Newspaper Page Text
Inside
Commerce Wrestlers Take 2nd
The Tigers wrestling team took second place
over the weekend to Jefferson in the area team
duals at Lakeview Academy....
PAGE 2B
IB
THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY 16,2008
CONTACT US: Brandon Reed / brandon@mainstreetnews.com / (706) 367-5233 or (706) 335-2927
CHS Basketball
Lady Tigers Lose To Lakeview, Jefferson
Commerce Set To Play Host To Spartans Saturday
By Brandon Reed
The Lady Tigers of Commerce
went into last week off of a win
over Prince Avenue, and hop
ing to improve their 3-8 overall
record.
Instead, they dropped to 3-10
with a pair of losses, first to
Lakeview on Tuesday, and then
to in-county rival Jefferson at
home Friday night.
Commerce was slated to host
Tallulah Falls on Tuesday. Results
were unavailable by press time.
They’ll next travel to Athens
Academy this Saturday, for a 6
p.m. game against the Spartans.
The Lakeview game is one that
the Lady Tigers would just as
soon forget, as the Lions defeat
ed Commerce 56-31. The Lady
Tigers stayed close during the
first quarter, trailing 13-10, and
stayed within shouting distance
in the second, trailing 26-17 going
into the half. But the game began
to slip away in the third quar
ter, as Lakeview Academy pulled
away to a 39-25 lead. Commerce
would score only six more times,
while the Lions coasted to the
win.
Brittany Sewell led the offense
with nine points. Felicia Grier
scored seven, Terra Hancock and
Jessie Flint four apiece, Kaylin
Canup and Jasmine Sanders
three, and Lauren Jones one.
“(It was) not one of our bet
ter games," said coach Eddie
McCurley. “We did not play
defense very well, and we didn’t
shoot very well. It’s one of those
games where it just didn’t seem
like anything was going our way.
“I was disappointed, because
I thought it was a game that we
could win. I don’t think the score
was indicative of the competitive
ness of the game. We weren’t that
far out of it, but right at the end of
it, it really got out of hand."
Things didn’t get much better
for the Lady Tigers Friday night,
Jasmine Sanders looks for an opening during Friday’s match
up with Jefferson. Sanders scored two points against the
Dragons. Photo by Brandon Reed
as they lost a closely contested
game to the Jefferson Dragons
53-41.
The game started close, and
stayed that way until the end.
Commerce held Jefferson to a
one-point lead at the end of the
first quarter, 12-11. The Lady
Dragons pulled away a little in the
second quarter, but a field goal
just before the half by Brittany
Sewell cut the lead to seven, giv
ing Commerce some momentum.
The Lady Tigers cut Jefferson’s
lead to five in the third quarter,
but couldn’t put together the big
push needed to best the Dragons.
Jefferson stayed on top anywhere
from eight to 12 points through
most of the fourth quarter.
“If we played every game the
way we played against Jefferson,
we probably would have won
a lot of these, including maybe
the Lakeview game," McCurley
said. “We knew Jefferson, com
ing in, was a very good team.
They had lost a couple of games
before us, but that was mainly
because MiMi DuBose was out.
She returned for our game, but
she got injured right at the end of
the first half."
Sewell again led in scoring
against Jefferson, with 19 points.
Brittany Beauchamp scored six,
Flint and Hancock added four
each, and Canup, Sanders and
Morgan Mather scored two each.
“This was a rivalry game, and
our players were excited about
it," McCurley said. “The gym was
packed out, and I think our team
responded pretty well.
“It seemed like every time we’d
make a basket, they’d make a bas
ket. Every time we’d get a defen
sive stop on them, we’d come
down and we wouldn’t’ convert
to score. That’s pretty much the
way the game went. Jefferson’s a
good team, and they’ve got a lot
of good shooters."
McCurley said one thing he
was pleased about from Friday’s
game was the team’s free throws.
“We were 14 of 19 from the free
throw line, that’s 74 percent," he
said. “That’s the best we’ve shot
this year from the free throw
line."
The Tigers did sustain one inju
ry during the game, as Lauren
Jones sprained her wrist. It was
doubtful she would be ready to
play on Tuesday, McCurley said.
The Lady Tigers faced a Tallulah
Falls team Tuesday that was still
looking for their first win of the
year.
“It’s a game we should win,
McCurley said. “We should be
able to control the Tallulah Falls
game, we should be able to come
out and play well. We need to
play with the same intensity
against everybody else that we
do against Jefferson. If we do
that, we can win several more
games. I’ve got to figure out a
way to keep that intensity level
up for every game."
EJCHS Basketball
East Jackson Falls To Dawson County
Eagles Set To Face Union Co. At Home Friday
Brandon Rucker, shown here from earlier action, brings the
ball back down the court in a recent game. The Eagles hope to
change their fortunes against Union County Friday night.
Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles
entered Friday night’s pair
ing with the Dawson County
Indians hoping to put the brakes
on a two-game losing streak.
