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PAGE 4B -- THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2007 — East Jackson Splits Games Cohen Cooke scored nine points in Commerce’s victory over Hebron Christian over the week end. — Tigers Break Into Win Column Continued from Page 1B win or lose, they play only one game, against Stephens County. Between now and then, Bridges will try to improve the Tigers’ de fensive effort and intensity. “We need to do a better job of contesting the shots, of following through and getting the defensive rebound,” he said. “We will work and Channing Anderson with two apiece and Chase Crawford with one. CHS 72, Hebron 25 This time, it was the Tigers who came out hot. They posted a 14-8 first quarter lead, extended it to 32-22 at the half, and put it out of reach in the third quarter to lead 52-28. merce, with 11 points. Anthony Norris put in nine, Gary six, Ty ler Gamble, Crawford and Matt Adams three each, and Keller and Brandon Romans scored two apiece. Looking for Flint The Tigers eagerly await the re turn of Jake Flint, who is recover ing from a partial tear of his ACL Continued from Page 1B way through a game too,” Turner said. Saturday the Eagles traveled to Jefferson for a rematch with the Jackson County Panthers, and saw more of the same close play that they saw Friday night. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead, scoring 16 points to East Jackson’s six by the end of the first quarter. The Eagles cut the deficit to nine by the end of the half, with Jackson County leading 26-17. After the half, it appeared the Panthers might pull away, as they led at the end of the third quarter 36-24. But the Eagles stormed back, picking up 23 points in the fourth quarter to Jackson County’s 14, to move within three points as the final buzzer sounded. “We actually changed our defense early in the game just to try to keep us halfway un der control,” Turner said. “We knew it was going to be a great atmosphere for a game, and we were just trying to calm our kids down and try to keep us out of foul trouble early in the game, and thought we did a pretty good job of it. “We just never got the tempo of the game the way we wanted to. We didn’t do a good job, and I’ve got to take the blame for it. We never turned the heat up the way we should have. Maybe it was because we did change up at the beginning of the game, but for some reason, we never could get it going.” Gilbert led East Jackson in scoring with 12 points. Rucker scored nine, Pearson eight, Garrett five, Zach Gilbert four, and Stevens, Boswell and Tory Lamb scored two each. Klint Kesler picked up one. K. Gil bert and Pearson both had five rebounds on the night. Rucker had four assists, and K. Gilbert, Rucker and Z. Gilbert each had three steals. “Jackson County outplayed us,” Turner said. “They did what they had to do to win, and we didn’t. Again, we shot our selves in the foot against them. When you go 11 for 26 from the free throw line, you don’t de serve to win too many games. It’s kind of the story of the way we’ve been going so far. We’re sitting here at 5-3, and we’re glad we’re 5-3, but realistically, if we do what we’re supposed to, we should be 8-0.” The Eagles will next hit the court Thursday night, hosting the North Oconee Titans in a rematch of their season opener, which East Jackson lost 60-54. Turner said consistency will be the key. “That’s the thing we keep talking about, consistency,” he said. “Going hard all the time, and finishing plays. We’ve got to finish when we get to the basket. We’re doing a pretty good job of getting there, we just have to finish it. North Oconee is doing well; they’re off to a 7-1 start. It’s going to be another good test. Hopeful ly, we’ll rebound from Saturday night and pick up a win.” EJCHS BOYS BASKETBALL Date Opponent Time/Result Nov. 20 @North Oconee L,60-54 Nov. 27 @Providence Chr. W,61-45 Nov. 30 West Forsyth W,47-46 Dec. 1 Jackson County L,60-48 Dec. 4 Oglethorpe County W,74-61 Dec. 8 @West Forsyth W,51-34 Dec. 14 @Stephens County W,67-63 Dec. 15 @Jackson County L,50-47 Dec. 20 North Oconee 7:30 Dec. 27-28 Warrior Holiday Classic Jan. 4 Rabun County 8:30 Jan. 5 Stephens County 5:30 Jan. 11 @Dawson County 8:30 Jan. 15 @Banks County 7:30 Jan. 18 Union County 8:30 Jan. 22 @Fannin County 7:30 Jan. 25 @Rabun County 8:30 Jan. 26 Providence Chris. 5:30 Jan. 29 Dawson County 7:30 Feb . 1 Banks County 8:30 Feb. 2 @Oglethorpe Co. 5:30 Feb. 5 @Union County 7:30 Feb . 8 Fannin County 8:30 on our man-to-man principals so we can play man. We haven’t played much of that, but when we have, we’ve given up a lot of lay-ups and easy shots out of it. I think that (the work) would help us.” The victory over Hebron was sandwiched between a loss on Tuesday Dec. 11, to Prince Avenue Christian School, and another to Dawson County last Saturday in Dawsonville. PAC 72-CHS 45 A slow start doomed the Tigers, who trailed 19-1 after the first pe riod and 28-13 at the half. They were behind 43-28 after three pe riods. “I thought we were nervous and didn’t do a good job taking care of the ball,” said Bridges. “We were not ready to play and it really cost us.” Drake Cash led the Tiger scor ing with 12 points, followed by T. Greene with 10, Cohen Cooke with seven, Matt Adams with six, Torrence Wilcher with four, Bran don Romans, Cameron Billings “Everybody shot the ball well,” Bridges pointed out. “In addition, Hebron played us