Newspaper Page Text
The Madison County Journal
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Little League signups ahead
Madison County Little League will hold
registration Jan. 31 and Feb. 7
with some changes this year. wA »■
Thursday, January 15, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
Sports Shorts
Freeman,
Phillips named
MCHS Athletes
of the Week
Madison County High
School basketball player
Courtney Freeman and
wrestler Cody Phillips were
both named Athletes of the
Week by the school’s athlet
ic depart
ment.
Freeman
earned the
honor by
scoring
30 points
and grab
bing 12
rebounds
in Madison
County’s
61-53 loss
to Cedar
Shoals Jan.
9.
Phillips
actually
gained his
accolade for his perfor
mance over the winter
break, going 9-1 in the
Cherokee (N.C.) Duals in
the 112-lb. weight class.
FREEMAN
PHILLIPS
Subvarsity Basketball
Freshmen
boys enjoy
3-0 week
The Madison County
boys’ freshmen team went
unscathed last week, beating
North Oconee last Monday,
East Jackson last Thursday
and Clarke Central on
Saturday.
Madison County routed
both North Oconee (44-31)
and East Jackson (50-32),
but had to pull a close one
out against Clarke Central
(65-64). The Raider fresh
men jumped on both North
Oconee and East Jackson
early to earn those easy
wins. In the victory over
East Jackson, Madison
County carried a 28-7 edge
into the locker room.
“Our defense and rebound
ing is what keyed those early
runs,” coach Bryan Bird
said.
In the win over Clarke
Central, Madison County
started with a 10-0 run and
took a 15-point edge into
halftime. However, things
tightened in the second half
as Madison County clung to
a 65-64 lead without the ball
with just 10 seconds left.
However, the freshmen
Raiders’ Trey Adams drew a
charge and Madison County
was able to run out the clock
from there,
“Hopefully, we will be
able to learn from that game
how to protect a lead a little
bit better,” Bird said.
Seventh grade boys
lose to Franklin,
beat Hart County
The Madison County
Middle School seventh
grade boys lost to Franklin
County (35-20) Friday and
beat Hart County (38-34)
Saturday.
“The improvement that
the boys have been making
throughout the season is
finally starting to come to
fruition in games,” coach
Nathan Myers said. “Let’s
just hope that we can keep
it going throughout the rest
of the season.”
Myers noted that his team
was a little rusty coming
off Christmas break against
Franklin County.
He pointed to the efforts
See Subvarsity on 2B
Boys Basketball
Coach says Raiders’ effort must improve
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County’s usual culprits
— turnovers, missed free throws
and surrendering offensive boards
— weren't the overriding factor in
the Raiders’ 69-57 loss to Winder-
Barrow Tuesday.
“It was a lack of effort on our part,”
coach Steve Crouse said.
The coach has been preaching
strong practice habits all year, but
said his team suffered through a poor
practice heading into the Winder-
Barrow game.
WINDER-BARROW 69,
MADISON CO. 57
MCHS 9 9 10 29 — 57
WBHS 23 10 14 22 — 69
Leading scorers: Morris 19,
Fleming 10, McCrary 8, Davis 6,
Smith 6, McGuire 4
“We’re not good enough to just
show up and beat people,” Crouse
said. “We are good enough to beat
people if we work hard every time
we come into the gym. Hey, nobody
likes to practice, but the great teams
embrace it.”
With three tough games ahead,
Madison County (7-9, 1-2) will refo
cus on preparation.
The Raiders face Apalachee Friday
at home, Franklin County Saturday
on the road and Clarke Central at
home Tuesday.
“We are still capable of beating
people,” Crouse said. “We can’t let
them have their best night and (us
have) our worst night.”
In the loss to Winder-Barrow,
Madison County watched the
Bulldoggs drill 5-of-9 three-point
See Raiders on 3B
Senior Ben Morris drilled six consecutive
three-pointers and scored 19 points Tuesday
against Winder-Barrow. Ben Munro/staff
Girls’ Basketball
MCHS
sharpens
its play
Reduced turnovers
key in subregion win
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The Madison County girls’ basketball team
answered a turnover-filled loss to Cedar Shoals
by going back to the basics.
The result was a 55-39 rout of Winder-
Barrow Tuesday night.
"We took care of the basketball, which was
the key from what’s been happening in the
past,” coach Dan Lampe said.
Madison County committed 32 turnovers
against the Lady Jaguars Friday but just 14
against the Lady Bulldoggs.
"We looked like we had played before, I
guess,” Lampe said of the win.
The Lady Raiders — who return to the court
Friday against Apalachee — now enter a tough
stretch of games, including a Saturday non
region rematch with a hot-shooting Franklin
County club and a much-anticipated subregion
showdown with Clarke Central, the defending
region champions, Tuesday.
Lampe said the Lady Gladiators' pressure
defense can give a team fits.
"Our new focus has been really to take care
of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the
ball,” Lampe said. “We’ll see how that works
against Clarke Central.”
In Tuesday’s win, Courtney Freeman scored
25 points and Kayla Freeman and Shantrydra
Arnold both added 12 as the Lady Raiders (12-
5, 2-1) got back on track in subregion play.
Lampe noted the efforts of Arnold, a
guard, who contributed a double-digit scor
ing game after Madison County’s backcourt
was held to a collective eight points against
See Lady Raiders on 3B
MADISON CO. 55,
CEDAR SHOALS 39
MCHS 11 16 14 14 — 55
WBHS 10 7 7 15 — 39
Shantydra Arnold scored 12 points Tuesday night to help lift Madison County to a 55-39 victory Scorers: C. Freeman 25, K. Freeman 12,
over Winder-Barrow. Ben Munro/staff Arnold 12, LaZear 6
Wrestling
Raiders break even at 8-AAAA duals
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County (21-14) went 2-2 in the
8-AAAA duals, failing to qualify for this week
end’s state duals in Macon.
The Raiders earned lopsided wins over Cedar
Shoals (72-12) and Monroe Area (72-10) but lost
to Heritage (42-19) and Apalachee (47-35).
"We are three weeks away from area individual
s and hope to see some kids starting to peek at our
next two individual tournaments," coach Richie
Houston said.
The team has the Tift County tournament
and the Patriot Classic coming up before the
8-AAAA individual tournament in February.
"Both are individual tournaments and I hope help
us get ready for a big area tournament,” Houston
said.
The top four in each weight class at the area
duals advance to the state sectionals in Brunswick
hosted by Glynn Academy High School.
As for the area duals, Colton Phillips (119),
Issac Smith (145) and Tyler Adams (215) all went
4-0 on the day.
Tanner Johnson (152), Michael Kilpatrick (130)
and Chris Savage (140) went 3-1.
Madison County wrestled Tuesday against Hart
County — results weren’t available at press time
— and will have this weekend off due to the state
duals. The Raiders resume their schedule Jan. 20
against Winder-Barrow, Heritage and Oglethorpe
County.
LAST TUESDAY
Madison County took a couple on the chin Jan.
6 in losses to Jackson County (50-15) and North
Oconee (45-18).
“We just plain out got beat,” Houston said. "We
brought a knife to a gun fight as the old saying
goes.”
Cody Phillips wrestles his opponent to the ground over the week
end at the area duals. Lyn Sengupta/MainStreet Newspapers
o
o