Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. TANUARY 2, 2008 - PAGE 13A Brandon Garrett drives upcourt during Thursday’s game against Oconee. He led the Eagles with 26 points Saturday against Oglethorpe County. Photo by Brandon Reed — Eagle Men Win 1 Of 2 Cont. from Page 12A fore Christmas,” said coach Brian Turner. “Oconee County is a solid ball team, and they did a super job of moving the ball around. We got caught stand ing still too many times, and giving up too many easy shots. We gave up too many layups, no rotating back, and that was the whole key to the game.” “We didn’t play aggressive enough on defense. Oconee County shot the ball extremely well against us, and we never could find that extra gear to play the game the way we wanted to. The bottom line is, we just didn’t play with a lot of energy on de fense,” he said. On Friday, the Eagles faced Towers, falling 73-70. Towers jumped out to an early lead, but the Eagles cut the lead in a game that went back and forth the whole way. The Eagles had a chance to tie the game at the end, but missed the three point shot when the ball hit off the front of the rim. Gilbert led in scoring, with 23 points, with Brandon Garrett scoring 20 and Rucker 11. The Eagles bounced back Sat urday to end play with a big win, defeating Oglethorpe County 90-49. Garrett led in scoring with 26 points, while Gilbert chilled in 19. The Eagles return to region play Friday night, as they’ll host Rabun County, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. Turner says the goal is to get Rabun to play an Eagle-style game. “The people I’ve talked to about Rabun County say they like to play up-tempo some, and a couple of other teams in the re gion like to do the same thing,” he said. The Eagles will host Stephens County Saturday at 4 p.m. Eagle Wrestlers Finish Eighth At Winder Tourney The East Jackson varsity wrestling team had a good outing in the Beef O’Brady’s tournament last weekend at Winder-Barrow High School, finishing eighth out of 19 teams, with three wrestlers placing. Junior Shane Moore took second in the 125 lb. weight class, junior Luis Verduzco finished fourth in the 145 lb. class, and senior Michael Holt took third in the 215 lb. class. Coach Tommy Palmer said he was pleased with the im provement over their last tour nament performance. “We finished in the top ten in a pretty good tournament,” he said. “The kids are still improving, and that’s the big thing. We’ve still got a young team, with a couple of expe rienced guys leading the way. The young ones are still mak ing improvements and win ning matches.” Palmer pointed to some of the younger wrestlers, such as Charles Hulett, Zak Venable, Luke Ruoff, Drew Hunter, Jus tin Griffith, Josh Kesler and Tim Franklin, who did well through the consolation brack ets in the tournament. “They did well, which helped the team overall,” Palmer said. “They’re starting to win more matches when they need to.” Palmer said he’s also pleased with the improvement he’s seen in the team. “We’re doing well for a young team,” he said. “We still need to put together some more combinations of moves that we don’t have all tied together yet. But they’re doing pretty well. We just need to fine-tune on some, and correct some things on some others. That will keep us improving.” Palmer said this tournament helped determine how far the wrestlers have come since the beginning of the season, and to see how they would per form up against some of the athletes in the area in prepara- -► Amicalola tion for next classic Friday @ 5 weekend’s Saturday @ 9 area team . i d*XXl.f duals. “This gives us a good indication of where we’re at, and what we need to work on to get prepared for that,” he said. The Eagles have one more tournament to hone their skills before those duals, the Amicalola Classic at Dawson County High School this Fri day and Saturday. Palmer says it will give the team more of a look at what they’ll be up against at the team duals. “We’ll see what our match ups are going to be, and have a look at different people in their weight classes in our area that we have yet to com pete with.” The Amicalola Classic is scheduled to comprise 23 teams, including Commerce from Class A and the num ber one ranked team in Class AAA, Gilmer County. The action begins at 5:00 Fri day afternoon and will resume at 9:00 Saturday morning at Dawson County High School located outside of Dawson- ville. Emma Turner takes a shot during Thursday’s game against Oconee County. She had nine rebounds against the Warriors and 11 against North Hall later in the tournament. Photo by Brandon Reed - EJCHS Girls Cont. from Page 12A “We have really started to con centrate on the defensive end of the court and simply focusing on playing hard for an entire 32 minutes, working on our consis tency,” said East Jackson coach Amy Larimer. “Callie Moore and Bralee Griffin have stepped up their individual play on the de fensive end and I have started to see more fight and aggressive ness in our overall team play. I believe we are ready to move into the most important part of the season which is subregion play.” The Lady Eagles will return to action this weekend, as host of Rabun County Friday, then travel to Stephens County High School in Toccoa Saturday. But Mommy, didn't you say that you can sell anything in the classifieds? Yes dear, but not your little brother! J Yes, the Classifieds are a great place to buy or sell just about anything under the sun! Your $10 ad (just $7 if you place it at MainStreetNews.com) runs in The Jackson Herald, The Commerce News, The Braselton News, The Banks County News, The Madison County Journal and on MainStreetNews.com. That’s over 33,000 homes! You can make money cleaning out those no longer used items from your attic, basement or garage and sell them for cash in the Classifieds. Place your Classified Ad on-line at MainStreetNews.com or call 706-367-5233 We’re Your Local Newspaper! Community Health Screen f-hwtfti by Athens Regional Medical CenfiTlf Hcuilii i'dijititsuri ami Oi<tjmIiarl Refwb depart Tuesday, January 15, 2008 4:00-7:00 p.m. Jefferson Medical Center 2nd floor Screenings Offered: Blood pressure Bone density Cholesterol and Blood sugar (non-fasting) $15 charge for Cholesterol ami Blood Sugar screen Mobility in Your 50s and Beyond: Refmb screenings will include Vision - the impact of changes in contra it sensitivity Vestibular and Balance - the impact on mobility and function Musculoskeletal - the impact of general orthopedic and muscular issues as we age Carfit: Information about helping mature drivers find their perfect fit.. This program is designed to give you a quick but comprehensive check by a trained professional on how well you and your vehicle work together, Appointments for a. future Carfit screening can be made at the Community Health Screen. Other members of the Athens, liegionsl team will also be available to provide information on Diabetes Prevention and Management* Breast Health and Rehabilitation services including low vision, balance* orthopedies and hands. liegistrution is not required. Athens ttcglonal For more information HiSMCAb e ! H t * n .H IftuxnrjSr .XWiw/ KnTiVrn i r call Health Education at (706) 475-5620,