in a man (man- to-man defense), which we had not seen before, and we were able to execute well. We got a lot of lay ups and easy shots.” Cash scored 14 for the Tigers. Billings added 10, Matt Adams, Cooke and Greene scored nine each, Chase Keller contributed six, Travaris Glasper and Craw ford scored five apiece, Taylor Gary added three and Anderson contributed two points. Dawson 71-CHS 41 “We did not shoot well, and Dawson was extremely hot,” said Bridges. “They made 16 threes for the game. One player hit seven threes in the first half and they had 12 as a team.” Dawson jumped to a 22-8 first- period lead, led 46-17 at the half and 66-28 after three periods be fore coasting to a 71-41 win. “We didn’t handle their pressure. We didn’t play very well,” Bridges admitted. Billings was high scorer for Com- Sub-Varsity Reports CHS Junior Varsity Boys Perfect At 5-0 The Commerce High School junior varsity Tigers ran their record to 5-0 last week with wins over Prince Avenue, Hebron Christian and Dawson County. They were due to play at Dawson County Tuesday night, and results of that game were not available by press time. Against Prince Avenue Tuesday, Dec. 11, the Tigers jumped out on top early and put the game away before the end of the first half, then cruised to a 54-34 win. “This game was very beneficial to us as a team,” said Coach Rob Brown. “We were fortunate to get out to a big lead early, which gave us the opportunity to get everyone some substantial playing time.” The Tigers led 10-0 after one period and 32-2 at the half, when Brown emptied the bench. Demetris Bonds and Travaris Glasper led the scoring with eight points apiece. Brandon Romans added seven; Anthony Gordon two; Trey Sims and Tyler Gamble four each; Channing Anderson, three; and Deon Orsborne and Paul Ford contributed a pair apiece. Hebron fared little better. The Tigers led 14-5 after one quarter and doubled Hebron 24-12 at the half. They were up 40-22 after three periods and won 55-27. “This game was a lot closer than the score indicates,” Brown insists. “Early in the fourth quarter, Hebron made some big shots and cut our lead to around 15. We weren’t tak ing very good care of the ball at the time, but the guys did a good job of making a run when they had to. Channing Anderson had a big game, with half of his points com ing in the fourth quarter. Brandon Romans also played well.” The Dawson County game was a little more competitive early The Tigers had a 6-5 first-quarter lead, took an 18-16 lead into the dressing room at the half, then led 30-25 after three periods, then maintained that five-point margin in the final quar ter to win 50-45. “This game showed what kind of heart and character our team has,” Brown said. “Dawson is a very good basketball team, and we had to fight very hard to pull out a win. The game was very physical, and our players did a good job of keep ing their composure throughout the game.” Anderson led the offense with 16, followed by Orsborne with 15. Romans added eight, Bonds five, and Glasper and Gamble scored three apiece. “Channing Anderson had a big game, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter,” Brown noted. $5 00 OFF Ticket Of t 2O J0 Or More. Valid with coupon Mon.-Thurs. only. La Hacienda Commerce La Hacienda Jefferson 173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd. 605 Athens Street 706-335-7458 706-367-5095 The Original Mexican Restaurant! Not affiliated with any other restaurant. and a strain to his MCL. At 6-1, he was pegged to be the starting center, and he’s due back in early January. Next Up The Tigers will play the 8:30 game Friday night, Dec. 28, in the WJJC Holiday Classic. The Lady Tigers will play at 7:30. CHS BOYS BASKETBALL Date Opponent Time/Result Nov. 30 Banks County L,48-34 Dec. 4 Social Circle L,48-38 Dec. 7 @Athens Academy L,61-33 Dec. 8 @Athens Christian L,67-57 Dec. 11 @Prince Avenue L,72-45 Dec. 14 Hebron Christian W,72-45 Dec. 15 @Dawson County L,71-41 Dec. 28-29 WJJC Holiday Classic Jan. 4 Prince Avenue 8:30 Jan. 8 @Lakeview 8:30 Jan. 11 Jefferson 8:30 Jan. 15 Tallulah Falls 7:30 Jan. 19 Athens Academy 7:30 Jan. 22 Towns County 7:30 Jan. 25 @Jefferson 8:30 Jan. 26 @Banks County 6:30 Jan. 29 @Tallulah Falls 7:30 Feb. 2 Athens Christian 6:30 Feb. 5 @Towns County 7:30 Feb. 8 Lakeview Academy 8:30 Feb. 11-13 Region @ Prince Avenue Feb. 15-16 Region Finals @ Towns Co. “Deon Orsborne also had a great game. He ended up with 15 points and was three of four at the free- throw line. Deon and Channing had 17 of the 20 points that were scored in the fourth quarter.” EJMS Boys Lose To Winder-Barrow The East Jackson Middle School boys’ basketball team dropped a 45-26 decision to Winder-Barrow Middle School Wednesday, Dec. 12, to see their record fall to 1-3. The Bulldoggs jumped to an early lead of 13-6 after the first period and led 28-12 at the half. Winder-Barrow was up 36-18 after three periods. “I was really proud of my guys,” said Coach Wesley Wheeler. “They played hard and could have quit but they didn’t.” Tyler Collins led the Eagles with 14 points. Caleb Hardy and Bryan Banks added four apiece. East Jackson’s Zak Pearson (40) and Brandon Garrett (23) both had strong nights against Jackson County. Pearson scored eight points and picked up five rebounds, while Garrett (23) scored five points and picked up four rebounds. Photo by Lyn Sengupta Need printing? 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