Newspaper Page Text
THE MADISON COUNTY (GA1 JOURNAL. THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 12, 2009 — PAGE 3B
Weekend in review
Tense game yields title
Madison County coach Dan Lampe said Shantrydra
Arnold helped change the momentum in the Lady Raiders’
win over Clarke Central Friday. Ben Munro/Staff
Soccer
Preview 2009: Raiders looking to win the close ones
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
MCHS rallies past
Clarke Central for
subregion crown
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
ATHENS — It wouldn’t
be a subregion championship
without drama, would it?
Madison County certainly
supplied that — a little more
than coach Dan Lampe would
have liked — in dethroning
defending champion Clarke
Central with a 55-51 win
Friday in Athens.
“I don't feel like we played
our ‘A’ game ... But it's good
to get an ugly win every now
and then against a top team
like Clarke at Clarke," Lampe
said.
The Lady Raiders rallied
from a six-point deficit in the
fourth quarter to earn the no. 1
seed heading into this week’s
region tournament.
Madison County held Clarke
Central to just one point in the
last 4:12.
Down 53-51 with 14.4
seconds left, Clarke Central
had a chance to tie the game
or take a lead. However,
Madison County forced a five-
second violation as the Lady
Gladiators failed to inbound
the ball.
Clarke Central fouled
Lauren Smith seconds later,
and she canned two clutch free
throws to seal the victory.
The Lady Raiders won
despite their best player being
plagued with foul trouble.
Courtney Freeman picked
up her fourth foul with 5:30
left in the third quarter and sat
for the rest of the period. She
finished with 10 points.
The senior played only two-
and-a-half quarters.
“I can’t remember the last
time we had to worry about
Courtney in foul trouble,"
Lampe said. “It may go way
back.”
But others stepped up.
Kayla Freeman scored 18
points to lead the team, while
Smith bolstered Madison
County with three three-point
ers and 17 points.
Shantydra Arnold added
eight, hitting four clutch free
throws in the second half.
“She took us to the rim hard,
got us to the foul line twice
and hit all four shots,” Lampe
said. “That really turned
it right there. She was the
momentum changer with just
those two drives."
Kayla Freeman scored 14 of
her 18 points in the first half
as Madison County held a
commanding 32-24 advantage
at intermission.
But the lead disintegrated in
the third quarter.
Clarke Central held Madison
County without a point for the
first 4:40 and limited the Lady
Raiders to just four points the
entire period.
“I think we played a little
tight,” Lampe said.
A subregion title appeared in
jeopardy in the fourth quarter
when Madison County trailed
50-44 with 4:21 left.
But the Lady Raiders scored
nine straight points to take a
53-50 lead with 44 seconds
left.
Following a winless 2007 cam
paign. Madison County's boys'
soccer team won six times last
year.
It should have been more, says
coach Trevor Mangan.
“We should have won sev
eral close games last year, so
we'd like to get better at finish
ing games when we have the
chance,” he said. “We’re mainly
looking to better our win total
from last year.”
The Raiders, 6-10 last year,
started that mission Tuesday
night at Eastside in the season
opener (The team lost 6-2; see
next week’s paper for more
details).
Madison County enters 2009
having to fill the void left by Alex
person. But we got to have
all the auxiliary players and
everybody stepping their game
up.”
For now, the Lady Raiders
have another 20-win season in
hand and the hope that it will
add to that total soon in the
But this time, the no. 5 seed
Raiders outscored Cedar
Shoals 34-15 in the second half
to slam the door on a 10-game
losing streak.
The Jaguars, seeded fourth,
were coming off a 12-45 victory
over Apalachee.
Bradley Raines scored 19
points and grabbed 10 rebounds
to lead the effort.
Patrick McCrary added 13
and collected 18 boards, and
Reterrium Davis also reached
double figures with 15 points.
The win pits Madison County
against no. 1 seed Rockdale
County (17-7) Saturday at 5:30
p.m. at Winder-Barrow High
School.
An upset victory propels
Madison County to the state tour
nament for the first time since
1997.
The Raiders lost to the
Bulldogs 86-77 earlier this year
in Danielsville.
Rockdale County lost just one
subregion game in the regular
Gaskin and sweeper Vince Sapp
who graduated.
“Alex was our center midfield
er. and he did a lot of the creative
work setting up goals, in addi
tion to doing a lot of defending,"
Mangan said. "Vince Sapp was
our sweeper, and he did a great
job keeping the defense orga
nized as well as closing down
players that got in behind.”
Now the team turns to last
year’s leading scorer Ben
Ortman, sweeper Spencer Baird
and goalkeeper Jason Bales for
leadership.
Ortman and Baird are both
captains.
The team also faces a realigned
8-AAAA this spring.
Jackson County, Dacula,
Eastside and Alcovy all left the
region, while Monroe Area and
Apalachee have joined.
postseason.
