The Oconee Leader

This Week:

Sports Issue 6

Volume 11

Thursday, February 11, 2016

From the Oconee to the Apalachee

Football

Signing Day Page 5

Schools

MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader

Miss Legend

Caylee Morrell Page 3

Online

Malcom Bridge Middle School hosted the middle school league championship games last Wednesday, and the Malcom Bridge Lightning came away with the championship after beating Haymon-Morris 58-49 in overtime. The Lightning trailed 47-44 as time was winding down in the fourth quarter but a 3-pointer by DaShawn Elder tied the game to send it into overtime. Elder finished with 21 points. The Oconee County Lady Braves played for the championship but lost the girls’ game 37-33 to Russell. For the full stories, see Page 4. For photo galleries of the games, see theoconeeleader.com. Pictured are the Lightning being presented the trophy by school athletic director Scott Burrell.

Davis announces he’s out ahead of qualifying

BY MIKE SPRAYBERRY The Oconee Leader

Qualifying for Oconee County’s May 24 general primary and nonpartisan general elections begins next month in a year with 10 local offices scheduled to be on the ballot.

Candidates may qualify as soon as March 7 and some sitting officials began making announcements last week.

Melvin Davis, Chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners announced his decision not to seek a fifth term in office, and Commissioner John Daniell announced plans to seek the chairman’s seat.

“Qualifying is March 7 to 11,” said Oconee County Board of Elections Chair Pat Hayes. “It starts at 9 a.m. on the 7th and runs until 5 p.m. everyday except the 11th. It ends at noon on the 11th.”

County offices up for election in the May primary and nonpartisan elections include three

seats on the Board of Commissioners (chairman, post 1 and post 4) and three seats on the Board of Education (chairman, post 4 and post 5).

Oconee County voters will also elect five constitutional officers: sheriff, tax commissioner, probate judge, clerk of court and coroner.

Daniell stated he would be vacating post 2 on the Board of Commissioners and that a special election to fill his seat would also take place May 24.

“We have packets available now if candidates would like to get them to fill out and bring with them when they qualify,” said Hayes. “We are filing them electronically this year, but we don’t want them to have to stand there while we fill in the information on the computer. Or they can wait for qualifying to begin.”

Qualifying fees for Oconee County offices vary from one office to another. Hayes provided an update on how much candidates for each office must pay to get into their respective races.

“Chairman of the Board of Commissioners is $2,487.76,” she said. “Board of Commissioners members are $594.42. Board of Education members are $54. Sheriff, clerk of court, tax commissioner and probate court judge are $1,943.28 each. Coroner is $108.”

Hayes said qualifying for candidates for nonpartisan offices as well as qualifying for candidates of both parties will be held in the Board of Elections office. The Elections office is located in the building on the south side of the Oconee County Courthouse.

“If they have any questions, they can call me at 706-769-3958,” added Hayes.

Davis will retire at the end of the year after 16 years as Chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners. Daniell has served in post 2 since 2009.

Mike Sprayberry is a reporter for The Oconee Leader.

Library Friends book sale hits ‘record’ numbers

BY ROB PEECHER

Photo Gallery

MBMS basketball theoconeeleader.com

4-H

Horse Quiz Bowl

Winners Page 2

The Oconee Leader

The Oconee County Library Friends Winter Book Sale proved to be very successful in raising money for the local library, organizers said this weekend.

Edith Barnes, president of the OCLF, said the event went “tremendously well.”

“We had a record number of sales and a record number of attendees,” Barnes said. “We don’t have all of the (sales) tallied yet, but we certainly sold a record number of books.”

The Library Friends host both a winter and fall sale each year. The books sold are all donations from the community, and Barnes said it is the donations that help to drive the success of the sale.

“We had a lot of people comment on both the number of books and the selection of the books. And that all comes down to the donations we receive,” she said.

Community volunteers help to make the sale a success as well, Barnes said, and this year there were many volunteers who helped to sort and display books prior to the sale and keep the books organized during the sale, help shoppers and sell books.

Amani Rabai, a senior at Oconee County High School, was among

ROB PEECHER/Oconee Leader

Amani Rabai, a senior at Oconee County High School, was among the volunteers helping with the OCLF Winter Book Sale.

the volunteers helping to keep the books organized during the sale.

