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PAGE 12A-THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL THURSDAY. DECEMBER 5. 2019
Sports
Boys Basketball
Red Raiders lose close battle to Winder-
Photo by Kyle Funderburk
Zahmerius Shiftlet battles a Winder-Barrow player for a rebound.
By Kyle Funderburk
kyle@mainstreetnews.com
WINDER - Tuesday’s road
trip to Winder-Barrow marked
the debut of several new addi
tions to the Madison County
boys' basketball team from tbe
football squad.
Unfortunately, their inser
tions weren’t enough to defeat
the Bulldoggs, but they did help
keep the Red Raiders ahead for
most of the game. Madison
County lost 54-50.
“Our guys fought hard, that's
what we’ve been trying to
get them to do, compete for a
whole game,’’ said head coach
Bryan Bird. “I thought we did
that tonight against a team
that’s bigger, more athletic than
us and a bit more experienced
than us.
“We had them on the ropes,
we just have to find a way to do
the little things to finish games.
Be in the right spot every sin
gle time, make free throws that
are more important as the game
goes on, and take care of the
ball a little bit better. Those are
all correctable things.”
Madison County (1-4, 0-0
region 8-AAAA) and Wind
er-Barrow (4-2, 0-0 Region
8-AAAAAA) were so evenly
matched, neither team led by
more than eight points and both
of those leads were only mo
mentary. Eight different Red
Raiders scored with Nolan Hill
leading the Red Raiders with
10 points. Ten players scored
for Winder-Barrow, Tyreek
Perkins led the way with 20
points.
Winder-Barrow had all
the momentum early as they
opened the game with an al-
ley-oop to Perkins. But the
Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize on
the energy and a pair of buck
ets by Adam Metts helped the
Red Raiders keep pace. Winder
eventually jumped to an 11-6
lead with a three-pointer by
Garrison Pickens. Madison
County responded with a 7-2
run to end the quarter tied 13-
13.
Madison County took its first
lead of the game with a layup
by Adadrian Willingham to
start the second quarter. A pair
of three throws by Zahmerius
Shiflet and a three-pointer by
Willie Gaines stretched the lead
to 20-13. Perkins drained a free
throw and scored off a stolen
inbounds pass to cut the lead to
20-16.
The margin hovered around
four points until a three-pointer
by Perkins cut it to 24-21. Mad
ison County and Winder-Bar
row traded split free throws be
fore another bucket by Perkins
cut the score to 25-24. A single
free throw by Bulldogg guard
Ahmad Scott tied the game at
25-25 going into halftime.
Winder-Barrow regained
the lead after the break, but
shots by Hill and Roderick
Jones gave a 29-27 lead back
to the Red Raiders. Madison
County began the third quarter
on a 12-4 run to take a 37-29
lead. Winder-Barrow stormed
back with a quick shot by Max
Brown and three by Perkins.
Tim Loud sliced the score to
37-36 with a put back dunk be
fore the buzzer.
Winder-Barrow players and
students ran out in to the court
thinking the quarter was over.
Instead, Madison County was
awarded technical fouls and
possession with 1.5 seconds
on the clock. Jones split the
free throws and Willingham
bounced a buzzer-beating
three-pointer off the rim to
enter the fourth quarter ahead
38-36.
Madison County held onto
its lead early in the fourth quar
ter and up to that point the game
had been pretty clean and based
around half-court offenses. But
as the game got sloppier, it also
began to favor the Bulldoggs.
They battled back to tie it with
free throws by Scott and Loud.
Another pair of free throws by
Perkins gave the Bulldoggs a
46-44 lead.
Hill retied the game with a
pair of free-throws of his own,
but Loud responded with a
dagger three-pointer to give
the Bulldoggs a 49-46 edge.
The Red Raiders reclaimed a
5049 lead with free throws
by Willingham and Hill, but
they wouldn’t score another
point afterwards. Perkins took
back the lead with a layup and
a pair of free throws when the
Red Raiders were unable to
foul a Bulldogg before they
passed the ball to Perkins. Scott
Barrow
scored the final bucket of the
game from the foul line to help
Winder-Barrow hang on to win
54-50.
Despite the result and the
limited action, Bird was pleased
with the quality of play from
the new additions, especially
Shiflet and Gaines who had the
most minutes. Madison County
has two more days of practice
as a full team before hosting El
bert County Friday night.
“We had a few football play
ers back, but they only had one
practice,” he said. “I told them
‘I don’t know how many min
utes you’re going to get tonight
after one practice but be ready
once your number gets called.’
The post is where we’ve been
the thinnest at the start of the
season and Zahmerius got a lot
more minutes than what he was
really expecting, but he did a
great job battling against a 6-8
kid. We got into some foul trou
ble with Adam and Nolan, Wil
lie got called on and he hadn’t
had a lot of reps, but he did a
great job being calm and taking
care of the ball and making the
right play.
“I just want to say how proud
I am for them making the Elite
Eight for the first time in school
history. I’m so happy for them.
