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o o 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 22, 2009 www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567 Sports Shorts Arnold, Kilpatrick named Athletes of the Week Madison County High School basketball player Shantydra Arnold and wrestler Michael Kilpatrick were named Athletes of the Week by the school's athletic department for their perfor mances during the week of Jan. 12-17. Arnold scored 16 points in MCHS’s vic tory over Franklin County Saturday. Kilpatrick pinned his opponent in just 43 seconds during Madison County’s win over Hart County. \1 KILPATRICK Wrestling Raiders head south for tourney By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com The Raider wrestlers head down 1-75 for some southern exposure at the Tift County tournament this Saturday. The event features 15 teams, including some big ger schools from the south ern portion of the state. “We get to see some of the Class AAAAA schools out of South Georgia," coach Richie Houston said. Out of the tournament field, Valdosta is "usu ally good,” according to Houston, while Lee tradi tionally dominates Region 1-AAAA. Houston also noted that Cook County is typically tough in Class A A and that host Tift County is enjoying a strong year. The team heads into the event with five wrestlers — Kyle Bates (formerly 140), Chris Savage (formerly 145), Issac Smith (formerly 152) and Tanner Johnson (formerly 160) — dropping down one weight class. “I think it will be better for them individually once we get to (the) area (tourna ment) ... it takes a couple of weeks for them to get accli mated," Houston said. As for the team, Madison County ran its dual record to 22-14 last Tuesday with a 44-24 whipping of Hart County. Cody Phillips (112), Colton Phillips (119), Caleb McCain (125), Michael Kilpatrick (130), Kyle Bates (135), Chris Savage (140), Issac Smith (145), Kyle Gordon (189) and Tyler Adams (215) all collected victories. Kilpatrick now owns the Raiders’ best record at 32-9. Bates falls slightly behind Kilpatrick with a 32-10 mark. Other top records belong to Colton Phillips (28-8), Cody Phillips (27-6), Smith (27-14), Adams (26- 10) and Savage (23-11). The regular season is now almost over for the mat Raiders. After this weekend's tour nament, only a dual match with Habersham Central and a tournament at Oglethorpe County remain on the regu lar season schedule. Honored under the Gold Dome A Georgia State Senate resolution recognizing the Madison County High School softball team for earning the highest GPAin the nation for public schools was read during the state legislative session last week. The resolution was written by Sen. Ralph Hudgens. The team also met Gov. Sonny Perdue. Submitted photo Courtney Freeman guards Clarke Central’s Kalyn Breeding in Madison County’s 59-48 win over the Lady Gladiators Tuesday night. Ben Munro/staff Girls’ Basketball Winning with defense Madison Co. defense stifles Clarke Central in huge victory By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Lady Raider coach Dan Lampe didn’t hesitate when asked what’s sparked his team’s January turn around. “More defense," Lampe said. “It’s been a renewed commitment to defense.” Madison County’s defense harassed defending region champion Clarke Central all over the court Tuesday night in the Lady Raiders’ 59-48 vic tory over their rivals. Madison County (15-5,4-1) forced 31 Lady Gladiator turnovers as it won its fourth-straight game. The Lady Raiders have held oppo nents to less than 50 points in three of their last four games. “It (defense) has been a focus all year long, but I really see it starting to take shape,” Lampe said. MADISON CO. 59, CLARKE CENTRAL 48 CCHS 11 11 13 13 - 48 MCHS 15 10 17 17 — 59 Scorers: C. Freeman 18, Smith 16, Arnold 14, K. Freeman 11 This from a team that endured its most disappointing loss of the season just over a week ago when it fell to Cedar Shoals 61-53 Jan. 9 in Athens. But Lampe said there’s a different feeling collectively among the Lady Raiders since then, and it’s showed with this impressive stretch of basket ball now. “I feel togetherness as a team ... Maybe it’s the pertinence of the time of year,” Lampe said. Madison County proved its mettle over the weekend, rallying from 12 points down in the second half to defeat rival Franklin County, 58-51. Franklin County was Class AAA’s no. 1 team at the time. Though a big win can sometimes leave a team flat for its next outing, the Franklin County victory served as a catalyst for the Clarke Central game, Lampe said. “That was a great game to play before this one,” he said. Madison County took the floor against the Lady Gladiators and immediately turned turnovers into points, taking an early 9-2 lead. “I said if we can be the aggressor, good things can happen,” Lampe said. Madison County finished with 18 steals. The Lady Raiders never relin quished the lead, though Clarke Central trailed by just three at the half, 25-22. Lampe said that the Lady Gladiators’ past success against Madison County might have been going through his team’s head. “I felt at times we were playing the uniform," Lampe said, noting that some of last year’s Lady Gladiator stars are no longer there. But Madison County took over in the fourth quarter, leading comfortably by 13 with just a minute left to play. "I feel we’re finishing games better,” — See “Lady Raiders” on 2B Subvarsity Basketball Thomas stuns Franklin Go. at the buzzer Quinton Thomas banked-in a three-pointer against Franklin County as time expired to lift the junior varsity