Rabai, who moved here from Minnesota, said she volunteered at her library and Minnesota and wanted to continue to do that in Oconee County. She said there are a lot of benefits to volunteering with the Library Friends, not the least of which is the ability to do some presale browsing.

“I get to see all the books before everyone else does,” Rabai said.

Barnes noted that all of the money raised at both the fall and

winter book sales goes to the local library, and some for new books and some of the money is used to pay for programming at the library.

“The money is donated back to the library for acquisitions for new books, this allows the library to keep things current. The money the library gets from the county goes to keep the lights on and the staff paid, and so this is money that helps to buy new books and also helps with programming,” Barnes explained. “The summer reading program is pretty much funded by

(the Library Friends).”

Barnes said the Library Friends will compile the totals from the book sale and will donate that money to the library, but almost immediately the Library Friends will be getting ready for the next book sale.

Held in the front two meeting rooms at the Library, the Winter Book Sale is the smaller of the two book sales put on by the Library Friends. The larger of the two sales in the Fall Book Sale, held at the Oconee County Civic Center, and as soon as one ends, the work for the next one begins.

Though the Fall Book Sale won’t take place until the second weekend in September, Barnes said the Library Friends are already accepting donations for that sale, and people are encouraged to bring unwanted books to the library to donate.

“We have donation bins at the front of the library as they walk through the door,” Barnes said.

Throughout the year, volunteers are sorting donations in a back room in the library and storing donations in a storage building behind the Watkinsville library.

Anyone interested in volunteering with the Library Friends is encouraged to visit oconeelibraryfriends.org.

Page 2

Thursday, February 11, 2016

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Local 4-H team wins state Horse Quiz Bowl

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Oconee County 4-H members won third place at the Georgia 4-H State Horse Quiz Bowl Contest held recently. In In the double elimination style quiz bowl, 4-H members learn equine science related subject matter. Twenty five teams from across the state competed at the contest.Pictured above (left to right) are:MeghnaIyer, Alicia Carnes, Kalani Washington, Robie Lucas, Neely McCommons, Mills Crosland, Lilly Ann Smith and Emily Antwine.

Academy students make Honor Chorus

Four fifth graders will be the first students to ever represent Athens Academy at the Georgia Music Educators Association’s Statewide Elementary Honors Chorus.

Alice Lynn Goodroe, Emma Hooper, Carrie Anne Kilgore, and Lilly Manoll have been selected to participate in the prestigious concert on Sunday, February 21.

They auditioned for the Honor Chorus under the guidance of Athens Academy choral teacher Leslie Setzer.

The fifth graders will rehearse with the chorus all day on Friday, February 19 and Saturday, February 20, working with special guest conductors Fred Meads and Angela Johnson. Mr. Meads is the director of vocal studies for the American Boychoir School. Ms. Johnson is the director of Young Naperville Singers.

Following their work on Friday and Saturday, the chorus will perform at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 21, at the Classic Center in Athens. The concert is free.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Pictured (left to right): Lilly Manoll, Emma Hooper, Alice Lynn Goodroe, and Carrie Anne Kilgore.

UNG forms Oconee community group

The University of North Georgia is forming community leadership councils that work closely with UNG leaders to focus on a number of initiatives centered around the themes of workforce readiness, access to education, and partnerships and collaborations.

The UNG Oconee Campus Community Leadership Council (UNG OC-CLC) is the first of these councils to be formed. Its goal is to address specific themes that surfaced during the Watkinsville Regional Education and Economic Development (REED) meetings this past summer, among them the creation and strengthening of partnerships, the building of assets and leadership development.

With these aims in mind, Dr. Eric Skipper, interim vice president of university affairs and CEO of the UNG Oconee campus, extended invitations to several prominent members of the Oconee County community to form the UNG OC-CLC. “The OC-CLC has provided valuable community and business perspective on key aspects of community engagement and campus initiatives,” said Skipper. “Attendance has been nearly 100 percent at every meeting.”

The OC-CLC consists of local community leaders from education, government and business backgrounds.

