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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Lady Bears outnumber Valdosta
By JOE SERSEY
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS
- Houston County Lady
Bears head
coach Sid
Baxley sent
his players
to the court
in waves of
five against
Valdosta
Saturday
night in
a 55-36
■ Houston County
55, Valdosta 36
Region 1-AAAAA win.
Every player got minutes
as the Lady Bears cruised
to the win, leading by as
much as 31 points in the
fourth quarter, 54-23. Then
the Lady Wildcats closed out
the game with a 12-1 run.
“We played with a lot of
confidence,” Baxley said.
“We played good defense.
Defense will keep you in a
lot of games.”
The Lady Bears were
fresh from a 39-34 win over
Coffee County Friday night.
Houston County handed
Coffee County its first region
loss.
It was the first game
from transfer student Tonia
Williams. The freshman
moved from North Dakota
and joined the team after
the Christmas break.
Three Lady Bears scored
Lady Panthers edge Peach County counterparts
By JOE SERSY
HHJ Sports Writer
FORT VALLEY - Their
field goal percentage was
abominable.
Their free
throw shoot
ing abysmal
and their
turnover
rate awful
but still, the
Perry Lady
Panthers
held togeth-
■ Perry 42, Peach
County 41
er enough to defeat the
Peach County Lady Trojans
42-41.
“When we play them it’s a
war,” said Perry head coach
John Chance. “I haven’t
(ever) seen a pretty game.”
It is an intense rivalry
according to Peach County
head coach Maxine Cherry.
“It’s been going as long
as both schools have been
around.”
Perry trailed until the
third quarter, 27-23. That
was when the Lady Panthers
went on a 6-0 run.
For that brief moment,
Perry was 3-of-4 from the
field compared to 20-of-45
for the game.
The Lady Panthers took
the lead for good with 32 sec
onds left in the third quarter
STREAK
From page 1B
quarter to pull the Panthers
to within two, 72-70 with 23
seconds left in the game.
“Their size was to their
advantage,” Perry boys head
basketball coach Brett Hardy
said.
Perry knew it was in a
fight at the tip-off. Within
55 seconds of the start of
the game, Hardy called a 30-
second timeout to issue some
forceful instructions after his
team fell behind 7-0.
By the half, Perry was up
41-32 courtesy of a 10-0 run
midway through the period.
In the second half, things
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'We played with a
lot of confidence.
We played good
defense. Defense
will keep you in a
lot of games.'
- Houston County girls head
basketball coach Sid Baxley
in double figures. Brittany
Torain led with 14 points.
Cassi Stuart and Candice
Clark added 10 points each.
Valdosta’s Ashley Gaitor
was the only Lady Wildcat in
double figures with 10.
Of his team’s Saturday
night win, Baxley said, “We
were just not playing with
confidence, not getting the
breaks. Now we’re making
our own breaks.”
SCOI BOARD
HOUSTON COUNTY 55,
VALDOSTA 36
VA 411 8 13-36
HC: 9 20 16 10-55
Halftime: (HC) 29-15. Scorers: (VA) Evans
4, Allen 5, Ashley Gaitor 10, Bellamy 2.
Geprge 5. Lomg 8: (HC) Jones 6, Candice
Clark 10, Johnson 3, Brittany Torain 14,
Channell 6, Cassi Stuart 10, Campbell 2.
Wynn 2, Williams 2. 3-pointers: (VA) Allen:
(HC) Clark, Torain 2, Stuart Records: (VA)
9-10, 1-3 in 1-AAAAA; (HC) 8-10. 3-1.
Next: (HC) vs. Tift Co., Fri., 6 p.m.
From Friday
HOUSTON COUNTY 39,
and after Tiandra Billings
hit the second of a two-shot
foul for a 32-31 lead. Her
free throw was one of only
four out of 18 attempts.
“I am amazed that we
went 4-for-18 from the free
throw line and still won the
game,” Chance said.
Sabre King, who scored a
team-high 10 points, added
two on a put-back to give
Perry a 34-31 lead at the end
of the third.
They scored 14 of their 42
points in transition baskets
off of turnovers even though
the Lady Panthers them
selves committed more than
40 turnovers in the game.
“This is a tough place to
play and win,” Chance said.
“I challenged them at the
half to play better defense.”
Another adjustment
he made was rotating his
defense from zone to man
to-man, switching out con
tinuously.
