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Sports Westfield splits two! Boys win 71-70 and girls lose 54-26 against Deerfield during season opener. By Phil Clark The Westfield basketball teams -split a varsity doubleheader -Saturday afternoon in Albany after Bert Brown's B-team had dropped a 54-36 decision in their first game of the year. In the girls’ game, Gordy Gruhl's defending region 3AAA champion Lady Knights were just too much for Billy Sellers' young team as they used a balanced scoring attack and ball control to defeat Westfield 54-26, the Lady Hornets' first loss after winning the Tattnall tipoff tournament before Thanksgiving. Deerfield, one of the favorites to win the girls' title this year, rely on veterans Fain Spurlock and Kelly Gruhl and sophomore center Meredith Fordham for most of their scoring, and the trio didn’t disappoint the fans, combining for forty of Deerfield's points. But Billy Sellars, the first year Lady Hornets coach, was pleased with one aspect of the game. "We didn't quit. We didn't back off. I'm proud of them for that." In a low scoring first quarter, Gruhl hit a three pointer at the 3:35 mark to give her team a 5-0 lead, and it was 7-0 before Jennifer Smith scored Westfield's first points of the game at the 2:08 mark. Deerfield led by nine after one quarter, 11-2, as they controlled the ball most of the quarter. By halftime it was 24-8 and Deerfield was on the way to their second victory in as many nights, having beaten a good Monroe team on the road Friday night in Forsyth. Jennifer Smith, who missed part 'of the second quarter after a collision with a Deerfield player, finished the game with ten points to lead the Lady Hornets. Meanwhile Spurlock was knocking in seventeen, including five of six from the foul line, to lead all scorers. Gruhl had 13, including three three-pointers and the sophomore Fordham had ten. Westfield is 2-1. Deerfield 2-0. The boys game turned out to be one of streaks mixed with basket swapping. The first streak belonged to Westfield as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Deerfield came back to lead after one quarter 16- 15. Jake Walls, who's listed as the center, but who sets up shop at just about any spot on the floor, hit two three-pointers for the Hornets in the first. But in the second quarter, the Hornets changed their offensive '.trategy and began driving to the basket, putting in 13 points from the foul line in the quarter But three pointers by Richard Swan. Lady Panthers win season opener! Girls winsl -42 and boys lose 76-66 against Mays during season opener. i fyy** , W v w> ,’ * I . ■ * l§ A USB PJP ' Afl * ~*i *’’^" Jada Releford goes up for two in the Lady Panthers against Mays High in a 51-42 victory. Cam Parker asd Tony Czaplicki kept the Knights close as the Hornets took a six point lead at halftime 40-34. The Knights opened the second half with a run of their own, taking the lead at 41-40 on another Richard Swan three pointer. But Westfield scored fourteen of the next sixteen points in three and a half minutes of excellent basketball. Walls scored on a reverse layup and was fouled. He converted to make it 43-41 Westfield. Walls then led a Hornet fastbreak, dishing off a behind-the back pass for a Brian Nash layup, Westfield ran off five more points to make it 50-41 before Andrew Swan hit a Deerfield basket. Todd Rigdon answered for Westfield as the Hornets took a 55-43 lead with two minutes left in the quarter. Deerfield called time, then went on another run of their own. Richard Swan hit another three pointer to make the score 55-46 after three quarters. The Swan twins had scored the last eight Deerfield points in the quarter. Deerfield continued the streak in the fourth, scoring eight more before the Hornets got a layup from Walls. That basket broke a 54-54 tie. but Courtland Harris quickly tied the game again before Brian Nash hit a jumper for a two point Westfield lead After a Deerfield free throw, Matt Shepley fed Lawton Pearson for a layup but Tony Czaplicki hit a Deerfield three pointer and the game was tied again at 61-61. Shepley found Walls for a layup, but Richard Swan canned two free throws. Still tied. Walls scored on another driving layup and an exchange of turnovers gave Deerfield the ball with 2:32 left and Westfield leading by two. Harris tied it with a basket and the Knights took the lead on two free throws before Nash got a tip-in to lie it again. Walls got a putback to give Westfield a 69-67 lead, but it didn't last long as Hams hit a three pointer for a one-point Deerfield lead with 47 seconds left. Walls then hit two pressure-packed free throws to give the Hornets a 71-70 victory. Walls had 27 points to lead all scorers, with Nash scoring 19. Seven other Hornets scored Referring to the streaks by both