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High school basketball
Today
■ Warner Robins at Westside,
6:30 p.m.
■TattnallatCentral Fellowship,
6:30 p.m.
■ Perry at Peach County, 7
p.m.
■ Houston County at Coffee
County, 7 p.m.
■ Mount de Sales at Westfield,
6 p.m.
■ Hardaway at Northside, 7
p.m.
Saturday
■ Valdosta at Houston County,
6 p.m.
IN BRIEF
Association to host
basketbal game
The Westfield Beechwood
Baker Alumni Association will
be sponsoring a barbecue and
basketball games featuring
alumni from Beechwood. Baker
and The Westfield Schools
Saturday at 5:30 p.m., in the
Westfield gym.
The cost for admission is sl.
BBQ plates are $5. Call 987-
0547 to purchase BBQ tickets
in advance.
Among those former basket
ball stars scheduled to appear
are: Amanda Murph, Stephanie
Thompson, Rebecca Dudley
and a host of others.
Proceeds from a halftime
shootout will be donated to
Danny Bledsoe who is recover
ing from a farming accident.
Museun of Aviation
sets race/wait
The Museum of Aviation
Foundation will hold its ninth
annual marathon, half mara
thon and 5K run/walk Saturday
on Robins Air Force Base.
The event is slated to start
at 8 a.m. The cost is SBO for a
relay team, S4O for the mara
thon, S3O for the half marathon
and $lB for the 5K run/walk
(plus a $5 surcharge in the
case of each).
Trophies are awarded to
the overall top three male and
female finishers in each race,
the overall top male and female
masters in each race, the top
active duty military male and
female in the marathon and
half : marathon Clydesdale/
Athena divisions (male 200
pounds and up, females 150
pounds and up), the top active
duty military male and female
in the marathon, the overall top
male/ female and mixed mara
thon relay teams, as well as
the top three male and female
finishers in 14 different age
categories.
Each marathon and half-mar
athon runner will also receive a
medallion with ribbon as they
cross the finish line.
Call race director John
Hunter at 926-6686 (day) or
953-5335 (evening) for more
information.
Perry rec lookkig to
form bowfeig league
The Perry Recreation
Department is interested in
forming a bowling league. Call
988-2860 for more informa
tion.
TRIVIA? TRIVIAL
Quick quiz...
Which NHL player died as a
result of injuries suffered in a
game in 1968?
On this date...
, 1962 - Wilt Chamberlain,
then with Philadelphia, scored
73 points against Chicago.
He saM it...
“An expert is an ordinary fella
away from home."
- Bum Phillips
Answer: Bill Masterson
FRIDAY,
JANUARY 14, 2004
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HHJ Joe Sersey
Northside head wrestling coach Dan Kelly, left, watches one of his wrestlers during the Eagle Classic held this past
Saturday. The Eagles are scheduled to compete in the Area 1-AAAA team duals today and Saturday in Waycross.
Northside prepares for team duals
Demons to skip venue, instead focus on February’s ‘individual’ tourney
By JOE SERSEY
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS
- The Area 1-AAAA wres
tling duals are scheduled
for today and Saturday at
Ware County High School
in Waycross.
Northside plans to attend
but Warner Robins is skip
ping the tournament.
“It’s a single-elimination
‘team’ tournament,” said
Demons head wrestling
coach David Bruce. “It’s a
three-hour drive to compete
for 40 minutes and drive
three hours back.”
With only two teams eli
gible to advance, Bruce said
he instead wanted to focus
more on the region tourna
ment for “individual” wres
tlers - who in turn will have
a chance to make the state
Local rec youth earn Elks Hoop Shoot titles
By DON MONCRIEF
HHJ Sports Editor
WARNER ROBINS - The Warner
Robins Recreation Department held
the 2005 Elks Hoop Shoot Saturday in
its gym Saturday.
In the 12-13-year-old division for
girls, Kara Henke was first. There
was no second-place finisher in that
age group. For the boys ages 12-
13, Janarian Jenkins was first and
Chance Medlin was second.
In the 10-11-year-old division,
Tresadi McElroy was first for the
girls followed by Sequoia Clay. Shayne
King leads Lady Panthers to win over Mary Persons
By DON MONCRIEF
HHJ Sports Writer
It’s good to be the King
- Bianca King that is. The
Lady Panther scored a
team high - followed closely
by Ashley West who had
10 - in leading the Lady
Panthers to a 51-23 Region
4-AAA win at Mary Persons
Tuesday.
Even better was the fact
they weren’t the only roy
alty in the court.
International City course to hold String Scramble
ByJOESERSEY
HHJ Sports Writer
A String Scramble is set for Feb. 12
at International City Golf Club.
In this format, golfers will be issued
string to measure putt distance for
prizes.
Cost for the scramble is S2O for
members and $25 for nonmembers
and includes prizes, cart and green
Sports
tournament there - sched
uled for early February.
Meanwhile, at 15-4,
Northside is gearing up for
the team tournament at
Ware County.
“It will be tough for us,”
said Northside head coach
Dan Kelly. “Lee County is
the top dog. They have a
pretty sfalwart team, top to
bottom.”
Lee County has defeated
every Area 1-AAAA oppo
nent it has wrestled this
season, downing Northside
60-12 and Warner Robins
75-6 at a Jan. 4 quad meet
at Northside.
“We’ve seen Lee County,
but we haven’t seen any
body else except Warner
Robins,” Kelly said.