Oconee County schools superintendent Jason Branch, Watkinsville Mayor Charlies Ivie, Watkinsville city councilwoman Marci Campbell and Oconee County Commission chairman Melvin Davis all serve on the committee. Cindy Farley, director of the Oconee Cultural

Arts Foundation, and Amrey Harden president of Oconee State Bank both also serve on the committee.

Kay Keller, president of the Oconee Chamber of Commerce, Lorie Petersen, a business development manager at BankSouth and Dave Shearon, owner of Ashford Manor Bed & Breakfast also serve on the committee.

Zaxby’s owner Jeff Faulkner and Fox’s Pizza owner David Walton are on the committee, along with Kelly Watts, who works for Caterpillar human resources, state Rep. Chuck Williams and Ameripride general manager Joey Wilson.

Topics discussed with the council include the UNG Strategic Plan, the OconeeFest scholarship event, the Academic Master Plan, and external initiatives and partnerships in the community.

In addition to the meetings, the OC-CLC have been avid participants in campus and university events, including holiday concerts, Gainesville Theater Alliance performances, collaborations with the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF), Student Awards Night, Holiday Luncheon, End-ofSemester Spring Picnic, and Nighthawks UNight: Oconee Convocation.

“The OC-CLC will strive to facilitate ease of communication among the students, staff, faculty, and administration, to provide needed services for the community, and to implement cultural, educational, and recreational programming to enhance community life,” said Skipper.

- Staff Reports

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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Page 3

Webber Coleman wins Houzz awards Morrell crowned Miss Legend

Webber Coleman Woodworks of Watkinsville was recently awarded “Best of Design and Customer Service” by Houzz, an online platform for connecting homeowners with remodeling and design experts.

Webber Coleman Woodworks was chosen by the users of Houzz from among more than one million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.

The Best of Houzz is awarded annually in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the 35 million users of Houzz. Customer service honors are based on client reviews.

“We are honored and humbled for being awarded two ‘Best of Houzz’ badges for 2016,” said Dan Webber, owner of Webber

Coleman Woodworks. “We’re pretty excited to be amongst the great pros honored.

Many thanks to our clients, suppliers and team that have helped get us where we are today. And thanks to Houzz for this fantastic resource.”

“Anyone building, remodeling or decorating looks to Houzz for the most talented and service-oriented professionals” said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. “We’re so pleased to recognize Webber Coleman Woodworks voted one of our ‘Best Of Houzz’ professionals by our enormous community of homeowners and design enthusiasts actively remodeling and decorating their homes.”

Webber Coleman Woodworks has been a local, family business for more than 25 years. It specializes in custom cabinetry for residential and commercial applications.

Ever since he was a little kid, I could always count on my youngest son to help me out when it was time to work in the yard.

When he was little, Robert’s older brothers would run off to play with the neighbor kids on a Saturday morning, but Robert was always good about staying with me and picking up pine cones and sticks, riding in my lap as I drove the riding lawnmower around the yard.

Robert helped me dig holes when trees or shrubs needed to be planted and pull weeds when weeds needed pulling. If I needed to cut down brush or burn it, Robert was the one who would stay with me while his brothers went in pursuit of activities that provided better entertainment.

At 14, Robert isn’t just the one I can count on to help when I need help, but now he seeks out opportunities to do outside work. He loves it. Which is great for me. I may not have to the cut the grass again for years.

Robert’s favorite weekend activity, though, is to hang out with his grandfather. My dad has a couple of acres, with a fair amount of hardwoods, and so Robert goes to his grandparents’ house and helps cut down trees, clear brush, burn brush and chop up firewood.

It is an arrangement that works well for us, because every Saturday afternoon Robert comes home with a week’s worth of firewood, and Jean and I love to sit by the fire on a cold winter’s evening.

This past Friday night, Robert opted to spend the night with his grandparents so he could get up bright and early and get to work. Having been a teenager, and having raised two teenagers in front of him, it seems like odd behavior to me.

But I believe that if you find a teenager who wants to work, you should encourage that sort of thing.

After a morning of sitting around watching English Premier League soccer, I was thinking about Robert out there cutting down trees and chopping them into firewood, and I couldn’t stand it any longer. Sometimes, a man has to go get involved in man’s work.

Robert and I sometimes stand up the wood he brings home and have log splitting competitions with the axe we bought him for his birthday, so I knew going out there it was likely to turn into a competition. But there was something after a morning of sloth that appealed to me about a swinging an axe.