It seemed to help but
what also helped was the
Lady Trojans' atrocious free
throw shooting in the fqurth
quarter.
Peach County attempted
10 free throws in the final
period and missed six of
them. They were all cru
cial. A made free throw with
went south for the Panthers.
They made only three field
goals and hit just one of four
free throws while the Trojans
outscored the Panthers 21-9
to take the lead 53-50.
Perry managed to tie the
game later at 58 behind two
treys and two free throws
from Montay West. He fin
ished the game with 29 points
to match Peach County’s
high scorer Larry Cox who
also had 29.
A major problem Perry
faced in the fourth quarter
was that Peach County was
already in the bonus.
That advantage put the
>. vST/ / Ay!\\ \l
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HHJ Joe Sersey
Houston County’s Tonia Williams (50) defends against
Valdosta's Janita George during the Lady Bears' win at
home Saturday.
COFFEE COUNTY 34
Halftime: (CC) 18-13. Scorers: (HC)
Jones 2, Clark 5, Poston 1, Torain 4,
Channell 4. Cassi Stuart 11, Campbell 3,
w S( jhmmH|
HHJ/Joe Sersey
Perry's Sabre King, center, takes a shot while Peach
County's Carilla Hollingshed (3) defends, Friday in Fort
Valley.
the score 42-39 would have
meant Tawanna Barker’s
field goal 23 seconds later
would have tied the score.
Worse, twice the Lady
Trojans got the ball back in
the final 15 seconds of play
and had the opportunity to
tie the score but committed
back-to-back travel calls to
lose possession.
•Peach County turned the
ball over more than 30 times
but still had a chance to win
with three seconds left. But
Carilla Hollingshed’s desper
ation shot from beyond (way
Trojans up 60-58 but Taurean
Smith tied it again with a
field goal.
He had a chance to put
the Panthers up by one, but
missed the free throw for the
three-point play.
In the grand scheme of bas
ketball rivalries missed free
throws didn’t matter because
the Trojans went on a 17-10
run to close out the game.
SCC BOARD
PEACH COUNTY 77, PERRY 70
PY: 14 27 9 20-70
PC: 19 13 21 24 -77
Halttime: (PY) 41-32. Scorers: (PY) J.
Billings 5, Montay West 29, T. Smith 7,
Courtney Watkins 10. Patten 2, T. Billings
SPORTS
Wynn 4, Williams 5; (CC) Green 4, Hatto
2, Harrison 2, Brockington 2, Fuller 2,
Wellse 4. B McClealand 16. 3-pointers:
(VA) Wells.
beyond) the arc boinged off
of the backboard.
“This one was a heart
breaker," said Cherry. "It was
a big rivalry, and we blow it
three or four times in the
last two minutes.”
SCO! BOARD
PERRY 42, PEACH COUNTY 41
PY: 9 12 14 8-42
PC: 13 12 6 10-41
Halftime: (PC) 25-21. Scorers: (PY)
Billings 4, West 4, Sabre King 10, B.
King 7, Roberts 8, Buckholts 7, Askew 2;
(PC) Hollingshed 4, Girdner 4, Taylor 2,
Lowe 6, Protia Nottingham 10, Jackson
6, Barker 9. Records: (PY) 6-12, 2-4 in
4-AAA; (PC) 5-10, 1-4. Next: (PY) at
Southwest, Fri., 6 p.m.
8, R. Smith 7, Clark 7; (PC) McEllhaney 5,
Chris Slaughter 17, Early 8, Dustin Smith
12, Thomas 4, Hudson 2, Larry Cox 29. 3-
pointers: (PY) J. Billings, West 6, T. Smith,
Watkins 2, T. Billings; (PC) McElhaney,
Slaughter, Early, Smith. Records: (PY) 17-
1; 5-1 in 4-AAA; (PC) 14-1.5-0. Next: (PY)
at Southwest, Tue., 7:30 p.m.
Perry United Methodist Church
jSj— I MORNING WORSHIP
I mW I 9am & 11am
|\ I SUNDAY SCHOOL
I 10am
I SUNDAY NIGHT WORSHIP
l| | 7pm
Jenny Jackson-Adams -Senior Pastor
Roland Fall -Associate Pastor • Josh Bizzell - Youth Minister
Krissy Pope -Pastor to Children & Director of Christian Education
1002 Carroll Street Chlldcare
478-987-1852 Provided
Patriots, Steelers get
rematch; Falcons set
By BARRY WILNER
AP Football Writer
PHILADELPHIA - The
Philadelphia Eagles have
been here often. It’s not
where they want to stay.
