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PAGE 2B - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 6.2008
Callie Moore brings the ball upcourt Friday night against Banks County.
—Lady Eagles Peaking For Tournament
Cont. from Page IB
For the Lady Eagles, that means
the first game is a rematch of the
Jan. 29 contest, in which Dawson
County prevailed 61-52.
“We played a tough game and
never gave up," Larimer said. “We
simply have to keep from putting
ourselves in a hole at the begin
ning of the game."
The Eagles were down 14-4 after
a cold first quarter. They closed
the gap to 27-21 at the half, but the
Tigers built a 13-point lead, 50-37,
by the end of the third period, and
the Eagles were unable to recover.
Pullian paced the offense with 14
points, followed by Autumn Wil
banks with 12 and Callie Moore
with nine.
On the boards, Pullian and Dane
Gaillard had seven rebounds, Wil
banks pulled down six and Mikki
McGinnis had five. Moore had five
assists and Pullian four steals.
Eagles 49-Leopards 48
The game was close for its entire
ty, although the Eagles led most of
the way. They were up 15-14 after
one period, 32-36 at the half and
44-43 after three periods.
In the final stanza, the Leop
ards gained the lead late, and the
teams swapped the lead several
times before Pullian stepped to
the foul line with 9.1 seconds left
and sank two clutch freethrows to
put East Jackson up 49-48, which
the Eagles sealed with a turnover
under the Leopard basket as time
ran out.
Pullian led the offense with
12 points. Dynelle Todman and
Moore added 10 apiece, while Gail
lard and Wilbanks contributed six
each. Gaillard and Todman had 13
rebounds each, and Todman had
nine steals. Terin Gillespie had
five assists, and Todman added
four blocked shots.
Eagles 61-Patriots 49
East Jackson led from the out
set. They were up 17-9 after one
period, 31-18 at the half and 47-32
after three periods en route to a 61-
49 victory.
Gaillard powered the offense
with 16 points and had seven
rebounds. Todman and Moore
scored 10 each, Emma Turner
added eight and Gillespie and
Pullian contributed six points
each.
Moore had eight rebounds, Pul
lian and Turner six apiece and
Todman and Gillespie five each.
Moore and Gillespie had six steals
apiece, while Turner blocked three
shots.
Back To The Beach At Daytona
With Speedweeks getting
ready to kick off this Saturday
night with the Bud Shootout at
Daytona, it brings to mind a sim
pler time, when, instead of fight
ing aerodynamics, drivers fought
sand on their windshields.
From its inception, NASCAR’s
premier venue was the old beach
and road course in Daytona. It
was, to say the least, an interest
ing place to race.
For many years, land speed
records were attempted on the
hard packed sands. When those
attempts moved to the salt flats
in Bonneville in 1935, stock car
races were organized on a combi
nation of the beach and the paved
Highway A1A. Racers would run
two miles south on A1A, make a
sharp left onto the beach, then
run two miles to the north before
turning back onto A1A.
It was an incredible place, and
generated some amazing races.
Not to mention some amazing
stories.
Lloyd Seay, a Georgia moon
shine runner, has been said by
many to be one of the great
est natural talents to have ever
climbed behind the wheel. Seay
had a knack to bicycle his Ford
on two wheels through the cor
ners on the beach. The fans
would clamor to see this incred
ible show put on by the Daw-
sonville native. Seay won on the
beach on his fifth try Aug. 24,
1941. He started 15th on that day,
but was in the lead by the time
the first lap was over. He led ev
ery lap en route to the win.
Seay would die later that year
at the hands of a family member
in Dawsonville in an argument
Down
The
Stretch
BY BRANDON REED
over sugar for moonshine.
Legendary driver Tim Flock is
considered by many to be the
best beach course racer of the
NASCAR era. He was the only
driver to win in every major NA
SCAR division to race on the
beach, including Grand Nation
al, modified, and the convertible
division. Flock, who passed away
in 1998, used to tell the story of
racing on the beach in 1955 in his
Carl Kiekhafer owned Chrysler
300. As he sprinted up the beach
on the first lap, he ran into an
unsuspecting flock of seagulls at
about 140 miles an hour.
The air was filled with enough
feathers to make it look like
a snowstorm had struck the
beach.
“They started hitting my wind
shield, and the feathers and the
guts stuck to my windshield,"
Flock would say years later in an
interview. Leaning out the win
dow, he used a rag intended to
clean sand from his windshield
to clear off the “bird remnants."
By the second lap, there wasn’t a
seagull to be seen on the beach.
In 1956, legendary stock jock
ey Junior Johnson took a wild
tumble on Daytona’s sands.
Photos of the accident sequence
shows Johnson exiting his over
turned racer via the rear window
before the car even came to a
complete halt.
Two-time Cup champion Ned
Jarrett had an equally close call
in a beach race early in his ca
reer. He was racing up the beach
in a modified/sportsman event
when a faster modified hit him,
sending his car tumbling into
the surf. Dazed from the acci
dent, Jarrett stumbled across the
beach, miraculously evading be
ing struck by oncoming racers,
and promptly passed out upon
reaching the spectator area.
Jarrett came to moments later
in the arms of a rather rotund
woman who was trying to pour
whisky from an Early Time li
quor bottle into his mouth to try
to revive him.
“I was bleeding, and I was pret
ty sure I was going to die," said
Jarrett years later. “I just knew
they wouldn’t let me into heaven
with that liquor on my breath!"
Racing on the beach came to
an end after the 1958 Grand Na
tional event, which was won by
Paul Goldsmith. The next year,
drivers traveled a little further
down A1A to the new Daytona
International Speedway, which
held its first events the following
year.
