Newspaper Page Text
Section
b
January 23, 2008
The Banks County News
Sports Editor: Chris Bridges
Contact: 706-367-2745
www.mainstreetnews.com
High School Wrestling
BCHS prepares for stretch run
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County High School Mat
Leopards did not compete in a match last
week and that’s probably a good thing.
Coach Kasey Hanley’s team has several
members battling various injuries and the
off time from competition gave the Mat
Leopards a chance to rest and heal. While
BCHS did not compete in any matches
(a scheduled trip to Winder-Barrow High
School last Wednesday was cancelled
because of round one of bad weather),
Hanley’s grapplers did get in some on-the-
mat practice time.
“We’ve had some time
to heal up,” Hanley said
Sunday. “We have some
people we will be glad to
get back in the lineup.”
BCHS was scheduled
to return to action with
a home meet Tuesday
against Clarke Central
and Towns County. The
Mat Leopards will com
pete at Blessed Trinity
High School in Roswell
this weekend at the Titan Cup.
Following the recent fourth-place show
ing at the team area duals, BCHS has
several wrestlers who continue to compile
impressive campaigns. Overall, Hanley’s
team has posted 23 wins.
Individually, both An Pham (130) and
Demetric Dempson (160) have already
eclipsed the 30-win total. Hanley has also
been pleased with the efforts of Nathan
Ward (125) Nathan Holloway (135),
Jeremy Greenway (140), Wesley Angel
(145), Paul Newell (152), Jarod Gregory
(171), Matthew Patton (171) and Bobby
Hewell (189).
Up Next:
WHAT:
BCHS at Titan Cup
WHERE:
Blessed Trin
ity High School in
Roswell
When:
Friday through
Saturday
MAT TIME
Banks County High School's C.J. Pilcher competes in a 112-pound match during
a recent competition. Photo by Randy Crump
BCHS Basketball: Subregion Battles
King's strategy keeps
Lady Leopards close
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
J erry King knew a little coaching strategy was
in order.
The Banks County High School Lady
Leopards’ mentor looked for ways for his team to
have the best chance to compete against the Fannin
County High School Lady Rebels. King decided
a solid strategy would be to slow the tempo of the
game down, in effect using a stall offense which
would shorten the game.
As it turned out, King’s strategy was effective as
BCHS surprised Fannin County with its gameplan.
However, in the end the visiting Lady Rebels were
able to hold on for a 41-27 subregion win.
“When you play someone who’s scoring points
the way Fannin County had been, then you try to
shorten the game,” the BCHS coach said. “In the
first half it worked . ‘...We frustrated them in
The Lady Leopards
the first half.
trailed just 14-10 at
halftime and could BCHS coach
have perhaps been in Jerry King
the lead if it were not
for some missed layups and missed opportunities at
the free throw line.
Fannin County seemed to adjust to the delay
scheme better in the second half although it still
only led 25-17 after the third quarter. A basket
by Lauren Kennedy pulled the Lady Leopards to
within 25-19 with 6:51 left in the contest.
“We began turning the basketball over some in
the second half and they started making some big
baskets,” King said. “We had to run more of our
regular offense and that allowed them to get back
into their normal game. I do think we frustrated
them in the first half. They are a good team. I felt
we had to do something to compensate for that.”
In the first half, the Lady Leopards trailed 8-3
after the first quarter but outscored Fannin County
7-6 in the second to trail by just four at halftime.
Fannin County outscored BCHS 11-7 in the third
quarter and 16-10 in the game’s final eight minutes
for the 14-point victory.
Lauren Kennedy led the Lady Leopards with
eight points while Andrea Hunter, Erika Evans and
Allison White each scored four points.
See BCHS Girls on page 3B
DELAY TACTICS
Banks County High School guard Erika Evans helped run a stall offense for the Lady Leopards last Friday against
subregion foe Fannin County. Coach Jerry King felt slowing the tempo would allow his squad a better chance to
compete with Fannin. Photos by Randy Crump/Rudeseal Photography
Undefeated
Fannin holds
off Leopards
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Mike Ruth took some positives
and some negatives from his team’s
game against undefeated Fannin
County High School last Friday.
One positive was the overall effort
shown by the Leopards in the set
back. Another was standout perfor
mances from Justin Beasley, Kane
Duncan and Chase Armour.
On the negative side of the col
umn were some ill-advised attempts
from the floor
BCHS @
Union
County,
Friday, 7 p.m.
which helped the
visiting Rebels
move far enough
in front to build
a comfortable
advantage.