The Eagles advanced to
their fourth straight NFC
championship game Sunday
with a 27-14 romp past the
inept Minnesota Vikings.
They will also host their
third cqnference title game
in a row, a league record,
when they meet Atlanta
on Sunday. The Falcons
routed St. Louis 47-17 on
Saturday.
For the next week,
Eagles fans will wring their
hands, furrow their brows
and deal with the angst of
Philadelphia’s last three
failed attempts to make
their first Super Bowl since
1981.
“We are excited about
this win, but we are excited
about moving on,” Donovan
McNabb said after throwing
two touchdown passes.
The AFC champion
ship matchup is a rematch
of a Halloween game in
Pittsburgh, when the
Steelers beat the Patriots.
This weekend, New England
took apart Indianapolis 20-
3 and Pittsburgh survived
against the New York Jets
20-17 in overtime.
In October, Pittsburgh
won 34-20 to end the
Patriots’ record 21-game
winning streak. The
Patriots beat the host
Steelers in the 2001 AFC
title game, then won their
first of two Super Bowls in
the last three years.
“We played our best 30
minutes of football in the
second half,” coach Bill
Belichick said of Sunday’s
domination of Indianapolis
and league MVP Peyton
Manning. “Ran the ball,
converted third downs,
played good defense.”
The Eagles are 4 1/2-point
favorites, while the visiting
Patriots are 3-point choices.
Both games feature the top
two seeds in each confer
ence.
NFC
The last time the Falcons
(12-5) met the Eagles (14-
3) in the postseason two
years ago, Philadelphia won
a night game 20-6.
Back then, the Falcons
were coached by Dan
Reeves and were coming off
a historic victory at Green
Bay, the first team to win
a postseason road game
against the Packers. These
Falcons have the NFL’s top
rushing offense, with quar
terback Michael Vick and
RBs Warrick Dunn and T.J.
Duckett, and new coach Jim
Mora has revamped and
revitalized the defense.
“This is a totally different
team than was here, with a
different feel and a different
look,” Pro Bowl linebacker
Keith Brooking said. “But
it is similar in the sense
that we are making plays
when we need to.”
Philadelphia has made
the big plays all season and
did so again Sunday even
TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2005 ♦
'This is a totally
different team
than was here,
with a different
feel and a
different look. But
It is similar in the
sense that we
are making plays
when we need to.'
- Atlanta Falcons linebacker
Keith Brooking
without All-Pro receiver
and sparkplug Terrell
Owens. The Eagles play the
run pretty well, but do they
have the right personnel
to deal with the mercurial
Vick?
“They’re doing a good job
with ball control,” All-Pro
safety Brian Dawkins said,
“so we’re going to have our
hands full, especially with
their quarterback.”
And how well can the
Eagles protect McNabb
against a defense that pres
sures quarterbacks so well?
“We’re confident and
loose,” said do-every
thing running back Brian
Westbrook. “We don’t
have any reason not to be
loose.”
AFC
Judging by their play this
weekend, the Patriots (15-
2) seem ready for another
Super Bowl trip, and the
Steelers (16-1) seem lucky
to be alive.
“It definitely tests your
faith,” running back Duce
Staley said after the close
call.
But Pittsburgh was
plucky enough to survive,
and underestimating such
a well-coached and physical
team would be a mistake.
The Steelers will need
their hard-driving running
game featuring Staley and
Jerome Bettis to be at its
peak. Offensive Rookie of
the Year Ben Roethlisberger
struggled against the Jets,
and the Patriots bring even
more confusing looks and
experience in pressure
games.
Not that coach Bill Cowher
fears Roethlisberger has
been unmasked.
“Ben is unflappable. He
does display a calmness. ...
You still have a sense that
he’s going to get it done,”
Cowher said.
i It’s the same sense every
one should have about New
England, which was sup
posed to have problems
matching up with the high
flying Colts. The nasty
weather certainly helped
the Patriots, but they so
befuddled Manning that if
the game had been played
on the Jacksonville beach
in August, it might not have
mattered.
“We rattled them all
game,” linebacker Tedy
Bruschi said. “That’s what
we do best.”
3B