Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the Oconee Historical Society.
About The Oconee enterprise. (Watkinsville, Oconee County, Ga.) 1887-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2013)
C2 THE OCONEE ENTERPRISE DECEMBER 19, 2013 Oconee County sophomore Chance Peden scored 15 points in the Warriors win over Jackson County. [Photo by Ryne Dennis] Big second half leads to by Ryne Dennis After getting picked apart in the first half, the Oconee County Lady Warriors decided to change up the defense at halftime Friday against visiting Jackson County. The change in scheme made all the difference in the world, as the Lady Warriors got a crucial 46-38 region victory after holding the Lady Panthers to just eight second half points. “I didn’t realize they didn’t score that much in the second half, I was just so focused on us and where we were,” head coach Jeanette Looney said. “We decided to stay in the zone in the second half and that made the difference.” Trailing 20-18 in the second quar ter, Jackson County began clicking on offense, using flex cuts and screens against the Oconee County man-to-man defense to score easy buckets while ending the first half on a 12-2 run. “We wanted to play some man [defense] because we felt like their post and their height, if we stayed behind them, they didn’t have much of a move,” Looney said. “Then they started running that offense where they would cut from the top and we couldn’t stop it.” The Lady Warriors would imple ment the 2-3 zone for the rest of the contest, eliminating the cuts that were open through the lane in the first half. It led to turnovers from Jackson County and scoring opportunities for the Lady Warriors, who took command of the game after outscor- ing the Lady Panthers 17-2 in the OCHS earns win at the free throw line by Ryne Dennis Free throw shooting hasn’t been the Oconee County boys’ strong suit this season, but the Warriors hit them when they needed to Friday night to pull out a 64-56 region win over Jackson County. The Warriors made 13 of 16 from the foul line in the final quarter to extend a two-point lead with just under 2 minutes left, to the eight point margin of victory. “The free throw shooting, it’s been no secret, since the first or sec ond game of the year hasn’t been good and it’s been especially bad in the fourth quarter,” head coach Richard Wehunt said. “In the fourth quarter we bounced back and took care of the basketball, took some good shots and made our free throws.” Oconee County trailed 44-43 going into the final quarter, but took the lead back for good with 5:19 remaining when James Howell hit a jumper. The Warriors continued to play solid defense and were able to extend the lead over the final two minutes, as Jalen Bonds stepped to the line to go 4-for-4 and Howell knocked down 3 of 4 to give OCHS a seven point lead with just 35 sec onds left. With the game in hand, Howell stole a ball at half court and took it in for the exclamation point dunk as time expired. Chance Peden led the Warriors with 15 points, 11 of which came in the first half. He was 3-for-3 at the Lady Warriors’ victory third quarter, sparked by three 3- point baskets from Melissa Weiler. “It looked like she cranked it up in the third,” Looney said of Weiler. “I talked to her at halftime and I told her she was playing the best defense she’d played all year. But we need some offense now.” With the lead, OCHS tried to stall the game in the fourth quarter and it looked like it could cost them as they didn’t score until 1:32 remain ing in the game on a Taylor Andrews free throw. But Jackson County could pull no closer than four points and the Lady Warriors knocked down enough free throws down the stretch to pull out the victory. “That was probably our best team win,” Looney said. “I think it was better than that East Jackson win because of the effort and the leader ship we had out there, it’s all starting to pick up.” Overall the Lady Warriors con nected on nine 3-pointers on the night, with Weiler connecting for five of the nine. She led the team with 15 points, all behind the 3-point arc. Alley Howell and Maria Cololancia added seven while Jenna Bradberry pitched in six points off the bench. The Lady Warriors picked up region win No. 3 on the season Saturday, as they blasted Hart County 61-39, improving to 4-7 and 3-1 in region 8-AAA. OCHS will host Jefferson tonight with games beginning at 7 p.m. and then will be off for the winter break until they play again at Madison County Jan. 4. free throw line on the day. “Chance is just