Newspaper Page Text
JULY 20, 2016
The Commerce News
The Banks County News
Phone: 706-621-7204
Fax: 706-367-8056
cameron@mainstreetnews.com
Section B
BCHS Baseball
Leopards aim to carry 2016
momentum beyond off-season
Running bases
Walker Rogers is one of five seniors returning
to the Diamond Leopards in 2017.
BY CAMERON
WHITLOCK
There was an unfamiliar
atmosphere surrounding
Banks County’s summer
baseball season this year.
After three four years of
constant coaching changes
and rebuilding, the Leop
ards entered this June with
energy and continuity. Last
spring, Tom Kelley became
the first-ever coach to lead
the Diamond Leopards to the
AAA playoffs. And unlike the
Leopards’ previous couple of
coaches, Kelley isn’t going
anywhere.
Instead, Kelley made it a
goal for his team to transfer
the momentum gained from
last season into its summer
slate of games.
“We treated like it was the
regular season,” said Kelley.
“In the summertime, some
times you want to get a feel
for the roster and play some
guys in some different posi
tions and things like that. But
our intensity level never went
down. That’s what we have
to do next year. We have to
continue that into next sea
son too.”
Banks County went 7-3
in June, nabbing wins over
AAA powers Jackson Coun
ty and Hart County. The
Leopards also notched vic
tories over Stephens County,
East Jackson and Howard
(Macon).
“The guys did well this
summer,” said Kelley. “We
had a lot of good pitching
and a lot of great hitting. The
guys really hit the ball hard.”
Kelley noted that returning
seniors Judd Roberts, Easton
Staton, Zane Millwood, Kelan
Dalton and Walker Rogers
all had excellent summers
at the plate, while Dylan Nix
provided consistency on the
mound.
“Dylan Nix did fantastic
on the mound this summer,”
said Kelley. “He went 4-0 and
he pitched a ton of innings.”
Those six seniors anchor
a roster that will field eight
returning starters next year.
Juniors CJ Thomas and
Grant Rylee also return to
the lineup, but will experi
ment with different roles this
summer.
“Grant was a utility player
for us, but he’ll play a big
role on the mound for us
next year,” said Kelley. “CJ
Thomas maybe moving from
from second base to short
stop and he looks extremely
strong in that position right
now. We have some good
guys coming back.”
Kelley also pointed to
some rising freshman who
made contributions on varsi
ty and junior varsity in June.
“Braxton Simpson and
Caden Cotton got some good
experience,” added Kelley.
“They should be able to con
tribute.”
After working with the mid
dle school program last sea
son, Kelley expects incoming
players to be familiarized with
his coaching system by the
time they enter high school.
“I thought that was a big
advantage for the young
guys,” he said. “They were
introduced to our system in
seventh and eighth grade,
which will transition them
into high school very well.
They do everything the same
way we do in middle school
- the calls, the coaching. Hav
ing them practice the same
way really helps them devel
op.”
The Leopards’ spring 2017
schedule will look much
different from last season’s
as Banks County moves
from Class AAA to AA.
The Leopards will vie for a
region title with Social Circle,
Rabun County Elbert County
Oglethorpe County Putnam
County and Monticello.
But regardless of their
opponents, Kelley said he
expects his team to play
with the same intensity and
momentum that served them
well this summer.
“I’m excited,” he said. “It’s
always good going into the
offseason after a successful
summer. Hopefully that car
ries on into the next year. But
anytime you can have a suc
cessful summer, it’s always a
positive.”
CHS Girls’ Basketball
Lady Tigers rebuilding
after losing key players
BY CAMERON WHITLOCK
There’s no doubt that 2016-17
will be a transitional season for
the Lady Tiger basketball team.
The Tigers recently lost a num
ber of key players due to gradu
ation and transfer. And for that
reason, getting his young players
oodles of experience during the
summer season was a prima
ry object of head coach Brad
Puckett.
The Tigers will enter 2016-17
without their top three scorers
from the previous season. Guards
Mya and Asia Jones transferred
to Franklin County while post
player Nia Johnson transferred to
Jefferson. Meanwhile, last year’s
leading rebounder Savannah
Mullis graduated leaving Com
merce with quite a few roster
holes to fill this summer.
The Lady Tigers opened June
with a weeklong camp in Fort
Bluff, TN.
“We learned a lot of good stuff
while we were there,” said Puck
ett. “We did a lot of character
development and talked through
some things that will make us not
only better basketball players, but
better people throughout life.”
After a productive week com
peting against out-of-state teams,
the Lady Tigers returned home
to compete in multiple camps
and tournaments - at Hart Coun
ty, Jackson County and Madison
County.
Now, with 25-plus games
under its belt in the month of
June, Puckett can feel confident
in the progress his young team
has made.
“We’ll have a different look as
a basketball team next year,” said
Puckett. “But we have very good,
very hardworking and coachable
young ladies. We got better every
single day this summer. It was
very rewarding to see the strug
gles we had in the beginning of
June get worked out by the end
of the month. That’s just a testa
ment to the type of young ladies
we have.”
