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D ecember 9, 2009 ^Reporter 1B Terry Johnson 2B. School news 3B Church news 4-5B Public Record 6B Classifieds 7-8B Public Notices 9-12B The best coverage for Monroe County sports SO CLOSE: Sasha Lipford (33) goes for the ball, with help from Asia Buckner (20). Lipford recored five rebounds against the Lady Jaguars Friday night. The Mary Persons Lady Bull dogs heated up the court in the fourth quarter but fell short, 55-52. (Photo/Gina Herring) MP teams stumble BY GINA HERRING Both the ladies and the men’s Mary Persons basketball teams suf fered losses to Woodland and Maynard Jackson last week before beating Locust Grove on Saturday. The Lady Dogs are 3-2 this season after losing to Woodland on the road and a nailbiter at home on Friday. The girls suf fered their first defeat against Woodland last Wednesday, losing 38- 51. "Woodland is a good team with a lot of depth. We allowed them to jump out on us early and we played catch-up ball the entire game," said Coach Lang Oglesby "Slow starts have been our Achilles’ heel this season. " The Lady Dogs also started slow against a tough Maynard Jackson team at home on Friday night. The ladies were trailing 22-14 at the half. The Lady Dogs stayed consistent throughout the third quarter, closing the gap to 8 points. But the Lady Dogs would not give up and turned on the heat in the fourth quarter. With just under four minutes to play the crowd erupted as the MP girls tied it up, 44- 44. A minute later the MP ladies were ahead by three points, 50-47. However the Lady Jaguars had a final push left in them and edged ahead 55-52 in the final seconds, steal ing the victory from MP Asia Buckner was the leading scorer for the Lady Dogs, with 25 points, including three 3-pointers. Emily Davis scored 11 points, including twoo 3- point baskets. Sasha Lipford scored 7 points and had 5 rebounds. Aleah Holden scored 3 points and had 7 rebounds. Morgan Stewart scored 6. Coach O said he was proud of his girls’ effort against Maynard Jackson but says "If we are going to be success ful this year, we have got to come up with a way to fix our slow starts.” Right now, the most consistent players are freshman forward Aleah Holden and senior cen ter Sasha Lipford. “If we are going to beat anyone, I've need more production from my guards,” said Oglesby. The Lady Dogs bounced back on Saturday, blowing out the winless Lady Wildcats of Locust Grove by a score of 60- 34. Leading the Dogs on offense were Sasha Lipford, with 15, Emily Davis, with 14, and Aleah Holden, with 13 points. Asia Buckner scored 10 points. Tesa Brown and Ajayla Stoudimire each sank a three-pointer. Morgan Stewart had 2 points. Holden also led the defense, getting 16 rebounds. Lipford had 6 rebounds. THE BULLDOGS also lost to Woodland and Maynard Jackson. The Wolfpack beat the Dogs 71-53 on Wednesday. The Dogs also lost to Maynard Jackson on Friday, 52- 37. Scoring was at a minimum for the Dogs, but the leading scorers were Terrance Harris with 9 and Brannen Greene, who had 7. Tevin Davis scored 6. Renaldo Lyons, Meshari Walton and D'Vante Pennamon each scored 4 points. The boys also bounced back on Saturday, creaming Locust Grove 68-43. Brannen Greene and Tevin Davis each scored 13 points. Greene had three 3-pointers. Terrance Harris scored 11 points. Renardo Lyons and Jacoby Mitchell each scored 6 points. Ricardo Lyons had 5, including a 3- point shot. Brandon Walton and Jared Willis each had 4 points. Davis led the defense with 6 rebounds. Renardo Lyons had 4 rebounds. The Bulldogs are 2-3. UP NEXT: The Dogs plays Jackson on Tuesday in Jackson. The JV Boys play at 4 p.m. The varsity girls play at 6 p.m. and the varsity boys play at 7:30 p.m. On Friday, Dec. 11, MP must travel to South Atlanta. The boys play at 5:30 p.m., followed by the girls at 7 p.m. MP plays Howard in Macon on Saturday. The girls play at 1 p.m. and the boys follow at D'Vante Pennamon (4) goes up for a shot. Pennamon and Ter rence Harris each made one three pointer in the game against Maynard Jackson Friday night. (Photo/Gina Herring) MP back in region with Peach, Baldwin Region realignments moves MP; Jackson stays in 4AAA BY GINA HERRING The Georgia High School Athletic Association released its new region assignments last week and it ain't pret ty for the Dogs. While Mary Persons remains a triple-A school, the Bulldogs have been placed in region 2AAA in the midst of middle Georgia powerhouses Peach County and Baldwin County, along with Howard, Rutland, Central (Macon), Perry, Veterans, West Laurens, and Westside (Macon). The new region assignments will be effec tive for all MP sports beginning in August 2010 