a sophomore and he’s great at driving the ball to the basket and he’s a really capable shooter,” Wehunt said. “He’s got a pretty complete offensive game, and he’s pretty good at taking the ball to the basket and he got his confidence back with his free throw shooting.” The win improved the Warriors to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in the region at the end of the day in a region that Wehunt feels is up for grabs outside of top 10 Morgan County. “I’m quickly learning that there is just not an easy region game whether you’re home or away,” Wehunt said. “Outside of Morgan County, there’s just not another top 10 team. Two through eight, and ‘maybe Elbert County has a little advantagi on the rest of us, but you could prob ably just pull a name out of the hat a this point.” That alone made Saturday night’ 74-69 loss to Hart County seen much more important, as th< Warriors blew a nine point lead wit! under 1:30 left to force overtime The Bulldogs ran away with over time, outscoring OCHS 9-4. Peden led the Warriors with 21 points while Connor Johnson anc Bonds each scored 14 points. Th( Warriors will take their 6-5 recon into a non-region game tonigh against Jefferson, which is set to ti[ around 8:30 p.m. Oconee County will then be of for winter break until they fac< Morgan County on the road Jan. 4. Oconee County sophomore Jenna Bradberry scored six points off the bench ir the Lady Warriors win over Jackson County Friday. [Photo by Ryne Dennis] Prince Avenue sophomore Rob Kraeling scored 15 points against George Walton Academy Saturday. [Photo by Ryne Dennis] PACS takes tough loss to Bulldogs by Ryne Dennis At times Prince Avenue looks like a team that could be hard to handle, with solid shooting and a post game that would be hard to match. But with a youthful squad and lit tle practice because of football sea son, about all head coach Richard Ricketts could say after a 60-35 loss to George Walton Academy was “We’ll get there.”' “They played a great second half,” Ricketts said of George Walton, “and it was one of those things where everything they did was right and everything we did was wrong, but we’ll get there.” The Wolverines came out with a plan in the first quarter and they exe cuted well, leading the contest 13-11 while getting the ball in to Rob Kraeling who had eight points after the first period. • But then the youthful nature of the bunch took over as PACS scored only seven second quarter points and got away from what was working. “In the first quarter we ran our offense and did what we wanted to do and then after that it’s like we lose our minds,” Ricketts said. “We’re a young and inexperienced team and they’ve got to be able to see what’s going to make us suc cessful, but we’ll get there.” Much of the same happened the rest of the way, as GWA outscored the Wolverines 13-8 in the third quarter and 16-7 in the fourth quar ter to pull out the decisive victory. Kraeling led the Wolverines with 15 points, 11 of which came in the first half. Connor Sibley added 10 points and Matt Allen pitched in six. “My post kids are coming along pretty good and I thought they stopped working quite as hard in the second half, but we’ve got to do a better job of getting them in the offense and not so wild and crazy, but we’ll get there,” Ricketts said. With the loss, PACS is now 1-3 on the season, with the one victory coming against Taliaferro County 47-44 two weeks ago. The Wolverines will play in Lincoln County’s Christmas Tournament Friday and Saturday and then will be off until Jan. 3 when they travel to Athens Christian for an 8:30 tipoff. Titan Tide win swim meet at Ramsey by Derek Wiley Returning to the pool for the first time in almost a month, North Oconee placed first overall out of 13 teams Saturday at the Ramsey Center. The Titan Tide were led by their girls squad, who took first. The boys finished fifth. Paced by its boys, who took first, Oconee County placed second over all behind NOHS. The girls finished third for the Water Warriors. Competing for NOHS were Anna Rose Moore, who swam a state qual ifying time in the 200-yard freestyle, which was good enough for second place in the event. Moore also took first in the 500 free and swam on the winning 200 medley relay team. Also on that relay team were Caroline Allen, who placed first in the 50 free and second in the 100 free, Megan Measel, who was sec ond in the 100 butterfly and second in the 100 breaststroke, and Mae McWhorter, who was second in the 200 IM. Measel qualified in the 100 fly and 100 breaststroke for