Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 7, 2004
Hardy, Malone share boys coaching honors
By Joe Sersey
HHJ Sports Writer
PERRY
The Panthers went
from a 5-21 team in
2003 to the second
round of the state playoffs in
2004.
They also improved to 19-
11 with the same team and
as a result, the Houston
Home Journal has named
Brett Hardy All-Houston
County Boys Basketball Co
coach of the Year.
“Last year, we knew we
Baxley led
HoCo girls
in return
to Macon
By Joe Sersey
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS
Sid Baxley was select
ed bv the Houston
Home Journal as
the All-Houston County
Girls Basketball Coach of
the Year.
His Lady
Bears
amassed a
20-9
record and
advanced
to the
Sweet 16
for the sec
ond year
in a row.
BAXLEY
“When
you have good players, you
can accomplish a lot of good
things,” Baxley said.
He started coaching the
girls varsity seven seasons
ago after a stint as the
boys’ junior varsity coach.
During his tenure, the
Lady Bears have gone from
also-rans to dominators.
“I like coaching the
girls,” Baxley said. “We
have many girls with better
overall skills.”
He credits his 2004 suc
cess to his players.
See BAXLEY, page 3B
Holmes nets
player pick
By Joe Sersey
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS
Lindsey Holmes was
selected as the All-
Houston County
Girls Basketball Player of
the Year.
Last season. Holmes aver
aged more than 15 points a
game. She hit 78 3-pointers
See HOLMES, page 3B
High school tennis
Today
■ Warner Robins at Houston
County
High school baseball
■ Northstde at Perry, 6 p.m.
■ Central Fellowship at Mount
de Sales. 7 p.m.
Friday
■ Henry County at Northside,
5:30 p.m.
■ Warner Robins at Houston
County, 7 p.m.
■ Deerfield-Windsor at Central
Fellowship, 1 p.m.
Saturday
■ Central Fellowship at Trinity
Christian, 4 p.m.
* TK? I
were facing
some adver
sity,” Hardy
said. “We
played
ninth- and
lOth-s
graders to
give them
as much
experience
as possible.
HARDY
They
bought into what we were
doing.”
How successful was he?
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First team boys
I Tarvis Billings. Perry
I Scott St. Cyr, Warner Robins
I Bubba Blaloc, Westfield
I Kenith Ward, Northside
I (Tie) Nick Butler, Warner
Robins
I (Tie) Kevin Battle, Perry
Second team boys
I Jordan Poole, Houston
County
High school soccer
Today
High school golf
Friday
■ Houston County and Warner
Robins at Vidalia Invitational
(through Saturday), time to be
determined
E322E9H1
Local BuMog CM) to
hold spring social
The Warner Robins Bulldog
Club will hold its spring social
April 29 at the Museum of
Aviation (Hangar One).
The cost is $25 with the event
slated to begin at 7 p.m. (Big
Dawg talk at 8 p.m.).
Sports
Perhaps the biggest words
of praise came from the man
who has to share the coun
ty’s best honor with him.
"Coach Hardy has always
done a good job down there
in Perry,” said Warner
Robins boys head basketball
coach Chip Malone. “It’s
always a competitive game
when we play them. They
beat us twice - during the
regular season and the first
round of the Bear Brawl. We
came back and beat them
See HARDY, page 3B
I Montay West. Perry
I Alton Sanders, Warner Robins
I Chad Hampton, Northside
Honorable Mention
I Ashton Stripling. Perry
I Pierre Miller, Warner Robins
I Jamaal Hadley, Warner
Robins
I Brian Moore, Northside
I Shawn Brunson, Houston
County
Tickets are available from
John Bailey at The Furniture
Gallery, Jack Bryan of J Bryan
Jewelers or call Paul Hibbitts at
922-9447, Charles Jackson,
922- or Natalie Claxton,
923- Tickets must be pur
chased by April 23.
Optimist lor Kids
event set for May
The fourth annual Optimist for
Kids golf scramble will be held
May 21 at Houston Lake
Country Club. The event is slat
ed to begin with a 1 p.m. shot
gun start (lunch 11:30 a m. - 1
p.m.).
The entry fee is $75 per per
son or S3OO per team, which
includes the entry fee, lunch,
green fees, prizes and more.
