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The Madison County Journal IB Thursday, December 3, 2009 www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com I 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