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Sports
Sports editor
Taking Losing
Like A Winner
Any time a team loses a game,
no matter what the situation, it is
often difficult for a reporter to
conduct a post-game interview in
any land of tactful fashion.
Can you imagine dealing with
Bobby Knight after Sunday's loss at
his Ohio State alma mater? I'm sure
that he was ripping reporters left
and right
Look, reporters often think that
they know the game when they
don't have a clue. But Bobby
Knight makes you look stupid,
whether you are or whether you are
not
Fortunately, Coach Knight often
bypasses the post-game and goes
straight to the heart of the matter
throwing chairs, pounding his
own son or talking about the
Almighty as if he was an Indiana
fan.
A little bit different situation
came about Saturday night in the
small city of Albany, Ga. The
Perry boys basketball team had just
lost only its third game of the *93-
94 season.
This one was a little .different
than the first two, however.
Yes, Perry's season was over.
All the dreams of spending this
weekend in Atlanta came to a
crushing halt
Hey, it was even tough on me.
Don't think that I didn't care about
Perry. Following the team the last
three months has been very
entertaining. Everybody was very
cooperative, especially die seniors.
Honestly, I couldn't say anything
negative about these guys because
what I saw was totally positive.
So was the coach. Dealing with
Carl Thomas was not very difficult.
When you win by 30 or 40 points
*every game, it's kind of tough to
talk about the game. I mean, what
do you say?
But, and I say this with
appreciation, Thomas would always
come up with some type of cliche
to fill the pages. He saved some of
his best work for those blowouts.
And that helped me fill the 20
inches of text that I had on those
deadline nights.
However, here we are Saturday
night. Game over. Season over.
Carroll Rogers of The Macon
Telegraph and I are standing outside
the locker room waiting for
Thomas to emerge.
I didn't know what to expect.
Would Thomas just walk on by in
disgust? Would he start crying in
mid-sentence? Would he angrily
blame Rogers and the Telegraph for
picking his team to have little
trouble with Westside?
None of the above. He spoke
quietly, looking rather exhausted.
But Thomas was positive
throughout. He took losing like a
winner.
That is something I've really
grown to admire in my short stint
as a sports journalist I’ve dealt
with a lot of coaches, most on the
college level. I've seen coaches just
walk oft the podium in post-game.
Flustered, angry, crying, etc. I've
seen it all.
In my mind, the true mark of a
coach is his or her ability to handle
defeat with the same dignity and
grace of a win. Winning is a part of
life I think we often take much too
seriously. All too often, we lose
more than we win.
Sometimes, you just have to let
your emotions go. But nobody
should be used to absorb the
punishment, whether it's a reporter,
a spouse, a friend, a player, a drink,
a wall or somebody's face.
Panther Baseball
Extravaganza
If you are a fan of Perry High
School baseball, you will
undoubtedly want to contribute to
this Saturday's 100-inning
marathon game to be held at the
school.
It will be a day of fun for all
involved, and there will be plenty
of entertainment for all members of
the family. Possibly the best
entertainment will be provided by
the extremely youthful Panthers,
who have already accrued a pair of
wins in two shot weeks of play.
The money raised Saturday will
go toward getting jackets for each
member of the team. For more
information, call coach Bob Jones
at 988-6298 or Sandra Jones at 987-
2167.
PHS Title Dream Cut Short Bv s
Moore Scores 31 As Patriots
Move On To Atlanta
By BILL OVERTON
Sport* Editor
James Brown may be the
headline act when he arrives at the
Albany Civic Center for a concert
next week.
But Saturday night, Westside
junior all-American Ricky Moore
was doing all the dancing. And
there's no doubt that he was
humming a few bars of "I feel
good."
Moore exploded with 20 second
half points to almost single
handedly give the Augusta-based
Patriots a 76-67 victory over Perry
in the quarterfinal round of the
GHSA Class AAA Tournament
Westside, 26-2, moved on to
Thursday's semifinal against
Lithonia. Perry ended its season at
24-3.
Moore, a Street and Smith all-
American, sewed no points in the
first quarter, even more remarkable
considering he finished with 31 on
the evening.
Perry coach Carl Thomas said
that there was little that his team
could do to stop Moore.
"[He was] everywhere and
everything," Thomas said. "But
you've got to give the rest of them
credit to. When we played zone,
they all hit their shots. When we
trapped, they moved the ball and
would get a good shot. When we
played man, they'd penetrate and go
to the basket
"They had the answer for every
move that was made."
Moore was the catalyst for
nearly every second half action by
the Patriots. Oinging to a 55-54
lead entering the final quarter,
Moore turned it up to what seemed
to be a new level
But Perry had its own version of
an all-American in senior Keith
Wimberly. Seconds into the fourth,
Wimberly drove into the paint for a
short jumper to give Perry a 56-55
lead.
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coach Carl Thomas and tha rant of tha Parry bench wonder during the closing momenta.
Seniors Marked By
Accomplishments
By BILL OVERTON
Sports Editor
As Westside salted away the
final 20 seconds of its 76-67
victory over Perry Saturday
night, the Panther bench started
growing somber.