As NASCAR gets ready for
the 50th running of the Daytona
500 next week, it should be re
membered that there would be
nothing to celebrate if it wasn’t
for the pioneers who weren’t
afraid of high speed during low
tide.
— Eagle Men On A Hot Steak
Brandon Garrett finishes a layup against Banks County.
Cont. from Page IB
game, Brandon Rucker hit two
free throws to put East Jackson
up by two, but on the following
possession, Dawson knocked
down a three to go up by one.
The Eagles turned the ball over,
and Dawson made a free throw
to put them up by two.
“With eight seconds left, we
got it in, went the length of the
floor and had a wide open look,
but something slowed us up and
they ended up blocking the lay
up," Turner said. “We didn’t do
the things we needed to do de
fensively. We missed some key
free-throws and lay-ups."
The Eagles out-rebounded the
Tigers, they took 12 more shots
and they turned over the ball 10
fewer times — but all that count
ed was the final score.
Brandon Garrett led the of
fense with 19 points, followed
by Kolby Gilbert with 12, Bran
don Rucker with 11, Standrick
Stephens with five, Zach Gilbert
with two and Zak Pearson with
one.
Eagles 83-Leopards 62
The Eagles struggled with the
Leopards for the first two quar
ters, leading by four — 34-30 — at
the half, but found their game in
the third quarter.
“We came out pressing and
gradually spread the lead out,"
Turner said.
Gilbert hit a season-high 27
points. K. Gilbert added 23,
Rucker tossed in nine, Terry Cox
six, Stephens five, Zach Gilbert
four and Tommy Ramsey three.
Pearson, Evan Williamson and
C.J. Brown scored two each.
Eagles 83-Patriots 55
“It was a sloppy game on both
sides," commented Turner. “Be
ing a non-subregion game on a
Saturday after a region game,
it was kind of hard to get moti
vated."
The Eagles were up 16-11 after
one period, 39-26 at the half and
had a commanding 64-37 lead
going into the final period.
K. Gilbert led the scoring pa
rade with 19, Garrett scored 18,
Rucker 12 and Pearson 10. Taylor
Boswell put in five, Cody Hall
added four, Williamson contrib
uted three, Cox and Stephens
two apiece and Deion Sewell
and Z. Gilbert scored one each.
CMS Coach Can't Wait For Next Season
After his team finished what
he called “the longest and tough
est middle school schedule in 15
years," the coach of the Com
merce Middle School Tiger
wrestling team fairly brims with
enthusiasm about the future.
Noting that more than 60 per
cent of his lineup was first-year
wrestlers, Darryl Ellrott pre
dicted that “by the time they are
on the varsity, we will be hosting
another championship banner in
the rafters of our new CHS gym.
Most of them are coming back,
and I can’t wait until next year."
The Tigers finished 14-7 in dual
meets. They placed third in the
Apalachee Dual Invitational,
placed second to Jefferson in
the Commerce Tiger Duals, and
finished eighth Saturday, Jan.
26, in the 16-team USA Middle
School Duals at Union Grove
High School.
One of the other highlights of
the season also took place at
Union Grove.
“Early in the season, we were
the talk of the tournament, com
ing out of nowhere to finish tenth
out of 25 teams in what is con
sidered the largest middle school
field in the state," Ellrott said. “We
faced many AAA and AAAA
teams in dual competition, like
Indian Creek, Apalachee and
Gilmer County, all top wrestling
programs, and we didn’t back
down an inch."
But the coach appeared to take
the most pride in how his Tigers
fared in three meets against Jef
ferson.
“I am most proud of how we are
continuing to improve against
our friends from Jefferson, the
top program in the state," he
said. “We wrestled them three
times in the regular season, each
time showing demonstrable,
measurable improvement."
Ellrott reported that coach
Jessie Fowler will continue to
work with a number of the Ti
ger wrestlers in preparation for
the USA Kids State Qualifiers
the first weekend in March, and,
hopefully, the championships at
McEachern High School March
15.
Ellrott credits Fowler with
much of the Tigers’ success.
“The boys all responded
strongly to the youth and enthu
siasm he brought to the wrestling
room each day," he said. “He’s a
tremendous mat coach with a
bright future. We’re lucky to have
him involved in our program."
Ellrott also thanked the
parents, who sold barbecue
tickets and wrestling apparel
and ran concession stands to
raise money for new singlets
and warm-up outfits and who
helped move wrestling mats to
and from the CMS gym for the
Tiger Duals.
“We’ve got some of the best par
ents anywhere," he concluded.
Mite League
Champions
The Gophers,
coached by Cooper
Huff and Keith Moore,
finished the season
with a 7-0-1 record.
Left to right are
(front) Kyle Morris,
Ryan Andrews, Slade
Moore, (middle row)
Parker Moon, Caelon
McDonald, Drew
O’Dell, Chandler
Rogers, (back row)
Coach Keith Moore
and Coach Cooper
Huff. Not pictured:
Tyler Turpin.
Recreation Department News
Softball, Baseball Tryouts Announced
The Commerce Parks and
Recreation Department has an
nounced the schedule for youth
baseball and softball tryouts.
All tryouts are for evaluation
of player skills for the purpose
of placement of players on the
team. The objective is to have
parity amongst teams.
All tryouts will be held at the
American Veterans Memorial
Park on Carson Street, in the
ball field complex behind the
recreation department office.
The schedule follows:
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 6:00 to 7:30:
minor baseball (9-10 years) and
freshmen softball (11-12 years).
Thursday, Feb. 28, 6:00-7:30:
minor softball (9-10 years) and
freshmen baseball (11-12 years).
Sophomore baseball (13-14
years) will not have a tryout, due
to the fact that there will be only
one team. The coach will contact
the players about the first prac
tice.