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DECEMBER 28, 2016 The Commerce News The Banks County News Phone: 706-621-7204 Fax: 706-367-8056 charles@mainstreetnews.com Section B Commerce Wrestling Tigers ready for the Clash in Minn. BY CHARLES PHELPS The Commerce High School wrestling team is nearing the end of its toughest stretch of the season. Since Dec. 9, the Tigers have competed in two tournaments in Tennessee, one at Morgan County and the Kyle Maynard Duals at Collins Hill High School. The Tigers finished third at the Kyle Maynard Duals, which took place last Thursday. The Tigers went 4-1. They defeated Thompson (50-25), Mt. Zion (59-9), Mill Creek (56-12) and Gilmer County (43-30). The only loss came to Archer in the semi finals. “To be honest, we didn’t wrestle very well and I told our guys that,” head coach Kendall Love said. “They (Archer) are a good team, but I feel like we’re better and we didn’t show it in that match.” The Tigers gave up six points due to a forfeit in one weight class. They lost the match by five points (34-29). And even though the Tigers are still getting some guys into the proper weight classes, Love wasn’t going to make any excuses for the loss. See “wrestling” on 2B Pinfall victory Commerce’s Cade Ridley watches as the referee hits the mat, signifying a pinfall win for Ridley in the 285-pound match over his Archer opponent. The victory came at last Thursday’s Kyle Maynard Duals hosted by Collins Hill High School. Photo by Charles Phelps All era coming to an end Commerce legend Jeff Prickett steps away from the stat book after 45 years BY CHARLES PHELPS Legendary Commerce football statis tician Jeff Prickett still has some work to do since the Tigers’ season has ended. Prickett will finalize all of the football stats into the Tigers’ stat book, which will include this year’s team and the history of the program. Once that’s complete, Prickett will step away from being the team statistician, a position he’s been in for 45 years. He’s now 71 years old. Prickett informed head coach Michael Brown last May that 2016 was going to be his final season. It isn’t known who will take the role as team statistician, but Prickett does get asked that very question now that football is over. “I get asked that question by people around Commerce two or three times a week. ‘Who’s going to do the stats next year?’ And I don’t know,” he said. With time on his side, Prickett will enjoy more time with his wife, Judy, his daughters, Christy and Shannon and their husbands, and his four grand children, Trevor, Russ, Annapaige and Abigail. He’s enjoyed his mn as the Tiger statistician. “The Bible teaches us ‘There’s a time to laugh. There’s a time to cry. There’s a time to dance and a time to be quiet,”’ he said. “Things happen in your life when you go from this stage to this stage to this stage. “I’ve been a teacher. I’ve been a coach. I’ve been a statistician for 45 years. I’ve been married for 50 years and a father for 48 years, and this is my next step.” Prickett’s first game as statistician came in the third game of the 1972 sea son. The Tigers played White County. Both teams had great mnning backs, Prickett said. Commerce’s running back was Ronald “Runt” Moon. “It was an exciting affair, my first game doing stats for Commerce,” Prick ett remembered. Commerce won the game, which turned out to be White County’s only loss that season. It was the first of 530 games Prickett would do for the Tigers. He only missed 12 games in 45 years. After finishing college in 1967 and becoming a teacher in Commerce in 1968, coach Ray Lamb asked Prickett to film the football games, which he did in 1970 and 1971, plus the first two games of the ’72 season. Then, Lamb asked him to do the stats that third game of ’72, the rest was history. “There are certain things that you love in life. Some people like to hunt. Some people like to fish. Some people like to play golf,” Prickett explained. “I play golf and I do stats for Commerce.” See “Prickett” on 4B Living legend Commerce football statistician Jeff Prickett is stepping away after 45 years of keep ing the Tiger stats. In his time, Prickett kept stats at 530 of 542 games. Submitted photo Banks County Basketball Leopards roll past Trojans, 66-55 BY CHARLES PHELPS Darius Bonds scored 12 points in the first quarter against the North Hall Tro jans last Thursday. That scoring explosion helped cat apult the Banks County Leopards to a 22-8 lead, a lead the team never relin quished en route to a 66-55 win. Bonds finished with 16 points. “Darius Bonds played the quarter of his life,” head coach Mike Cleveland said. “I thought he really showed some spark for us.” Kahmal Wiley led the scoring for the Leopards (7-4, 1-0 Region 8-AA) with 17 points. He scored 13 in the first half. Gabe Martin contributed with 11 points. Cleveland said the team did a good job moving the ball. “I thought everybody played well,” he said. “I was really pleased with the team effort. We’re moving the ball. It does find its way back to Kahmal quite often, and it should. He’s our best player. I’m really pleased with this win and with this team. We’ve come a long way from where we started. We’re a totally differ ent team right now.” If there was a downside in a win, Grant Rylee left the game with an appar ent arm injury. He had six points and five rebounds when the injury occurred. “We don’t need to lose anybody right now,” Cleveland said. “The thing is he’s an athlete. He’s very coachable. He’s a ‘yes sir, no sir’ kind of guy; does any thing you ask him to do, from the dirty work to whatever you need. It’s always tough to lose a kid like that. We pray he’s going to have a quick recovery.” The Leopards played what Cleveland called “odd” lineups against the Trojans. The reason — they had to go man-to man on the defensive side, which is something the Leopards seldom do. But the Leopards’ bigger post players helped offensively. “It was good for them to get out there and do that,” Cleveland said. “I thought everybody played hard. That’s a great win for our program. North Hall is a very good team, very-well-coached team, so that’s a good win.” This is the second win over the Tro jans this season. The first came on Nov. 15, a 5145 victory to open the season. The Leopards are also on a four- game winning streak as they head to Florida this week. See “basketball” on 3B Outside shot Banks County’s Gabe Martin had 11 points against the North Hall Trojans last Thursday. Photo by Charles Phelps Phelps o