About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2024)
2C Weekend Edition-January 26-27, 2024 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS TUESDAY’S HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL Amanda Loggins For The Times Cherokee Bluff’s Bristol Kersh shoots against East Hall on Tuesday in Flowery Branch. Cherokee Bluff sweeps East Hall NFL Final Four quarterbacks features three first-rounders Associated Press BY DAVID FRIEDLANDER dfriedlander@gainesvilletimes.com Both Cherokee Bluffs state- ranked boys and girls basketball teams put in workman-like per formances in their Region 8-4A doubleheader against East Hall. And both the No. 10 Bears and the eighth-ranked Lady Bears did what they had to do to Tuesday to keep their fate in the subregion races, and seedings for next month's region tourna ment, in their own hands. The boys got contributions throughout the line-up, includ ing another big night from Bos ton Kersh and a double-double from Cooper Glover, to outmus- cle the short-handed Vikings 66-52 despite a strong one-two punch from Braydon Langston and Jamarcus Harrison. The girls, meanwhile, shifted into high gear by the midway point of the first quarter, and rolled past the Lady Vikings 55-27 behind a complete effort led by freshman Bristol Kersh. While Cherokee Bluff boys coach Josh Travis said his team's performance was far from perfect, he lauded the Bears' (16-5 overall, 8-3 in full region, 7-1 in subregion) hard working effort that helped them stay in the driver's seat in the region for the subregion title. “It was a grind-it-out game," Travis said. “East Hall did a really good job of making it that way. They had two starters out and their head coach out. I've been an assistant coach that had to stand up where you're a part of it, but it really isn't your team.... So for them to do what they did, I was impressed with them. “I was thinking (several times) that maybe we could put it away, but we just couldn't get there. But we made the plays we needed to win, and that's what matters right now." Indeed, East Hall (11-10,5-6, 5-3) had some adjustments with normal starters Chasen Jones and Caden Crocker both in street clothes on the bench and assistant coach Justin Wheeler subbing for conspicuously- absent head coach Joe Dix. And the Vikings got a career night from freshman Langston, who finished with a game-high 28 points and five blocked shots, and Harrison, who had his usual strong outing with 21 points, six rebounds and three steals, to stay within shouting distance most of the night. However, Boston Kersh, who finished with 21 points, and Glover (16 points, 12 rebounds) led a steady effort that kept East Hall at bay after Kersh gave the Bears the lead for good at 9-7 with 4:20 left in the first quarter. The turning point came after Langston and Harrison led a 10-2 run that brought East Hall as close as 44-40 follow ing Langston's running floater down the lane with 2:43 left in the third quarter. After two close calls went against them, the Vikings began to get frustrated. Cherokee Bluff took advan tage with a 9-0 run that pushed the Bears' lead to 53-40 with 1:07 left in the period, and East Hall never got any closer than nine points the rest of the way. In addition to the big night from Kersh and Glover, Tyler Underwood had a key game with eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and five steals, while Logan Holmes also contributed eight points and four rebounds. CHEROKEE BLUFF GIRLS 55, EAST HALL 27: The Lady Vikings (5-15, 2-10, 1-7) were down just 8-5 follow ing a Kaylana Curry layup with 3:37 left in the first quarter. But the Lady Bears (17-4, 9-2, 7-1) outscored East Hall 8-3 in the final 3:15 of the open ing frame and second-quarter run led by Bristol Kersh (17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals) to take con trol for good, expanding the lead to 29-10 by halftime and cruising in the second half. “We've been kind of on an up-and-down roller coaster (lately),'' Cherokee Bluff girls coach Kassie Scott said. “We're still finding our groove in how to finish games, so games like these are important to win just to keep moving forward. While Kersh was the only player in double-figure scoring, the Lady Bears got plenty of other contributions, including nine points, seven rebounds and two steals from Kaitlin Cook, eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks off the bench from Halle Wilson and four points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals from Claire Carlson. Joe Theismann won one Super Bowl and played in a second with Washington after entering the NLL as a fourth-round draft pick with another franchise. He starred for a coach Joe Gibbs, whose path to the Hall of Lame featured three championships with three starting QBs — including one selected in the sixth round (Mark Rypien) and one who was chosen in the first round but wound up taking a detour to the USLL before reaching the sport's pinnacle (Doug Williams). So perhaps Theismann's view is shaded by all of that personal experience. He does not consider it vital for a team to find its quarterback early in the draft, even if recent evidence shows that confer ence title game participants most often do employ first-rounders at the sport's most impor tant position, a trend reflected in Sunday's match ups: Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs at Lamar Jackson's Ravens in the ALC, and Jared Goff's Lions at Brock Purdy's 49ers in the NEC. Three outta four ain't bad. “I definitely don't believe that being