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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.” \ RENTAL VEHICLES Wayne Neal now rents vehicles for that special occasion or whatever the event, car in shop, going on vacation, we can help. r A Come See Us At Hwy. 441 in Commerce Or Call 706-335-3196 Ask For Ashley v ✓ Hours of operation: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday