Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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.