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— www.MainStreetNewsSports.com — December 18, 2008 The Banks County News Justin Poole, Sports Editor 706-367-2348, direct line 706-387-5418, FAX justin@mainstreetnews.com FOOTBALL Pictured are the 2008 Gridiron Leopards named to the All Region teams. Front row named to team one are Justin Beasley, Tyler Husley and Zach Dale; back row on team two are Billy Pinson and Justin Bowen. Photos by Justin Poole Five Gridiron Leopards make All Region team Out of the ten member schools in region 8-AA, Banks County contributed five players out of the 46 football players that have been named to the 2008 All Region football teams. Banks County’s football team had three members make the cut for the first team and two members make the second team. The Leopards also had nine players included as honor able mentions. Representing Banks County on the first team is Justin Beasley, Zach Dale and Tyler Hulsey. Beasely rushed for 2161 See Football on page 3B 1 ' ‘ ~ ■ J (. _ 1 iy M Li}* Nine Banks County football players were named as honor able mentions for the 2008 8-AA All Region team. Pictured are Kane Duncan, Clay Frink, Demetric Dempson, Matthew Patton, Thomas Baker, Bill Redmon and Nathan Mathis. Not pictured are Nick Sosebee and Lyn Hester. 08-09 HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL BCHS 8-1 for the season, ready for Stephens Co. on Fri. BY JUSTIN POOLE Banks County High School’s men team are giving a pause to their opponents. The Leopards picked up a tour nament win last weekend, fol lowed by an exciting game on Tuesday. The next challenger will be Stephens County in the first round of the Piedmont College Christmas Tournament. Banks heads to Demorest on Friday for the tournament starting at 3 p.m. with the Lady Leopards’ game with the boys game to follow. Habersham County and White County will also compete in the tourney. Prince Avenue In the first round of last week’s tournament, Banks County showed off its new uniforms and took a 62-46 win. Sporting black and blue jerseys Banks County went up against the Brookstone Cougars. Banks won the tip-off and took a 16-11 lead by the end of the quarter. Brookstone did not allow the Leopards to pull too far ahead, remaining within catching distance by the half. Heading into the third quarter, the Leopards were up 29-24 when Brookstone made a run to tie and grab the lead. Banks responded and went neck and neck to end the quarter on a 40 tie. A strong Banks pres ence from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and strong defensive plays allowed Banks to outscore Brookstone 22-6 for a 62-46 win. Kevin Daniel had a good game from the foul line going 6:8, and led the scoring with 16 points. Following closely, Ryan Griffin picked up 14 points including nine off of three-pointers and went 3:5 from the line. Chase Armour picked up 12 while shooting 3:6 free throws. Kasey Hudgins netted 10 points and shot 4:6 on the line. Facing Oglethorpe for the championship, the Leopards played things close to the vest with their five scorers all break ing into double digits. Banks led the game, but the Patriots made it close as the Leopards picked up another tour nament win 67-63. The Leopards were up 29-27 at the half and had picked up 20 points by the end of the third quarter. Heading into the final eight minutes, the Leopards led 49-43. Oglethorpe outscored Banks 20-18 in the final quarter, but it was too little too late for the Patriots as the Leopards held onto the advantage for the four-point win. Griffin picked up 18 points to lead the Leopards just ahead of Kane Duncan picking up 15. Daniel scored 13 points followed by C. Armour with 11 points and Quintin Lovelace picking up 10. From the free-throw line, the team went 21:32. Rabun County After the tournament win at Prince Ave., Banks prepared to face Rabun County. The Leopards hosted Rabun on Tuesday and put on a show. The contest was anyone’s ball- game until the final minutes. Rabun hit the board hard in the first period taking an early 9-2 lead. Banks County rebounded with a vengeance and tied the game 11-11. For the rest of the quarter the two schools swapped baskets to end the quarter 21-21. Coming into the second quar ter hai'd and fast. Banks County led 35-31 with three minutes before the half. Rabun caught the Leopards off a foul and a well shot three-pointer. Banks surged to pull ahead 42-40 to end the half. The Wildcats were the first to score in the third quarter with a field goal to tie 42-42. The Rabun press allowed the Wildcats to start to gain momentum to take the lead about halfway through the quarter. At 2:14 remaining Banks caught up to tie at 52 points. With just under a minute and a half left in the third quarter, the Leopards went up 59-52. Rabun cut the advantage down to four points to end the quarter 59-55. A number of fouls in the fourth quarter ended the game for Rabun. A holding foul coupled with a technical for unsportsmanlike con duct allowed Banks County to leap ahead 64-55. Approaching the final three minutes the Leopards led by 10, 70-60. The Leopards applied the pressure and were up 80-66 with a minute left in the game. Rabun began fouling and Banks stood on the line to take the 86-70 win. The Leopards went 25:35 from the line dui'ing Tuesday’s contest and the boys played one of the best games in high school basket ball. Chase Armour led the scor ing with 28 points just ahead of Ryan Griffin who scored 25. Kane Duncan picked up nine, followed by Kevin Daniel with seven points. Brett Armour and Lyn Hester each scored three field goals. Kasey Hudgins and Quintin Lovelace each picked up points from the foul line. BY JUSTIN POOLE With a 4-6 record heading into the final tournament before Christmas, the Banks County Lady Leopards would like a win for Christmas. If the Lady Leopards can win the Piedmont College Christmas Tournament this weekend, the ladies will have a tied record for the new year. The girls play Stephens County in the first round of the tourney on Friday. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. in Demorest at the Johnny Mize Athletic Center. Last weekend the ladies com peted in the Prince Avenue tour nament facing Brookstone and Prince Avenue. Brookstone In the first round against Brookstone, the Lady Leopards had luck on their side as the girls pushed the game into overtime for a 36-31 win. Coach Jerry King said Banks came out flat early on. “We have to learn to play a full clock game,” said King. By the half, Brookstone led the Lady Leopards 12-8. Going into the fourth quarter, Banks trailed by three 20-17. With 50 seconds left on the clock, Banks County finally caught up to the Lady Cougars to tie 31-31. In overtime, Banks County won the tip. Katlyn Parks drove in for the field goal. Brookstone defeat ed themselves by putting Lacey Saxon and Lauren Kennedy on the free-throw line. Saxon went 1:4 and L. Kennedy went 2:6. Banks advanced to the champion ship round on the 36-31 win. Leading the charge for the Lady Leopards was L. Kennedy scor ing 10 points. Saxon totaled nine points and three steals, while Parks picked up eight points with six rebounds and four blocks to round out the top three scorers. Jessica Grisham, Ashley Morris, Deasha Beasley and Madison Franklin each scored two points. Prince Ave. Advancing to the champion ship round against Prince Avenue, Banks County started weak. See Lady Leopards on page 3B Ryan Griffin (21) heads down the court during the first round of the Prince Avenue Tournament. Griffin has proven to be an asset for the team, especially in Tuesday’s game against Rabun County. Photo by Justin Poole Lady Leopards get lucky in Bogart, look ahead to Piedmont Madison Franklin steals the ball from a Brookstone player during the first round of the Prince Avenue Tournamnet last Friday. Franklin added two points to the Lady Leopards’ 36-31 win over Brookstone. Photo by Justin Poole