When I got there, Robert and my dad were using the come-along winch to drop this big tree that they’d already cut down but had wedged itself onto another tree.

But the tree was wedged in there really well, and the come-along wasn’t getting the job done. Eventually we just used brute force to drag the tree down, and that was the good, manly sort of work I’d come looking for. Lifting and dragging a tree around in the woods is the sort of thing I imagine our forefathers would have expected us to do.

Having exerted brute force, I was now really into the thing. I was ready now to produce some logs that would see us through the cold, hard winter, so I took the axe and started swinging away.

Robert surveyed my form and technique, and it wasn’t long before he started in with the criticisms.

“You wanna hit it at more of an angle,” he complained. “Hit it at an angle this

way, and then hit it at an angle that way.”

“I’m fine,” I said, breathing hard after just a couple of swings.

“Here, lemme show you how to do it,” Robert said, coming over and grabbing hold of the axe. “You gotta cut it like this.”

“I know how to chop up a tree,” I said. “You’re cutting it exactly the way I was cutting it. Gimme the axe back.”

We argued over the axe for a bit before I pulled out the Dad Card and told him to obey his father, and he then handed over the axe so that I could go back to work on the tree.

I chopped off one piece at fireplace size.

Then I chopped off another piece at fireplace size.

What I realized, swinging the axe, is that there is a reason I don’t spend my Saturdays swinging an axe. It’s hard work. I’ve got a bad shoulder, and swinging an axe doesn’t make my shoulder feel any better.

I also realized that it takes more swings of the axe to chop through a tree than I remember.

One swing just puts a cut in the tree.

Two swings knocks a chunk out. Three swings and the chunk gets a little bigger.

Four swings – well, the fourth swing is always misplaced. The fifth swing knocks out another pretty good chip of wood, but swing number six is when you start to feel like the tree should be about done, and you realize you’re not yet a quarter of the way through.

On swing seven, you remember your bad shoulder. On swing eight, you need to catch your breath. On swing nine, you find the cut that you started on swing four, and you make that one a little bigger. That way, everyone knows you misplaced not just one hit, but another.

I cut one more piece for the fireplace to make sure my son knew I was capable of cutting wood all day, but the truth of it is that I was done. I’d cut through the tree three times, and my initial thoughts of going into the woods to do manly stuff were abandoned. I was wondering if there wasn’t something on television worth watching.

That’s when my dad suggested we should leave the rest of the tree for another day when he and Robert can cut it up with the chainsaw. I readily agreed that the rest of the tree should wait for the chainsaw.

Sunday morning, Robert was walking around talking about how sore he was.

“Swinging an axe is hard work,” he was saying. “I’m sore. My back is sore. My arms are sore. You swing that axe enough, and it starts to get heavy. Know what I mean, Pa? Are you sore, too, Pa?” Now, the truth of it was that I could barely lift my arm. I was so sore that I could not stand nor sit nor walk with any comfort at all. I ate a bottle of Tylenol to no effect.

But I knew better than to confess weakness to the kid whose idea of a good time is cutting down trees.

“I feel great,” I said. “I was thinking about going out this afternoon and splitting some of those logs we brought home yesterday.”

“Oh, no, Pa,” Robert said, rushing toward the door. “I’ll split those logs!”

Chopping wood and splitting logs

Rob Peecher is author of the book “Four Things My Wife Hates About Mornings,” and he doesn’t have to cut grass or split logs.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Caylee Morrell (center) was crowned 2016 Miss Legend during this past weekend’s pageant. Pictured above are (left to right) Sarah Sisler, Evie Bielen, 2016 Miss Legend Caylee Morrell, Hannah Pachuta, and Lora Nedza.

The Oconee County High School Beta Club Friday hosted the 2016 Miss Legend Pageant, and senior Caylee Morrell, representing the Spanish Club, was crowned Miss Legend.

A total of 17 girls competed for the title in front of an audience of nearly 300 spectators, and the Beta Club was able to raise more than $2,000 for Relay for Life.

In addition to 2016 Miss Legend Caylee Morrell, several girls received recognition at the pageant.

