Newspaper Page Text
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WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY 19, 2004
ON TAP
High school basketball
Friday
■ Carver at Warner Robins,
6 p.m.
■ First Presbyterian Day at
Central Fellowship, 6:30 p.m.
■ Spalding at Perry, 7 p.m.
■ Tift County at Houston
County. 7 p.m.
■ Westfield at Deerfield-
Windsor, 6 p.m.
■ Westside at Northside. 7
p.m.
Saturday
■ Central Fellowship at
Deerfield-Windsor, 4 p.m.
■ Houston County at Lowndes,
6 p.m.
■ Westfield at Tiftarea, 4 p.m.
■ Northside at Crisp County,
6 p.m.
High school wrestling
Today
■ Houston County at Upson-
Lee, 5 p.m.
Thursday
■ Westfield at Southland, 6
p.m.
Friday
■ Warner Robins at Rutland,
5 p.m.
■ AAAA state duals, time/
opponents to be determined
(through Saturday)
High school swimming
Saturday
■ Warner Robins at Clarke,
time TBD
■ Houston County at Americus,
time TBD
IN BRIEF
Bears, Demons to
hold footbal venues
Houston County High School
and Warner Robins High
School will each hold its annual
football banquets Thursday.
The big difference is the
Bears will have theirs at the
school, whereas the Demons
will have theirs at the National
Fairgrounds and Agricenter in
Perry. Houston County’s ban
quet is set to start at 6:30 p.m.
Warner Robins' has a 7 p.m.
slated start time.
Perry nec looking to
form bowiig league
The Perry Recreation
Department is interested in
forming a bowling league. Call
988-2860 for more.
Demon booster cU
slates lead-off Auer
The Warner Robins
Diamond Demon Booster Club
is hosting its Baseball Lead-off
Dinner Jan. 27.
The fund raiser is scheduled
to start at 6:30 p.m. and will
cost $25 per ticket. The cost
covers a steak dinner pro
vided by Outback, door prizes
and a silent auction.
Confirmed guests will
include major leaguers Glen
Hubbard, Cal Daniels, Mark
Johnson, Adam Wainwright,
Steve Bedrosian and Ron
Reed.
Tickets are on sale in the high
school office or at Satterfield
Jewelers in Centerville. For
more information, call club
president Tim West at 923-
0773.
TRIVIA TRIVIAL
Quick qdi...
In what century did boxing
get its start?
On this date...
1967 - The NHL held the
All-Star Game at midseason
for the first time.
He said it...
“One day Don King will
asphyxiate by the force of his
own exhaust.”
- Carmen Graciano
Answer: The 18th
Culpepper sets sights on second state medal
By JOE SERSEY
HHJ Sports Writer
PERRY -
Owen Culpepper
entered Westfield
two years ago and
brought with him 10 years
of wres
tling expe
rience that
he imme
diately put
to good use,
winning the
GISA state
title in the
275-pound
weight
class.
•*#**?
CULPEPPER
“My brother started it,”
Culpepper said, referring
to his older sibling Adam.
HHJ/Jo. Seraey
North side’s Kaisha Underwood defends during a practice at the school
Monday. She, a post player, is the only senior on the Lady Eagles’
squad and is counted on for leadership on the floor.
Northside, Westside set for rematch
By JOE SERSEY
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS
- Northside Lady Eagles
head coach Casaundra
Wilson credits teamwork as
the key to their success.
Narthside is 14-2, 3-1 in
GHSA 3S-AAAA. The
Lady Eagles’ only region
loss came Jan. 4 against
Westside.
They will get a chance to
avenge that Friday when
the two meet again, this
time at Northside.
“What happened to us in
that game,” Wilson said.
“We just didn’t score. They
have good shooters.”
It is ironic that scoring
points is an issue. Wilson
Sports
“When he started, I had to
start.”
Culpepper began his grap
pling career at Trinity in
Washington, Penn., where he
lived until his mother remar
ried, moved to Georgia, and
he came with her.
His first love is football
where he has garnered a host
of honors, but he remained
in wrestling mainly because
it helped him stay in shape,
he said.
“Wrestling is the most
intensive sport,” he said.
“You’re in the middle of the
mat all by yourself. If you
lose, it’s all your fault, not
the guy next to you.”
When he’s on the grass
versus the mat, he plays
FOCUS
A weekly In-depth look at one of
the county's basketball teams
points out that Northside
averages 60 points a win.
“With good defense, scor
ing will come,” she said.
“We’re not used to getting
those easy baskets. Now
we’re finding the good
shot.”
Wilson was referring to
the past three seasons.
Most of her players have
been with her that long.
They have suffered
through losing seasons and
getting knocked out of the
region tournament in the
'He has the aggression and is strong
as an ox. He has good footwork,
everything you want for a good
heavyweight/
- Westfield head wrestling coach Clint Humphrey
offensive guard and defen
sive tackle.