The third-ranked Panthers
were about to lose for only the
third time in 27 games. But this
loss was like no other, for there
was tomorrow for Perry. It was
simply win or be eliminated.
As broken-hearted as the
bench looked surrounding sixth
year coach Carl Thomas, it was
hardly matched by the pain of
the five remaining players on the
floor.
Seniors Eric Richardson,
Keith Wimberly, Stacy Francis,
Tarvish Felton and Boris King
all stood on the Albany Civic
Center floor in that last 20
seconds, cruel victims of
Albany's mystique once again.
The five seniors ended their
careers Saturday, careers that
span back about as long as they
can remember. They went from
childhood friends playing for
enjoyment to young men
playing with goals.
Many of those goals were
Boys
Westside 76
Perry 67
For the next several minutes, the
game turned into a one-on-one
battle between Moore and
Wimberly, with each matching the
other’s shots. The lead flip-flopped
nine times during the opening four
minutes of the quarter.
"We tried to send one of our post
men at [Moore]," Thomas said.
"We like to double a lot with
guards. But they were moving the
ball to open guards and hitting the
shots. So finally we came up with
the idea of running a forward at
him. And it was semi-successful."
The two teams (or players)
finally went silent three-quarters
through the quarto-. With Westside
holding a 65-64 lead, and both
teams looking sluggish, Patriot
senior Troyce Tillman found his
way into the lane, knocked down
the two and was fouled by
Wimberly. Tillman made the free
throw and Westside led by four with
1:48 remaining.
Thomas knew that Perry had
plenty of time to make up the four
point margin. But he also knew
that Perry couldn't afford any
mistakes down the stretch.
The Panthers made two crucial
blunders in the final moments.
Both came with Perry down four
and dying to find an outlet pass to
start the transition game.
But Perry rushed the passes and
ended up throwing them out of
bounds. Opportunities lost
translated Into a long trip home for
the Panthers.
"Down the stretch, there were
some key things," Thomas said.
"We missed a couple of free throws.
We had some turnovers. We rushed
when it really wasn't necessary to
push the ball."
Please see PHS, page 8A
realized. One big one was noL
But Thomas thinks that the play
of the five starting seniors, plus
Shawn Bass and Boris Nedev,
will be remembered for their
accomplishments, not for what
they failed to accomplish.
"There's nothing that I can
say right now that's going to
take away the pain at this
moment," Thomas said
following the game. "Well have
the time to reflect on not only
the season, but the careers.
"I hope we're at the point in
our program where we're at this
level each year. That would be
[the seniors'] legacy."
The achievements of the
1993-94 version of Perry
basketball are numerous. The
most consistent of Thomas' six
clubs crept all the way to third
in the state among Class AAA
teams by the end of the regular
season.
The Panthers finished
unbeaten at home for the second
straight season. Perry beat Peach
County, a team which occupied
the number one spot in the
Associated Press poll, twice.
Included in that batch of
victories was a win in Fort
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Erie Richardson takes on the starting five of Weatskle on his way to ttu> b>> '
Valley, the first one for a
Thomas-coached squad.
Perry won the Region 2-AAA
title, never losing a game
against a region opponent and
averaging victories by 29.5
points per contest
And the Panthers put an end
to the question, "will Perry ever
beat an Albany team?" by
knocking oft Monroe of Albany
in the first round Thursday,
avenging one of the prior two
losses in the season.
All the achievements may
mean very little to the Panthers
at this moment. But with the
move to Class AA next year and
three solid seasons of winning
basketball, Thomas knows that
Perry basketball is back on the
map. And most of the thanks
goes to the collection of seniors.
"The last two years, the team
that has put us out was runner
up in the state," Thomas said.
"[Westside] will finish no worse
than fourth.
"At Perry we have a good
basketball tradition. It slipped
for a little while but I would like
to think we're back at the level
people expect"
Wednesday, March 9,1994 Houston Times -Jourr
Baseball/Soft ball
Registration Ongoing
The Perry Recreation
Department is still holding softball
registration through Friday
afternoon at the recreation office on
Keith Drive.
There will be three leagues open
for play, including men's open,
church and ladies' open. The fee is
$350 per team.
Also, Perry Recreation baseball
and sotball registration is currendy
ongoing through March 18 or until
full. The signups are available for
boys and girls ages 5-18.
The baseball program is
affiliated with Dixie Baseball and
will have an age cut-off of August
■ vvIBSP’ \
-Biff
Close But Not Quite Close Enough
Keith Beamon lets fly a birdie putt In Monday's Perry
Rotary Club Tournament at the Perry Country Club.
Seamon and hla team of Larry Arnold, Llnwood Barrett
and Hal Brannan played In the acrambts fc » t
tournament. Incidentally, tha putt flew by th # t /«
page 7A
1, 1994. For softball, dir. age cut
off is September 1
The cost is slb b « - $32
for two or more I; te city
of Perry. For county ms, that
fee goes up to $24 and S4B,
respectively. For out of of county
residents, the fee goer up to $32
and $64.
Practices are scheduled to begin
in middle to late April
The recreation ofi see at Rozar
Park is open Monday-Friday from 8
a.m.-5 p.m.
For more information on
softball or baseball registration, call
the recreation office at 98K 8075 or
988-8131.