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Woods 'n Water— 2B
Perry sports
Panthers devour Peach
By BRIAN LAWSON
Sports Editor
An overflow crowd saw Perry
raise their game to new levels dur
ing a hard fought 84-73 win over
arch-rival Peach County Friday
night.
The Trojans, had come into the
game averaging over 90 points per
outing but Perry held them score
less through the first 3:15 of the fi
nal period to take command.
The Panthers led 57-55 heading
into the final period, but outscored
the Trojans 16-4 over the first five
minutes of the fourth quarter.
Perry forced four turnovers and
had three steals during the stretch as
their pressure defense forced the
Trojans completely out of their
rhythm.
Offensively, the Panthers had
their most balanced night of the
season as four players scored 16 or
more points.
Keith Wimberly led Perry with
21 points, including fifteen in the
second half and nine in the fourth
quarter.
Garriett Curry had a strong night
inside as he outplayed the Trojans
Calvin Slaughter and Marcus
Robertson. Curry finished with 18
points.
Eric Richardson scored 17 and
several nice assists leading the fast
break and running the Perry offense.
Arthur Billings finished the night
with 16 points including four put
back baskets, which Coach Carl
Thomas said was the key to the
g&fy Brian I
Sp Lawson I
iSggir Sports editor
A lot oF
good
basketball
One of the cool things about my
job is that I get to go to events that
I'd probably go to anyway and I get
paid for it.
The downside is I have write fu
rious notes during the acdon instead
of chewing the ice in my Diet
Coke, but nothing is perfect.
Anyway, I would have paid to see
the GISA region tournament if I
didn't have a press pass, beause I
knew the action would be heated.
The Westfield Lady Hornets again
played their guts out and got beat at
the end of their game with Mt. de
Sales Wednesday.
It was April Horsting's last game
and she played it that way.
She was all over the floor and
made the big shots when the Lady
Hornets needed them.
I know she’ll be missed.
Westfield does have some conso
lation in the person of Jennifer
Smith who showed what kind of
player she is going to be by scoring
20 points in the biggest game of
the season
The Westfield boys will head to
the state playoffs and if I were an
opposing coach I'd be wary of the
explosive Hornets.
It appears the Hornets will make
another run in the playoffs if they
continue to get games like Austin
Abney's had lately.
The senior is stepping up at the
right time and the team is follow
ing close behind.
Perry's boys won a thriller Friday
night at home over Peach County.
The two teams battled on every
possession. The Trojans are a vo
cal crew and they let Perry known
time and again who they were play
ing.
The Panthers stood toe to toe
with the fourth rated Trojans and
made them blink first.
Perry did it on both ends of the
floor, executed on offense and
played tenacious defense.
All the games count now and it'll
be fun to watch Carl Thomas’
tough, talented team face the state’s
best.
Perry's Lady Panthers are heading
into the playoffs with two freshmen
emerging as future starts.
Yatosha Davis and Natalie Taylor
both scored nine points against a
tough Peach County team and it
appears they have a bright
basketball future.
Perry's Benita Billings may be
the most exciting player in town.
Peach victory the last time the two
teams met.
The Panthers finished the regular
season undefeated at home as they
responded each time the Trojans
looked like they would run away
with the game.
Perry led after one quarter 18-17.
At 5:30 of the second quarter
with Peach leading 26-24,
Robertson blocked a lay-up attempt
by Stacy Francis and on the other
end Peach's Greg Streeter drove the
baseline and dunked to set the
Peach side of the gym rocking.
The Panthers then called a time
out and began to press full court.
The pressure helped cut the Peach
lead to two 30-28 with 2:36 to
play.
Peach's Luwon Pennamon re
sponded to the Perry pressure by
burying back-to-back three point
ers to give the Trojans a 38-30 lead
with a minute to play in the half.
With the Trojans threatening to
break it wide open Perry answered
back with seven points in the last
40 seconds. Billings hit a putback,
Richardson drove through the de
fense for a lay-up and Wimberly
made a three point play to close the
half.
The Trojans jumped to a quick
five point lead to open the second
half, 44-39 at the 6:32 mark.
Perry then went on a 7-0 run to
take the lead. Billings hit a lay
up, Wimberly hit a jumper in the
lane and Francis brought down the
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Jennifer Smith passes through the arms of a defender.
Lady Hornets season
ends in overtime 49-45
By BRIAN LAWSON
Sports Editor
The Westfield Lady Hornets fell
into the same trap that has plagued
them much of the season and lost
in overtime to Mount de Sales 49-
45 in the first round of the GISA
2AAA Tournament at Westfield
Wednesday.