His favorite position is the
latter.
“I’m more aggressive and
like the attitude on defense,”
he said. “Aggression and
strength are keys to me.”
At 6-foot-1, he funnels
that same approach into
wrestling.
“He has the aggression and
Deviled jam
Underwood
a leader for
Lady Eagles
By JOE SERSEY
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS -
t’s easy not to notice the players
f§ who don’t score in double figures,
if don’t steal a lot of balls or get
double digit rebounds. It’s easy
■Mb not to notice their contributions
- that is until you have to play them.
Kaisha Underwood has been a starter
for the Lady Eagles for most of her four
years. This year she is the only senior
starting for Northside.
“She’s just a quiet impact player,”
said her coach Casaundra Wilson.
first round. Both are expe
riences the current Lady
Eagles want to avoid, and
they do it by working hard.
“We’re continuing to work
together,” Wilson said. “We
want transition baskets
because they deflate oppo
nents.”
She has the players to
get it done. Her daughter
Janay Wilson starts at point
guard and Trycee Brown
and Brittany Holder as the
other guards. LaKeshia Levi
and Kaisha Underwood
anchor the post positions.
Levi can be a one-woman
scoring maching when she
gets the notion.
She has racked up as
See REMATCH, page 3B
is strong as an ox,” said his
head coach Clint Humphrey.
“He has good footwork,
everything you want for a
good heavyweight.”
As to his future, that prob
ably will be football. He said
that Louisville has talked to
him, but he doesn’t expect a
scholarship offer and plans
to walk on if necessary.
He credits sports with giv-
“People don’t see the important
things she does.”
Underwood isn’t tall for a post
player, maybe 5-foot-8, but she is
a leader and motivator.
* “My role is to make sure
everybody keeps a positive
attitude,” she said.
She averages about six points
a game with seven or eight
boards a game, but it’s her offen
sive boards that make her so
important.
“She’s not intimidated by bigger
girls,” Wilson said. “Kaisha gets
four or five offensive rebounds a
game and that’s outstanding.”
Underwood started playing in her
church league as a fifth-grader. By
the sixth grade, she was playing for an
AAU team, and she’s been playing
See UNDERWOOD, page 3B
Perry cheer squad earns
first, second at tourneys
Special to the HHJ
Perry High School’s var
sity cheerleaders captured
two more trophies over the
past two weekends.
Jan. 8, the squad won
first place at the Golden
Hawk Cheer Classic held at
Washington County High
School in Sandersville.
According to a press
release, “the cheerleaders
had a few bobbles in their
routine but still were able
to pull off the victory like
ly because of the way the
judges scored the difficulty
of their routine.”
“We learned a few things
ing him the focus to suc
ceed.
“You set out goals in
sports,” Culpepper said.
“You learn to set goals in
life.”
Unfortunately an injury
recently has hampered his
training/ability to compete
during the regular season.
According to his coach, he is
expected to be back by the
region tournament Jan. 29.
In the meantime, being
the only senior on the squad,
he’ll continue to provide
guidance to those in need
- including five eighth-grad
ers.
“Everybody looks up to me
to be the most,” he said. “I
have to set the example.”
m 11181
2. mfm
Don Moncrief
HHJ Sports Editor
donm@evaasnewspapcrs.a nn
Fop Perry
coaches: An
apology
lam writing this to
apologize openly to
the football coaches
of Perry High School.
In my column this past
weekend, I made the
statement: “Question
his (former head coach
Chuck Conley) play-call
ing - as some coaches did
openly on rare occasion
- but don’t question his
loyalty.”
The first 11 words
are the ones that real
ly struck a nerve with
at least two within the
Panthers’ organization.
They were written with
a specific purpose. They
were intended solely for
an invisible enemy, who
- please hear me when I
say this - may only exist
in rumors and talk of a
conspiracy (via one with
in the system), with not
one fact found to date to
back it up.
I will leave it at that
because I, like the coach
es, am just wanting to
move toward building a
better Perry.
The fact remains, how
ever, that “some” in the
aforementioned sentence
was translated as “all.”
I regret that to no
end. But, I should have
known it could have been
interpreted no other way
- from experience.
See MONCRIEF, page 3B
in today’s competition that
we still need to work on,”
said Perry varsity cheer
leader head coach Love
Burnsed. “But I’m proud
of the way the girls have
worked hard to master a
very difficult routine.”
Saturday, the squad trav
eled to Peachtree Ridge
High School where they
came away with a second
place finish in the Hear
Our Roar Competition.
Johnson High School
from Hall County squeaked
past Perry High with a very
strong" performance, but
See CHEER, page 2B
SECTION
B