state. McWhorter qualified in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke. Alexis Shirley, who qualified for state in the 200 freestyle also placed third in the 100 fly. Emma Lowring finished third in the 200 IM, Lyndsey Kalessa was third in the 100 free and Eliza Petersen placed third in the 500 free for the Titan Tide. Leading the boys, Dylan Kalessa swam on the 200 medley relay team, which took second, and finished third in the 100 breaststroke, which he also qualified in for state. The Water Warriors won nine individual events and placed second in five others. Annie Williamson took first in the 200 free and 100 backstroke. Danielle Della Torre finished first in the 200 IM and 100 fly. Robert Wylie was first in the 200 IM and 500 free. Caroline McElhannon placed first in the 100 breaststroke. Britt Edelen and Katie Knight won the 1-meter diving. Evan Brock placed second in the 200 IM, Jon McGahee took second in the 100 breaststroke and Aidan Brook was second in the 500 free. Jack Edelen and Jenny Deal came in second in the 1-meter diving. Oconee’s girls also won and qual ified two relays for state, the 200 and 400 free. The boys placed third in both the 200 and 400 free relay. Wylie swam state qualifying times in the 200 IM and 500 free. Mateme qualified in the 200 IM, Aidan Brook in the 500 free, Jon McGahee in the 100 breastroke and Britt Edelen in the 1-meter diving. Williamson qualified for state in the 200 free and 100 backstroke. Della Torre qualified in the 100 but terfly and 200 IM. Both the Titan Tide and Water Warriors will return to the Ramsey Center this Saturday. Talented GWA too much for Prince by Ryne Dennis Prince Avenue’s girls basketball squad ran into a tough challenge Saturday, - as George Walton Academy’s stingy defense forced the Lady Wolverines into numerous turnovers en route to a 50-30 Lady Bulldogs victory. “I told our girls that they were going to come with pressure, they’re just a very veteran team and they’ve got some great players,” head coach Katie Gilbert said. “We’ve struggled this year with Anna Machovec, our senior point guard being out.” George Walton used a half court trap to force the Lady Wolverines into tough spots along the sidelines, which led to easy baskets the other way for GWA. But with a senior like Machovec out of the lineup for the time being, it’s understandable why the Lady Wolverines could struggle some early in the season. “We’re asking Peyton Howell to play out of position and then bring ing a freshman in off the bench to run point, so we’re just a young team,” Gilbert said. “I told the girls I was happy with their hustle, I was happy with their effort, we’ve just got to get a little PACS senior Bethany Campbell scored nine points against George Walton. [Photo by Ryne Dennis] better competitive fire out there.” PACS was only able to score three points in the first quarter and two more in the second quarter as they trailed 24-5 at the half. Trailing 40-13 after three quar ters, the Lady Wolverines made a little bit of a push late in the game, led by Bethany Campbell’s eigh fourth quarter points. “I was proud of the way the girls hung in there and never quit, bu; we’ve got some things we have tc iron out before we continue in the region,” Gilbert said. Campbell led PACS with nine points and Jordyn Smith addec eight. Gilbert got the point across to he: squad that the loss was not the enc of the world for PACS, as they have started out region play 2-1 and are 4-3 on the season. Especially a loss to a team that is favored to win the region and possi bly compete for a state champi onship. “We’re 2-1 in the region anc we’re beating the teams we set ou to beat and today was kind of a eye opening experience,” Gilbert said “I told them that we were playing against a senior-laden team with ; couple Division I players on the team and we’re young.” Prince Avenue Christian will pla> in the Lincoln County Christmas Tournament this weekend and ther will take Christmas break off before returning to region play agains Athens Christian on the road Jan. ; to start the new year. Patriots win football title After earning the No. 2 seed in the 9 and 10 year old Lake Area Football League playoffs, the Patriots, representing the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department, advanced all the way to the title game where they defeated Morgan County 13-6 to bring home the championship trophy. The Patriots won a nail biter by one point with a fourth quarter stand over an undefeated Jasper County team in the semifinals. [Submitted photo]