Senior Hannah Pachuta won the talent competition. Finalists included Merrilea

Duke, representing the Robotics Club; Jordan Kreimeyer, representing track and field; Leah Le, also representing track and field; Pryce Lofton, representing varsity football cheerleading, and Jordan Osborne, representing National Honor Society.

Junior Lora Nedza, representing Student Council, was fourth runner up; Senior Sarah Sisler, representing the Young Democrats, was third runner up; Hannah Pachuta, representing varsity competition cheerleading, was second runner up, and Senior Evie Bielen, representing cross country, was first runner up.

For hundreds of photos and constant updates about Oconee events and people, go to theoconeeleader.com

This Week:

Wolverines

Championship strike of Lightning WARRIORS TITANS SPARTANS WOLVERINES LIONS

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Football

National Signing Day Page 5

Upcoming

Several athletes signed last week to play their respective sports in college.

Their stories will be featured in an upcoming edition.

Online

Photo gallery

Malcom Bridge championship game

theoconeeleader.com

Online

MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader

The Lightning celebrate their championship following their 58-49 win last Wednesday. For more photos, see theoconeeleader.com.

Last-second 3 ties game, free throws in OT win game and title

BY MATTHEW CALDWELL The Oconee Leader

Down by three points with 14.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the championship game last Wednesday, Malcom Bridge got the ball to DaShawn Elder.

Standing closer to the outof-bounds line than the 3point line, Elder took a shot in front of the Lightning bench and the ball hit nothing but net with seven seconds left, and the game against Haymon-Morris went into overtime to determine the league champion.

Tied at 47 after regulation, the Lightning never trailed in overtime and defeated Haymon-Morris 5849 to win their first championship since 2013.

“I am just happy that we won this game,” Elder said.

“We played team ball and

MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader

Members of the Lightning pose for photos following their win in the championship last Wednesday.

came out with the win.”

Elder finished with 21 points. He hit four 3-pointers, including his first shot

attempt of the game. He said when he hit the gametying 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, he wasn’t

nervous.

“I knew I should have shot the ball. What else would I do”,” Elder said. “I

just went with the flow and made the shot.”

It was the Lightning’s third overtime game since January 25, which was a double-overtime game against Oconee. The Lightning also won in overtime in the semifinals against Oconee.

“Oh my goodness,” a relieved head coach Randy Cain said after the game. “(Assistant) Coach (Matt Kerns) said if we can get a team into overtime, we had a chance. That’s what it felt like this year. We had three overtime games and to come out on top in all three, we are fortunate to do that.

We had a couple of big shots to get us there and we played well in overtime. It ‘MBMS wins’ Page 6

Please see

Middle school girls basketball

Lady Braves fall short in bid to win league championship

BY MATTHEW CALDWELL The Oconee Leader

Photo gallery

OCMS in the championship game

theoconeeleader.com

Online:

Web - theoconeeleader.com Facebook.com/oconeeleadersports Twitter - @ocleadersports Email at sports.oconeeleader@gmail.com

A 14-0 run over the course of the first and second quarter helped propel Russell Middle School past Oconee County in the championship game last Wednesday.

The Lady Braves tried to come back in the fourth quarter but it came up short and they lost 37-33.

The Lady Braves went 11-for-32 from the freethrow line.

“The game was there to be had and we didn’t show up,” said head coach Shelynn Scott. “They fought hard. They played well but Russell wanted it more and fought and did the little things correctly. We told the girls before the game free

throws would matter and lay-ups would be the difference, and it was.”

The Lady Braves had a 43 lead with 3:43 left in the first quarter. It was their only lead of the game. Russell scored with 3:22 left in the first to start their 14-0 run, which ended when Campbell Ball hit a free throw with 2:50 left in the half. Russell led 17-8 at halftime.

“Bad defensive shifting.

We left the baseline open,” Scott said. “They were attacking the baseline pretty good.”

The Lady Braves cut the lead to 34-31 with 54 seconds left in the game, the closest they were to the lead since they trailed 5-4 in the first quarter, but Rus-

sell hit three of four free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the win.

Julia Peroni had 16 points to lead the Lady Braves.

LaNya Scott had six points.

Ball had five points. Sydney Hurst had four points.

Vanessa Sekandi had two points.

“Their best days of basketball are ahead of them.

