Newspaper Page Text
The Commerce News
Phone: (706) 367-2348
Fax: (706) 387-5418
justin @ mainstreetnews. com
WWW.
'.MainStreetNewsSPORTS.com
Mat Eagles Take Third In Duals
The Mat Eagles just missed a
trip to the state duals in Macon.
2B
THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY 14,2009
Commerce Wrestling
East Jackson Basketball
Mat Tigers Advance To State Duals
Josh Streetman works to prevent a Wesleyan grappler from getting
an advantage during the championship round of the Area Duals last
weekend. The Mat Tigers are heading to the State Duals this weekend
after taking second at area. Photo by Lynnly Drinkard
By Justin Poole
The Commerce High School grapplers had
a good showing at last week’s Area Duals,
where the team took a second-place finish
behind Wesleyan.
With the second place victory, Commerce
advances to this weekend’s State Duals
in Macon. Commerce’s first opponent is
Gordon Lee. The Mat Tigers’ coach Kendall
Love said that Gordon Lee is going to be a
tough opponent.
“In my mind they are the probably the best
team in that area,’’ said Love. “They lost to
the number one (team) by four points.’’
Commerce faces Gordon Lee at 1:45 p.m.
on Friday in Macon.
If Commerce defeats Gordon Lee, Love
thinks that the Mat Tigers will face Bremen in
the second round. Bremen competes against
Athens Christian in the first round.
At the Area Duals, Commerce started
against Eagles Landing in the first match.
Love said he was able to put a number of
JV wrestlers in for some experience dur
ing the match. The Mat Tigers took the win
62-15. In the semi-finals, Commerce drew
Holy Innocents and came out on top 67-9, to
advance to the finals.
For the final round Commerce met
Wesleyan. According to Love, several of the
bouts between Commerce and Wesleyan
were decided on less than four points, but
Commerce was edged out 36-21 for second
place.
Love said that Wesleyan was a little bit
tougher than expected.
“[Wesleyan] dropped down a weight class
from where they had been all year. That
made them that much tougher,’’ Love said.
“Our guys stepped up and wrestled well
against them. Hopefully we will see them
again this weekend.’’
Eagles Win
One, Lose One
By Brandon Reed
It proved to be an up and down week
for the East Jackson Eagles, as they
picked up their second region win
of the year against Union County on
Tuesday, then lost in a close game to
Dawson County on Friday.
Next up for the Eagles is a trip
to Fannin County on Friday, where
they’ll face a 4-4 Rebels team that is
looking for its first region win. Tip-off
is at 8:30 p.m.
East Jackson has had good luck
in the past against Fannin County,
recording wins against the Rebels
twice during 2008.
Coming out of a disappointing holi
day break that ended in back-to-back
losses, the Eagles hit the court last
Tuesday looking to regain their win
ning form.
They found that form against Union
County, as nine of the 10 Eagles play
ers that hit the court in the game
scored and East Jackson recorded the
45-32 victory.
Coach Brian Turner said it was East
Jackson’s defense that led the team to
victory, as it recorded 15 steals and
limited Union County to 13 field goals
for the game.
“We played tremendous on the defen
sive side of the ball,’’ Turner said.
Terry Cox led the scoring with a
career high 12 points, while Kolby
Gilbert scored 11.
With their fourth win overall and
second region victory under their
belts, the Eagles traveled to Dawson
Continued on page 2B
Commerce Basketball
CHS Lady Tigers Have To Work Together, Face Prince Ave. Friday
By Justin Poole
After what is being called a “terrible’’ week by coach
Eddie McCurley, the Commerce Lady Tigers have a
long road ahead of them.
Last week’s return to the courts after the Christmas
break did not go well. The Lady Tigers dropped both
the Social Circle game on Tuesday and the Friday
game against Lakeview.
This week they faced Athens Academy on Tuesday.
Results from that game were unavailable at press time.
On Friday, Commerce will host Prince Avenue at 7
p.m.
The Lady Tigers also continue their trek into the
heart of the region schedule on Saturday when they
travel to Athens Christian. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.
McCurley said on Monday, “All three of the games
this week are winnable, but not if we play like we did
against Lakeview.’’
With Commerce entering the heart of region compe
tition, McCurley was less than thrilled with the perfor
mance displayed during last week.
Social Circle
Against Social Circle on Tuesday, Commerce fell
58-31. The team played well during the first period,
staying close to Social Circle at 14-12, only to get
outscored in the second period 20-4. McCurley said
that the Lady Tigers played fatigued, and Social Circle
rolled over Commerce for the 27-point win.
With only Jaz Grier breaking into double digit scor
ing with 14 points, the Lady Tigers did not display
much depth against the Redskins. Skylar Beasley
scored seven, followed by Lauren Jones with four
points. Logan Brown, Jessie Flint and Jordan Lord
Jessika Kyle adds a point for the Lady Tigers
against Lakeview. Photo by Justin Poole
each added two points.
Lakeview
The Lakeview game on Jan. 9 turned out similarly
— another 27-point loss. Lakeview took the 50-23 win
after leading the entire contest.
McCurley said he thought Commerce could have
competed with Lakeview and blamed himself for the
team’s lack of prepara
tion.
“I have to do a better
job in getting the team
prepared to play and find
out what it is that is keep
ing them from working
together,’’ he commented.
“I am embarrassed
and disappointed in the
way the team played this
week,’’ he said, adding he is going to do whatever is
necessary to fix the problems in communication on
the court and between the staff and players to get the
team to buy in to the team strategy.
Against Lakeview, Commerce was down 24-11 at the
half and 38-17 after three periods. Lakeview cruised
through the final eight minutes to the 50-23 win.
Grier once again led the Lady Tigers, scoring 11.
Brown picked up five followed by Beasley with four
points. Jones added two and Jessika Kyle contributed
one.
After not seeing much production from the starters
in either game last week, McCurley said that given the
lack of consistency, he might consider playing ninth
graders for better execution.
•COMING UP:
- Friday:
Prince Avenue
Home - 7 p.m.
- Saturday:
Athens Christian
Away - 5 p.m.
East Jackson Basketball
Lady Eagles Travel To Fannin Co. Friday, Need A Win To Get On Track
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Lady Eagles continue to look for
traction as they move into the heart of their region
schedule.
So far, the new year has not been as good as East
Jackson had hoped, as the Lady Eagles dropped two
last week to Union County and Dawson County.
The Eagles hope to turn things around Friday at
Fannin County. Tip-off is at 7:00.
That could prove to be a tall order, as the Lady
Rebels hit the court with an 8-6 overall record, and
undefeated in the region. East Jackson is 4-9 overall,
and winless in the region.
Hosting Union County last week, the Eagles stayed
close for a quarter, trailing 9-7, only to see the Lady
Panthers extend the lead to 29-17 at the half and 45-31
after three periods before handing the Lady Eagles a
61-44 loss.
Autumn Wilbanks led East Jackson in scoring with
26 points, while Callie Moore had nine and Shelby
Johnson had four. Johnson also had nine assists and
four steals. Mikki McGinnis had two steals, Moore
had nine rebounds, while Johnson had six and
Wilbanks had five.
"Autumn has been playing very well lately, hav
ing scored 28 versus Carver and 26 against Union
County,’’ said coach Amy Larimer. “She is really step
ping up as a leader on both ends of the court, which
is what we need her to do."
Next up for the Lady Eagles was a trip to Dawson
County on Friday for another region match-up.
The Lady Tigers took control early, moving out to
an 11-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. They con
tinued to hold the advantage over the Lady Eagles,
Continued on page 2B