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Tourney titlists!
Lady Panthers nip Dublin 54-51 to win Bear Brawl trophy
By PHIL CLARK
Times-Journal Sports
Max Vickers’ Perry Lady
Panthers used an intimidating
half-court trap against the Dublin
Lady Irish in the championship
game of the Bear Brawl, denying
the inside game and used superior
defensive quickness to pull out a
pulsating 54-51 win to take the
Brawl championship Dec 30 at
Houston County High.
With tournament MVP
Shanequia Howard and Eugenia
Radford keeping constant pressure
on Dublin’s point guard Jennifer
Jessup, Perry was able to erase an
early Dublin lead with a 20-point
second quarter and went into the
dressing room at halftime with a 28-
24 lead over the taller Lady Irish.
Dublin’s 6-1 Jenny Pritchett
scored all of her six points early in
the fourth quarter, but the Perry
defense denied the Dublin inside
game in taking the exciting victory.
It didn’t come easy, though.
With Perry up by three at the end
of three quarters, 42-39, Dublin
came back to tie the game at 43-43
with 6:10 left in the game, then
Dublin took a 45-43 lead on a
Timethia Bonner basket to com
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Times-Joumol Photo by Eric Zellars
PERRY PANTHERS - Dannorris Harvey (23) takes a
jump shot for three points against Macon County Jan. 4.
The Panthers lost 81-77.
Bulldogs rally, hold on
to down Perry 81 -77
By PHIL CLARK
Times-Journal Sports
Carl Thomas’ young Perry
Panthers jumped out to an early
lead against the Macon County
Bulldogs at the Panther Pit Jan 4
and led 23-17 after one quarter.
However, Eugene Abrams’
strong bench proved to be the dif
ference in the game as the
Bulldogs got 31 points off the
bench in pulling out an 81-77 win.
Perry had won an earlier game
over the Bulldogs, but only three
of the current roster members
were playing for Macon County at
that time because of football.
Perry’s early lead had been
threatened near the end of the first
quarter as Macon County pulled
to within two at 19-17, but Reggie
Clark and Johnny Watkins each
scored a basket in the final 30 sec
onds to give Perry the 23-17 first
quarter lead.
The Bulldogs, who used a
steady and balanced attack, kept
pecking away at the Perry lead,
and led at halftime 37-34 behind
two three-pointers by Anthony
Jackson and another by Charlton
Harris.
Eddie Cochran scored 11 for
the Bulldogs in the third as they
outscorcd Perry 20-14 to take a9-
plete a 6-1 Dublin run.
With both teams playing great
defense, each scored just one bas
ket over the next three minutes,
and with Dublin leading 47-45 at
the 1:58 mark, April Fendley hit
two free throws to tie the game at
47-47, then Radford broke the tie
with one of two from the line.
Six seconds later, Bonner gave
Dublin the lead back 49-48 with a
couple of free throws. With 1:20
left, Teresa Scott put back a
missed free throw for a one-point
Perry lead before Margaret Leigh
Cullen put Dublin right back
ahead 51-50 with two free throws,
with 1:10 left in the game.
On Perry’s next possession,
Felicia Scott broke toward the
basket and drew a foul. Scott tied
the game at 51 -51 by making the
first free throw. She missed the
second, but got her own rebound
and scored the go ahead basket to
give Perry a 53-51 lead.
After a Dublin miss, the Lady
Irish fouled Howard and the junior
point guard made one of two for
the final 54-51 score.
Howard, who ran the Perry
offense effectively through the
tournament, and who teamed with
point lead after three quarters 57-
48 and although Perry stormed
back to score 29 in a furious
fourth quarter, -Macon County
held on for the four-point win.
Clark and Watkins put on a
show for the Perry folks in the
fourth quarter with Clark’s three
pointer with 50 seconds left cut
ting the lead to 74-72 and a
Watkins trey made it 76-75
Macon County with 25 seconds
left,
Perry just ran out of gas in the
comeback bid. Watkins scored 14
and Clark 11 for Perry in the
fourth quarter. All five Perry
starters scored in double figures
with Daniel Harvey playing
another solid game and scoring 20
points. Clark finished with 19,
Watkins 18 and Dante Holmes
and Dannorris Harvey 10 each.
For the Bulldogs, who also had
five players in double figures,
Jackson had 17, Cochran 15,
Shannon Ashmon 14, Ricardo
Jones 12 and Antonio Perkins 10.
Derrick Hill had 9 for the
Bulldogs off the bench.
