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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2016
Wrestling ... Cont. from IB
“We still felt like we
should’ve won the dual
match,” Love said. “Just
felt like there were certain
areas that we need to work
harder on and be more
intentional on coming off
the mat.
“They (Archer) rode us a
little more than they should
have but that’s to their cred
it. They’re a good team.
They’ve won the Class 6A
state championship the last
few years. They just out-
wrestled us.”
This weekend, the team
travels to Rochester, Minn.,
to compete in The Clash.
Love said the team won’t
forget about the Archer
match. Instead, it will use
it to get better as the Tigers
head into a national com
petition against teams from
California and other states.
Love said several teams
competing have half of their
lineups ranked nationally
in high-school wrestling.
“It’s definitely the tough
est tournament that any
Commerce wrestler has
ever been involved with,”
Love said. “It’s just a tes
tament to the guys that we
have right now to get an
invite like this. We’re going
to go compete and see
what happens.”
Love adds that if the
team finishes in the middle
of the pack, that’s a “great”
showing, considering the
competition it will face.
“We’re a small Class A
team in Georgia and we’re
competing against some of
the best teams from across
the country,” Love said.
By the same token, Love
knows his group isn’t satis
fied with just being invited.
“We want to show that we
belong and show there’s a
reason why we were invit
ed,” he said. “You’ve got
to believe that we belong
there just like the rest of
them and see what hap
pens.”
He also wants to come
out healthy, as upon return
ing to Commerce, the
Tigers will compete in the
Area Duals.
Determination
Commerce’s Tucker Flint tries for a pin against his Archer opponent during
the 126-pound match at last Thursday’s Kyle Maynard Duals. Flint suffered a
bloodied nose during the match. He won the match. Photos by Charles Phelps
Taking control
Commerce’s Mitchell Patton takes control from the top position against his Archer
opponent at last Thursday’s Kyle Maynard Duals. Patton won the 182-pound match with
a pin in the first round.
Coaching from the mat
Commerce head coach Kendall Love looks on during a match
against Archer at the Kyle Maynard Duals. The Tigers finished third
in last Thursday’s event.
Banks County Girls' Basketball
Lady Leopards fall in overtime against North Hall
Big fourth quarter
Banks County’s Taylor Parson hits a fourth-quarter layup against the
North Hall Lady Trojans last Thursday. Parson had 15 points in the game,
11 of them in the fourth quarter, including eight straight at one point.
Photo by Charles Phelps
BY CHARLES PHELPS
The Banks County girls’ basketball team
found itself up eight points with under three
minutes left against the North Hall Lady
Trojans last Thursday.
From the first basket, the Lady Leopards
were in firm command. They never trailed
at any point in the game. A potential wire-
to-wire win was within reach. But a lot can
happen in under three minutes, and the
Lady Leopards found that out.
The Lady Trojans erased a 46-38 lead by
going on a 10-1 run in less than two min
utes, pushing the game to overtime. And for
the first time this season, the Lady Leopards
(7-4, 1-0 Region 8-AA) lost an overtime
game, as the Lady Trojans won 57-54.
Jaycie Bowen led the Lady Leopards
with 16 points, 10 of which came in the first
half. Taylor Parson followed Bowen with 15
points. Parson led the Lady Leopards in the
fourth quarter, scoring 11 points, includ
ing three free throws down the stretch, to
help send the game into overtime. Maddie
Thomas contributed nine points, including
four of the team’s five overtime points.
“We felt good at halftime,” head coach
Steven Shedd said. The Lady Leopards
led at halftime 27-23. “We felt like we were
in control of the game. We felt like, really,
it hasn’t happened very often this season
where we felt like we had played a com
plete first half. We felt like we had played
a complete first half. We felt good. Tried to
tell girls, ‘Let’s not panic. We have control
of the game.’”
Shedd credited the Lady Trojans with
changing things up defensively, because
what was working in the first half didn’t
work as well in the second half. He also
credited them with their speed and outside
shooting. He called them a “matchup prob
lem” for his team.
“I really think it was all their heads, real
ly,” Shedd said.
With the time winding down in a tight
game, Shedd felt the team started playing
not to lose instead of playing to win.
He added that too many turnovers, miss
ing key shots and fouling the wrong players
down the stretch contributed to the loss.
“It’s one of those situations where I told
the girls, ‘Listen, this is a team loss. We’ll
take a team win and we’ll take a team loss,’”
Shedd said. “’It’s no one person’s fault.
This is a team loss.’”
The Lady Leopards jumped out to a
13-10 lead after the first quarter. Six players
scored in the opening quarter: Bowen,
Thomas, Parson, Gabby Kennedy, Melinda
Garrison and Amber Williams.
The Lady Leopards’ lead extended in the
second quarter to as much as seven points,
and the team led 27-23 at halftime.
The game tightened in the third quarter
as the Lady Trojans used an 8-3 run to cut
the Lady Leopards’ lead to 34-33 entering
the fourth.
As quickly as the game tightened, it quick
ly went back to the Lady Leopards in com
mand, spurred by a 12-5 run to open the
final quarter. The Lady Trojans answered
with a 7-1 run to cut the lead to two points,
47-45. The Lady Trojans took their first lead
with 1:09 left in the game, hitting a 3-pointer
to take a 48-47 lead.
Five seconds later, Parson put the Lady
Leopards back ahead at 49-48, hitting two
free throws. The Lady Trojans hit one free
throw down the stretch to tie the game and
send it to overtime at 49-49.
In overtime, the Lady Trojans outscored
the Lady Leopards 8-5. The Lady Leopards
trailed by one point with 15.4 seconds left,
but the Lady Trojans hit two free throws to
set the lead at three points. A final 3-point
attempt by Thomas missed to end the
game.
Despite the loss, Shedd is still encour
aged by what he saw from his team, which
is down two key players as it nears region
play.
“There were a lot of good things that
happened out there today,” he said. “Even
though, sometimes, it’s easy to dwell on the
bad, and some of the things we did wrong
at the end, but there were a lot of good
things that happened in the game today. A
lot of things that weren’t going on that we
feel like now we can be encouraged by. Try
not to focus on the negative completely. It
was really all good until the last 2:30 of the
game.”
The team picked up a 45-41 win last
Wednesday over Apalachee.
Banks County travels to Marianna, Fla.,
this week to play against Graceville and
Marianna.