This isn’t it. They have a lot of ball to play. They are learning this now and not in the final four or the sweet 16 in high school,” Coach Scott said. “They have come a long way since two years ago. We are losing all but three going up to the ninth grade. You will be reading about them in the paper in the future.”

MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader

Oconee County’s Campbell Ball goes up to block a layup attempt in last Wednesday’s championship game.

For more photos, see theoconeeleader.com.

Page 5

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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Oconee’s Della Torre wins pair of state championships

Rob Kraeling, Kevon Hudson and Jordan Hightower with head coach Jeff Herron and athletic director Richard Ricketts

Trio of Wolverines sign for football

BY MATTHEW CALDWELL The Oconee Leader

National Signing Day was busy for Prince Avenue Christian.

Three of their top players, Rob Kraeling, Kevon Hudson and Jordan Hightower, made their college decisions official by signing their national letters of intent.

Kraeling signed with Duke, Hudson with Carson-Newman and Hightower with Lenoir-Rhyne.

Head coach Jeff Herron joked, “It should be condolences for me since they are all leaving.”

“All three of them are great players,” Herron said. “They all three had great senior years.

When a kid has got an opportunity to go to college and continue to play and get their education paid for is a win-win. I am very happy for them and very proud of them and appreciative for what they have done fro Prince Avenue.

“We are glad it worked out like it did. With Major (Herron) playing in the conference that Kevon and Jordan are going to, we have some familiarity there, and Rob could have played anywhere in the country that he wanted to. I didn’t think about the states but we are happy they are getting able to play.”

Kraeling knew where he was going to sign with for nearly a year. He committed to Duke last spring and said signing to make it official gave him “that peace of mind.”

“I am already excited to get to work up there in Durham,” he said. “I visited a lot of places and saw a lot of really cool stuff. In the end, it was academics and coaches. The kind of people there I want to surround myself with was the final factor. When I went up there for spring break, it stuck in my mind after I left. I visited some other places afterward and it stayed in my head. We came back from Boston College and we landed in the airport up near Raleigh and I was like, ‘Mom, dad, let’s head back to Duke.’ We gave Coach Faris and them a call and asked if they minded if we stopped by. I knew as soon as I stepped off that plane what I was going to do.”

From the late 1980s when

Steve Spurrier was the coach at Duke until recently, there hasn’t been much success on the football field for Duke.

But since David Cutcliffe has taken over as head coach in 2008, Duke has fielded competitive teams and made a trip to the ACC Championship game in 2013.

They won the Pinstripe Bowl last season.

“I remember Coach Cutcliffe in an interview once said he doesn’t want to help sustain an already nationally known program. He wants to build something,” Kraeling said. “With Tennessee, he built that program to where it is today. He built the players. I thought about it and I was like, what do I want out of this? Do I want to help build something?

Do I want to be a part of a sustained program or do I want to build a legacy at a school? Build a history, something that players in the future would be like, man those guys were the top notch.

Those are the guys that gave this school this name and the opportunity I have now.”

Herron said Kraeling didn’t let the recruiting or committing to Duke go to his head.

“A lot of times this recruiting stuff can go to a kid’s head and they don’t have as good a senior year when they know they are already going somewhere,” Herron said. “That wasn’t the case with him. He kept getting better all year long. He will continue to do that. If he does, I think we will be watching him play on Sundays.”

Hudson, who missed all of his junior year of football after getting injured on the first play in the first game of the season, rebounded to have a strong senior year. He officially committed to Carson-Newman last month.

“I visited a couple of times and I figured it would be the best place to be,” Hudson said. “I felt like I belonged there. I felt like a part of them.”

This is the second time Hudson has gotten to see the recruiting process play out. His sister Lauren also went through college recruiting with softball.

“It was breath taking but at the same time, it was a very special moment,” he said.

Carson-Newman University, which plays in the South Atlantic Conference, is a school Herron is familiar with. Last year, his son Tyson signed with the school located in Jefferson City, Tenn.

“What a great story. He has overcome a lot in his life and having to overcome the injury like he did last year, it’s a fairy tell almost,” Herron said. “We are certainly happy that he is getting the opportunity to go to college and I am happy he is going to Carson-Newman. With Tyson being there and I know their coaches well, I know they will be really good for Kevon as he continues to mature and grow.”

