Newspaper Page Text
The Madison County Journal
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Lady Raiders split matches
The Madison Co. girls’ tennis team beat
Stephens County and lost to
Hart County last week. /{tn
IB
Thursday, March 5, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
SCORES & STATS
•MADISON CO. 52, FRANKLIN
CO. 48 ( CHAMPIONSHIP)
Scorers: T.J. Skelton 25, Eric
Williams 19, Malik Freeman 6,
Cade Hancock 2
•MADISON CO. 64, ELBERT
CO. 41 (SEMIFINALS)
Scorers: Malik Freeman 23,
Eric Williams 18, T.J. Skelton
11, Cade Hancock’s 9, Hunter
Chandler 2
•MADISON CO. 63,
HABERSHAM CO. 29 (FIRST
ROUND)
Scorers: Malik Freeman 21, T.J.
Skelton 21, Cade Hancock 6, Eric
Williams 6, Hunter Chandler 3,
Marquez Henson 2, Eric Smith
2, Sam Bartlett 2
Reg. Basketball
Basketball all-stars win district title
From submitted reports
The Madison County Recreation
Department's 12-and-under boys"
basketball all-star team beat Franklin
County 52M8 recently to claim the
District 7 title.
The team moves on to Effingham
County Friday to participate in
the Georgia Recreation and Parks
Association State Tournament.
The Madison County team blazed
through its first two games at district
UP NEXT:
•Madison County 12-and-under
basketball stars @ state tourna
ment, Fri., @ Effingham County
and held off host Franklin County to
take the championship.
T.J. Skelton scored 25 points and
Eric Williams added 19 to lead
Madison County over Franklin
County in the finals.
The team trailed 8-6 after one quar
ter. but led 24-19 at the half and
36-34 at the end of three quarters.
Franklin County tied the game in the
fourth quarter, but Madison County
reclaimed the lead and held on for
the title.
Others scoring were Malik Freeman
(six points) and Cade Hancock (two).
Madison County experienced little
trouble in the first two rounds, thump
ing Habersham Central 63-29 and
Elbert County 64-41.
Freeman and Skelton each scored
21 points in the game against
Habersham Central to lead Madison
County while Freeman scored 23
against Elbert County and Williams
added 18. Skelton also scored 11
against Elbert County.
Team members are Sam Bartlett,
Hunter Chandler, Malik Freeman,
Cade Hancock, Marquez Henson,
Christopher Newton, T.J. Skelton,
Eric Smith, Cameron Stevenson and
Eric Williams. The coaching staff
comprises B.J. Stone and assistants
David Hancock and Tim Skelton.
Prep basketball postseason
“I like the way our girls fought bark. They hare a fighter’s spirit, ” — Lady Raider coach Dan Lampe
A bitter-Sweet 16
Kayla Freeman (no. 32) battles in the paint Tuesday night, flanked by her sister, Courtney. Madison County fell 67-60 to Southwest
DeKalb in the second round of the state tournament, ending a 24-win season. Ben Munro/Staff
State Tournament: Second Round
Lady Raiders’ successful season ends in second round
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
A valiant Lady Raider rally fell short
Tuesday night — and so did the team’s
hoop dreams.
Madison County (24-6) stormed back from 16
points down at home Tuesday, but couldn’t keep
its season alive with a 67-60 loss to defending state
champion Southwest DeKalb (26-4) in the Sweet 16
round of the Class AAAA tournament.
Now a Madison County team that hoped to return
to the Gwinnett Arena this year reluctantly looks
toward next season.
‘Dosing this game was disappointing,” said coach
Dan Lampe, whose team carried a 13-game winning
streak into the ball game. "Our goal was definitely
higher than the Sweet 16 ... Every team wants to
win its last game."
Doing her part to try to keep the season alive,
senior Courtney Freeman scored 26 points in the
final game of her stellar prep career. She finished as
the second-leading scorer in school history, surpass-
INSIDE: Courtney Freeman put on a
show in Madison County’s first-round
win over HiUgrove Friday. PAGE 2B
ing Tracy Rutledge back during the region tourna
ment.
Kayla Freeman and Shantydra Arnold each added
12 points and Lauren Smith scored 10.
The Lady Raiders didn’t help their chances in the
first half.
Madison County trailed 39-23 at one point in the
second quarter and faced a 14-point deficit at the
half before turning things around.
"We said we wanted to get it back into single dig
its by the fourth quarter,” Lampe said of his halftime
speech.
And the Lady Raiders answered that challenge.
Madison County chopped the lead to eight at the
end of the third quarter and tied the ball game at 55
with 3:08 left after a bucket from Kayla Freeman.
"I like the way our girls fought back," Lampe said.
"They have a fighter’s spirit."
However, Kayla Freeman fouled-out moments
later and Southwest DeKalb hit enough free throws
in the last two minutes to leave Danielsville with a
victory.
