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PAGE 2B - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS - WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 11. 2009
- Mat Tigers
Looking To
Head To State
Cont’d from page IB
the season at Oconee
County, in a quad-match
with Oconee, Salem and
Cedar Shoals. Commerce
dominated the mast over
each of its opponents.
Defeating host Oconee
County 53-18, Commerce
followed with an easy vic
tory over Cedar Shoals 77-6.
The Tiger grapplers rounded
out the match in a 78-6 win
over Salem.
Love said he was able to
wrestle several JV grapplers
while resting the starters,
and the wins provided a
tune-up for the tournament.
- Final Regular
Season Game
Ahead For CHS
Cont’d from page IB
Commerce is 9-5 in the
region and averages 53
points per game.
Last week, the Tigers
were 2-1 against Lakeview
Academy, Athens Academy
and Prince Avenue.
Lakeview
Bridges said Tuesday’s
game against Lakeview was
a poor night for shooting for
the Tigers. Lakeview took
the win, 66-45.
“I thought we did the things
we wanted to do, but we just
didn’t shoot the ball well,”
Bridges said.
Commerce did manage to
hold the Lions under their
average 70 points a game.
Cameron Billings led
Commerce with 14 points.
Anthony Norris and
Brandon Romans scored
eight apiece, Bubba Bonds
added six and Channing
Anderson five. Tyler Gamble
and Drake Cash picked up
two points each.
Athens Academy
Friday night, Commerce
shot the ball better and
took the win over Athens
Christian, 57-54.
“It was a pretty good lit
tle battle,” said Bridges. “I
thought Athens Academy
played well and it was a
good credit to our guys who
played well.”
Athens Academy led at
the half 27-25. Coming out in
the third quarter, Commerce
retook the lead and held on
through the second half.
Stepping up in crunch
time, Norris scored 13
points in the final quarter
and led the Tigers with a
total of 22. Cash had a good
night, scoring 11 points, fol
lowed by Billings with 10, T.
Green with eight, Orsborne,
four, and Anderson two.
Prince Avenue
Saturday’s game against
Prince Avenue was another
win for Commerce, as the
Tigers won a low-scoring
39-36 game.
According to Bridges,
Saturday’s game was most
likely the worst game of the
week since the team was
mentally unprepared.
“We were just going
through the motions,”
Bridges said. “We played
everybody and nobody
stepped up, which is frus
trating. I guess we were
still hung over from Friday,
because that was a real emo
tional game.”
Commerce led 10-3 in the
first quarter and 26-13 at the
half. They extended the lead
to 36-18 after three periods.
Things started to come
apart in the final eight min
utes as Prince Avenue out-
scored the Tigers 18-3 and
cut the Commerce lead to
only three points.
Gamble led the Tigers
with nine points followed by
Norris with eight. Torrance
Wilcher picked up seven
points, Green and Orsborne
scored five apiece, Cash
added four, and Romans
scored one.
East Jackson Wrestling
Commerce Girls Basketball
Nine Mat Eagles Head Lady Tigers Down But Not Out
To Sectionals On Friday
By Brandon Reed
Nine East Jackson grapplers will be traveling to the sec
tionals next week after the Mat Eagles brought home a solid
third-place finish in the area meet at Fannin County over
the weekend.
East Jackson scored 168.5 points, following winner
Jefferson with 293 and second-place Banks County, which
had 201.5.
Luis Verduzco turned in a first place performance in the
140 lb. class. Other East Jackson wrestlers who placed and
will be going to sectionals include Victor Equirte, second at
103; Justin Griffin, second at 119 lbs.; Drew Hunter, second
at 152; Scott Hill, second at 189; Robbie King, third at 160;
Shane Moore, fourth at 130; Kevin Kesler, fourth at 135; and
Willie Sanders, fourth in the 215 lb. category.
Charles Hullet and Chuck Best placed fifth in their weight
classes, while Zack Venable finished sixth. Only the top
four finishes go to sectionals.
The sectionals will be held this weekend at Jefferson
to determine who will make the trip to the state meet in
Gwinnett Feb. 20-21.
East Jackson Girls Basketball
EJCHS Face Lady Leopards
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Lady Eagles dropped games to North
Oconee, Rabun County and Jefferson last week, making
them 6-17 overall, and 1-9 in the region.
They have one more chance to add to their win col
umn, as they travel to Banks County Friday in the regular
season finale against the Lady Leopards, who are third
in the subregion and beat the Eagles 40-34 earlier this
season.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Then, it’s on to the region tournament, which the
Lady Eagles will host. East Jackson is the number four
seed and will first face number five seed Oglethorpe
on Monday, with the winner of that game facing Rabun
County on Tuesday in the first round of region play.
North Oconee
North Oconee took an early lead, 10-8, at the end of the
first quarter, only to see East Jackson fight back in the
second quarter to carry a 17-14 lead into the half.
The game remained close in the third quarter, with
North Oconee holding a slight advantage with a 28-24
lead. But the wheels came off for the Lady Eagles in the
fourth quarter, as North Oconee held them scoreless,
and went on to win 46-24.
