Newspaper Page Text
The Madison County Journal
IB
Thursday, December 3, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
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Q
MCHS calling for AAA
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
Reclassification
School seeks to drop in classification
but no word as of press time
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
With one of the smallest enrollments of any school
in Class AAAA, Madison County High School has
appealed to play in Class AAA in 2010-2014
But, as of press time, Madison County hadn’t heard
word from the Georgia High School Association
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
•Madison County High School’s enroll
ment of 1,425 is seven students larger
than that of the largest Class AAA school,
Shaw (1,418).
(GHSA) Reclassification Committee.
“It’s our assumption that we lost our appeal, and
we’re going to play in Class AAAA,’’ Madison County
Madison County would like for Franklin
County to be a region foe once again, but
that would require the GHSA granting
MCHS’s petition to play in Class AAA.
See Reclassification on page 2B
Wrestling
Panther
Invitational
up next for
Red Raiders
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
After a series of dual
matches, the Madison
County wrestling team
now faces its biggest meet
of the season thus far.
The Red
Raiders will
compete
Friday and
Saturday in
the Panther
Invitational
hosted by
Jackson
County.
“Practice
is going
pretty good," coach Richie
Houston said of his team’s
progress. "We've got 48
kids out and about 12 or
13 of them are first-year
wrestlers. So we're doing a
whole lot of teaching."
On the heels of five
dual meets, the Madison
County wresters enter the
Panther Invitational — an
individual, double-elimi
nation tournament featur
ing wrestlers from 26 dif
ferent teams.
“Usually, it’s the top
teams form Northeast
Georgia,” said Houston,
noting that the tournament
field includes Jefferson,
winner of nine consecutive
state titles between Class
A and AA.
Madison County went
1-2 in its first three dual
matches, beating Cedar
Shoals (69-12) and losing
to Lumpkin County (55-
24) and Franklin County
(40-39). In the match
against the Lions, Madison
County and Franklin
County were tied at 39-39
when matches concluded,
but the Raider Raiders lost
after tie-breaker rules were
applied.
Madison County then
wrestled Oconee County
and Heritage this past
Tuesday night, but results
weren’t available at press
time.
“We’re just kind of a
mixture right now of
some veterans and some
young guys in the lineup,”
Houston said. “It’s still
early in the year, and we’re
just trying to get every
body at the right weight
See Wrestling on 3B
HOUSTON
Prep Basketball
Madison County’s Lauren Smith drives to the basket last week in the Lady Raiders’ victory over no. 4 Jonesboro.
Madison County followed that victory with a win over region power Salem. Photo by Ben Munro
Getting warmed up
Kayla Freeman is averaging 16.5 points a
game this year. Photo by Ben Munro
MCHS dominates Salem
for third-straight win
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
A s the schedule gets tougher,
Madison
County’s
girls’ basketball team
seemingly does too.
The Lady Raiders
beat region foe
Salem 56-39 at home
Tuesday, whipping
what coach Dan
Lampe called the
“cream of the crop”
of Region 8-AAAA.
This came after
Madison County
routed no. 4 Jonesboro Nov. 24.
“Yeah, I think it bodes well for us,”
Lampe said. “I think the girls have
bought into ‘defense first’ again.”
The Lady Raiders held Jonesboro to
just 32 points last week and then used
their defensive pressure to frustrate and
rattle the Lady Seminoles (4-1) Tuesday
night, especially at the three-point line
where Salem went scoreless.
“They didn’t get one all night,” Lampe
said. “We just stayed up in their
chest the entire night. They didn’t a
clean look.”
The Lady Raiders still haven’t sur
rendered more than 40 points in a
game this year.
The victory Tuesday was Madison
County’s third in a row, and came
over a team that won 23 games last
year and went undefeated in the
region in the regular season.
The Lady Raiders, who led 26-16
at the half and 42-27 after three
quarters, dispersed their offense
evenly with three different scorers
reaching double figures.
Kayla Freeman led Madison
County with 14 points and
Shantydra Arnold and Lauren Smith,
both had 12. Sam LaZear added
eight points.
While the offense is improving,
Lampe is still waiting for the Lady
Raider offense to click like the
defense has so far.
“If I were rating it, I would say maybe
See Girls’ basketball on page 3B
COMING UP
•@Monroe
Area, Fri.,
7 p.m.; vs.
Brookwood
ihome, Sat.,
5 p.m.; Vs.
Heritage @
home, Tues.,
6 p.m.
Girls’ Basketball
Red Raider defense keys 4-0 start
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Though its offensive game is still developing, the Madison
County boys’ basketball team is off to its first 4-0 start in
years, thanks to old-fashioned, tough defense.
“For us right now, it's about our defense," coach Steve
Crouse said.
Madison County shoots for a 5-0 start Friday when it
plays Monroe Area on the road.
Crouse said he has an entire stat sheet devoted to defense
— rebounds, steals, blocked shots, causing turnovers, tips,
deflections, drawing charges — to chart his team’s progres-
COMING UP
•vs. @Monroe Area, Fri., 8:30 p.m.; vs.
Brookwood ihome, Sat., 6:30 p.m.; Vs.
Heritage @ home, Tues., 7:30 p.m.
sion.
“Just really making sure we’re playing the aggressive
defense that we need to play,” he said.
The Red Raiders again turned out another solid defensive
effort Tuesday, beating Salem 69-50. Madison County has
See Boys’ basketball on Page 3B
Patrick McCrary blocks a shot during
against Dacula. Photo by Ben Munro
O