It set us back a little bit, but
we’re worried about February
anyways. What they gained
on the football team, making
the run at the end of the season
will outweigh any practices that
they missed”
Girls Basketball
Outsized Raiders can’t hang with bigger Winder-Barrow squad
By Kyle Funderburk
kyle@mainstreetnews.com
WINDER - The undersized and in
experienced Madison County girls’ bas
ketball team was no match for Wind
er-Barrow's bigger lineup Tuesday
night.
Compounded by Tommenesha
Heard’s prior arm injury and Kyrsten
Watts’ injury before halftime, Wind
er-Barrow simply over-powered and
out-played Madison County en route to
an 82-55 final score. The 27-point defi
cit is the worst Raider setback a 27-point
loss to Jefferson in December 2016.
Head coach Dan Lampe gave no ex
cuses for his team’s performance.
“No excuses for Thanksgiving break
and all of that,” Lampe said. “You have
to show up, you have to play harder than
that. If we don't do the little things well,
there’s not a lot of games that we’re go
ing to win. We don't have the luxury
of having a bunch of seasoned players
who can run a good offense and score a
bunch of points. We have to do the little
things on defense.
“We have to box out on shots; we
have to find their best player. We leave
her wide open, I don't know how that
happens. We have to stay in front of the
ball. Those are just the little things you
have to do.”
The game wasn’t all bad. Madison
County (2-4, 0-0 region 8-AAAA) led
through most of the first quarter and
had a 19-16 lead after the first buzzer.
Kayla McPherson scored 11 points and
accounted for four-more via assists, she
finished the game with 33 points. Wind
er-Barrow post player Taniyah Parrish
scored 10 points to help the Bulldoggs
keep up with the Red Raiders.
But the lead quickly vanished as
Parish and guard Keonna Hamler took
over the ball game together. The duo
combined for 44 points in the last three
quarters. Parish finished the game with
35 points and Hamler had 21 points in
cluding three from beyond the arc and
a perfect 4/4 night from the free throw
line.
Parrish scored seven points early in
the second quarter to give Winder-Bar
row (3-3, 0-0 Region 8-AAAAAA) a
lead it wouldn't relinquish. Winder-Bar
row outscored Madison County 21-8
in the second quarter to lead 37-27 at
halftime. McPherson only scored four
points in the second quarter with Ella
Chancey accounting for the other four.
“We couldn’t get our tempo going
consistently,” he said. “We were slowed
down. If we go up against five players
on defense every single time, we’re go
ing to have a tough night. We've got to
be able to create tempo, we’ve got to be
able to push the ball out.
“A lot of it was, we kept covering
up the middle. That’s a goal of our de
fense is to make them hit the long re
versal passes back and forth. Don't let
them gut pass in there, and when they
do catch it, don’t let them dribble for a
layup.”
McPherson came back with a ven
geance in the third quarter, unfortu
nately she still couldn’t find scoring or
defensive help. McPherson scored 17
of her teams' 19 third quarter points, but
Winder-Barrow scored 24 points to con
tinue building the lead. The Bulldoggs
led 61-46 going into the fourth quarter.
As fouls piled up in the fourth quarter,
Winder-Barrow stretched its lead to the
eventual final score of 82-55.
Madison County will attempt to re
turn to its winning ways this Friday,
Dec. 6 in the home opener against El
bert County.
Photo by Kyle Funderburk
Caitlyn Arwood attempts to box out a Winder-Barrow play
er for a rebound.
THIS WEEK
BASKETBALL
December 6: Madison Co. vs. Elbert Co.
December 7: Madison Co. vs. Loganville
December 10: Madison Co. at Apalachee
NEXT WEEK
BASKETBALL
December 13: Madison Co. at Stephns Co.
December 14: Madison Co. vs. Winder-Barrow
December 17: Madison Co. vs. Hart Co.
WRESTLING
December 13-14: Falcon Invitational
Dacula High School
December 17: Backyard Brawl
Oconee County High School
REGION 8-AAAA
STANDINGS
BOYS BASKETBALL
1. Oconee County
2. St. Pius X
3. Stephens County
4. North Oconee
5. Madison County
2- 0 overall, 0-0 region
3- 2 overall, 0-0 region
2-4 overall, 0-0 region
2-5 overall, 0-0 region
1-3 overall, 0-0 region
GIRLS BASKETBALL
1. St. Pius X
2. Stephens County
3. North Oconee
4. Madison County
5. Oconee County
5- 0 overall, 0-0 region
6- 0 overall, 0-0 region
5-1 overall, 0-0 region
2-3 overall, 0-0 region
1-3 overall, 0-0 region
Photo from Mainstreet News archives
MADISON COUNTY TO RETIRE NUMBER 33
The Madison County girls basketball team will retire the num
ber 33 for Courtney Freeman this Friday night. She played in
the post for Madison County from 2005-to-2009. Freeman con
tinued her basketball career at Appalachian State where she
started 78 games in three seasons. She scored 1,022 points and
nabbed 494 rebounds as a Mountaineer.
MCHS ANGLERS PLACE AT LAKE CHATUGE
The Madison County High School fishing team had a good
showing at Lake Chatuge Nov. 30 in the Georgia Bass Nation
High School Tournament. MCHS anglers Levi Seagraves (R)
and Blake Hooper (L) finished third and Logan Fisher and Will
Hart finished 14th.