Hightower, who was only at PACS for one season, visited the school in Hickory, N.C., during the season and committed to Lenoir-Rhyne just a few days before National Signing Day. “It’s a really special day. I couldn’t imagine back in little league and middle school this day would seem real. It was like it was never going to come,” Hightower said. “I am blessed and thanking God for everything he has done for me. That’s really it. That’s the only thing I can do.

“I talked to them during the season. I visited them and watched a game. They called me back up and I had an official visit and that’s when they offered me.”

Lenoir-Rhyne is also in the South Atlantic Conference. Hightower will get to play against Hudson in college.

“That’s a thing I am looking forward to,” Hightower said.

Herron’s son Major played at Lenoir-Rhyne.

“That will be an interest game and one I will have to make, for sure,” Herron said. “Jordan had a great year. It was his first year with us. He had a tremendous year on both sides of the ball.

That is what ultimately got him a scholarship is his versatility. I talked to the coaches at LenoirRhyne and they said we are not sure what we are going to do with him yet but we know we can use him somewhere. He was that way for us too. He played a multitude of things and did them all well.”

Contributed photo

The North Oconee Lady Titans finished seventh, the Oconee County Lady Warriors finished 10th and the Warriors finished 12th in the Class 1-5A state swim meet last weekend at Georgia Tech.

Oconee County’s Danielle Della Torre (pictured) won a pair of state championships in the 200-IM and the 100-breaststroke. The girls’ 200-medley relay team (Erin Osborne, Emily Weimer, Della Torre and Grace Williamson) finished seventh. The girls’ 200-freestyle relay team (Weimer, Osborne, Williamson, Della Torre) finished sixth. Robert Wylie finished ninth in the 200-IM and third in the 500freestyle. Aidan Brook finished 10th in the boys 500-freestyle. Top10 finishers for North Oconee included the girls 200-medley relay’s (Caroline Allen, Megan Measel, Alexis Shirley and Anna Ash) sixthplace, Measel (eighth place in the 100-butterfly, 10th in the 500freestyle) and the girls’ 400-freestyle relay’s (Shirley, Measel, Ash, Allen) fifth-place finish.

Lady Lions win region title, host state tournament tonight

Contributed photo

The Westminster Christian Academy Lady Lions won the region championship last Saturday with a 35-32 win against Peachtree Academy at Peachtree. Sallie Schutz had 22 points and Kinley Phillips had eight points in the win. The Lady Lions advanced to the championship game with a 48-13 win against Trinity last Friday.

Schutz had 21 points, Phillips had 10 points and Rachel Snyder had seven points in the win. The Lady Lions will host Lafayette Christian School tonight (February 11) in the state tournament. The winner advances to the Final Four, which is February 19. The Lions came up short in their region tournament, falling to North Georgia Christian 45-39 in the championship game. Johnmark Daniell had 16 points. Xander Haymore had 10 points. The Lions hosted the first round of their state tournament earlier this week.

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High school wrestling

Warriors sending nine to traditional state tournament, Titans sending a pair

BY MATTHEW CALDWELL The Oconee Leader

Oconee County qualified nine wrestlers for this weekend’s Class AAA traditional state tournament and North Oconee qualified two wrestlers for this weekend’s Class AAAA state tournament.

In last week’s AAA East Sectionals, Oconee County’s Chris Couch (160 pounds) and Rexx Hallyburton (170 pounds) were sectional champions in their weight class. Jordan Slivey (113 pounds) was second in his weight class. Tay Brown

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DaShawn Elder’s 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter helped send the game into overtime. Elder finished with 21 points.

(195 pounds) finished third. Dalton Sikes (220 pounds) was fifth. Taylor Webb (126), Jacob Webb (145) and Andrew Harris (285 pounds) were sixth in their weight class.

McCrae Class (106) was eighth.

North Oconee’s David Sprague qualified in the 132-pound weight class and Stephen Kreyenbuhl qualified in the 195-pound weight class.

The traditional state tournament runs from today (February 11) to Saturday and it is at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth.