Other Area 1-AAAA
teams scheduled to compete
Waters and Johnny Slocumb were
first and second respectively, for the
boys.
In the 8-9-year-old age group, Jake
Chastain and Jonathan Sanks fin
ished first and second - in that order.
For the girls, Destini Williams was
second and Katlyn Winner - in a
repeat performance - was first.
Winner, the daughter of Scott
Winner, an Air Force officer stationed
at Robins Air Force Base, not only
captured the local division last year,
she went on to win district - hitting
nine of her first 10 in the opening
\ #
■ Penysl, Mary
Persons 23
“Every
body con
tributed
something
pos i -
tive,” said
Perry girls
basket
ball head
coach John
Chance, “whether it was a
rebound (the Lady Panthers
out-rebounded the Lady
Bulldogs 38-28), assist, steal
GOLF Ca LTTa
fee. Call the course at 322-0276 for
more information.
YOUNG GOLFERS IN LOVE - A
Valentine’s Day 9-hole couples scram
ble is scheduled for Feb. 12 at the
Landings Golf Club.
'The telling thing lor any team is if
they've been getting better. I think
we're getting better.'
- Northside head wrestling coach Dan Kelly
are Ware County, Thomas
County Central, Americus"
and Bainbridge.
“The telling thing for any
team is if they’ve been get
ting better,” Kelly said. “I
think we’re getting better.”
Kelly added he has several
grapplers he feels could do
well at the duals - and thus
contribute to the team’s
overall standings.
“Adam Smith (at 130
pounds) had a big match
against the Lee County
kid,” Kelly said. “Adam was
or (in some other way).”
“We cut down on our turn
overs,” Chance added, “and
held them to two points in
the first and fourth quar
ters and one point in the
third.”
That put Perry, which is
now 5-12 overall and 1-2 in
the region - Mary Persons
is 6-9, 0-5 - up 12-2 after
the first, 28-20 at the half
and 38-21 after three.
Tiandra Billings also
leading 5-1 until he was
"pinned. He wants to square
that away.”
Another wrestler who
wants to get squared away
is Tommie Gray in the 189-
pound class.
He entered the Eagles
Classic undefeated but fin
ished third with two losses.
Zack Huggins (171) and
Quenton Watts (275) fin
ished fourth in the Classic
in their weight classes and
Kelly said he thinks they
can do well at region.
round (25 free throws total) - and
then compete in the nationals.
Her regimen for success - her will
to contend she credited to her grand
father, Hank, who competed at the
college level - last year was a steady
diet of practicing free throws - 150-
200 a day.
All of the “winners” are slated to
compete at the district level Feb. 5
at the Warner Robins Recreation
Department.
The contest is tentatively sched
uled to begin at 10 a.m., according to
department personnel.
added 7 for the Lady
Panthers, while Latasha
Harris put in 6.
The Lady Panthers are
scheduled to meet Peach
County today.
The last time the two
met was in the CB&T Bear
Brawl holiday tournament
at Houston County.
Perry, which won the
tournament, knocked the
Lady Trojans out in the
first round.
The venue is set to begin at 3 p.m.
with a shotgun start. The cost is S4O
per couple.
Call the club at 923-5222 for more
information.
THREE NOT A CROWD: Houston
Lake will hold its 17th Annual 3-man
Scramble Feb. 26-27. Interested golf
ers can call the course at 218-5252 for
See CALENDAR, page 2B
SECTION
B
'
Joe Sersey ,
HHJ Sports Writer
jsersey@evansnewspapers.com
If the shoe
fits, try
tying it
This past week
marked the begin
ning of my second
year with The Houston
Home Journal.
What that means in a
nutshell is coaches have
gotten to know me well
enough to learn to avoid
me. Still, there are things
I’ve noticed I think should
be discussed.
First, I am greatly con
cerned about the new ath
letic shoes. Many of them
don’t require shoelaces
because they have the
Velcro strips that cross
and attach where laces
should go.
Educators have been
telling me that modern
students are not learning
important fundamental
life skills. They’ can’t fill
out a checkbook, nor can
they fill out job applica
tions or write complete
sentences.
I’m worried they’ll
fail to learn how to tie
their shoes. It is already
an issue of cool to walk
around with shoelaces
dragging the floor even
when they know how to
make a bow.
It’s an issue of funda
mentals. If they can’t tie
their shoes, what next?
Will they forget how
to put on their pants?
Forget that; by the sag
ging britches I see, that
already is a problem.
And this mindset is
reflected in every sport.
Basketball players can’t
hit a free throw. Football
players can’t use proper
footwork. Softball players
can’t bunt, and the list
goes on.
Coaches also tell me
that players give up more
easily these days. When
adversity strikes, they
hang their heads and
bewail the fates that put
them in a losing position.
That’s the difference
between winners and los
ers. The quality teams
overcome adversity. They
see it as a challenge.
Teams with that kind of
success also have strong
team chemistry - and
shoelaces that are tied I’ll
bet.
But it all comes back
to fundamentals. Young
athletes must be forced
to learn the basics. When
things start to go wrong,
as they will, an athlete
who knows how the game
is supposed to be played
can instinctively fall back
on those basic elements
they learned in the begin
ning.
I watch modern varsity
athletes, who have been
playing their sport since
they were preschoolers,
make mistakes because
See SERSEY, page 2B
Ift an issue of
fundamentals.
If they can't tie
their shoes,
what next?'