Newspaper Page Text
THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2007 -- PAGE 3B
East Jackson Girls Basketball
Lady Eagles Lose To Stephens, Jackson Co.
East
Jackson’s
Autumn
Wilbanks
fends off
a Jackson
County
defender
during
Saturday’s
match-up.
Wilbanks
scored
seven points
against
the Lady
Panthers.
Photo by Lyn
Sengupta
By Brandon Reed
It was not the kind of weekend
the East Jackson Lady Eagles had
hoped to have, as they lost first to
Stephens County 61-28, then in a
rematch with the Jackson County
Panthers, 34-32.
In Friday night’s game against the
Indians, the Lady Eagles tried to
play catch-up all night, as they end
ed the first quarter behind 19-6, and
managed
Comin 9 up only seven
>. Warrior more P oints
Holiday Classic before the hah,
Dec. 27-29 with Stephens
vs. Rabun County leading
County Jan. 4 36-13. The point
spread stayed
the same by the
end of the third quarter, as the In
dians led 56-23. Both East Jackson
and Stephens County scored but
five points each in the final period.
Marley Pullian led the Eagle of
fense with 15 points. Dynelle Tod-
man picked up seven, and Dane
Gaillard had seven rebounds,
while Callie Moore had four. Terin
Gillespie had three assists on the
night. Pullian had five steals against
Stephens County, while Autumn
Wilbanks had two.
“We got trapped into playing
their game which is full-court,” said
Coach Amy Larimer. “We simply do
not have the quickness to compete
with them in a fast-paced game.”
The next day the Lady Eagles
traveled to Jefferson for a much-
anticipated rematch with the Lady
Panthers of Jackson County. It
proved to be a much closer game,
but with similar results, as East
Jackson came up short at the final
buzzer.
The Lady Eagles kept the game
close in the first quarter, trailing
only by four points by the end.
Jackson County was able to stretch
its lead out a bit in the second to
an eight-point spread, leading 24-16
going into the half. In the third, the
Panthers pulled out a little further
in front, leading 30-23. But, in the
fourth, the Lady Eagles came roar-
ing back, holding Jackson County
to four points, and closing to within
two before the final buzzer.
Pullian again was the leading scor
er for East Jackson, picking up 13
points on the night. Wilbanks and
Todman recorded seven each, and
Emma Turner got five. Turner led
the team in rebounds, with 12, while
Todman picked up seven. Terin
Gillespie had three assists, Todman
had four steals and Turner recorded
three blocks against the Panthers.
“I felt that we played well against
Jackson County and made some
big plays when we needed to make
them,” Larimer said. “Playing in that
type of high energy atmosphere
was something that none of my
players have ever encountered, and
I felt that they reacted positively.
“There are always aspects of the
game that we could have done bet
ter, but we never gave up, played
hard the entire game and showed a
lot of character. I told my girls that I
was extremely proud of them and
to walk out of the locker room with
their heads held high and be proud
of their performance.”
Next up for the Lady Eagles is a
rematch of their season opener, as
they’ll host the North Oconee Ti
tans Thursday. East Jackson hopes
to avenge the 53-28 loss of Nov. 20.
EJCHS GIRLS BASKETBALL
Date Opponent Time/Result
Nov. 20 @North Oconee L,53-28
Nov. 27 OPEN
Nov. 30 West Forsyth W,50-34
Dec. 1 Jackson County L,60-48
Dec. 4 Oglethorpe County W,47-38
Dec. 8 @West Forsyth W,45-41
Dec. 14 @Stephens County L,61-28
Dec. 15 @Jackson County L,34-32
Dec. 20 North Oconee 6:00
Dec. 27-28 Warrior Holiday Classic
Jan. 4 Rabun County 7:00
Jan. 5 Stephens County 4:00
Jan. 11 @Dawson County 7:00
Jan. 15 @Banks County 6:00
Jan. 18 Union County 7:00
Jan. 22 @Fannin County 6:00
Jan. 25 @Rabun County 7:00
Jan. 26 Providence Chris. 4:00
Jan. 29 Dawson County 6:00
Feb. 1 Banks County 7:00
Feb. 2 @Oglethorpe Co. 4:00
Feb. 5 @Union County 6:00
Feb. 8 Fannin County 7:00
“Our first game of the season
against North Oconee was a huge
learning experience,” Larimer said.
“Not only was it our first game, we
were also missing Marley Pullian,
a starting guard, due to injury. We
have grown a lot since that point
and I expect our performance to
have no resemblance to that first
game. We do have film to study
and we will be prepared for the re
match.”
This holiday season,
share the joy,
not the germs.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Athens Regional Medical
Center's Infection Control Manager, Cathi Nix, hand washing is the single most important way to
prevent the spread of illness and infections including colds, flu, strep throat and intestinal problems.
Did you know that colds are caused by microscopic organisms called viruses, and there are about 200
viruses that can cause the symptoms we call a cold? The way to avoid getting a cold is to keep hands
clean and to remember not to touch hands to mouth, nose or eyes.
So during the flu season, please remember to wash your hands thoroughly and often with soap and
water. An alcohol-based hand cleaner can also be used if soap and water are not available.
Athens Regional wishes you
a happy and healthy holiday!
