Newspaper Page Text
January 30, 2008
Section
b
The Banks County News
Sports Editor: Chris Bridges
Contact: 706-367-2745
www.mainstreetnews.com
First
&
Ten
★ ★ ★
chris@mainstreetnews.com
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Trying again:
Hoping Falcons
can get it right
I t’s tough being an Atlanta
Falcon fan.
Heck, sometimes it’s even
tough admitting that you are one.
I’ve been one for as long as
I’ve known what a football is.
I’ve seen coaches come and go.
I’ve seen players come and go.
I’ve had my hopes raised and my
hopes dashed more times than I
care to recall with this franchise.
Some would wonder why I con
tinue to bother. The only thing I
offer in response is that I am hop
ing one day it will all be worth
it. Maybe I’m delusional, but I’m
one of those who always believes
as long as there’s next season,
there’s hope.
Such is the case with the recent
hiring of new Atlanta Falcons
head coach Mike Smith. While
only the most die-hard of NFL
fans could have told you who
Smith was (I knew who he was,
but couldn’t have told you that
much about him) lead Falcon
Arthur Blank decided he was the
right man to guide the franchise
during what has to be its darkest
hour (and that is saying some
thing).
Smith’s area of knowledge is on
the defensive side of the football
and with the Falcons’ new general
manager arriving from the New
England Patriots’ camp, I guess
going with a defensive mind is not
that surprising. Smith is a low-key
coach which is actually something
the franchise just might need right
now.
After the disasters which were
Bobby Petrino and Jim Mora,
Atlanta desperately needed to get
this one right. Only time will tell
if they have. One thing I can say
with a pretty good level of cer
tainty is that Smith will not leave
13 games into his first year on the
job for a college head coaching
stint.
In the first few days since his
hiring, Smith has already begun
assembling a quality coaching
staff. One of the best moves was
bringing Brian Van Gorder back
into the fold as defensive coordi
nator after he had initially left to
work for the Old Ball Coach up
South Carolina way. Van Gorder
worked with Smith in Jacksonville
during the 2005 season after he
left the University of Georgia.
The Smith hiring will be an
important one for Blank in many
ways. To me, he has already made
three mistakes in the coaching
department. In addition to the
hires of Petrino and Mora, he
fired Dan Reeves which was a
huge mistake.
Also, remember Blank tied the
Falcon wagon to Michael Vick
which turned out to be his big
gest blunder of all. (I still can’t
get the image out of my mind of
Blank pushing Vick around in that
wheelchair.) Blank may have been
successful at Home Depot, but
NFL teams aren’t built with ham
mers and nails.
Still, the optimist in me says
things are going to turn around for
the Falcons this time. A new head
coach is here (finally) and now
we can start looking forward to
the 2008 season. Yeah, I know I’m
looking on the brighter side, but
to stay a fan of this organization
for as long as I have, you have to.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of
The Banks County News. Contact
him at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail
at chris@mainstreetnews.com.
Tuesday Night Basketball
Lady Leopards just miss recording first subregion win
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County High School Lady
Leopards had victory within their grasp
Tuesday night.
Coach Jerry King’s squad gave visiting
Rabun County all it could handle and was on
the verge of recording its first subregion win
of 2007-08 before the Lady Wildcats rallied
late for a 53-48 victory. The loss was a tough
one to take for the BCHS girls, who gained the
lead less than two minutes into the second half
and held it until the 3:35 mark of the fourth
quarter.
Throughout the second half, King’s team led
by as many as five points but could not manage
to pull far enough away to secure the win.
The loss overshadowed a standout effort
from senior Andrea Hunter who finished
with a team-high 17 points Tuesday night.
Teammate Lauren Kennedy added 11 points
in the contest.
BCHS fell behind early in the game but took
its first lead at the 5:54 mark of the second
quarter on a basket by Samm Kennedy. Rabun
County would eventually take a 27-25 lead
into halftime.
A free throw by Hunter and a basket from
Lauren Kennedy at the start of the third quar
ter gave the lead back to the Lady Leopards
who would hold it until more than midway
through the game’s final eight minutes.
“The girls played as hard as they have all
year,” King said. “We are still learning to fin
ish off a team for a win. I think we are getting
better and hopefully will peak at tournament
time.”
The BCHS boys fell to Rabun County
Tuesday 89-71 as coach Mike Ruth continues
to deal with his team’s growing pains. The
majority of the roster is underclassmen with
several sophomores playing significant min
utes for the Leopards this season.
At times, that level of youth and overall inex
perience at the varsity level made it difficult to
matchup with the more experienced subregion
foes. Ryan Griffin and Dustin Worley led
BCHS with 12 points Tuesday night while
Kane Duncan and Chase Armour both finished
with 11 points.
BCHS played better the second time against
Rabun this season trailing just 21-19 after the
first quarter and 42-33 at halftime.
BCHS Basketball: Sweeping An Old Rival
BCHS Leopards
take sweep of
rival Tigers
for season
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
W ith questions surrounding the imme
diate future of the Banks County
High School-Commerce High
School athletic rivalry, the BCHS varsity boys
basketball team put an exclamation point on the
2007-08 series with a 68-51 home win Saturday.