a No. 1 pick is the key to getting to a champi onship game. It's still a team game," said Theismann, who made it to the Super Bowls after the 1982 and 1983 sea sons, beating the Dolphins in the first and losing to the Raiders in the second. “I've always said this: The quar terback is the most depen dent player on the field. So if you've got first-round talent at that position, good for you, but that's also no guarantee." Of course not. Nothing is certain when it comes to talent evaluation, fulfilling potential shown in college or blossoming in the pros. But it clearly can be a sign of things to come when a QB goes at, or near, the top of a draft, which is why USC’s Caleb Williams, UNC’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels are expected FROM 1C Harper the Lion Duals at Peachtree Ridge in December. It was a match he was par ticularly motivated for, and one that gave him extra con fidence to springboard for the rest of the season. “I really wanted to wrestle him because he went to the same gym as I did for a little bit in club,” Harper said. “So, I was looking forward to it. Obviously, (the win) put me up higher in the 190 (state) rankings. It (gave) me a lot more confidence going into state, knowing (the caliber of opponents) I've already wrestled.” Indeed, Harper will have plenty of confidence head ing into the area traditional Sunday’s schedule • Ravens vs. Chiefs, 3 p.m., CBS • 49ers vs. Lions, 6:30 p.m., Fox to hear their names called early in April. So, sure, Purdy famously earned the “Mr. Irrelevant” moniker by being the 262nd and last choice in the 2022 draft and is now set to appear in a second NEC champion ship game in two NLL sea sons, but otherwise, a trio of high picks will help deter mine which two teams head to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Leb. 11. “Super proud of him. I just hope he continues to blaze trails and just show people that draft status is what happens on draft day. What hap pens after that is up to you,” Niners All- Pro left tackle Trent Williams said about Purdy. “You get a player like that with the last pick of the draft? Literally like playing the lottery and win ning the Powerball when it's at $2 billion.” The only newcomer to this round among the quartet is Jackson, who becomes the 30th quarterback to start a conference title game in the last 15 seasons. He got there with a mas terful performance in a 34-10 victory over the Hous ton Texans last weekend — throwing for two touch downs and running for two more — after beginning his career 1-3 in the playoffs. Take a look at that group of 30 and the pattern is obvi ous: 20 were first-rounders (including Goff at No. 1 overall to the Los Angeles Rams in 2016, Mahomes at No. 10 in 2017 and Jack- son at No. 32 in 2018); five went in the second round, two in the third, one in the sixth (Tom Brady) and one (Purdy) in the seventh. Only one of the 30 was undrafted: Case Keenum, whose Min nesota Vikings fell one game short of Super Sunday after the 2017 season. “Brock is sort of the exception to the rule, I guess you could say,” Theismann said. meet next week and moving forward into the sectional and state traditional meets. And his willingness to meet such a challenge head on, and flourish in doing so, is something that Clark believes will have benefits for everyone in the Llowery Branch program. “I think that just shows what kind of character Grif fin has,” Clark said. “He says, ‘I don't care what weight you want me to wrestle. I'll wrestle and give everything I've got. I'm going to step up and win when I need to win and help the team anyway I can.' “That just shows to the other kids on the team that when you're asked to do something, just have faith in yourself. You'll be able to doit.” Purdy FROM 1C Lanier to find shallow fish in really muddy water so we're staying away from the backs of the creeks this week. Sure, the shallow water will be warmer, but I tend to stay away from super muddy with the sub-50-degree water temperatures. If the shallower water is where you prefer to fish, then seek out slightly clearer water condi tions midway in the pockets that have both shal low and deep water located close by. Instead, we have had our best luck starting in the ditches in water that is 25 to 55 feet deep. Cast small swim baits like a 3.5 Kitech or a Lanier baits Lil Swimmer on a Georgia Blade under spin down the middle of the ditches where you mark fish on your electronics. Most anglers work these little swim baits way too fast. Instead, you should almost treat them like working a worm or jig along the bottom slowly. The old adage that if you're fishing too slow, then slow down even more stands true with these little shad imitators. Clear to slightly-stained water is best for this technique because bass rely on eyesight when targeting shad and herring. If the water visibility is low, then fish will have a hard time seeing these small lures, and if you reel them too fast even when around fish, it's hard to get the bites. Cast your swim baits out and work them very slowly back to the boat. It's also hard to beat standard jig with a craw-style trailer like a Georgia Blade Craw Bite Linesse Jig rigged with a Lighting Lrog or Yamamoto 3.5-inch Craw trailer. The Crawfish are starting to move around on the lake bottom and these tasty small lobster imitators will fool some of the bigger bass this week. These lures will work for bass both shallow and deep for the next couple of months before the spawn. Other techniques are worth a try, like jigging a Georgia Blade Premium