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MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader

‘MBMS wins’

hasn’t always been pretty but they play hard. It’s a great group of boys. “We have had teams before that when you get in pressure situations, you don’t play well. We had two travels late that were just kind of predetermining where you are going to throw the ball. Other than that, we played pretty strong in the overtime,�

Cain added. “We hit some big shots. We hit nine free throws. We played confidently. We had other tight games. We lost by one. We won by three. We won by three. We had close games throughout. The league has been strong this year. It has built us for today to be ready for it and not to falter down at the end.�

Dreyton Dollander had 10 points. Will Pearson had nine points. Adam Weynand had five points.

Braven Biga had four points. Woody Barks and Tommy Chambers both had three points. Parker Woods had two points. “We have a lot of fun playing basketball and we came out with the win,�

Elder said.

The championship game was close throughout. The largest lead throughout the game was five points, which the Lightning did on

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Dietician needed for full time or par partt time position for 1 10 0 county WIC program to do high risk counseling nseling for mother mothers, s, babies, and young cchildren. hildren. P Position osition will use a telemedicine facility in Athens as well as occasional travel to health lth depar departments tments in 1 10 0 counties surrounding sur rounding and including Athens. Athens. RD or LD required.

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Continued from Page 4

three different occasions.

Haymon-Morris’s largest lead was four points when they led 34-30 with 1:15 late in the third.

The Lightning and Haymon-Morris exchanged the lead 16 times in the game, including five times in the first quarter and five times in the fourth quarter. “We were confident the whole way but we had some butterflies at the end when we were losing,�

Elder said.

The game was tied at 11 after the first quarter and the Lightning were ahead 23-22 at halftime.

After a basket by Weynand two minutes into the third quarter gave the Lightning a 28-23 lead, Haymon-Morris went on an 11-2 run to take a 34-30 lead with 1:15 left.

The Lightning battled back in the final minute of the third and eventually took a 35-34 lead. Haymon-Morris nearly scored in Malcom Bridge’s basket.

Seconds later, a technical foul was called after a shooting foul was called, and the Lightning had four free throw attempts with 56 seconds left in the quarter.

Weynand hit one of two attempts and Pearson hit both of his attempts to tie the game at 34. Dollander hit a free throw with 47 seconds left to take a 35-34 lead, but Haymon-Morris hit both free throws with nine seconds left to take a 36-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

Baskets by Dollander with 5:41 left and 4:39 left in the fourth gave the Lightning a 39-36 lead, but Haymon-Morris took a 4039 lead with 3:13 left.

Just nine seconds later, a shot by Elder gave the Lightning a 41-40 lead and with 1:04 left, a free throw

by Chambers gave the Lightning a 42-40 lead.

Haymon-Morris tied the game at 42 with 50 seconds left by Elder gave the Lightning a 44-42 lead with 31 seconds left.

Haymon-Morris hit a 3pointer to take a 45-44 lead with 25 seconds left.

After an offensive foul by the Lightning, Haymon-

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Morris went to the freethrow line seconds later and hit one of two free throws to take a two-point lead.

Haymon-Morris missed the second free throw but got the rebound and was fouled seconds later.

With a chance to take a four-point lead from the free-throw line with 14.1 seconds left, Haymon-Morris hit the first free throw but a lane violation by Haymon-Morris on the second free throw gave possession to the Lightning.

After a time-out by the Lightning, they brought the ball up the court, Pearson passed to Elder, who attempted and nailed the game-tying 3-pointer. “When it went in, I was like, thank you,� Elder said.

A basket and free throw

by Pearson gave the Lightning a 50-47 lead with 2:10 left in overtime, and they never trailed again.

The Lightning went to the free-throw line 16 times in overtime and made nine of them. “That was huge for us.

We needed all of them,�

Cain said. “Great team effort. We had different guys in different quarters step up. DaShawn had four 3s for us. That is probably the most he has had this year and it came at a good time for us.�

It was the second championship this school season for several members of the basketball team. The football team, which Cain is also the head coach of, also won the league championship. “It’s great. A lot of our guys play both. For those guys that I think overachieved in football to turn around and do it again in basketball is a neat thing for me to have coached them and a neat thing for them,� Cain said. “I am very aware that it is middle school basketball but it is big for them right now and it’s big for me. It’s fun. It was a great atmosphere.

These are memories that they will carry a long time.

To win two championships is a great thing that they will be able to talk about with their buddies for a long time.

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