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A Tough Week At EJCHS
EJCHS’ basketball teams suffered a tough
week, with both the boys’ and girls’ teams fall
ing to Rabun County and Stephens County.
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THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY 9,2008
CONTACT US: Brandon Reed / brandon@mainstreetnews.com / (706) 367-5233 or (706) 335-2927
State Says Drought May Mean No Swim Team This Year
Water Restrictions Could Lead To Bans On Filling All Pools; Public And Private
With rain in the immediate fore
cast and local reservoirs full or
nearly full, it’s hard to imagine
a summer without recreational
swimming.
But that is a distinct possibility.
Should the drought persist as ex
pected into spring and current
outdoor water use restrictions re
main in place, it will be illegal to
fill swimming pools, whether pri
vate or public.
The Commerce City Council
touched on the issue at its work
session Monday night. If such a
ban takes place, it will be due to
mandates handed down from the
state, not a decision of the city
council.
“If that becomes a fact, it will
save us a lot of money,’’ said City
Manager Clarence Bryant, who
also noted that the city pool “gets
heavy use.’’
Closing the pool would also
mean eliminating the 2008 Tiger
Sharks swim program. The com
petitive swimming team enjoys
wide popularity.
But Ward 4 Councilman Bob
Sosebee predicted that the state
will not curtail the use of water for
public pools.
“I don’t think it’ll fly,’’ he told the
council.
Fees Hiked For
Baseball, Softball
In other recreation-related busi
ness from the work session, Bry
ant explained that recreation fees
charged for softball and baseball
programs are going up, mainly so
Commerce players’ uniforms will
be up to par with their competi
tors.
Bryant explained that Com
merce leagues will compete with
Jackson County teams this year,
as opposed to with Banks County
teams as in the past.
“We’ll be playing teams with
higher quality uniforms,’’ said Bry
ant, suggesting that the city will
have to “step up’’ the quality of its
uniforms or be prepared to deal
with complaints from parents.
The increase will be $5 for chil
dren who live inside the city limits
and $15 for those who live outside
the city.
CHS Basketball
A Rare Sweep
Kaylin Canup looks for an open teammate during recent Lady
Tiger action.
Lady Tigers Notch
Third Win Of Season
The second half of the Commerce High School Lady Tigers’ season
promises to be challenging, but it’s off to a good start.
The Lady Tigers beat Prince Avenue 46-34 last Lriday night to improve
their record to 3-8.
They were due to play at Lakeview Academy Tuesday, results of which
were not available by press time, and will host Jefferson Lriday night.
Coach Eddie McCurley expressed optimism that his team could play
with Lakeview.
'They’re accustomed to beating Commerce, so they will probably play
with a lot of confidence,’’ he said. “If we can continue to play the kind
of defense we’ve been playing, shoot our free throws a little better and
shoot a good percentage from the field, we’ll be okay.’’
Those are big ifs, but McCurley says, “I don’t see a huge difference in
the teams.’’
That doesn’t hold true for Jefferson.
“Jefferson’s another animal,’’ he admits. “They’ve probably got one of
the stronger teams they’ve had. They’ve already beaten some higher
classification schools. We’ll have our hands full with them ... We’ll have
to play lights out to play with them.’’
The Lady Dragons, McCurley concedes, are better than Commerce
in most phases of the game, but the Tiger coach notes that his team
has out-rebounded almost everyone it’s played and is playing good de
fense.
“Rebounding and defense are great equalizers,’’ he declared.
The Tigers are also getting a lot of shots.
“We get a lot of opportunities. If you don’t shoot real well, you need to
get a lot of attempts, and we get a lot of attempts,’’ McCurley pointed
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Justin Griffith works over a Morgan County the 112-pound class, becoming the first Eagle
wrestler in the semifinal round of the Amicalola wrestler to take a tournament title.
Classic last Saturday. He eventually won first in Photo by Mark Beardsley
EJCHS Wrestling
Griffith
Wins Eagles'
First Title
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles wres
tling team saw its first tourna
ment champion for the school
in wrestling Saturday, as Justin
Griffith finished first in the 112-
pound weight class in the Ami
calola Classic wrestling tourna
ment, held at Dawson County
High School.
Other top finishers for the
team included Shane Moore,
who finished fifth in the 125 lb.
class; Luis Verduzco, who fin
ished fifth in the 140 lb. class;
and Carlos Eguiarte, who fin
ished sixth in the 215 lb. class.
East Jackson finished 11th
overall out of 20 schools par
ticipating, with 59.50 points.
Gilmer County, ranked number
one in Class AAA in Georgia,
won the tournament with 189
points.
Commerce came in second
with 138 points.
Next up for the team are area
duals tournament, which will
be held Lriday and Saturday
at Wesleyan. Winners will ad
vance to the state duals the fol
lowing week.
Point guard Cohen Cooke takes a shot in earlier action.
The Tigers won their second game of the season, 49-41 over
Prince Avenue last Friday.
Victory Gives Tigers
Hope For Second Half
Call it a mid-season defensive adjustment, but last Lriday night’s
49-41 win over Prince Avenue is something for the Commerce Ti
gers to build on.
Utilizing a new man-to-man defense, the Tigers frustrated Prince
Avenue’s offense and avenged a 27-point loss earlier in the season.
The Tigers, now 2-9, were due to take on Lakeview Academy Tues
day night, but results were not available by press time. They’ll host
Jefferson Lriday night in the season’s first meeting between the two
cross-county rivals.
“I haven’t had a chance to look at Jefferson because I’ve been
busy watching film on Lakeview,’’ confessed coach Chad Bridges.
“They’ve got a sophomore who’s scoring a lot of points that we’re
going to have to keep under control.’’
The Tigers will also have to keep up the defensive intensity, Bridges
notes.
“We worked on man defense over the break, and we’re getting a lot
better. There’s more comfort and they understand their assignments
better. Hopefully, we’ll be athletic enough to do that throughout re
gion play,’’ said Bridges.
That will be a key to staying with the Dragons, along with “doing a
good job taking care of the basketball and not letting them get easy
baskets,’’ the coach added. “If we do that and play well defensively,
we’ll have a shot.’’
In last Lriday’s contest, T. Greene defended against Buck Harris,
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