By Riley Smith
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS
Houston Home
Journal All-
Houston County Co-coach
of the Year Chip Mulone
said he hud a lot of ques
tions about his basketball
team back in November and
December. Most notably of
his concerns was starting a
freshman at point guard
and how in the world to get
through Region 2-AAAAA
without a post player taller
First team girls
I Lindsey Holmes. Houston
County
I Moreemi Davis, Perry
I Shuntina Davis, Perry
I CC Jackson, Warner Robins
I Drahcir Ross. Warner Robins
Second team girls
I Tiffany Lewis, Houston
County
I Lakeisha Levi, Northside
Sponsorships are also avail
able. Gold sponsorship is SSOO.
Hole sponsorship is SSO.
According to their release, "all
proceeds go to benefit the youth
in Houston County." Call Jimmy
Walker at 953-1155, Kevin
Greer, 922-7701 or Kevin
Lipford, 953-0125 for more
information.
Warner Robins VFW
to hold tournament
Warner Robins Memorial
Post 6605 of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars will conduct a gotf
tournament May 7. The event
will be held at Waterford Golf
Course in Bonaire.
Sponsors and/or volunteer
helpers/workers are also need
ed.
than 6-foot 2-inches.
It’s a good thing he and
his assistants got the maxi
mum effort out of their
players.
Otherwise, it would have
taken a little bit to explain
how Warner Robins reached
the state playoffs (for the
fifth time in the last nine
years), finished with an
above .500 winning percent
age and nabbed a sixth
straight Bear Brawl tourna
ment title.
“Coming in, to be honest,
I Cassi Stuart, Houston County
I Ray Donee Jones, Houston
County
I Becca Roper. Westfield
Honorable Mention
I Cherie White, Warner Robins
I Trycee Brown, Northside
I Quantisha Wynn. Northside
I Sade Wilson, Northside
I Latanya Harrison, Houston
County
Call T.J. Dick at 953-0291,
Ext. 152 or 397-6455 for more
information.
Quick quiz...
Who was the first woman to
bowl a perfect 300 game?
Born 0n...
Tony Dorsett, April 7, 1954
Winner of the 1976 Heisman
Trophy, he rewrote the football
record book at the University of
Pittsburgh In 1973, he gained
303 yards in 23 carnes against
Notre Dame, a showing that
Irish coach Dan Devine called
the finest he had seen in 28
years. As a Dallas Cowboy, he
was a superstar.
1B
I didn’t think we’d do as
well as we did,” Malone said
from home Monday. “They
just played so hard they
always have. All the teams
that I’ve ever coached, the
kids played hard. We won
some games I didn’t think
we’d win.”
“We always stressed that
we had to do everything
right, because we weren’t
that big. We had to take a
charge, block out, make the
extra pass, be patient on
See MALONE, page 3B
Billings key
to success
of Panthers
By Joe Sersey
HHJ Sports Writer
PERRY Tarvis Billings
did everything his coach,
Brett Hardy, usked him to
do and then some. That’s
why he is the Houston
Home Journal’s unanimous
selection as All-Houston
County Boys Basketball
Player of the Year.
His play sparked Perry to
a 19-11 record and a trip to
the AAA state playoffs.
“He loves to play the
game,” said Hardy. “He has
very supportive parents
who push him to excel on
and off the court.”
Billings can play inside
and outside and can handle
the press.
“He’s our go-to-guy,”
Hardy said, “but he plays
within the team concept.”
At six feet, two inches,
Billings plays tall. He aver
aged seven rebounds a
game for a total of 194 on
the season.
He can hit the 3-pointer
as well as pound it inside as
his 50.8 field goal percent
age can attest. He averaged
18 points per game.
He also shot 62 percent
from the free throw line.
“He is a leader,” Hardy
said. “He’s not vocal, but
the players know when he’s
come to play.”
Billings may not say
much, but his actions talk
for him.
See BILLINGS, page 3B
'He loves to play
the game. He has
very supportive
parents who push
him to excel on and
off the court/
Perry head boys basketball
coach Brett Hardy, on
Tarvis Billings
On this date...
1973 US. President
Richard Nixon threw out the first
pitch of the season at a
California Angels game. It was
the first time that a US.
President had performed the
ceremonial activity in a city
other than Washington, DC.
He said it...
“In my next life, I want to play
another position. I want a differ
ent job. I want to own my own
business, a stress-free job
Maybe I'll grow worms and sell
them.*
Kevin Duckworth
"The NFL. like life, is full of
idiots.”
Randy Cross
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