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The Madison County Journal
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Lady Raiders have shoes to fill
The MCHS girls’ soccer team will have
to replace several key players _
from last year. Vi py
IB
Thursday, February 19, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
Wrestling
The fab five
Five MCHS wrestlers
headed to Gwinnett
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
A few extra steps didn’t deter
five Raiders.
Despite a more rigorous
state tournament path this
year, Madison County is send
ing five wrestlers to the Class
AAAA tournament at the
Gwinnett Arena.
a ■ v -i
ADAMS SMITH PHILLIPS KILPATRICK SAVAGE
“We exceeded our expecta
tions," coach Richie Houston
said. “We didn’t know to
expect...
"I feel like our guys are excited
to do what they did.”
The state tournament starts
Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Finals are
— See Wrestling’ on 2B
Senior Michael Kilpatrick and four other Raider wrestlers have
qualified for the state wrestling tournament at the Gwinnett
Arena this week. Lyn Sengupta/MainsStreet Newspapers
Prep basketball postseason
Madison Co. vs. Clarke Central, Friday, 7 p.m. @ Winder-Barrow
Shantydra Arnold awaits a referee’s call Tuesday night during Madison County’s 43-37 win over Loganville. Madison
County meets rival Clarke Central Friday in the region championship. Ben Munro/Staff
A fitting final
Rivals Madison County, Clarke Central clashing for region title
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
R egion supremacy in girls' bas
ketball has alternated between
the campuses of Madison
County and Clarke Central the last three
seasons.
So it’s fitting that the two will square
off for the 8-AAAA title Friday night in
the sixth meeting in the last two seasons
between these powerhouses.
“At this point, we know each other
pretty well," Madison County coach Dan
Lampe said.
The game is at 7 p.m. at Winder-
Barrow High School, host of this year's
region tournament.
Madison County is 70-17 the last three
seasons, while Clarke Central is 67-17 in
MCHS 43, LOGANVILLE 37
(REGION SEMIFINALS)
LHS 13 5 6 13 — 37
MCHS 3 14 13 13 — 43
Scorers: C. Freeman 15, Arnold 10, Smith
8, K. Freeman 6, LaZear 2, Fleming 2
that span.
The Lady Raiders won the region title
in 2007, while the Lady Gladiators took
the crown in 2008 with a 21-point win
over Madison County in the region final.
But Madison County (22-5), which
has beaten Clarke Central (17-9) twice
this year, goes for the hat-trick — and
the region trophy — against the Lady
Gladiators Friday.
“It’s all on how you sell it," Lampe
said.
He suspects Clarke Central coach
Carla Johnson is selling her team on the
premise that it’s hard to beat a team three
times in a season.
Lampe, of course, will offer a different
pitch to his team.
“I’ll try to sell my team on maybe
we've got their number," he said.
The Lady Raiders advanced to the
region finals for the third-straight year
with a pedestrian 43-37 victory over
Loganville Tuesday night in the 8-AAAA
semifinals.
“I’m glad we didn’t play them (Clarke
Central) this game,” Lampe said.
The coach said his team typically has
no motivation problems in big games, but
lacked fire Tuesday.
“I didn't feel like they got up for this
game," Lampe said.
Madison County fell behind 13-3 after
— See ‘Lady Raiders’ on 2B
Boys’ Basketball
‘My heart
gets heavy’
Raider coach
reflects on tough loss
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The agony of Madison County’s season-ending
loss to Rockdale County was still palpable when
the Raiders had to pack up and leave the region
tournament Saturday.
The packing up was hard to do.
“It was a tough locker room to be in," Raider
coach Steve Crouse said. “There were a lot of guys
who didn’t want to take that jersey off for the last
time,"
Madison County nearly stunned no. 1 seed
Rockdale County, falling in overtime 61-58.
An upset would have propelled the Raiders (8-18)
to the state tournament for the first time in 12
years. The loss, instead, ended Madison County’s
season just as it was playing its best basketball of
the year.
Crouse said that the near-miss against Rockdale
and the 60-39 victory over Cedar Shoals that pre
ceded it, “were probably two of our best games all
year as far as playing a complete 32 minutes."
“You ask your guys to give you everything they’ve
got for 32 minutes and in this case, 36 minutes,” he
said. “And they came up three points short... every
time I think about it, my heart gets heavy."
The Raiders now look to next season for vindica
tion.
— See Raiders on page 3B
Madison County’s Seth Fleming hit four
three-pointers Saturday against Rockdale
County, including two in the last 21 seconds
to force overtime. Ben Munro/Staff
Rifle
Madison Co. out-duals Baldwin
Sports Notes
Hull native lands $1.75 million bonus
J.S. Fielding, Jacob Holliman and Wade Threlkeld shoot
from the standing position. Submitted photo
Madison County held just a
one-point lead over Baldwin
after one round of shooting, but
pulled off a 1,127-1,082 victory
last Tuesday to remain unde
feated.
Sharpshooter Casey Brown led
Madison County (5-0) with a
288, followed by Wade Threlkeld
(286), J.S. Fielding (277), Nathan
Coker (276). Jacob Holliman’s
score (272) was dropped.
The junior varsity also won,
outgunning Baldwin 1,084-
925. Lauren Bridges (281) led
Madison County, followed
by Hanna Moon (272), Ryan
Bridges (267) and Tiffany Brown
(264). Dalton Crumley’s score
(258) was dropped.
Just 23-years old,
Hull’s Joshua Fields is
now a millionaire.
The Madison County
native and former
University of Georgia
relief pitcher has signed
a contract with the
Seattle Mariners, which
includes a $1.75 million
signing bonus.
“I'm just excited to
get it going." Fields told
the Associated Press. “I
feel like a burden's been
FIELDS
lifted.”
The Mariners select
ed Fields, one of college
baseball’s most domi
nant closers last year,
in the first round of the
Major League Baseball
draft. He was the 20 th
pick overall.
Fields helped pitch
Georgia to the College
World Series finals
in 2008 where the
Bulldogs lost to Fresno
State. He racked up
18 saves last year and
shuck out 63 batters in
37-1/3 innings.
Fields attended Prince
Avenue Christian
School, but was a stand
out for Madison County
Little League growing
up.
Known as “Hound
dog" to teammates.
Fields led the Senior
League all-stars to a
state title in 2002.
Fields is the sec
ond Madison County
native in the last 13
years selected in the
first round of the MLB
draft.
The Colorado Rockies
took Jake Westbrook in
the first round in 1996.