Perry plays at Dodge County
Jan 10 and will be off for exams
until they meet Northside there
Jan 17.
Page 6A
Wed. Jan. 8, 1997
Radford and LuCrista King to
keep relentless pressure on the
opposition, was named Most
Valuable Player of the tourna
ment, while Monique Kendrick
was named to the all-tournament
team and April Fendley was
named to the second team.
Fendley led the scoring for
Perry in the game with 12 and
played well under the boards
against the bigger Dublin team.
Howard finished with 8,
Radford 8 and Felicia Scott 9.
Minyon Lindsey was the only
Dublin player to reach double Fig
ures as she led the Lady Irish with
12. Pritchett, Dublin’s inside
threat, was shutout from the mid
dle of the first quarter and ended
with just six points.
The Panthers, defeated in the
opening game by Wilkinson
County, went through the consola
tion bracket with wins over
Americus and Peach County and
took fifth place with a 62-54 win
Dec 30 over the Trojans.
Reggie Clark led a trio of Perry
players in double figures with 20
points, with Daniel Harvey hitting
a dozen and Johnny Watkins 10.
Hornets can’t find winning rotation,
fall to Deerfield-Windsor at Albany
By PHIL CLARK
Times-Journal Sports
ALBANY Westfield
coach Jim Massey brought 14
players here Jan 4 to play the
Deerfield-Windsor Knights,
and used all of them in trying to
find a winning combination.
The bigger Knights coasted
to an 81-60 win in a non-region
Georgia Independent Schools
Association game.
Westfield athletic director
Ronnie Jones might have
summed it up best when he
asked “Why is it that when we
take the field or the floor, the
opponent is always bigger than
we are?”
Deerfield was able to use
their size advantage effectively
as they jumped out to a 20-9
lead and coasted to the victory.
Westfield did get back two
injured players, though, and
both Trey Wilder and Trevor
Jones logged considerable
playing time.
Chip Davis led Westfield
with 14 points, and Brian
Hartley continued to be impres
sive off the Hornets’ bench,
scoring 10 points. Ben Hulbert,
held to a single free throw in
the first half, finished with 10
as well.
Meanwhile, the Hornets
could do little about Deerfield’s
inside game as the Knights
continuously took the ball
inside with Perry Revell hitting
24 points to lead all scorers.
Three other Knights scored in
double figures, Cam Parker
with 17, Braxton Fields with 15
and Richard Swan with 12.
Westfield will play at
Monroe Friday and at Tiftarea
Jan 11.
Lady Panthers pick up 10th win for season
By PHIL CLARK
Times-Journal Sports
Just one game into the second half of the basket
ball season, Max Vickers’ Perry Lady Panthers have
already picked up their 10th win of the year.
They did it Jan 4 with a convincing 62-35 win over
outmanned Macon County at the Panther Pit.
Vickers used his entire bench extensively, and got
scoring from 11 players in improving the Panther
record to 10-1, including wins in the Hawkinsville
and Bear Brawl Christmas tournaments.
The Lady Panthers established control of the
Macon County game early as six different players
scored in a 23-3 first quarter. Meanwhile, the Lady
Bulldogs did not score a field goal.
Passinault takes first at Tift County Invitational, Panthers finish 7th
By CHAD LEWIS
Times-Journal Staff
TIFTON Despite all of his
victories over the years, Travis
Passinault went to the Tift County
Invitational wrestling tournament
on Jan. 4 unsccded. But instead of
getting upset about being snubbed,
he went out and won the biggest
trophy they had the first place
one.
“Travis wus little upset about
Times-Journal photo by Eric Zellars
THE WINNERS Perry High School Lady Panther Coach
Max Vickers (right) and Lady Panther Shanequia Howard
(left) hold trophies from Cnristmas tournament wins at
HawkinsviHe and Houston County.
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JUMPING FOR POINTS - Westfield player Chip Davis
(12) jumps in an effort to control the ball and grab a
basket during the Westfield loss to Deerfield-Windsor
Jan. 4 at Albany. Davis recently returned to the lineup
after an injury.
Felicia Scott scored the first six points of the game
and Teresa Scott had five first quarter points, includ
ing the Lady Panthers’ only three-pointer of the night.
Tracy Israel, Macon County’s best player, tried to
keep the Lady Bulldogs withing striking distance
with six second quarter points, but by halftime
Perry’s lead was 37-11 and Perry coasted to the 62-35
win.
