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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! 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