Newspaper Page Text
Insid
Room For Improvement
The Tiger boys’ basketball opener proved that
the CHS basketball squad has ample room for
improvement. PAGE 3B
1B
THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
DECEMBER 5, 2007
CHS Girls’ Basketball
Lady Tigers Fall By 1 In Opener
ms
V
Kaylin Canup works around a Banks County defender Friday
night. The Lady Tigers lost a see-saw game 50-49 in their sea
son opener. Photo by Tony Rudeseal
CHS Wrestling
10th Place In Panther Invitational
A Good Sign For Tiger Wrestlers
Tyler Austin goes up against a Banks County wrestler in the
171-pound class during the Panther Invitational Tournament.
He won the match with a pin. Photo by Lyn Sengupta
If the Lady Tigers’ season open
er is a sign of things to come, the
2007-08 basketball season will
keep fans on the edge of their
seats.
The Tigers fell 50-49 to Banks
County as a last-second shot
rolled off the rim last Friday night.
The girls were scheduled to host
Social Circle Tuesday night, but
results of that game were not avail
able by press time. They’ll travel
to Athens Thursday and Saturday,
the former to take on the Lady
Spartans of Athens Academy in
a game that was rescheduled from
Friday to 4:30 Thursday, and the
latter to take on Athens Christian.
“I thought our girls played really
hard, and that is all I can ask,” said
new Tiger coach Eddie McCurley.
“It was a game that went back and
forth, and I don’t think either team
played particularly well.”
That may be expected early in
the season, before McCurley has
had the time to get his team famil
iar with all of the nuances of the
game.
“We haven’t had a chance to
work on things like the full-court
press and last-second situations,”
he noted, saying that he planned
to incorporate those things as time
allows during the season.
McCurley said he was pleased
with how the Tigers handled the
pressure.
“They handled the last-second
situation and seemed poised,” he
said . “We had a few turnovers,
but I didn’t see them panicking. I
thought we played real hard, and
that’s the first thing a coach is go
ing to look for.”
With about two and a half min
utes left, the Tigers were down
by six, thanks to a couple of turn
overs. Brittany Sewell, who led the
Tigers with 24 points, hit a three-
pointer to put the Tigers up by one
Please Turn to Page 3B
A 10th place finish in the Pan
ther Invitational last weekend
gave Tiger coach Kendall Love
a pretty good idea of where his
team stands after just one outing.
And he likes what he saw.
“We’re much better off than we
were at this time last year,” the
second-year coach commented.
“We’re running into the same
obstacles (little lead time after
football season), but we’re much
better overall.”
Jefferson won the event, follo
wed by Gilmer County. Jackson
County finished third, with East
Jackson taking 12th.
Three Tigers medaled — Phillip
Edwards was third at 145 and
Nick Arostegui and Jon Cash
finished fourth at 130 and 135
respectively, and Love said seve
ral others were a win away from
placing.
“All of our guys at least won one
match and several were just a win
short of placing,” Love said. “We
saw some things we need to work
on, but we also lost a couple of
matches because we’re not whe
re we need to be conditionwise.”
That’s the legacy of a playoff
football program. Being in top
condition for football does not
translate into being in good con
dition for wrestling.
“Within a couple of weeks, if
we wrestle those same matches
again, we win,” Love said. “Also,
we had two state placers (from
last season) who did not wrestle.
I wanted them to have more time
to get their weight down.”
Love expects to see improve
ment as the season progresses.
The Tigers were to wrestle Clar-
ke Central and Stephens County,
both AAA schools, Tuesday at
Clarke Central. Results were not
available by press time. This we
ekend, they’ll travel to Winder for
the Apalachee Invitational. Wre
stling starts at 5:00 Friday and
Please Turn to Page 3B
EJCHS Boys’ Basketball
EJCHS Wrestling
Eagle Men Beat W. Forsyth,
Providence; Fall To JCCHS
By Brandon Reed
It was a good week and a bad
week for the East Jackson Eagles
basketball team. For the good,
they picked up two wins, includ
ing the first of the team’s inaugural
season. For the bad, they lost in
their first meeting with their rivals
in Jefferson, the Jackson County
Comprehensive High School Pan
thers.
Providence Christian
The week started out on a high
note, with the Eagles picking up
their first win in school history
against the Providence Christian
Stars 61-45.
“We played better,” said Eagles
boys head basketball coach Brian
Turner. “We went in with a small
lead at halftime. We pushed the
ball down the court better, and got
some easy steals with our press. I
think we wore them out, to be hon
est, just running.”
Brandon Rucker led the scoring,
picking up 17 points. Others who
scored included Brandon Garrett
with 15, Kolby Gilbert with 12,
Standrick Stevens with five, Zak
Pearson and Terry Cox with four
each, C.J. Brown with three, and
Cody Hall with one. Taylor Bo
swell led in assists with six. Gilbert
had 10 rebounds.
“Overall, I was very pleased,”
Turner said. “I really thought that
we had turned the corner, and
realized the style that we needed
to play, and understood what we
were trying to do. We still didn’t
shoot the ball very well, but we
played the style and the tempo
that we wanted to play. There was
a lot more pressing, and a lot more
running up and down the court,
trying to get easy baskets. I think
it paid off for us.”
West Forsyth
Next up for East Jackson was
their home opener Friday against
the West Forsyth Wolverines. The
Eagles trailed in the final moments
of the game, but a last-minute free
throw gave East Jackson the win in
a squeaker, 47-46.
The Eagles were down by 14
with around five minutes remain
ing. Turner put his third team in,
which cut the Wolverines’ lead to
eight with around three minutes
left. Turner then put his starters
back in, who forced some turn
overs, and tied up the game. A
dunk by Garrett gave the Eagles
a two-point lead. The Wolverines
came back, but a late foul set up
the free throw at the finish.
Garrett scored 15 points. K. Gil
bert added 11, Pearson eight, Cody
Gibbs six, Brandon Rucker four,
and Taylor Boswell, Zach Gilbert
and Cox two each. Rucker had
four assists and Pearson grabbed
eight rebounds.
Jackson County
It was a match-up that both
sides had been waiting on, as the
Please Turn to Page 2B
Kolby Gilbert looks for a hole in the Panther defense. Gilbert
scored 15 points and grabbed two rebounds during the Saturday
contest with the Panthers. Photo by Brandon Reed
EJCHS Wrestlers Are
Off To A Solid Start
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles wres
tling team got its first competi
tive time on the mat last week,
first hosting Towns County and
Social Circle last Tuesday, then
taking part in the Panther Invita
tional in Jefferson over the week
end.
Things went well for the Eagles
against Towns County, as they
defeated the Indians 48-28. But,
they split the bill against Social
Circle, falling 45-31 to the Red
skins.
“We did fine,” said head wres
tling coach Frank Caputo. “We
have a mixture of some kids that
have wrestled in the past, but pri
marily we have a bunch of kids
that this is their first year wres
tling. With first-year wrestling, it
just takes time to develop.
“All in all, I thought we gave a
very good effort, I thought our
kids stayed upbeat and positive,
regardless of the outcome, and I
was really pleased with it.”
The team then moved on to the
Panther Invitational at JCCHS
over the weekend, where they
finished 12th out of 24 teams
participating, with Luis Verduz-
co taking second in the 140 lb.
class.
“In that tournament, we threw
some kids out there that hadn’t
wrestled before, and we threw
Please Turn to Page 2B
Luis Verduzco, top, placed second in the 140-pound divi
sion of the Panther invitational. The Eagles placed 12th with
83 points. Photo by Lyn Sengupta
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