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IB
Phone: (706) 367-2348
Fax: (706) 387-5418 THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
justin @ mainstreetnews. com WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY 28,2009
Commerce Girls Basketball East Jackson Girls Basketball
CHS Ladies' Hopes Rest On Freshman Shoulders Lady Eagles Grab First Region Win Of Season
By Justin Poole
The Lady Tigers are in a tight spot with
several players injured and two tough
teams ahead this weekend.
Commerce’s girls’ team is shorthanded
from injuries and last week showed how
difficult it is to compensate for a missing
starter.
The Lady Tigers dropped two region
games last week and face a rival and a
region challenger this weekend in the
form of Jefferson and Social Circle.
On Tuesday the Lady Tigers hosted
Tallulah Falls. Assistant coach Barry
Cook said the girls would have to focus
and play hard against the region oppo
nent since the Commerce squad is not at
full strength.
Results from Tuesday were unavailable
at press time.
“Everyone has to be on their toes this
week and the rest of the year,’’ said Cook.
“Everyone has to be ready to give a peak
Continued on page 2B
By Brandon Reed
It was an up and down week for the East
Jackson Lady Eagles of East Jackson, but
the team won two games, including their
first region victory of the season.
Up next for the Lady Eagles is a trip to
Oconee County on Saturday, where they’ll
face the Lady Warriors in non-region action
at 6:00 p.m.
Oconee County was victorious in the last
two meetings, in December of 2008 and in
December of 2007.
The Lady Warriors entered action oi
Tuesday with a 9-8 overall record, 3-4 ii
their region.
Last week got off to great start for tb
Lady Eagles, as they beat the Oglethorpe
County Lady Patriots 69-53 for their firs
region win of the season.
Oglethorpe County jumped out to ai
early lead, holding a 16-14 advantage at the
end of the first quarter, but the Lady Eagle
rallied in the second quarter and carried ;
Continued on page 2B
Commerce Basketball
East Jackson Basketball
Tigers Pick Up Two Region Wins
CHS Hosts Jefferson Friday Night
By Justin Poole
Back-to-back region wins have the Commerce Tigers
pumped for a three-game week.
After last week’s victories over Towns County and
Hebron Christian, the Tigers were looking for a third region
win on Tuesday against Tallulah Falls.
Scores were unavailable at press time from Tuesday’s
game.
Friday night, the home section of the Tiger gym should
be packed as Commerce hosts cross-river rival Jefferson.
The Jefferson Dragons carried December’s game 58-46.
Since that game, the Tigers believe they have improved on
the court.
“Jefferson is not a region game but our kids will be up
for it,’’ said Bridges. “I fully expect our kids to play their
hardest.’’
The rivalry game starts after the girls’ game at 7:00 p.m.
On Saturday, Commerce rides down to Social Circle.
“Social Circle is one of the four teams in front of us in the
region right now,’’ Bridges said. “Anytime we have a chance
to play one of them, we have to play well and see if we can
come away with a win.’’
The Social Circle games start at 4:00 p.m. with the Lady
Tigers against the Lady Redskins, with the boys game to
follow.
Last week, after a rescheduling due to weather, Commerce
made the trip to Towns County and brought home a 68-60
win.
The eight-point victory came after the Tigers dominated
the first half.
“We were able to score pretty much as we wanted to in the
first half,’’ said Coach Chad Bridges.
At the end of the first quarter, Commerce led 19-12. By the
end of the half, the Tigers remained in command, 41-27.
During the second half, Commerce hit a patch of bad
shots and Towns County gained ground. Commerce still
led by 14 at the end of the third quarter, but Towns County
was not going down quietly. In the final quarter, Towns
County’s offense came together to pick up 20 points out-
scoring the Tigers’ 14 points.
The early lead for Commerce paid off, as the Tigers held
onto an eight-point advantage for the win.
Leading the Tigers’ charge was Cameron Billings scor
ing 17 points and shooting nine of 10 from the line. Drake
Cash added 10, followed by T. Green and Torrance Wilcher
each scoring nine. Brandon Romans put up eight points
with Anthony Norris scoring six and Bubba Bonds add
ing three. Channing Anderson, Tyler Gamble and Deon
Orsborne contributed two apiece.
Commerce continued its strong play against Hebron
Christian on Friday, spoiling Hebron’s homecoming by
taking a 61-54 win. Bridges said that Hebron played as well
as he’s seen them play.
Cameron Billings (44) puts up a shot dur
ing the last clash between Commerce and
Jefferson. The Tigers host Jefferson on Friday.
Photo by Blair Buffington
Hebron matched Commerce at 12 after one period, then.
Commerce eased ahead during the second quarter and
ended the half with a two-point lead, 30-28. The third quar
ter was a low-scoring affair as the Tigers picked up nine
points and Hebron added 10. A strong Commerce defense
and handling of the Hebron press allowed Commerce to
eventually pull away for the win. In the final eight minutes
Hebron picked up 16 points but the Tigers scored 22 points
to take the 61-54 win.