Felicia Scott led Perry with 13 points. Israel had a
dozen of Macon County’s points as Sydney Hughes’
team continues to struggle.
Perry plays the always-tough Squaws at Dodge
County Jan 10 with a 7 p.m. start, then will be off
until they travel to Northside Jan 17 to meet Ron
Wilson’s Lady Eagles.
not being seeded,” explained
Panther coach Sean Moistner, “so
I guess he decided to take it out on
the other wrestlers.”
Overall, Perry fared well, espe
cially considering that they were
the only AA school competing in
the 15-team tournament. All of the
other teams were AAAA schools.
“Wc really had some tough
competition out there,” said
Moistner.
Houston Times-Journal
Other Panthers brought home
some hardware as well.
Joe Smith won third place at the
160-pound weight class. Eric
Gaston finished third at the 103
division and Brian Ramey also
brought home a third place trophy
as he placed in the 145 division.
The Panthers placed seventh in
the tournament, which was their
\ (See HALF, Page 7A)
Phil
Clark
Times-Journal
Sports
Player of year
gets bad news
I got some really disturbing
news at the Perry-Macon County
basketball game Jan. 4.
Macon County athletic director
C.B. Cornett was at the game, and
as we talked about his recent state
championship, and the great
group of kids he had on his team,
he hit me with a shocking fact.
Houston Times-Journal area play
er of the year Antwaan Hill, a
junior linebacker at Macon
County and a truly outstanding
football player and individual,
will undergo surgery Jan. 8
because of a broken neck.
Cornett doesn’t know when the
injury happened. He thinks it
could have been in the team’s
final regular season victory over
Turner County when Hill was
shaken up. But Hill continued to
play, apparently without pain,
through the playoffs where he was
an instrumental part of the
Bulldogs’ state championship.
He had even joined the basket
ball team, and had played in the
team’s victory in the Crawford
County Christmas tournament.
According to Cornett, Hill had
complained about a pain in his
neck, and finally Hill’s mother
contacted Cornett over the holi
days, and the coach advised the
family to have him seen immedi
ately. Then the discovery of the
broken neck!
Cornett asks for the prayers of
football fans everywhere for the
young man and for his recovery.
His football career is apparently
over, but then, that is not the main
concern now, is it?
It’s sad to see injuries such as
this happen to young people who
have so much to look forward to.
It’s sad, too, to see a program like
that of the Dallas Cowboys hit by
so much bad publicity directed at
a few key players.
The entire organization is suf
fering from the antics of Michael
Irvin and a few teammates. And
remember, too, that their coach,
Barry Switzer, ran a much
maligned program at Oklahoma, a
program that has not recovered
from Switzer to this day. Dallas
headed in the same direction,
although they have won three of
the last four Super Bowls.
That run is over. The Cowboys
were stunned by the Carolina
Cougars Jan. 5 and eliminated
from the playoffs. The loss came
on the heels of yet another
Michael Irvin escapade.
Though he says he was not pre
sent at an incident that happened
last week involving teammate
Erik Williams, others say he was
there. Irvin says he was in a bar,
which should have been a viola
tion of his probation from cocaine
charges filed before the start of
the season. Irvin is simply a
rogue, playing for a rogue, and
will not adhere to anyone’s rules
but his own self-serving ones.
It’s sad, too, when you consider
the numbers of young folks who
look up to the Cowboys collec
tively, wearing all sorts of Dallas
shirts sweaters coats, jackets, caps
and so forth. Yet players like Irvin
pay that no mind. They could care
less about today’s youth.
There are Cowboys who do,
though, like Emmitt Smith, Troy
Aikman, and a few others.
Unfortunately, their good deeds
are overshadowed by the antics of
Irvin and a few others.
It is doubtful whether Aikman
will return to Dallas. He simply
abhors the antics of a few team
mates, and does not see eye-to
eye with Switzer on a lot of
things. Owner Jerry Jones doesn’t
help matters, either, with his mav
erick deals that defy National
Football League rules.
If the owner can do as he
chooses, if the coach has
absolutely no concept of disci
pline, and if a few star players can
act the way they do off the field,
it’s tough for the good guys like
Smith and Aikman to keep the
positive image intact.
And Deion Sanders. Like him
or not, his biggest distraction is
his huge ego. But you never hear
of Sanders frequenting a crack
house or a bar, nor being busted
doing cocaine in a motel room
with a prostitute.
I’m sorry to see the Dallas pro
gram heading in the wrong direction.
w