teams, coach Jim Massey said you expect to see that early in the year. I'm just glad we could hold on and win Westfield will play at Tattnall Friday and host Pinewood Saturday. Houston Times -Journal HsJW. . j ~a>„ \ 0 jM ■ - *' m iflHr f jj Tothehoop... Gay Curry goes up for a slam. Perry lost the game 77-66 against Mays High School Saturday night by will uark Time was when someone told you the Perry basketball teams split, you'd think 'boys won, girls lost'. Not so Saturday night as the Perry Lady Panthers opened their season against region 7AAAA Mays of Atlanta and withstood a barrage of points by Kenya Williams for a 51-42 victory, handing Max Vickers an opening night victory in his first full season as Lady Panther head coach. The Perry team used a balanced scoring attack and the senior leadership of Amber Fendley to hold off a late rally by Mays and finished with a strong fourth quarter to gain the nine-point victory. Junior Jada Releford led the Lady Panthers with 13 points, but the supporting cast was impressive as Vickers will try to help his team improve on last year's 11-15 record. Junior Yotasha Davis had nine, junior Natalie Taylor eight, junior Shanetia Gilbert and sophomore Monique Kendrick seven each and Fendley six for Perry. Williams, though, took game honors with 33 of her team’s total of 42. Coach Vickers said "it's always great to get a win on opening night. A lot of pressure is gone, now we concentrate on bettering last year's record." In a see-saw first half that saw fourteen players score, Perry used a three pointer by Derrick Webb just before the buzzer to take a 36-33 halftime lead as they played before the homefolks for the first time. The Panthers had played three Wednesday Dec. 7,1994 games in the Haraee's-Coca Cola Thanksgiving Classic at Jonesborough. Tennessee over the Thanksgiving holidays, taking second place in the twelve team tournament. A 6-1 run to open the second half by the Raiders wiped out the Perry lead, giving the visitors a 39- 37 advantage, and by midway through the quarter, Mays had stretched the lead to 47-42. The Panthers, playing most of the two middle quarters without leading scorer Garnet Curry, cut the lead to four at the end of three, 55-51, but Otis Key led a fourth quarter charge by the Raiders that kept the visitors in charge of the game. Key had six points in the quarter, fifteen in the second half and twenty four overall as he led Mays to a 76-66 victory and improved his team's record to 2-0. Stan Gann tried desperately to rally his team with eight fourth quarter points, but 9 of eleven from the foul line by Mays kept the Panthers at bay. Gann's 17 led the Panthers, who got 15 from Webb, 10 from Curry and eight off the bench by Gene Arnold. Cory Duncan had nine for the Panthers, and Key led all scorers with 24. Perry drops to 2-2 and will play Houston County Saturday night and Bleckley County Tuesday night, both on the road, and both games are region 3AA encounters. Perry will play in the annual Bear Brawl Christmas tournament at Houston County December 27-30. A weekend in the life of a sports fan! 6A A weekend In The Life Of A Sports Fan By Phil Clark What was your weekend like? Busy, if you're an avid sports fan. More specifically if you're a football fan. Take my friend Russ Nelson, who's the color commentator on the WPGA-AM football broadcasts with me. He's a Northside supporter, and an Alabama fan. Had tickets to both games this weekend! Here's what his weekend was like. Friday afternoon, there's the long trip down 1-75 to Valdosta, where his Eagles play the Wildcats in the GHSA quarterfinals. The trip seems longer because all the way down, he's thinking how Northside has never beaten Valdosta, in six tries. And there's that mystique of Cleveland Field, called Death Valley for good reason. The Eagles offense didn't do much against the Wildcats, but special teams kept the Eagles in the game. Northside scored 32 points, thanks to two interceptions returned for scores, and a kickoff return for a touchdown. The Eagles' 32 points would have been enough to win all but four of the sixteen quarterfinal games, Valdosta’s win. Southwest DeKalb's 54-27 win over Brookwood, Thomas County Central's 34-0 shutout of Josey, and Screven's 35-7 win over West Laurens. The Eagles' 32 were the most points scored by a losing team. The Eagles battled the Wildcats and the mystique of Death Valley until the end, though. A late Valdosta score gave the 'Cats a 10- point win, but it had been 35-32 late in the fourth quarter. Not bad for a team that wasn't given much of a chance by the so-called experts. Now then, his team loses a heartbreaker, he's a hundred Fifty miles from home, it’s late Friday night, and he has tickets to the Alabama-Florida SEC championship game Saturday afternoon in the Georgia