It didn’t work out that way, as
the Indians sent East Jackson
home with its third loss in as
many games, 62-43.
The Eagles were scheduled
to face Banks County Tuesday
night. Results were not available
at press time.
The next match-up for East
Jackson will come against the
Panthers of Union County
Friday, with tip-off scheduled
for 8:30 p.m.
Eagles coach Brian Turner
said the team didn’t play very
well, but it was in the game.
“We got a little tired, so we
subbed, and we really didn’t
react well at that point," he said.
“Dawson shot the ball extremely
well. They shot it from the three-
point line very well."
Turner said circumstances
towards the end of the game
didn’t help, as Dawson didn’t
get its first foul call of the sec
ond half until around two min
utes were left on the clock.
“Even with those circumstanc
es, we didn’t play well enough
to win," Turner said. “Dawson
County deserved to beat us.
They played extremely well. We
had a lot of open shots against
their zone, and we didn’t hit
them. They were making their
shots. Like I said, they shoot the
ball extremely well, and we just
didn’t play well enough to get
the victory."
The Eagles’ top scorers were
Kolby Gilbert and Brandon
Garrett who hit double digits
against the Tigers.
With the loss to Dawson behind
them, Turner and his team were
looking forward to Tuesday’s
game at Banks County. But,
Turner said, he really didn’t
know what to expect out of the
Leopards.
“We saw Dawson County play
three times, and they pressed
every bit of the game. Then up
against us, they went and got in
their zone, so they didn’t show
that they could run up and
down the court with us. I know
Banks County lately has tried to
press teams and has had some
success with it. So I don’t know
if they’ll come out and try to
press us, or if they’ll try to slow
us down too. I’m hoping they’ll
try to run and go up and down
the court on us. I’m hoping it’s a
full-court game for both teams."
Turner said part of working
with the young East Jackson
program is getting to know
some of the opponents right
now.
“I’m unsure how they’re going
to react early in the game, as
far as the style of play they’re
going to try to play against us,"
he said. “I do think playing up
and down favors us. That’s why
I hope they do run up and down
the court with us."
Brandon Romans moves down the court Friday night against
Jefferson. Romans scored 11 points in the game.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Commerce Comes Up
Short Against Jefferson
Tigers Face Athens Academy Sat.
By Brandon Reed
Last week didn’t unfold quite like the Commerce Tigers boys’ bas
ketball team had hoped. After coming off of their first region win
of the season against Prince Avenue Christian, the Tigers dropped
their next two sub-region match-ups, first to Lakeview Academy on
Tuesday, then to Jefferson on Friday night.
The Tigers will host Athens Academy Friday. Prior to Tuesday, the
Spartans were 8-4 overall, and 1-0 in the region. In their last match
up, last year, Athens Academy defeated Commerce 51-24.
Tip off Friday night is scheduled for 7:30.
Against Lakeview, the Tigers stayed close early on, and were
within seven points of the Lions with a minute and a half left in
the first half. Lakeview then went on a 7-0 run to end the half up
43-29. The Lions started the second half with a similar run, and left
Commerce in the dust with a final score of 85-52.
Brandon Romans was high scorer for the Tigers with 10 points,
while Chase Keller scored nine, and Drake Cash picked up eight.
“I thought we played very well in the first 14 minutes of the game,"
said coach Chad Bridges. “I thought we played very well in the first
half, and handled their pressure. Right towards the end, I think
it just kind of overwhelmed us a little bit. In the second half, we
played a lot of different players, and got a lot of young guys some
experience, so it wasn’t as bad as it looked. But they still played a
lot better than we did."
That led to Friday night against Jefferson. After falling behind 7-0
early in the game, the Tigers fought back, and pulled to within three
points at the end of the first quarter. Things stayed close up to the
half, with Jefferson holding a slim lead. But in the second half, the
Dragons pulled away, coming out on top 66-56.
Cohen Cooke led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points. Taylor
Gary scored 14, while Romans picked up 11.
“It was fairly close," Bridges said. “It was three points at half they
were ahead, and we had a couple-of-minute stretch there in the third
quarter where they stretched it up to eight or nine, and it stayed
between six and 14 pretty much the second half.
“Our guys did a good job defensively. We held at the post very
well. I thought they had an advantage there that they didn’t get a
whole lot out of. Offensively, we executed great. I’m sure we can
execute better, but that was as good as we’ve executed to this
point."
Commerce was scheduled to face Tallulah Falls Tuesday night at
home. Results of that game were not available by press time.
Prior to Tuesday night, Bridges said he hoped Commerce would
pick up its first sub-region win against the Indians.
“We’re 0-2 against Jefferson and Lakeview, our first two sub-region
games," he said. “That’s a tough way to start out, because they’re
the two best teams. We’re going to try to execute, and hopefully we
can come out successful."
Going into Tuesday night’s game, Tallulah Falls was winless for
the season, but The Indians defeated Commerce in their final meet
ing last season, 85-80.