Lampe estimated that Madison County likely
outscored Southwest DeKalb by eight to 10 points
while Kayla Freeman was in the ball game along
side Courtney Freeman. However, Kayla’s play was
limited due to foul trouble, creating match-up prob
lems when she had to exit the game.
"We didn't have an answer for all their “bigs" out
there," Lampe said of Southwest DeKalb's sizeable
lineup.
The coach added that the Panthers "owned us on
the boards.”
"That’s something we’ve got to address going into
next season,” Lampe said.
SW DEKALB 67, MCHS 60
SWD 15 27 8 17 — 67
MCHS 13 15 14 18 — 60
Scorers: C. Freeman 26, K. Freeman 12, Arnold
12, Smith 10
Tennis
MCHS
boys’ tennis
team whips
Hart Co.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The Madison County
boys’ tennis team entered
the win column in decisive
fashion with a 4-1 victory
over Hart County Feb. 26.
Jeffrey
Branson
and
Marcus
Bowen
both won
in singles
play and
the tan- BRANSON
d e m s
of Jake
Scarborough and Chris
Dove and Matt Geib and
Josh Dooley swept dou
bles play as the Raiders
whipped the Bulldogs.
"The boys really played
well,” Madison County
coach Keith Strickland
said.
Strickland said Bowen's
return to the lineup at no. 2
singles added depth while
Branson’s play at no. 1
singles was consistent.
The coach called Connor
Hancock's 3-6, 6-2, 2-6
loss at no. 3 singles "one
of the best singles matches
of the day.”
In doubles action,
Scarborough and Dove
and Geib and Dooley both
won in straight sets.
Madison County's vic
tory over Hart County
followed a 3-2 loss to
Stephens County in the
season opener, Feb. 24.
The Raiders swept
doubles action with both
Scarborough and Dove
and Geib and Dooley win
ning, but fell in singles
play.
"It was good to see Jake
Scarborough and Chris
Dove take charge the
first set and regain their
composure after losing
the second set ... Josh
Dooley and Matt Geib
showed the importance of
staying focused and play
ing the key points well,”
Strickland said.
Madison County played
with a modified lineup,
minus no. 2 singles player,
Marcus Bowen.
"The boys played a very
good match showing that
we have a lot of depth
even though we were
missing key players due to
injuries and other obliga
tions," Strickland said.
MCHS 4, Hart Co. 1
Winners:
no. 1 S Branson, W, 6-4,
6-4
no. 2 S Bowen, W, 4-6,
6- 4, 6-2
no. 1 D Scarborough/
Dove, W, 6-1, 6-1
no. 2 D Geib/Dooley, W,
7- 5, 7-5
Stephens Co. 3,
Madison Co. 2
Winners:
No. 1 D Scarborough/
Dove W, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
No. 2 D Geib/Dooley, W,
7-5, 6-4
Baseball
Diamond Raiders defrost after snowstorm
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Sunday's snowstorm did a number on Madison
County High School’s baseball schedule
Madison County (1-0) will play five games
over the next seven days between make-up games
and regularly scheduled contests as the team re-
emerges from the winter weather hiatus.
The Raiders face Jefferson today (5:55 p.m.) on
the road, Stephens County Friday (5:30 p.m.) at
home, Brookwood Saturday (2 p.m.) on the road
and Franklin County Monday (5:30 p.m.) on the
road. The fifth game in that stretch is Madison
County's region opener Wednesday at home (5:30
p.m.) against second-ranked Heritage.
Raider coach Charlie Griffeth doesn’t mind the
whirlwind schedule.
“The pitchers need to throw,” he said, noting the
impending region schedule.
Madison County has played just once this sea
son but looked sharp, clubbing Jefferson 8-0 in its
season-opener Feb. 26.
Ethan Seagraves, Ben Morris and Matthew
“Raybo” Robinson teamed up to throw a three-
hit shutout as the Raiders cruised to an easy win
over the Dragons, who moved up to Class AA
this year.
Madison County broke the game open with
six runs in the bottom of the third, highlighted by
Bo Dalton's two-run homer and Matthew Dean's
three-run triple.
Ian Drake enjoyed a 4-for-4 day at the plate,
including an RBI triple in the first inning.
"We got good pitching, we got some clutch hit
ting and we played some great defense," Griffeth
said.
Of course, some rust might have accumulated
after five days off the baseball diamond.
"We kind of feel we’re starting over with the
layoff," Griffeth said.
MADISON CO. 8, JEFFERSON 0
JHS 000 000 0-0
MCHS 206 000 - - 8
Hitting: Drake 4 hits (RBI 3B), Dalton 1 hit
(HR), "Rimer 1 hit (3B), Dean (3-run 3B)
Pitching: Seagraves 4IP, 1H, OR; Morris 2IP, 1H,
OR; Robinson IIP, 1H, OR
Members of the Raider baseball team congratulate Bo
Dalton after a two-run homer against Jefferson. Ben
Munro/Staff