Athens Regional
CENTER
MED
A Passion For Medical Excellence
1199 Prince Avenue • Athens, Georgia 30606 • 706-475-7000
www.armc.org
CHS Lady Tiger Summaries
Lady Tigers Drop Two Before Break
The Commerce Lady Tigers will
take a 2-6 record into the winter
break following a win last week
over Prince Avenue and losses
to Hebron Christian and Dawson
County.
They picked up their second vic
tory of the season Tuesday, Dec.
11, beating Prince Avenue 46-30
in one of their most productive
games of the year offensively.
“We made some shots. We made
our free throws and made some
buckets,” explained Coach Ed
die McCurley. “We were not do
ing anything differently from the
other nights.”
For a change, the Lady Tigers
jumped out on top, taking a 15-5
first quarter lead and going up
22-13 at the half. They led 30-15
after three periods and had bal
anced scoring.
Jessie Flint led the scoring with
10 points. Brittany Sewell added
nine, Felicia Grier eight, Terra
Hancock seven, Kaylin Canup
six, Morgan Mather three, Lau
ren Jones two and Skyler Beasley
one.
They followed that with what
McCurley called “probably our
worst game all year,” a 39-28 loss
Friday night to Hebron before a
home crowd.
Sewell led the offense with 10
points, followed by Hancock with
eight, Flint with seven and Canup
with three.
“They had two players who could
score. The others ran around set
ting up screens for them,” McCur-
ley said. “By the time we figured
out who their scorers were, they’d
already put up 16 points. Those two
had 21 of their 25 first-half points.
In the second half, they each had
two. We did what we needed to do
to stop them, but couldn’t put the
ball in the hole ourselves.”
The Tigers traveled to Dawson
County Saturday and dropped a
35-23 decision, where the larger
Dawson post players blocked a
number of Tiger inside shots early,
forcing them to shoot low-percent
age shots from the outside.
Sewell led the Tiger scoring with
CHS GIRLS BASKETBALL
Date Opponent Time/Result
Nov. 30 Banks County L,50-49
Dec. 4 Social Circle L,73-30
Dec. 7 @Athens Academy W,39-27
Dec. 8 @Athens Christian L,55-43
Dec. 11 @Prince Avenue W,46-30
Dec. 14 Hebron Christian L,39-28
Dec. 15 @Dawson County L,35-23
Dec. 28-29 WJJC Holiday Classic
Jan. 4 Prince Avenue 7:00
Jan. 8 @Lakeview 7:00
Jan. 11 Jefferson 7:00
Jan. 15 Tallulah Falls 6:00
Jan. 19 Athens Academy 6:00
Jan. 22 Towns County 6:00
Jan. 25 @Jefferson 7:00
Jan. 26 @Banks County 5:00
Jan. 29 @Tallulah Falls 6:00
Feb. 2 Athens Christian 5:00
Feb. 5 @Towns County 6:00
Feb. 8 Lakeview Academy 7:00
Feb. 11-13 Region @ Prince Avenue
Feb. 15-16 Region Finals @ Towns Co.
nine points. Hancock added five,
Jasmine Sanders four, Jessie Flint
three and Lauren Jones two.
Commerce got off to a slow start
and never recovered. They trailed
11-2 after one quarter, 20-7 at the
half and 30-15 after three quar
ters.
Lady Tigers Turn Attention To Offense
Continued from Page 1B
seem to put the ball in the hole. And while that frus
trates the coach, he doesn’t see it as an in surmountable
object. “Our emphasis at the beginning was to try to get
phases of our game working correctly, then add as we
go along,” McCurley said. “Defensively, we’re playing
fine. We’re not where we need to be exactly but we’re
playing pretty well.”
With the time off, McCurley plans to turn his atten
tion to the offense.
“We’ll work individually with some of our players to
try to generate something,” he said. “We’ll work on tech
nique.”
It’s not like the Lady Tigers need to put another 20
points on the board to win, but they do need to sink
a few open shots. “We just need to make three or four
shots. It’s not impossible,” McCurley says.
The Lady Tigers are shooting without confidence, the
coach notes, sometimes off balance or with the wrong
foot forward, so a little work on technique could go a
long way. Without a consistent scorer, the Tigers tend to
“go into a game and see who’s hot and go from there,”
McCurley points out. “We’re getting some good looks.
Most teams play a little man-to-man and then back into
a zone.”
One result is that the Tigers, who have small post play
ers, aren’t getting a lot of shots from the inside and are
having to put it up from the outside.
Assuming that the defensive play continues, the Lady
Tigers don’t need a massive amount of improvement
on the offense — just a few baskets here and there.
Last week, for example, the Tigers lost 39-28 to He
bron Christian School and 35-23 to Dawson County.
Three or four shots falling would have made all the dif
ference in the world. And the previous Tuesday, that’s
exactly what happened when the Tigers beat Prince
Avenue 46-30 for their second win of the year.
“We just made some shots. We made our free throws
and made some buckets,” McCurley pointed out. “We
were not doing anything differently from the other
nights. We just need about 10 more points. We’re play
ing defense good enough we can win some games. If
we can’t put up at least 40 points a game, we’ll have a
hard time beating anybody.”
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