Cash led Commerce’s charge, putting 16 points on the
board, followed by Norris with 13. Billings and Romans
added seven apiece followed by Anderson with six. Bonds
put in five points with Wilcher adding four and Green pick
ing up three.
East Jackson Goes
2-1 Over The Weekend
By Brandon Reed
It was another solid week
for the East Jackson Eagles,
as they picked up two region
wins, but lost in a close
contest to in-county rival
Jefferson.
Up next is a trip to Oconee
County, where they’ll face the
Warriors at 5:30 on Saturday.
Going into play on Tuesday,
Oconee County was 2-4 in its
region, and 6-10 overall.
The Eagles started their
week at Oglethorpe County
against the Patriots, a team
that East Jackson had solidly
beaten in their three previous
meetings.
In the first half, the Eagles
couldn’t seem to get their legs
under them, and found them
selves trailing 34-32 at the half.
The second half was a differ
ent story, as East Jackson
returned to the court swing
ing, outscoring the Patriots
26-4 in the third period. That
momentum carried them on
through the fourth quarter to
a 75-58 victory, their fifth in
the region.
Kolby Gilbert led East
Jackson with 26 points, while
Standrick Stephens and
Jermaine Davis scored 10
points each.
Next up was a historic
home stand for the Eagles,
as they played host to the
Jefferson Dragons for the
first time in school history.
With a tremendous crowd
on hand, the atmosphere was
electric as the two teams took
the court. The fans were treat
ed to a classic back-and-forth
game, as East Jackson first
jumped out to a lead, then
found itself exchanging the
lead through the first half.
The two teams found them
selves tied 25-25 at the half.
But in the second half,
Jefferson dominated the
glass, taking the lead and
the advantage. East Jackson
fought back, but fell 60-53.
Gilbert scored 25
points to pace the Eagles,
while Stephens and Evan
Williamson scored nine
points each.
“It was great to see the
kids hugging before and
after game while compet
ing at a very high level with
great sportsmanship during
the game,” said coach Brian
Turner. “I would like to thank
the fans of both schools for
their turnout on Friday. That
is what high school basketball
is all about. Both should be
very proud of the effort and
the sportsmanship shown by
both teams.”
On Saturday, the Eagles
hoped to bounce back as
they traveled to Washington-
Wilkes for a non-region
game.
It was another back-and-
forth game through the first
three quarters, but the Eagles
took control in the fourth
quarter.
With Gilbert on the bench
with foul trouble, Washington-
Wilkes was able to turn some
technical fouls into a seven-
point lead. But East Jackson
came roaring back, outscor
ing the Tigers 31-17 to take
the 68-60 victory.
Gilbert led the Eagles with
20 points, while Stephens
scored 13 and Davis 10.
At the end of the weekend,
the Eagles came away with a
5-2 region record, second in
the sub-region to Jefferson,
and 9-9 overall.
East Jackson was sched
uled to host Banks County
on Tuesday. Results from
that game were unavailable at
press time.
Commerce Wrestling
Mat Tigers Have Big Week, Multiple Wins
Grapplers Heading South For Vidalia Tourney
By Justin Poole
With three big wins and a first place in
a 14-team tournament, the Commerce
wrestling squad had a great past week.
The mat Tigers hope to continue the
performance with a good showing at
the Vidalia Tournament this weekend.
The two-day tournament gets under way
Friday at 5:00 p.m. with the finals on
Saturday starting at 9:00 am.
With approximately 20 teams compet
ing, the Commerce grapplers will have a
chance to see some fresh opponents.
“It’s a tournament we get to see some
different styles and some different
teams that we don’t normally see,” said
coach Kendall Love.
Commerce will have some familiar
local opponents as well, including
Jefferson and East Jackson.
The mat Tigers head into the tourna
ment with a topped-off tank after a
productive week.
Last Tuesday Commerce hosted
Morgan County and Franklin County.
“We beat them both pretty bad,” Love
said.
Commerce beat the Bulldog wrestlers
59-18. The mat Tigers were not as gener
ous with the Franklin County Lions,
proving to be top cat on the mat at
72-6.
Up next for Commerce was West Hall
on Friday. The AAA school also fell to
the Commerce grapplers 59-11.
Those matches were warm-ups for
the 14-team tournament at Social Circle
on Saturday. The Redskin Rumble fea
tured several higher ranked schools
including AAAAA Newton, AAA
schools Oconee and Jackson County.
Commerce stole first place with over
50 points. Newton took second place
followed by Oconee, Social Circle and
Jackson County in fifth.
Commerce took 13 wrestlers to the
match, with 11 placing inside the top
four. Taking first place for the mat
Tigers were Doug Maloch, Jon Cash,
Phillip Edwards and Andrew Minish.
Casey Drinkard won second place
and third-place finishes came from
Thomas Sears and Terrence Martin.
Rounding out the Commerce top
finishers were fourth-place wins from
Addison Davis, Trea Edwards, Nick
Arostegui and Josh Streetman.
Nick Arostegui (top), shown here from a previous
match, took a fourth place finish at the Redskin
Rumble last weekend.