“We’ve done all we can do
for the regular season," Lampe
said.
Freeman named
region MVP
Courtney Freeman named
season and went 12-2 in region
play.
“They’re no. 1 on their side
of the subregion for a reason,"
Crouse said.
But the Raiders carry a renewed
sense of confidence after hav
ing won for the first time since
Jan. 6.
Madison County executed its
game plan efficiently Tuesday
night, Crouse said, keeping the
ball out of the hands of Jaguar star
Casey Arnold and limiting Cedar
Shoals’ three-point opportunities.
Crouse also noted that his team
was able to contest rebounds and
contest shots.
It all added up to Madison
County’s most impressive perfor
mance of the season.
“It was nice to finally put
together 32 minutes of good bas
ketball,” he said.
The Raiders led 26-24 at the
half and took control of the con
test in the third quarter, outscor-
ing Cedar Shoals 17-9.
“When things are going well,
“The realigned region will be
difficult,” Mangan said. “There’s
a lot of strong teams in our region.
I think, however, that we have the
talent to be competitive with a lot
of the teams in our region.”
Raiders win scrimmage
Madison County beat Athens
Academy 2-1 last Wednesday in
an exhibition thanks to second
half goals by Detrick Yamasato
and Ian Webster.
“I was happy with how we
finished the game, but we had a
dreadful start,” Mangan said.
The coach noted senior Jason
Bales' handiwork at goalkeeper.
“(He) did a great job of keeping
us in the game,” Mangan said.
GIRLS LOSE
The Madison County girls’
soccer team lost its opener. 5-0,
to Eastside Tuesday.
the region’s MVP for the regu
lar season. She’ll also play in
the Georgia Athletic Coaches'
Association all-star game in
Savannah after the season.
Kayla Freeman was named to
the all-region team.
the basket gets bigger,” Crouse
said.
The Raiders outscored the
Jaguars 17-6 in the final period.
Madison County, which com
mitted just 10 turnovers, had 19
assists to Cedar Shoals’ five.
“I think that’s the key stat of the
game right there,” Crouse said.
Not only did the victory snap
a 10-game losing streak, it broke
a long-standing drought against
Cedar Shoals, one of Madison
County's closest geographic
foes.
Crouse said no one can remem
ber the Raiders' last victory over
the Jaguars.
“That's huge for our program,"
he said.
And huge for the team's psyche.
Madison County had lost four
games in the past three weeks by
three points or less.
But that collective grief had
dissipated by the end of Tuesday
night. “They were pretty happy,”
Crouse said of his players. “And 1
was happy for them.”
Lady Raiders
continued from page IB
Raiders
continued from page IB
Gladiators glide to easy win in rematch
l
*
■
' V,
l f
T.J. McGuire (left) and Jake Sapp (right) apply
defensive pressure in Madison County’s Friday loss
to Clarke Central. Ben Munro/Staff
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
ATHENS — Madison County
headed into the region tournament
on the heels of a 75-51 loss to Clarke
Central Friday, the team’s 10th-
straight setback.
Madison County trailed 38-24 at
the half and 59-40 at the end of the
third quarter after Clarke Central
went on a 9-0 run.
Bradley Raines led the Raiders
with 17 points and was joined in
double figures by Patrick McCrary
(14 points) and Reterrium Davis (11
points).
Madison County came out set on
avenging its 62-61 loss to Clarke
Central back on Jan. 20. Spurred
by a pair of Davis three-pointers,
Madison County led 13-9 late in the
first quarter.
But Clarke Central was in com
mand by halftime, ending the second
quarter with a 16-3 run.
Fittings
Bag Evaluations
Repairs
Putting Green
Equipment
Apparel
Accessories
50% OFF
Women’s Apparel
1850 Epps Bridge Pkwy. • Athens, GA
Bradley Raines, shown here against Clarke Central, scored 19 points in Madison
County’s 60-39 rout of Cedar Shoals in the play-in round of the region tournament
Tuesday. Ben Munro/staff
Get the local school church, sports and other community news delivered to your home each week!
Just clip the coupon below to begin saving today over the newstand price!
Name
Address
City State Zip
Subscription rates for The Madison County Journal are as follows:
$19.75 per year for Madison and adjoining counties; $17.75 per year for senior citizens in Madison and
adjoining counties; $38.85 per year for delivery elsewhere in Georgia; $36.85 per year for delivery elsewhere
in Georgia with senior citizen discount; $44.50 per year for delivery out of Georgia; $42.50 per year for
delivery out of Georgia with senior citizen discount; $42.20 per year for the military with APO address.
Enclosed is my check for $ or ^ MC or ^ VISA #
. . MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
Expiration 33 Lee Street, P.O.Box 908 Jefferson. GA 30549
pj ione 706-367-5233 Fax: 706-367-8056
Website: www.mainstreetnews.com