Raiders to a 67-64 victory Saturday. Madison County had trailed 20-4 at one point. ‘To come back from that against an undefeated Franklin County team was pretty special," coach Bryan Bird said. Madison County (54) was already used to close games, winning its previ ous two in overtime. With his squad trailing Franklin County by seven at halftime, Bird said the team “played as a team more than they had all season," in the final two quarters. Down by five points with five minutes left, Bird said that five differ ent players made plays to rally Madison County to victory. “You could tell how much it meant to our players by the way they reacted to the buzzer- beater,” he said, noting that the 10 th graders had never beaten Franklin County. Terrell McCrary scored 24 points to lead the team. Madison County won a tight one a night earlier, beating Apalachee 45-43. Sam Floyd came off the bench and led the team with 11 points. 7 ill grade girls pull out OT win Madison County Middle School’s seventh grade girls pulled out a 22-17 victory in overtime Saturday. “It took a team effort to win," coach Jackson Russum said. Eighth grade Lady Mustangs come up short The Madison County Middle School eighth grade girls’ team fell 45-35 as a fourth-quarter rally fell short. Madison County cut the lead to five points when Elise Coberly drilled a three-pointer. However, Franklin County pulled away down the stretch. Coberly led MCMS with 11 points and Annabeth Pruett added 10 despite playing sparingly with a severely sprained thumb. Other scorers were Nekeia Brown (six) and Chelsea Ford (seven). Eighth grade boys beat Franklin The MCMS eighth grade boys’ team beat Franklin County (no score available) and now prepares for its final two region games. JV girls continue winning ways The Madison County High School junior varsi ty girls upped their record to 7-2 with victories over Apalachee and Franklin County. The team beat Apalachee 48-16 Friday behind 16 points from Molly Glaze. Glaze then led the team with 14 points the next day as MCHS cruised to a 41-23 victory over Franklin County. “This is a good group of young ladies that work hard and that just go out there and get the job done," coach William Trimier said. Earlier in the week, the junior varsity downed Winder-Barrow 37-29 for its fifth win of the season. Whieldon led the charge with 11 points. Freshman girls bounce back After a close loss to Clarke Central, Madison County’s freshmen girls cruised to a 30-16 victory over Cedar Shoals. The team is now 5-1. Samantha LaZear led the team with 12 points. “They are staying focused and they want to finish the season without losing anymore,” coach William Trimier said. Freshman Raiders split games Madison County’s boys’ freshman team beat Cedar Shoals (38- 28) Thursday but lost to Franklin County (6549) Saturday. Coach Bryan Bird said the freshmen Raiders (54) played defense well against Cedar Shoals, but shot the ball poorly against Franklin County’s zone defense. Boys’ Basketball Tough losses adding up for Raiders Bradley Raines goes up for a blocked shot in Madison County’s overtime loss to Clarke Central. Ben Munro/staff By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Raider coach Steve Crouse wasn't in much of a mood for viewing game film. Especially after his team turned the ball over 25 times in a gut-wrenching 62-61 overtime loss to Clarke Central Tuesday. “It's going to be tough to watch," a dis appointed Crouse said. “I probably won’t do it tonight (Tuesday).” Madison County (7-11, 1-4) suffered its second-straight down-to-the-wire loss at home, falling to the Gladiators by a point after losing to Apalachee, 54-52, on Friday. Sandwiched in between that was a 68-39 non-region loss to Franklin County Saturday. Reterrium Davis banked-in an improb able three-point shot at the end of regula tion against Clarke Central, but Madison County couldn't hold onto a lead in over time as it lost its fourth-straight game. The Raiders have certainly proved they’re competitive, Crouse said. Now it’s CLARKE CENTRAL 62, MADISON CO. 61 OT CCHS 12 14 9 17(10) —62 MCHS 10 8 16 18 (9) — 61 Scorers: McCrary 15, Fleming 11, Davis 10, Raines 8, Griffeth 5, McGuire 6, Smith 4 time to start finishing out these games. “We’re hanging in there with everyone in our region," Crouse said. “We’ve got to find a way to win a couple.” When the coach looked at the final stat sheet, the 25 turnovers told the story. “Turnovers will kill you,” he said. Patrick McCrary led Madison County with 15 points. Seth Fleming added 11 with three three-pointers, all of which came in the second half. Davis finished with 10. Madison County must now turn its attention to the second half of the sub- region schedule, starting with a Friday home matchup with Habersham Central. The challenge is to maintain team morale after the cumulative effect of two subre gion losses by a total of three points. “I know our kids are frustrated,” Crouse said. Madison County trailed much of the night against Clarke Central and fell behind by as much as 10 in the third quarter before whittling the Gladiators" lead away. "I’m proud of my guys" effort,” Crouse said. "I’m proud of how they battled to put us in position.” The teams traded leads in the fourth quarter, but Madison County trailed 5249 with six seconds left and Patrick McCrary at the free throw line. McCrary missed both shots, but Madison County scrambled for a rebound and called timeout. With their last gasp, the Raiders inbounded the ball from underneath their own basket to Davis, who caught the ball near half court, — See “Raiders” on 2B