Dome! He heads home for a little sleep, a shower and a little food, and gets on the road again. The weekend got a little longer as the Gators squeezed out a 24-23 win over his Crimson Tide, denying Alabama a shot at the national championship. That's a tough weekend, even for the most avid fan. It's crunch time in the GHSA! By Phil Clark Two weeks ago there were 64 teams harboring dreams of a GHSA state football championship For some it was little more than a dream, but most teams who made that first cut had a legitimate chance to win Now we re down to the sweet sixteen', the Final four in each of the four GHSA classifications. There are a couple of blockbusters on this weekend's schedule, too. All but one game will be played Saturday night. First of all, let's set the itinerary. All of the north Georgia games will be played in the Georgia Dome, with the Class A game beginning at 12:00 noon. Central Talbotton is the host in this game, Brooks County is the visitor. Brooks is the darkhorse in Class A, having beaten Turner County in the last regular season game, then again the following week in region 2A playoffs. They followed that with wins over Lincoln County and Toombs County to advance to the semi finals. The winner of this game will host the class A championship next Saturday December 10tn. I like Brooks County in this one. The winner plays the Macon County- Manchester survivor in the battle on number one versus number two. The game is in Montezuma, where the state's best defensive team hangs out. The Bulldogs could stand a little more offense, and if Stay in Touch • ' 1 wJ with your community! Subscribe To The Times-Journal 987-1823 Phil L Illy Clark I rfHL Sports I l\n\ How about if you're a sports writer. Check out the options, since you're not working a Friday night football game. There's Macon County versus Putnam County at Montezuma, number one against number six in class A. A ticket and a few extra hours could have sent you to Forsyth, since you’d want to beat the crowd to Mitchell Field and get yourself seated for the matchup between number one Washington County and number three Mary Persons in GHSA AA, You might also have a chance to witness Dan Pitts win his 316th game, breaking the state record. You could take in the GISA AAA title game between Stratford and Tattnall, where the unbeaten Eagles put their 25-game win streak on the line in a bid to repeat as state champions. You opt for the Macon County game, where you see the Bulldogs stifling defense shut out their ninth opponent of the year. Then Saturday, you pack your basketball note pads and scorebooks and head for Albany, where the Westfield teams take on Deerfield in three games, beginning with a boys B-game at I:3OPM. Between the B-game and the girls game, you have a little time, so you're fortunate enough to get to talk to Cincinnati Reds third base coach Ray Knight and LPGA touring pro Nancy Lopez, whose kids attend Deerfield. Extremely nice people. A little past 6:OOPM, you pack up your stats on the Westfield games and head for Perry, where the Lady Panthers open their season against Mays of Atlanta, and the Panthers play for the first time before the home folks. You make it by the fourth quarter of the girls game, and see all of the boys game. 10:20PM, pack up the bags again and head for home and a little sleep. By now, your mind hears a steady thump, thump. A basketball hitting the floor. And the game's been over half an hour! It sounds like a trying weekend, right? Forget it. This reporter wouldn’t have it any other Way! they get it, they will be tough to beat. Manchester is unbeaten, too. so this, in all reality, should be the state championship game. 1 like Macon County at home. In AA. the game at the Georgia Dome at 3:oopm Saturday, likewise, should be for the state championship. But there will be another week left. Number two Carrolton is the host. Washington County the visitor. The visitor wins. I like Washington County. The other AA game is between sixth ranked Screven County of Sylvania and Lovett, an unranked team that beat Crim last week. Screven County gets my nod. Number one Dalton will host unranked Thomas County Central in the AAA game at the Dome. Dalton is unbeaten, while Thomas County dropped three games during the regular season. But the Yellow Jackets have won the last two state championships despite losing three and two regular season games. They play well in December ! I like Thomas County. Dublin hosts number three Tucker in the other semi final. Dublin's bubble could burst. I like Tucker. In class AAAA, look for Southwest Dekalb to prevent a possible all region lAAAA state championship game as they beat Valdosta. Colquit County can host the championship game with a win over Marietta Friday night. Look for the Packers to survive.