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THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
Phone: (706) 367-2348 WEDNESDAY,
Fax: (706) 387-5418 MARCH 4,2009
justin @ mainstreetnews. com
Commerce Basketball
Tigers Close Season With Loss At Paideia
CHS Boys' Playoff Trip Cut Short With 49-30 Loss
By Justin Poole
The Commerce Tigers’ ended their
2008-09 campaign with a break-even
record Saturday night as they fell to
Paideia in the first round of the state
playoffs, 49-30.
Commerce finished with a 13-13
record. The Tigers were 12-7 in
Region 8A.
After a very competitive first half,
Paideia pulled away to take 19-point
win.
“I was really proud of the effort,”
said coach Chad Bridges. “[The
boys] played hard and gave every
thing they had.”
Both teams played neck-and-neck
in the first quarter. Paideia got on
the board first four minutes into
the game with a field goal. Anthony
Norris responded for Commerce to
tie the score at 2. A minute later and
T. Green dropped in a three to send
the Tigers into the lead. Commerce
picked up another two points and
matched Paideia 7-7 as the quarter
ticked down. With three seconds on
the clock, Paideia moved ahead 9-7.
The game stayed close through the
second half. As the half ended the
Tigers were down by three (22-19)
when Paideia hit a lucky shot from
half-court at the buzzer to end the
half up 25-19.
In the third quarter, Commerce ran
into some trouble hitting its shots
but stayed within eight points at
35-27.
The fourth quarter was their undo
ing, as Paideia put in 14 points to the
Tigers’ three to put the game away.
“In the second half we were given
the same looks, but it was almost
like there was a lid on top of us,”
Bridges said. “We missed several
lay-ups, and had some good looks at
threes that we normally knock down.
I think Paideia’s size had a lot to do
with that. It had a little bit of a men
tal affect on us.”
Commerce was led by Anthony
T. Green puts up a shot as Paideia defenders close in. Norris with 12 and T. Green with
Photo by Justin Poole nine points.
East Jackson Baseball
Eagles Look For First Win Against Oconee County, Wednesday
By Brandon Reed
It’s been a rough start
to the baseball season
for the Eagles of East
Jackson, as they dropped
their opening games to
Lumpkin County and to
Athens Academy.
The Eagles hope to
turn things around this
(Wednesday) afternoon,
as they play Oconee
County at 5:30 p.m.
Lumpkin County
East Jackson opened
its season at Lumpkin
County on Feb. 23.
Lumpkin took control
early and never looked
back, shutting out the
Eagles 10-0.
“They are a really good
ball club,” said coach
Josh Gandy. “We actually
played decent defense.
We gave up a couple of
errors that we shouldn’t
have made, but over
all we played a decent
game, although the score
doesn’t really show that.”
“It was one of those
nights where every time
we put the ball in play,
they made a pretty good
play on it.”
Individual statistics
were unavailable at press
time.
Athens Academy
The Eagles opened
their home season the
next day by playing host
to the Athens Academy
Spartans.
The Spartans came out
swinging, putting up eight
runs on six hits in the
top of the first, and then
added nine more runs in
the second inning.
But East Jackson began
fighting back and tried
to make up ground, but
came up short, losing
19-13.
“That was a weird
game,” Gandy said. “They
jumped out to a lead on
us. To my players’ credit,
they battled back.”
Gandy said it was also
a difficult night for the
players who learned of
the death of a fellow stu
dent in a traffic accident
Continued on page 2B
Commerce Golf
East Jackson Basketball
Evan Williamson (22) makes it hard for an
opponent to pass during a recent game.
Photo by Brandon Reed
East Jackson's Season
Ends With Loss To Coosa
By Brandon Reed
After a long season that saw the East Jackson boys’
basketball team make its first appearance in the AA
state tournament, the Eagles’ season came to a close
on Saturday with a loss to Coosa in Rome.
The Eagles entered the tournament as the number
three seed from 8-AA after winning seven of their last
ten games. East Jackson had also defeated Union
and Rabun counties last week in region tournament
play
But their postseason play stopped Saturday when
East Jackson came up on the short end of a 65-54
score.
Kolby Gilbert led the team with 14 points, while
Terry Cox scored 10.
The loss leaves East Jackson with a 15-14 overall
record.
“The bottom line is we did not make the shots we
needed to and every time we got it close they made
the plays and we did not,” said coach Brian Turner.
“They also hurt us on the boards with their size and
our lack of boxing out. I believe our effort was good
but we just did not do the things we needed to do to
come out with a victory.”
Turner said his team had gone through a lot during
the season, including the loss of sophomore Brandon
Garrett, who was injured in a traffic accident just
days before the game.
“The guys on the team took it very hard but we
just kept fighting and scraping all year,” Turner said.
“This is a testament to our five seniors.”
Garrett was able to leave the hospital on Friday.
“I went and spent sometime with him Saturday
morning before leaving for the game,” Turner added.
Turner said he hopes that the younger players on
the team will take the lead and work harder in the
off-season to build toward the future.
“We lose a lot of our key pieces this year but I am
confident that our young kids will step it up next year
and in the years to come.”
Turner expressed appreciation to the fans for their
support, as well as to the team’s five seniors, Kolby
Gilbert, Terry Cox, Kaharie Beasley, Zach Gilbert
and Standrick Stephens, for their hard work and
dedication.
“(They) have put our program in a position to con
tinue and improve with (their) effort and attitude.”
Commerce's Golf Teams Expecting Good Season With A Lot Of Talent
By Justin Poole
Commerce’s Tiger golfers started what they hope
will turn out to be a good season last Thursday against
Jackson County.
Although they finished seven shots behind Jackson
County — shooting a 207 to the Panthers’ 200 —
Commerce has high hopes for the season.
While the weather conditions canceled Monday’s
match against Oglethorpe, the Commerce golfers will
head to Homer next Monday to play Banks County.
Both the boys and girls will face Banks at Hammer’s
Glen.
According to coach David Stephenson, both teams
have several golfers with great potential.
Low medalist against Jackson County was Casey
Drinkard who shot a 40. Drinkard went into the round
Thursday with only three days of practice under his belt
after coming off the wrestling season.
“I was really pleased with Casey Drinkard shooting a
40 this early in the year,” said Stephenson.
Sam Purcell shot a 46 followed by Austin Patterson
with a 54 and Andrew Minish shooting a 67 in his first
golf match.
Stephenson said Purcell came back from a rough start
to finish strong.
“He kept his head up and kept competing after a bad
first hole.”
Patterson hit some good shots according to Stephenson,
who is confident that Patterson’s score will be lower
next round.
The Tigers were missing two golfers from the Jackson
County match. Colton Dean was finishing up with bas
ketball and Brandon Coots was ill. Stephenson said he
expects good scores when they return.
Girls’ Golf
While the girls were unable to post a score from
the round against Jackson County, Stephenson said
Commerce has some good golfers.
“I was really pleased with the girls’ play,” Stephenson
said. “All four hit some really good shots. Because of the
late start, we did not get to finish nine holes so we could
not post a score. If the girls continue to work we could
be pretty good this year.”
Being led by four seniors, Chelsey Cain, Cassie
Adams, CJ Wilkes and Anna Marie Hooper, the team
also has some incoming talent.
“[Freshman golfer, Haley Chestnut] has looked impres
sive in practice and could push some of the seniors for
playing time,” said Stephenson.
Other talented ladies include Hannah Patterson, who
is in her second year on the greens; Ann Drinkard and
Hilary Gary are both in their first seasons on the high
school team while Lindsay Embrick and Ella Sims are
learning the game.