with football, softball and volleyball. Coach Rodney Walker, athletic direc tor and head football coach, said the new region assignment will be tough for several MP teams, especially foot ball. "It's going to be tough there's no doubt about that," said Walker. "But geographically that's really where we belong. It will mean a lot less travel and will create better rivalries." Mary Persons and Jackson are no longer in the same region, but that tiny fact means very little as far as the heated football rivalry is concerned. However, there are 10 teams in the region and 10 games on the regular season football schedule. Therefore, the only non-region football game MP will play next year will probably be Jackson - at the very beginning of the season. But Walker said the schedule has not been finalized yet. He and the other region coaches are meeting on Dec. 16 to decide whether or not to have sub- regions. From talking with all the coaches, Walker says he believes the Dogs will play the nine-game region schedule. And he believes Jackson will also be on the schedule, although it has not been confirmed yet. "We have to play Jackson. Somebody might get shot if we don't have Jackson on the schedule," joked Walker. Could new region assignments eliminate the Backyard Brawl? "Seriously, it's too big of a rivalry and brings in a lot of revenue." The new region 2AAA features a hodgepodge of teams, only one of which was on MP’s schedule in the last two years. Peach County is 14-0 so far this sea son and is set to play Gainesville for the state AAA title in the Georgia Dome this weekend. The Baldwin Braves lost to Cairo in round two of the state playoffs, going 9-3 on the season. West Laurens was 5-5 in 2009 and missed the playoffs.Perry finished the 2009 season 1-9. Howard High finished 2009 with a record of 3-7 and will jump from AA to AAA in 2010. Central is also moving to AAA. The Chargers were also 3-7 last year. Westside(Macon) is moving down from AAAA to AAA. The Seminoles fin ished 2009 with a record 11-2, having made it all the way to the third round of the playoffs before losing to Rockdale County on Nov. 27. Veterans High School is a brand new school being built off Piney Grove Road in Kathleen between Hwy. 247 and Moody Road. It’s set to open in August 2010. The only team that will remain in the same region as MP will be Rutland. The Bulldogs beat the Hurricanes 23-6 in September. Rutland was 2-8 in 2009. Walker says the exact schedule is expected to be released sometime fol- Davis picked to play in North-South game Senior Mary Persons linebacker Tevin Davis has been selected to play on the South team at the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) North-South All-Star football game on Dec. 29 at Memorial Stadium in Columbus. Kick-off is at 2 p.m. “I'm very excited for Tevin. He’s excited too. They picked 70 or 80 players in the whole state and he’s one of them. I’m very proud of him,” said MP coach Rodney Walker. Davis led the MP defense all sea son. Vullo earns 1st degree black belt The Christian Martial Arts Ministry of Mt Zion United Methodist Church awarded Russell Vullo the rank of 1st degree black belt in the style of Tang Soo Do on Nov. 29. Vullo’s rigorous training included mastering many techniques, forms, self- defense techniques, mem orizing Bible verses, and learning spiritual disci plines. Over the last 4 1/2 years of Vullo’s train ing, he completed well over 60 hours of commu nity service. Vullo’s examination for black belt was physically, men tally, and spiritually demanding. In addition to demonstrating profi ciency in all techniques and forms, the test included the completion of 100 sit-ups, 100 pushups, 100 jumping jacks, 600 kicks and 200 punches against the punching bag, and 15 minutes of sparring. The test took over 4 hours to complete and also includ ed a 5 page written report about Vullo’s spiri tual beliefs. Tang Soo Do is a traditional martial art of Korea. The Christian Martial Arts Ministry of Mt Zion UMC concentrates on building Christian character through physical, mental, and spiritual training. Our goal is to develop Christ-centered lives through the practice of the martial arts. Our Code of Honor says, “I will keep my word. I will do my best. I will be polite, treat people with respect, and help those in need. I will do this because I belong to God.” The Christian Martial Arts class meets at Mt Zion UMC every Tuesday from 6:30-8:00. The class Russell Vullo is taught by Rev. Chris Mullis, a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. Classes cost only $20 per month, and all class dues are used to support missions. For more information, call Rev. Mullis at 994- 8983.