry High School Panthers
concluded their season Saturday
night in the semifinals of the
GHSA 4AA South subregion tour
nament in Buena Vista as the
Sumter County Rams took an 83-
75 victory.
The Panthers led 5-2 on a Tazari
Green rebound of a missed Ken
Sikes free throw with 5:47 left but
the Rams came back with an 8-0
I run to open a 10-5 lead.
Sterling Hayward's basket with
2:19 left in the period trimmed the
I lead to 12-8 but the Rams opened a
16-9 lead.
Setarvin Jackson scored at the end
of the period to leave the Panthers
still down by five at 16-11.
The Panthers changed their game
plan and started hitting some out
side shots and used a 7-0 run to
open the second period.
Jeff Ridley's 3-pointer with 4:10
left in the half gave the Panthers a
25-21 lead but Lakista McCuller hit
two free throws to shave that lead
in half.
Hayward hit a 3-pointer to give
the Panthers an eight point lead at
Entertainment news—4B
l
Upson County stings Lady Panthers in
the closing seconds on free throws
By MARK BLUMEN
Sport* Editor
Phyllis Baker's two free throws
with two seconds left lifted the Up
son County Lady Yellowjackets to
a 48-46 victory over the Perry High
School Lady Panthers Saturday
night in the semifinals of the
GHSA 4AA South subregion tour
nament in Buena Vista.
In the last 4:55, the lead changed
hands seven times and was tied on
three occasions.
Benita Billings hit one free throw
with 20 seconds left in the game to
give the Lady Panthers a 46-44
lead.
When the Lady Yellowjackets
inbounded the ball. Perry's Dcidre
williams was assessed her fifth per
sonal foul.
Baker connected on both ends of
the one and one to tic the game at
46 with 14 seconds left.
The Lady Panthers took the ball
out and got the ball to Albertina
Davis at midcourt who launched a
halfcourt shot with seven seconds
left
Davis was called for traveling, so
the Yellowjackets gained posses
sion with four seconds left.
Baker was hit as she tried to
launch a 3-pointer.
She converted both shots and
Davis could not get off a shot at the
buzzer.
"We had our chances to win and we didn't. We made a
couple critical mistake at the end,"
Lady Panthers Head Coach James Kinchen
Perry opened a 9-2 lead on a De
nis Hickey jump shot with 2:58
left in the first period but Upson
County closed to within three at
13-10 to close the period.
Chasity Thornton hit the first
basket of the second period to give
Perry a 15-10 lead with 7:11 left in
the half.
Hickey's jump shot with 4:10
left in the half gave Perry a seven
point lead at 21-14 but Upson
County went on an 8-0 run to close
the half leading 22-21.
"We got in foul trouble with
three starters over with me," said
Perry High School Lady Panthers
Head Coach James Kinchen. "We
didn't make the free throws and they
beat us."
Perry stormed back in the third
period when Deidre Williams
opened the period with her first
basket of the game to reclaim the
lead for the Lady Panthers at 23-22
with 6:30 left.
Lekeshia Whitest's basket with
4:32 left in the period gave Perry a
27-22 lead.
Lady Hornets battle Flint River
Hornets open second
season with Monroe
By MARK BLUMEN
Sports Editor
Whenever two teams were as
evenly matched as the Westfield
Hornets and the Monroe
Mustangs, something should be
settled in the GISA region 2AAA
playoffs.
Westfield will battle the Mus
tangs for the third time this season
Thursday at 5:40 p.m. in Forsyth.
The Hornets took two, one
point victories during the regular
season with the last one coming
on a Shane Hester buzzer-beating
tap-in for a thrilling 93-92 Hornets
win.
The Hornets are 8-9 on the year
with a 5-3 region record and are
seeded number two behind
Tattnall.
Monroe (4-4 in region competi
tion) defeated Mt. DeSaies (4-4 in
region competition) last Friday
night to claim the third spot in the
35-27 but McCuller hit a basket
with under two minutes left to
shave the lead to four at 35-31.
Sikes broke away for a dunk to
raise the lead to six points but
Mike Pope knocked in a 3-pointer
just before Sikes hit another basket
at the end of the half.
Perry led by five points at 39-34
heading into the intermission. Perry
"We have to give Sumter
County credit. They did a
good job of keeping the
bailout of his hands,"
Coach Carl Thomas
outscored the Rams 28-18 in the
quarter and looked in control.
"I would have liked to get the
ball into Ken Sikes hands so he
could have a few more attempts,"
said Panthers Head Coach Carl
Thomas. "Once again, you have to
give the other team credit. They had
a man on him from whistle to
whistle."
Sumter County opened the third
f The Houston Home ff
Journal
Monica Kendrick's iwo free
throws with 18 seconds left in the
period gave Perry a seven point lead
at 33-26 heading into the final
frame.
Upson scored the first four points
of the fourth period to cut the lead
to three but Perry opened the mar
gin back to six with a Davis free
throw and a Hickey jump shot.
Upson County went on a 7-0 run
to take the lead with 4:55 remain
ing in the game.
That set the stage for the final
minutes with each team swapping
leads on seven occassions.
Baker scored eight of her game
high 23 points in the final 2:41
seconds to lead her team to the vic
tory.
"We had our chances to win and
we didn't," Kinchcn added. "We
made a couple critical mistakes at
the end. Dee made a foul that she
should not have. We shouldn’t have
been pressing but she just got a
little over aggressive. Albertina had
a walk with four seconds The
worst that we could huv< done ,va
Please see SI UNO. fv.jt - B
region and pushed the Cavaliers
back to the fourth spot.
Mt. DeSales will play Flint
River (0-8 in region competition)
in the bracket that the winner must
advance to play top seeded Tattnall
(7-1 in region competition).
"The fans are going to be behind
them 100 percent," explained Hor
nets Head Coach Cater Pierce. "We
kind of dread playing them but
you're in their place so you're
probably going to play them one
way or the other. If we were num
ber one, we’d probably lace them
You have to beat them. That’s a
tough game to play. It you win
that one, you ought to feel real
good about yourself."
Some of the Hornets arc nursing
some colds but Pierce says the
squad should be at full strength by
gameday.
"You always want an easy one
Please see PREVIEW, Page ?B
period with an 8-0 run to take a 42
39 lead but Green hit a basket with
5:49 left in the peiod to stop the
drought
Seven points by Michael Lusane
lifted the Rams to a six point lead
at 4943 with 4:22 left in die quar
ter, but Hayward hit a 3 pointer and
Green a layup within one minute to
trim the lead to one point.
McCuller spoiled the run with a
3-pointer and Travis Griffin
conected to build the lead back to
six.
Perry went on a 10-3 run to close
the period, including 3 pointers
from Sikes and Hayward.
Perry led 58-57 heading into the
final frame.
The final frame could have been
dubbed as a free throw shooting
contest
Sumter County scored 26 points
in the period while scoring only
two field goals.
Sumter County took a 60-58 lead
when Sikes scored a basket with
6:36 left to tie the game.
McCuller's basket with 5 09 left
gave the Rams a 64-62 lead.
Please see SUMTER, Page 28