Jigging Spoon out in the middle of the ditches or along the sides of the timber lines in 25 to 55 feet of water. Bass are feeding on dying shad that have been killed by the cold weather and all the bass have to do is wait along the bottom for shad to float down where they make an easy meal. A jigging spoon mimics dying shad to pro duce tremendous days when the fish are grouped up and moving slowly along the bottom. Another good staple is in wintertime is a finesse style worm on a jig head. I like the Gamagatsu Alien Head rigged with a Lanier Baits Lruity Worm and green and red flake or green and blue flakes colors. If I'm fishing shallow, I like the 1/8-oz ver sion of the Alien Head around shallow to mid depth docks, and if we are fishing deeper, I'll go as heavy as 3/8 oz to keep the lure along the bottom. The bites you get this time of year will be extremely light and often you won't feel any thing but you'll just see your line swimming away. When this occurs set the hook. Not many reports are coming out about night fishing, but historically it will be pretty good once weather and water temperatures reach 50° or higher. Striper fishing has rated all over the place with water color and water temperatures dictat ing the best areas and techniques. Stripers have no problem with cold water, but they tend to shy away from the muddiest areas because they're mainly sight feeders. Angler should seek out stained to clear water for the best results. With all the rain we've had this week, watercolor transitions can be key areas where stripers will corral bait. Seek out hard mud lines where water color transitions are drastic. As the rain moves out, the lake water colors will mix and spread the fish out a little more. Several techniques will work this week for striper fishing. Trolling umbrella rigs, herring on down lines, casting jigs to surfacing fish and free lining trout have all worked well when the fish are around. Angler should rely on their own electronics and seek out large areas where bait fish and stripers show up on their screens. If you're not marking bait or fish move on quickly to the next area. As mentioned in the past weeks, trolling an umbrella rig while watching your electronics and watching the lake for any bird activity is a great way to cover water and find the most pro ductive areas. Often anglers will find that trolling an umbrella rig is a viable technique to catch fish all day long, so they will skip the live bait when trolling works better. Use the Captain Mack's pre-rigged umbrella rig or rig a bare one with SPRO Bucktails. Let out 50 feet of line and troll these rigs slowly at 1.5 mph. Vary your speeds until you find the exact presentation the fish want. There's still a lot of stripers up lake, but a lot of that water is blown out and muddy this week. So midlake, as well as downlake midway back in the creeks are also good places to look this week. Keep an eye peeled for feeding birds as well as an eye on your electronics to deter mine the best areas. Crappie fishing should start to turn up as Lebruary approaches. Watch your electronics and fish areas where the water quality is not too muddy to find these tasty panfish. Live crappy minnows or medium shiners on a weighted line are your best options this week, but trolling and shooting small crappy jigs will really start to pick up as the water warms. I don't see a lot of anglers that troll crappy jigs on Lanier, but this can be a viable technique in the springtime on any north Georgia lake. Eric Aldrich is an outdoor writer, market ing specialist and bass angler. Reports are based on personal experience and permission from a close network of friends. I would love to hear from our readers so please email me at esaldrich@yahoo.com. FROM 1C Bluff recognition. You want them to have the excitement around them because it gener ates tons of excitement around the school. So, that part's good. I'm glad we're finally getting that.” Despite losing some top-notch talent from last year's team like power hitting comer outfielders Bryce England and Brett House and frontline pitchers Braxton Beal, Brady Stephens and Ben Crumpton, the Bears return plenty of talent this spring. Starting infielders from last year Jacob Vokal, Landon Kemp and Ethan England all return, while centerfielder Ty Corbin, catcher Caleb Miele and first baseman/ outfielder K.T. Thompson are also back. And right-handers Vokal, Tucker Holton and Jack Sparks and lefty Gabe Gowder are back to make up an experienced nucleus for the pitching staff, while new comers like sophomore infielder/pitcher Bubba Coleman help adds even more depth to the roster. That talent will get a major test before entering the bulk of their Region 8-4A schedule by participating in the 2024 Perfect Game High School Showdown tournament Leb. 29-March 2 in Hoover, Ala. It will be the first time a Cherokee Bluff team will play in such a high-profile national tournament, and Kemp is eagerly looking forward to seeing how the Bears to battle some of the best teams in the country in one of the tourna ments three 16-team brackets. “You have (a big) opportunity when Per fect Game invites you,” Kemp said. “It's a testament to last year's team, and even the year before that and the year before that. Obviously, we've had some success since we've been here and last year's team kind of earned the right for this year's team to go compete. “I'm super proud of those guys, and we're going to go over there and see what we're made of because we're play ing against some of the best teams in the nation.”
