Newspaper Page Text
Inside
Lady Eagles Eliminated
The East Jackson Lady Eagles suffered a 51-44
loss to Dawson County in the first round of the
Region 8-AA tournament. PAGE 3B
IB
THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 13,2008
Brittany Sewell
drives for the
baseline during
recent action.
Prince Avenue
held her to three
points Monday
night, but Sewell’s
teammates took
advantage of
focus on Sewell
to pick up the
slack.
8-A Region Tournament
First Game Goes To The Lady Tigers
The Commerce Lady Tigers won their
first game of the Region 8A basketball
tournament Monday night, beating
Prince Avenue 38-30.
They were due to play top-seeded So
cial Circle Tuesday evening and needed
an upset to continue toward the state
playoffs. The results of that game were
not available at press time.
“They’re the number one team from the
south," pointed out coach Eddie McCur-
ley. “We haven’t played them since early
in the year when they blew us out at our
place. Hopefully, we’ve improved a lot
since then."
If Monday’s game wasn’t pretty, it was
still good to get that first tournament win,
the coach said.
The Tigers got off to a good start, lead
ing 9-2 after one period. By early in the
second period, it was clear this would be
a low-scoring game, and at halftime, the
score was tied at 13. The Tigers were up
by one, 21-20, after three periods.
Prince came out in a box-and-one to
contain Tiger leading scorer Brittany
Sewell, and other Tigers had to step up
to help her out.
Please Turn to Page 2B
Hot At Tournament Time
First Round Win
Primes Eagles
For Shot At State
Tourney In 1st Year
After a 98-64 blowout
of Banks County Mon
day night, the East Jack-
son Eagles were two wins
away from going to the
state tournament.
They were scheduled to
play Union County — a
team they’ve beaten twice
this year — Tuesday night.
Results of that game were
not available by press
time. Coach Brian Turn
er’s 17-9 Eagles, if they
won Tuesday, were to play
at North Oconee tonight
(Wednesday). If they win
that game, they’re in the
state tournament.
Certainly they’re hot.
They’ve won 10 of their
last 11 games, and set a
season scoring mark of 98
points Monday.
“I just think we were ex
tremely focused on what
we needed to do to get to
the second round," sug
gested Turner. “You could
just tell it by their atti
tudes all afternoon. In the
dressing room, they just
kept saying, 'finish it,’ and
it carried over to what we
were doing on court."
What the Eagles were
doing was playing relent
less defense and exhibit
ing excellent teamwork
on offense. They started
well, building an 18-12
first-period lead and ex
tending it to 53-26 at the
half. They were up 98-71
after three periods, and
Turner was able to put 15
players in the game. Thir
teen of them scored.
Brandon Garrett led
all scorers with 20, but
four other players hit
double figures. Kolby Gil
bert scored 14, Standrick
Stephens added 13 and
Brandon Rucker and Zak
Pearson contributed 12
apiece.
Evan Williams added
eight, Taylor Boswell five,
Cody Gibbs four, Terry
Cox three, C.J. Brown,
Zack Gilbert and Cody
Hall two each, and Tom
my Ramsey one.
“Everybody who went in
played hard. That’s what
we want, no matter what
the score is," Turner said.
Zak Pearson scores two points in the Eagles’first-round 98-64 win
over Banks County Monday night.
CHS Men's Basketball
Tigers Need One
Win To Advance
To State Tourney
Coach Chad Bridges Tigers ac
complished one late-season goal.
They avoided the “play-in" game
for the region tournament.
As a result, they travel to
Prince Avenue tonight (Wednes
day) for an 8:30 game that will
determine whether they ad
vance to the state tournament.
“Now, we win one game, we’re
in the state tournament," said
Bridges. “It’s still a bit of a long
shot."
The Tigers will face Social
Circle, a team they’ve fallen to
twice, the first time by 10 points
and the second time by one,
which means a win is not out of
Please Turn to Page 2B
Tiger
guard
T. Green
works
the ball
upcourt.
Green’s
29 points
sparked
the Tiger
offense as
they demol
ished Towns
County
68-34
Tuesday,
Feb. 5
%
ETCHS Soccer
First Match, First Win For
Lady Eagles Soccer Team
East Jackson’s Lady Eagles soccer team won its first match — and
the first in school history — Monday afternoon.
Aubrey Cozzens scored early in the first half with an assist from
Breanna Standridge as the Eagles beat Winder-Barrow 1-0.
They’ll take the field again Friday at 4:30 at Eagle Stadium in the
second game of the season when Hart County comes calling.
“Dakota Chandler, Jasmine Flores and Breanna Standridge played
an aggressive offense with several goal attempts," noted coach Em
ily Gunderson. “Larisa Cozzens, the goalkeeper, stopped a penalty
kick in the second half. Larisa had nine goal stops."
Men Drop 1-0 Match To Bulldoggs
For a first game, it wasn’t bad at all, East Jackson Comprehensive
High School men’s soccer coach Matt Miner indicated.
The team “played well in their 2-0 loss to Winder Barrow," Miner
said. “They played great defense, controlled the ball at midfield, and
had several chances on goal. The game was tied 0-0 with 13 minutes
remaining when Winder headed the ball in off of a corner kick from
the right side. They scored again with nine minutes to go on a one-
on-one break away with keeper Luke Derochers. Luke was inches
from making the stop."
The Eagles will look for the first men’s soccer win in school history
Wednesday at 6:00 when Franklin County visits. They’ll host Hart
County at 6 p.m. Friday.
Miner praised the play of Derochers at goalie, as well as the de
fensive work of freshman Brandon Wise, sophomores Josh Kesler,
Please Turn to Page 3B
A Good Finish In A Strong Field
Tigers Place 3rd
In 23 Team Sweet
Vidalia Onion Classic
The Commerce wrestling Ti
gers hope to ride momentum
from a third-place finish in the
23-team Vidalia Sweet Onion
Classic last week into a strong
finish in the Area Tournament
Friday and Saturday at Jefferson
High School.
“It was a total team effort,"
said coach Kendall Love of the
Vidalia event. “Everybody won
matches. We will try to carry that
success this weekend and qualify
as many as possible for state."
The goal is to qualify in all 14
weight categories.
Action starts at 5:00 Friday
night and resumes Saturday
morning at 9:00.
“Coming off this performance,
I feel a lot better," Love said. “I
feel like we wrestled well again
some tough teams."
Jefferson won the tournament,
Thomas Sears, pictured in recent action, placed third at 152 pounds Saturday as Commerce
Please Turn to Page 2B placed third in the Vidalia Sweet Onion Classic.