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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 30, 2008 - PAGE 3B EJCHS Girls' Basketball Lady Eagles Hope To Build On Win Heading To Banks And Oglethorpe Coach Amy Larimer’s East Jackson Eagles will try to build on Saturday’s 57-45 victory as they take on subregion oppo nents Dawson County Tuesday (results were not available by press time), Banks County Friday and region opponent Oglethorpe County Saturday. The Eagles are 7-13 overall and 1-5 in the subregion and could use a couple of wins this week. They got one Saturday com ing from behind to knock off Providence Christian 57-45 after trailing early. They were down 17-10 after one period, closed the gap to 27-24 at the half, then led 42-34 after three periods. “We put ourselves in a hole the first half, but were able to fight our way out and play a great second half and get a much needed win,’’ Larimer said. “I was proud of the girls for being able to turn up the defense, which in turn created offense. We’ll need to be just as focused as we move into this week against Dawson County and Banks County.’’ Dane Gaillard stepped up for the Eagles, producing 11 points and 13 rebounds. Autumn Wilbanks led the offense with 17 points and contributed three steals. Marley Pullian added 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Emma Turner had five rebounds, three assists and blocked three shots. Saturday’s win was especial ly welcome after the Eagles dropped games to Fannin County Tuesday, 53-37, and to Rabun County Friday, 47-35. Fannin 53, Eagles 37 Against Fannin, the Lady Eagles stayed close for the first quarter, trailing 11-9, but Fannin continued to pull away, leading 24-18 at the half and 39-24 after three periods. Gaillard put up 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Eagles. Turner had six rebounds, Terin Gillespie had five and Callie Moore added four. Turner also had three more blocked shots. Rabun 47, Eagles 35 The Eagles led 10-9 after one period, but fell behind 24-15 at the half and were down 38-29 after three periods in a 47-35 loss at Clayton. “Rabun County plays extremely physically,’’ Larimer pointed out. r I -Ll Dane Gaillard came up big for the Eagles last week. She poured in 19 points against Fannin County and pulled down eight rebounds. She added 12 points in the Rabun County game. “We matched them the majority of the game, but had a couple of lapses. In a game like that, you can’t afford to have any lapses. We played harder on the defen sive end of the court, which is something that we’ve been emphasizing. We have to have that same intensity for every game.’’ Gaillard and Dynelle Todman led the scoring with 12 and 10 points respectively. Pullian added seven and Wilbanks six. Todman pulled down nine rebounds, Turner had eight and Gillespie five, while Moore and Pullian had four and three steals respectively. “We have to get back to the way we were playing a few games back,’’ Larimer com mented. “We stayed in games because of our intense defense and simply by playing hard. We have lost that the last few games and we aren’t giving ourselves a chance to win. It is essential for us to split with teams the second time through the subre gion to ensure that we don’t get too far down in the subregion standings.’’ —Eagle Men In Charge Of Their Own Destiny Cont. from Page IB with anyone. “I think the Fannin County game kind of helped us see that we really belong at the top of our subregion,’’ he stated. “We control our destiny now. If we win, we’re going to be subregion champs. We can’t afford any lapses at this time.’’ Brandon Gilbert had a tremen dous night for the Eagles, scor ing 25 points, and Kolby Gilbert added 18. Also contributing were Standrick Stephens, 11; Zak Pear son, 6; Brandon Rucker, five; Terry Cox, four; and Evan Williamson, three. EJCHS 68-Rabun 46 It was another sweet win, aveng ing a Dec. 14 loss in which the Ea gles let a 12-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter. This time it was different. The game was tied at 12 after one pe riod and at 25 at the half, with the Eagles on top 39-24 after three pe riods. “We got in some first-half foul trouble that hurt us,’’ Turner said. ‘Taylor Boswell came off the bench and really helped us. He scored only five points, but he shut their point guard down, which was a key to us. He (the point guard) was the focus of how they got into their of fense.’’ The Eagles also changed their press in the second half and stayed out of further foul trouble. Garrett led the scoring with 17 points, K. Gilbert added 16 and had 13 rebounds, Pearson scored six, Stephens five, Z. Gilbert five, Bo swell five and Cox two. Eagles 66-Providence 51 East Jackson jumped to a 24-13 first quarter lead and protected it all night long. The Eagles were up 34-27 at the half, 49-40 after three periods and cruised to a 66-51 non region win. Rucker paced the offense with 17, B. Garrett scored 16, K. Gilbert add ed 12, Pearson scored 10, Stephens added four, Williamson three and Boswell and Cox two apiece. Taylor Gary dribbles around a Jefferson Dragon defender. Photo by Brandon Reed — Seek Consistency Cont. from Page 1A spond to Banks County raising the intensity level after the half,’’ said Bridges. “Their pressure caused us to turn the ball over and force shots. Then we got our heads down a little and didn’t play as well.’’ This time, Billings led the scor ing with 10, followed by Adams with nine, Green with seven, Cash, Keller and Norris with five apiece, Romans with four and Cooke, Gary and Flint with two apiece. “We need to handle the pres sure better,’’ Bridges observed. “We didn’t do it well Friday or Saturday. We need to get our in tensity and focus up.’’ NEED PRINTING? CALL 706-367-5233 r 1 NEW ^ CLASS TIME f-r S PJfcL ^ L hf fL in(h»i Firm butt, ilbgta A ilflmpch NutHiiOfipl C Ifld k*r(*np n * J lAM ft* vMbplb iiTiiri e-foiaiirtf Conrad Ipi.l founds,CiHip filmsurclrutkx & Cwdl wodouhwfrmSfWboutknei * 704 33M454 m m NOW OPEN January 28, 2008 AmaKishi Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar Dinner: 5:00 p>m> - 10$0p>m> 706423-0040 22B3tewo B. TkngH' EDvtL * Conmaffi, GAUXlS i Turn lime DtfMt Live High School Sports Go To: Now On The Internet www.WJJC.net From WJJC Radio!!! 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