The Lady Hornets had built an
eight point lead, 39-31 heading
into the final quarter, but were
outscored 12-4 in the fourth period
to force the overtime.
"It’s been the same story all sea
son. We've been in games but have
lacked the ability to finish them.
As we started the fourth quarter, I
hoped we could score eight or 10
points and that didn't happen. We
had several shots that just didn't fall
and we made some costly turnovers
at the end," Coach Donna Campbell
said.
Turnovers late in the game hurt
the Lady Hornets as they suffered
three in the final minute while try
ing to hold on to a 43-41 lead.
The Lady Hornets were led by
Jennifer Smith's 20 points and 12
from senior April Horsting who
played her last game for the
Hornets.
Horsting made several key plays
for Westfield in the game's final
minutes, including a short jumper
with 58 seconds to play, to give the
Saturday, j q
Feb. 20,1993 ID
house with the first of his two three
pointers to propel Perry to a 46-44
advantage with 5:10 to play.
The Panthers built a 55-50 lead
at the 2:45 mark and then saw the
Trojans score five unanswered
points to tie the game with 1:03 to
play in the quarter.
Perry held the ball until nine sec
onds were left in the period then
Wimberly drove to the left side of
the line and sank a 12 footer to end
the period with Perry up 57-55.
Going into the game, Thomas
said the Panthers were treating it
like a playoff game and that they
would lay it on the line.
"We're going to play our style
and if they can beat us at that, then
so be it. It's our gym we're going
to make the other guy adjust to us,"
Thomas said Friday morning.
The Trojans were unable to
consistently execute their half court
offense due in part to harrassment
of their guards by Francis and
Wimberly and by constant fronting
by the Perry big men.
Slaughter, the Trojans dominant
center scored 13 points, seven
below his average. He was unable
to find a consistent spot on the
floor to operate as the Panthers
came at him from a variety of
angles.
Francis opened the fourth quarter
with a three pointer and Wimberly
scored a lay-up after a steal to build
a seven point lead which the
Panthers would never relinquish.
Lady Hornets a 43-41 lead.
With 18 seconds left and the
score tied at 43, Horsting stripped
the ball from Lashanna Farley to
prevent Ml de Sales from getting a
potentially game winning shot.
In overtime, Horsting hit a
jumper with 2:18 to play, to give
Westfield its last lead of the season,
45-43.
Westfield missed the front end of
a one and one with 2:05 to play and
then Farley scored on a lay-up with
1:56 left to tie the score.
The scored remained tied until
Leslie Weston put back a Lady
Cavalier miss with 53 seconds to
play.
The Lady Cavaliers missed a one
and one with 31 seconds left and
Smith grabbed the rebound.
The Lady Hornets committed an
other turnover with 15 seconds left
and were forced to foul.
Farley missed the one and one,
but the Lady Hornets were unable
to convert on their end and Weston
hit two free throws after a rebound
for the final margin.
The Lady Hornets finished the
season with a 5-14 overall record.
At least six of the Westfield losses
were a result of a basket in the
final minute of regulation play or
in overtime.
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Perry's players celebrate after their 84-73 dismantling of Peach County Friday night.
WHS loses shootout 59-55
By BRIAN LAWSON
Sports Editor
Coach Cater Pierce said before
Thursday's game with Monroe it
would come down to a battle be
tween Westfield's outside game and
Monroe's inside game.
Pierce's prediction came true as
the Mustangs won 59-55 in the
semi-finals of the GISA 2AAA re
gion tournament at Westfield
Thursday night.
The Mustangs inside game was
led by Kenny Roberts with 20
points and Scott Leverett who tal
lied 14 despite missing several
minutes due to foul trouble. The
duo were able to offset Austin
Abney's 25 point effort and eight
Westfield three pointers.
The final period summed up the
entire game for the Hornets as they
watched the Mustangs build a lead,
absorb a Hornet rally and then build
another lead.
After Lon Talton's three pointer
at 6:04, the Hornets trailed 48-47.
Joe Dukes second three of the night
gave the Mustangs a 51-47 lead
with 4:48 to play.
Jeff Dortch hit a jumper and
Abney hit a three pointer to cut the
lead back to one with 4:10 to play.
The Hornets then went cold and
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Perry Recreation mighty mite soccer try-outs
Assistant Coach Rich Gilbert watches as a young player shows off his soccer skills during
try-outs Thursday at Rozar Park. The mite and midget lead try-outs will be held today.
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Austin Abney drives past a Monroe defender Thursday.
didn't score again until Abney hit a
a three with three seconds left in the
game.
The Hornets missed four three's
Journal
in the final minutes and the
Mustangs got a left handed jumper
from Roberts and four free throws
Please see WHS, page 3B