Autumn Wilbanks led the Lady Eagles in scoring with
seven points, while Caroline Hicks scored six. Shelby
Johnson had three assists. Hicks had 10 rebounds, while
Kaitlin Hill had eight and Mikki McGinnis had seven.
“We played a very good three quarters, but you have to
play four quarters to win a ballgame,” coach Amy Larimer
said. “We let their pressure man dictate what we did and
we were unable to produce in the fourth quarter.”
Rabun County
Next up was a home stand against Rabun County, as
the Lady faced a Rabun County squad undefeated in
region play.
The first quarter told the tale, as the Lady Wildcats
outscored East Jackson 32-8, then carried a 48-28 lead
into the second half.
Rabun County continued to control the game, holding
the Lady Eagles to only four points while they added
another 11 to their score to make it a 59-32 game at the
end of the third, then coasted to a 68-47 win.
Wilbanks led the Eagle offense with 13 points, while
Hicks scored nine, Callie Moore scored seven, and
Johnson and McGinnis scored six each.
Moore had nine rebounds, while Hicks had eight. Terin
Gillespie had five rebounds, while Johnson and Moore
both had two steals each.
“We put ourselves in a very large hole in the first quar
ter,” Larimer said. “The best we could do was to keep
fighting and close the gap. Rabun County is a very dis
ciplined and hard working team that should go far in the
region tournament and in state.”
By Justin Poole
It is not over yet.
That is the sentiment of the
Commerce Lady Tigers, as the
team prepares for the final game
of the regular season against visit
ing Athens Christian.
While the Lady Tigers hope to
end the season on a high note,
the odds don’t look good.
Athens Christian defeated
Commerce earlier in the season
40-14. But coach Eddie McCurley
said that teams are more evenly
matched than the numbers indi
cate.
“We want to compete and play
well,” McCurley said. “They are
very physical but we feel we
match up better. There should
not be any quit in anybody. It is
just not in our vocabulary.”
Friday’s game will provide the
Lady Tigers with a shot at the
sixth seed in the region tourney.
“We have to fight the whole
way to the finish,” said McCurley.
“You get in the tournament and
you don’t know what is going to
happen.”
Regardless of what lies ahead of
Commerce in the region tourna
ment, the ladies have to make it
through Friday. Tip-off is at 6:00
p.m.
Lakeview
Last Tuesday, in a lopsided contest,
Lakeview defeated the Lady Tigers 45-18.
Lakeview applied pressure throughout the
game. At the half, Lakeview led 29-7.
Scorers for Commerce included Shekia
Moon, leading the team with eight points.
Jessie Flint picked up four followed by Drea
Mathis with three, Jessika Kyle with two
and Skylar Beasley with one point.
Athens Academy
Commerce suffered another setback
Friday night against Athens Academy, falter
ing in the final period as Athens Academy
took the 45-36 win.
Commerce started well, leading 10-5 after
one quarter and extending the lead to
26-18 at the half. Athens picked up some
Jessie
needed
to play
Flint will be looked at for some
points in Friday’s game, if she is able
after an ankle injury during practice.
Photo by Blair Buffington
ground in the third period to draw within
nine points. Heading into the final eight
minutes leading 33-24, the Lady Tigers only
picked up three points as Athens Academy
exploded for 21 points to take the win.
McCurley said that the team played well
through the first half, but lost its focus.
Athens Academy took the 45-36 win.
Flint led Commerce with 12 points fol
lowed by Lauren Jones with 10. Moon and
Beasley scored five apiece, with Logan
Brown adding four points.
Prince Avenue
In the final game from last week, the lady
Tigers fell to Prince Avenue 45-19.
Jones scored 11 to lead the offense.
Beasley picked up four followed by Moon
with two points, while Flint and Erica
Green had one point apiece.
Terin Gillespie gets
ready to take a shot dur
ing a recent game. The
Lady Eagles finish out
the regular season
Friday night on the road
against Banks County.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Jefferson
After a loss to Jefferson at East Jackson
last month, the Lady Eagles hoped for a
reversal of fortune when they traveled to
Jefferson on Saturday.
Early on, things looked promising, as
they took an 11-10 lead at the end of the
first quarter. But the Lady Dragons took
control in the second quarter to carry a
22-16 lead into the half.
In the third, Jefferson extended the lead
to 10 points, 32-22, then put the game away
in the fourth quarter, holding East Jackson
to six points while they tacked on another
14 to take a 46-28 win.
Gillespie led the Lady Eagles with sevei
points, while Johnson and Hicks score;
five each, and Moore and McGinnis eacl
scored four.
McGinnis had six rebounds, while Moor'
had three assists and four steals.
“I feel that we played hard the entir
game but our problem the entire seasoi
has been on the offensive end of th
court,” Larimer said. “We will continue t<
work on that aspect of our game.”
The Lady Eagles were scheduled to hos
Oglethorpe County in their final regula
season home game Tuesday. Results wer
unavailable at press time.
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