Overcoming a sluggish start to the contest, the
Leopards broke out of their haze in the second
half to send Commerce home with a loss. Coach
Mike Ruth’s team went on a 23-9 run in the third
quarter and outscored the visiting Tigers in the
fourth quarter as well en route to the 17-point
win.
Things didn’t start out well for BCHS on
Saturday, however. Coming off a tough loss to
Union County in subregion action the previous
night, the Leopards seemed to be sleepwalking
through the first two quarters against Commerce
trailing 25-24 at halftime.
That’s when Ruth and the players had a heart-
to-heart talk at halftime.
“We came out and looked completey different
in the second half,” the long-time Leopard men
tor said. “We forced 22 turnovers and ran it well
up and
down the
court. We
improved
our shoot
ing dras
tically in the second half and took them com
pletely out of their game. We took being down
to Commerce at halftime as a slap in the face. It
was a much-needed win for us.”
Ruth said he understands the meaning of the
BCHS-Commerce rivalry and said Saturday’s
win will give fans something to brag about at
local eateries like The Leopard and Tiny Town.
“It was big for us, especially since we might
not be playing for a while,” the coach said.
Ryan Griffin finished the game with 18 points,
including three baskets from 3-point range.
Senior Dustin Worley added 14 points while
Kevin Daniel scored seven, despite playing with
an ankle injury suffered during pre-game
warmups. Point guard Kane Duncan also had a
key performance with eight points, 10 assists and
only three turnovers, something Ruth said is key
for that position.
See BCHS Boys on page 3B
For The Season:
•Nov. 30, BCHS 48, Commerce 34
•Jan. 26, BCHS 68, Commerce 51
FLYING HIGH
Banks County High School sophomore Chase Armour goes for two points against
rival Commerce High School Saturday. The Leopards recorded a season sweep of the
Tigers. Photos by Randy Crump/Rudeseal Photo
“ We came out and looked completely different in the second half. We forced 22 turnovers and ran it well
up and down the court. We improved our shooting drastically in the second half and took them completely
out of their game..."
— Mike Ruth, BCHS varsity boys basketball coach
Kennedy leads
BCHS to home
win Saturday
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County High School
Lady Leopards stepped out of sub
region play one final time Saturday
and put one in the win column.
Coach Jerry King’s squad defeated
rival Commerce High School 61-50,
registering its third win this sea
son against the Lady Tigers. Lauren
Kennedy turned in a strong perfor
mance with 19 points against visit
ing Commerce.
“We had two strong quarters in
the game,” King said. “We have
been working
BCHS @ East
Jackson High
School,
Friday, 7 p.m.
on trying to play
well for the entire
game. I thought
we had two solid
quarters against
Commerce.”
BCHS trailed 9-6 after the first
quarter but rallied for a big second
stanza outscoring the Lady Tigers
23-10. The Lady Leopards con
tinued to play well in the second
outscoring Commerce 14-10 in the
third quarter.
The win was a result of a balanced
scoring effort as BCHS had three
players in double figures. In addition
to Kennedy’s standout performance,
Lacey Saxon finished with 14 points
while Jessica Grisham added 10.
Freshman Erika Evans added seven
points while senior Andrea Hunter
contributed six points. Lindsey
McDuffie finished with three.
See BCHS girls on page 3B
JESSICA GRISHAM
Middle School Basketball
Banks County Middle School hosting annual tournament this week
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
It’s tournament time at Banks
County Middle School.
The annual Leopard Invitational
began Monday and will continue
Saturday when the third place and
championship contests are held.
Five boys and girls teams are com
peting in this year’s event including
BCMS, Lakeview, Rabun County,
Towns County and Commerce.
The tournament began Monday
with games between the No. 4 and
No. 5 seeds.
On the boys side of the bracket,
Lakeview is the No. 1 seed followed
by BCMS, Rabun County, Towns
County and Commerce.
In the girls tournament, BCMS
is the top team followed by Towns
County, Rabun Gap, Lakeview and
Commerce.
The BCMS boys, coached by John
Bertrang, were scheduled to begin
play Tuesday against Rabun Gap.
Coach Steven Shedd’s BCMS
Lady Leopards received a bye until
Thursday when they will face the
winner of the Commerce-Lakeview
contest.
Games will continue at 4:30 and
5:45 p.m. Friday with a full slate of
contests also scheduled for Saturday
at BCMS.
The conso
lation games
will be at 11
a.m. and 12:15
p.m. Saturday
followed by
the girls championship at 1:30 p.m.
and the boys title game at 2:45 p.m.
First, second and third place tro
phies will be awarded. Each team
Inside:
•BCMS teams close
out regular season
against Lakeview.
— Page 2B
in the tournament will have a MVP
announced with those players receiv
ing a plaque.
Once a team loses a game, it will
not be able to play its way back into
the championship contest.
The best a team would be able to
do at that point is to compete in the
Leopard Invitational for third place,
tournament officials said earlier this
week.