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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.