With four of last year’s start
ers off the roster, Puckett said
multiple Commerce players have
stepped up to fill the team’s gaps.
One of those players is rising
sophomore Autumn Mathis.
Mathis racked up a lot of varsi
ty experience last season when
filling in for the Tigers’ injured
On the rise
Autumn Mathis is one of
several young Lady Tigers
who will step into key
roles for the Commerce
varsity girls next season.
point guard.
Pucket also expects return
ing players Jeanece Smith and
Marae Carruth to step into more
prominent roles. In addition,
junior Gracie Hamilton - a trans
fer student from Jefferson - will
be eligible to play varsity for the
Lady Tigers this season. Puckett
said Hamilton played well on the
junior varsity squad last season
and will likely step into a key role
this year.
“We have a good core com
ing back,” said Puckett. “We just
don’t have the same amount of
experience we had previously.”
But what the Tigers lack in
experience, they make up in
depth. Puckett said Commerce
rostered 17 girls this summer
- which is an especially large
number of players for a Class A
program.
Adding to those numbers
are several incoming freshmen
whom Puckett believes could
make an instant impact.
“We had some freshman that
played a little bit of JV and varisty
really step up,” Puckett added.
“Lauren Roach really made an
impact this summer and started
getting significant time this sum
mer. Ragan Allen got a lot of min
utes this summer and could help
us with the height that we are
lacking. We have several more
that could contribute when it’s all
said and done.”
The Tigers shut down formal
practices at the end of June, but
Puckett encouraged his team to
continue to work on conditioning
and fundamentals before Com
merce kicks off its 2016-17 season
this winter.
Staying focused
Elizabeth Sandoval keeps her ball bouncing at Commerce Parks and Recreation Department’s
‘Camp Chaney’ tennis camp last week. See more photos on page 2B. Photo by Cameron Whitlock
Recreation Swimming
Tiger Sharks end season with 5 state titles
One-two finish
Ansley Ayers (L) and Lauren Massey (R)
pose with their medals in the 100-yard indi
vidual medley at the GRPA state swim meet
in Tifton. Massey was first and Ayers was
second in the girls’ 12-under division.
Three Commerce Tiger
Shark swimmers and one
relay team were crowned
state champions at the
Georgia Parks and Recre
ation Association’s state
swim meet on Saturday.
Samantha Davidson
won two state titles in the
girls’ 41-under division. She
swam to gold medals in
the 50-yard breaststroke
and the lOOyard individual
medley.
Lauren Massey also
doubled up on state titles in
the girls’ 12-under division.
Massey took first in both
the 50-yard breaststroke
and the lOOyard individual
medley.
Ansley Ayers nabbed
her state title in the girls’
12-under 50-yard back-
stroke. She also took silver
in the lOOyard individual
medley.
Massey and Ayers,
along with Reagan Duke
and Madison Epps, swam
to a state championship in
the 12-under girls’ 200-yard
medley relay race.
“We had five people
come home with a state
championship,” said
coach Pam Minish. “And,
we had a day of personal
bests for everyone.”
Epps placed seventh in
the 12-under girls’ 50yard
breaststroke, while Duke
took sixth in the 50yard
freestyle.
Commerce also enjoyed
a strong performance by
its 12-under boys’ squad.
Austin Ackerman took
home dual silver medals,
placing second in the
50-yard breaststroke and
100-yard individual medley.
Ackerman, along
with William Suber, Jack
Friedman and Alex Van
diver brought home a
seventh-place finish in the
200yard medley relay.
Friedman also placed
sixth in the 50yard butter
fly-
Several swimmers in the
8-under division scored
points for Commerce on
Friday. The relay teams of
Cooper Moulton, Camden
Moulton, Ethan Stovall and
Will Bowen finished fifth
in the medley and sixth in
the freestyle race. Cooper
Moulton was eighth in the
25-yard breaststroke and
sixth in the 25yard free
style. Camden Moulton
was sixth in the 25yard
backstroke.
The 8-under girls’ free
style relay team of Gracie
Brown, Kara Davidson,
Courtney Cameron and
Dalty Friedman finished
seventh.
Jessie Pritchett rounded
out scoring for the Tiger
Sharks with a sixth-place
finish in the 18-under girls’
50yard breaststroke.
Commerce closed the
summer swim season with
a ninth-place finish out of
the 25 competing teams.
The Tiger Sharks scored
125.5 total points. Oconee
County brought home the
team state title with 583
points. Douglas was sec
ond (574), Calhoun was
third (529), Jefferson was
fourth (451) and Tift Coun
ty was fifth (427).
“At the beginning of the
season, I knew we had a
talented group of kids,”
said head coach Nick
Moulton. “Very proud of
the season we have had.
All of our swimmers have
worked very hard. We
always represent the City
of Commerce very well,
and this year was no
exception.”