“We tried early
to be patient on offense and look for
only layups or wide-open 3-point
ers,” Ruth said. “We wanted to cut
down on our bad looks. However, it
also got us out of our normal offen
sive routine so we called timeout and
went back to our running game.”
See BCHS Boys on page 3B
JUSTIN GIBBS
Time for BCHS, Commerce athletic rivalry to end—at least for now
T here’s nothing like a good, old-
fashioned high school sports rivalry.
Nothing can bring out the enthu
siasm of the student-athletes and fans like
the before mentioned rivalry. Regardless of
the sport, there’s something special about
playing the team from a few miles away.
It’s our town against your town. Our kids
against your kids. Our school against your
school.
It’s community pride on display and
community pride being defended. It’s gen
erations of fans being at the local football
field, basketball gym or baseball diamond
to see what the next chapter of the rivalry
will bring. That’s what Banks County High
School and Commerce High School have
enjoyed for many years. It’s been going on
long before I arrived on the scene. I admit
I’ve enjoyed being a part of it, even as a
spectator there to record what happens, in
recent years.
The BCHS-Commerce rivalry is good for
many reasons. With the schools only a few
miles apart many of the students know each
other. That adds to the intensity of the series.
Plus, in the economic world of high school
athletics, it is beneficial — for both schools
— to compete because the revenue gener
ated helps the respective schools’ overall
athletic budget.
With all that being said, I hate to say it,
but the time has come to put an end to this
rivalry, at least for a little while. You see,
Banks County High School is not being
treated with the respect it deserves from its
counterparts at Commerce High School and
it should not be tolerated.
Several weeks ago, Leopard head football
coach Blair Armstrong began ironing out
the details of the BCHS football schedule
for the next two years. High school football
schedules are done on a two-year basis with
only the game locations changed from year
one to year two of the two-year scheduled.
As coaches began working on their new
schedules, a verbal agreement was reached
between BCHS and Commerce to play in
the season opener. Admittedly, no contract
was signed. In fact, schedules would not be
official for several more weeks when they
received the official stamp of approval from
the Georgia High School Association.
However, a “gentlemen’s agreement” was
reached between the two coaches. In the
following weeks, several coaches contacted
First
&
Ten
★ ★ ★
chris@mainstreetnews.com
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Armstrong about playing, but the Leopard
coach told each one the schedule was
already full. No open dates were available.
When it came time to fill in the dates
on the schedule in pen rather than pencil,
Commerce suddenly decided to back out.
It seems athletic and schools officials at
the nearby school wanted to play Jefferson
instead. Granted, Commerce and Jefferson
have a long history of competing. I’m not
going to argue that. However, when you
give your word — even if it is not backed
up with a signed contract — then it should
mean something.
With Commerce now not wanting to play
BCHS in the season opener, some attempts
were made to play the game later in the sea
son. However, with the Leopards faced with
a likely nine-game region schedule, it was
going to be difficult. Other schools would
have to get involved to move games around.
In the end, it simply didn’t work.
The backing out by Commerce has upset
many BCHS fans, players and school offi
cials alike. Not only will BCHS not play
Commerce in varsity football next fall, no
junior varsity games will be played.
Other coaches at BCHS have told me
they will also not schedule Commerce. One
coach told me Banks County High School is
not a second class citizen when compared to
Commerce and it should not tolerate being
treated like one.
Some coaches I have spoken with would
like to still play Commerce and beat the
school’s teams on the field, sending a mes
sage that way. While I understand this senti
ment as well, I think the series should be
stopped for at least the next two years.
BCHS should not be at the beck and call
of Commerce High School. I still wonder
what the real motivation was for Commerce
backing out the game with the Leopards on
the gridiron for the next two years. Could it
be BCHS is finally getting on an even play
ing field and Commerce officials wanted to
get out while the getting was good?
Art Wheaton, principal at BCHS, said he
will leave it up to the individual coaches
in deciding if they play Commerce or not
although he said it would be fine with him if
the rivalry stops.
When a school does not stand by its
word, as Commerce didn’t do in this case,
then it’s time to build new rivalries. Both
East Jackson High School and Jefferson
High School will be members of the same
region with BCHS for the next two years.
The closeness of these schools would make
for natural rivals as much as Commerce.
Let Commerce officials think about what
they have done. Let them think about the
lost revenue in having the series end. Let
Commerce officials realize Banks County
High School does not have to play second
fiddle to them or anyone for that matter.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of The
Banks County News. Contact him at
706-367-2745 or e-mail comments about
this column to chris@mainstreetnews.com.