Newspaper Page Text
The Madison County Journal
INSIDE THIS WEEK
MCMS seventh in tourney
The Madison County Middle School wrestling
team finished seventh in its own
tournament RJ
IB
Thursday, December 17, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
Football Recruiting
Boyett verbally commits to
UAB 5 Army visits with Owens
Connor Boyett verbally committed to
UAB last week. Ben Munro/staff
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County’s number of verbal
commitments to play college football
next year has grown to three.
Connor Boyett, a 6’5,” 245-lb. defen
sive end, verbally committed last week
to play for the University of Alabama-
Birmingham. Boyett had 46 tackles and
MCHS VERBAL COMITTMENTS
Jacob Owens Army
Connor Boyett Ala.-Birmingham
Jamal Cooper Georgia Military
three sacks this year.
Boyett's commitment makes him the
second Madison County player headed
— See Recruiting on page 2B
Jacob Owens had an in-home visit
from Army Monday. Ben Munro/staff
Prep Basketball
Runnin’ Raiders
Madison Go. defense, transition
game yields lopsided win
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
T he Madison County boys’ hoops team hopes
its runaway victory over Loganville Tuesday
night serves a template for future success.
The Red Raiders (8-2 overall, 3-2 region) forced 29
turnovers and racked up plenty of points in transition
in a 75-47 rout of the defending region champions.
Twenty of those turnovers came in the first half
alone, thanks to Madison County’s relentless defen
sive pressure.
“That’s how we want to
play,” coach Steve Crouse
said. “We really challenged
the guys to play great defense
for 32 minutes and I think
that’s what we did.”
Madison County hopes its
best start in years continues
Friday on the road against
Augusta-area school Aquinas
(4-1).
COMING UP
•@Aquinas,
Friday, 7:30
p.m.; @ Oconee
Holiday
Tournament,
Dec. 28-30
“I'm looking forward to it,” Crouse said. “For our
players, it's going to be a good opportunity to play on
the road."
The other story of Tuesday night belonged to senior
standout Patrick McCrary, who posted a triple double.
The 6’5” senior scored 18 points, grabbed 10 boards
and blocked 10 shots.
McCrary hit eight of his last nine shots from the
field after missing his first five,
“What else can you say about Patrick McCrary? ...
He just works so hard,” Crouse said. “That was huge
for him tonight.”
McCrary was one of four Red Raiders to reach
double figures.
Fresh off a 21-point performance against Franklin
County, Trae Burton recorded a double-double with
15 points and 10 boards.
TJ. McGuire added 14 points and Bradley Raines
had 13 as Madison County moved to 3-2 in region
play.
The Red Raiders feasted off steals and fast break
points in earning their most lopsided win of the year.
Up 43-29 at the half, Madison County scored on
three straight fast breaks to spark a 15-0 run to effec
tively put Loganville away. The Red Raiders then
stretched their lead out to 71-37 after three quarters.
“Our transition game was really good tonight,"
Crouse said.
And that’s where Madison County hopes to get a
healthy percentage of its points nightly.
“We would like to basically be 40-40-20," Crouse
explained. “Forty percent of our offense coming
in transition, 40 percent coming in the half court
offense, and 20 percent coming at the free throw
line,"
With eight victories, Madison County has now
equaled its win total from last year in just 10 games.
But more importantly, the Red Raiders looked domi
nant in getting win no. 8.
— See boys’ basketball on page 3B
Trae Burton scores two of his 15 points Tuesday night in Madison County’s 75-47 victory over
Loganville. Ben Munro/staff
Girls’ Basketball
Erratic play continues for MCHS ladies
COMING UP
Shantydra Arnold dribbles past
Loganville’s Brittnee Hazel. Ben Munro/
staff
Madison Go. routed
64-47 in region matchup
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County girls' basketball coach
Dan Lampe felt his team was susceptible to
a letdown following a rout of Class AAA’s
no. 1 team, Franklin County, Saturday.
The reality proved worse than his fear.
The Lady Raiders (7-3 overall, 4-1 region)
were walloped at home Tuesday night by
•@Aquinas, Friday, 6 p.m.; @
Deep South Classic, Dec. 28-30
Loganville 64-47. Madison County trailed
by 23 points at halftime.
“I feared that we wouldn’t come out ready
to play," said Lampe, whose team domi
nated Franklin County 56-29 Saturday. “I
would never have guessed this.”
Madison County will try to get off the
deck Friday when it travels to Aquinas for a
non-region matchup with the Augusta-area
school.
In the meantime, the Lady Raiders are
back on the practice court trying to fix what
went wrong against Loganville,
Madison County started the game in a
23-4 hole and never found its way out. The
Lady Raiders trailed by as much as 29 at one
point in the second half.
Lampe said much of Tuesday’s struggles
stemmed from a lack of effort, a stark
— See Girls’ basketball on Page 3B
Wrestling
MCHS
wrestlers
finish fifth
Red Raider Duals
ahead this weekend
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County finished
fifth out of 14 teams over
the weekend at the Morgan
County Invitational as the
Red Raider wrestlers move
toward the Christmas holi
days.
“We’ve still got a long
way to go,” coach Richie
Houston said. “I think these
next two to three weeks
will determine a lot.”
Madison
County -
which wres-
tledTuesday
but results
weren’t
available
at press
time - hosts
its annual
Red Raider
Duals
Saturday at
9:30 a.m.
This year’s event will be
held in the Madison County
Middle School gym instead
of the high school gym.
Madison County put
two wrestlers in the finals
of their respective weight
classes in this past week
end’s tournament. Cody
Phillips finished second
in the 119-lb. division and
Isaac Ruiz took second in
the 145-lb. class.
Madison County also
boasted a third-place fin
isher, Michael Robertson
(189-lb.), while Colton
Phillips (125-lb.) and
Kyle Goron (215-lb) took
fourth.
Adding a fifth-place
finish was Steven Resby
(171-lb.).
Brett Coggins (112-lb.)
and Matt Dove (285-lb.)
were both sixth.
“I think it was a good
tournament, a good learn
ing experience," Houston
said. “After the brutality of
the Panther (Invitational)
the week before, it was a
good change for them.”
Cody Phillips now has an
11-2 record, the top mark
on the varsity squad.
“He’s having a good
year,” Houston said.
The same can be said
for Isaac Ruiz, who's 7-1;
and Kyle Bates and Colton
Phillips, who are both 8-3.
Houston also noted that
freshman Max Nash is
having a “great year,” in
limited varsity action.
Nash has a 5-0 varsity
record and won a JV tour
nament last week. He’s
undefeated in junior varsity
matches.
But Houston noted that
Nash is “kind of in no
man’s land" by sharing the
119-lb. class with Cody
Phillips.
The hope is that Nash
can drop to 112-lb. exclu
sively.
— See Wrestling on 2B
COMING
UP
•Red
Raider
duals at
MCMS
gym,
Sat.,
9:30 a.m.
Kyle Bates competes
in recent Red Raider
wrestling action. Ben
Munro/staff