PAGE EIGHT_________Thursday, December 5, 2013__________GREENE COUNTY HERALD

GCHS soccer teams blast Laurel in first games after breakBy RUSSELL TURNERHerald StaffThe Greene County High School soccerteams came back from Thanksgivingbreak on a mission and the LaurelTornados paid the price, as the Cats andLady Cats pummeled their hosts in non-region action.Sophomore Olivia Courtney posted aseason high four goals to pace the LadyCats in a 9-1 win. Classmates MellieSnyder and Abbi Henderson each addedtwo goals. Senior Reagan Nicholson,who has accepted an invitation to playsoccer under scholarship at JCJC next

season, scored on a free kick attempt. Nostats were available on assists.The Lady Cats played well on defenseto help goalie Mary Grace Turner, whorecorded four saves and gave up just onegoal. With the win, the Lady Cats improvedto 2-2 on the year.On the boys’ side, senior BlaineGunther was the star as he led GCHS toa 6-2 win. Gunther had a ‘hat trick’ withthree goals and also added an assist.Senior Kyle Courtney and sophomoreJackson Turner had a goal and an assistapiece. Sophomore Zack Mathis topped

off one of his better all-around gameswith a nice goal on a crossing shot fromabout 30 yards out. Jacob Casey addedan assist.Defensively, GCHS played well, withDrake McCalip, Dalton Ezelle, JoshBradley and Zach Dale among thosehelping goal keeper Patrick Noblitt pro-tect the lead. With the win, GCHSimproved to 4-1 on the season.Up next, GCHS will hit the road againthis Friday, this time for a trip to Carriereto take on Pearl River Central in non-region varsity action. The Lady Cats willstart things off at 5:30 p.m.

Photos by Russell Turner

Seventh grader Justis Casey (Above, No. 13) has had tostep into a big roll for the GCHS varsity this season andhas more than held his own thus far. He is shown puttingpressure a Laurel player in the Cats’ 6-2 win Monday.Shown top right is GCHS sophomore Abbi Henderson drib-bling past defenders in the Lady Cats’ blowout of theTornados. Henderson scored twice in the game.

Lots of action ontap this week forcounty hoops fansBy RUSSELL TURNERHerald StaffArea basketball fans wantingto catch a little hoops actionthis week have multipleoptions.Two of the county’s juniorhigh schools are competing intheir conference tournamentthis week at Sand Hill. TheSand Hill Lady Bucks will takeon the winner of the McLain –Richton matchup in the finalsThursday at 6 p.m. The LadyRams played the Lady Rebelsearlier in the week, but resultswere not available. TheMcLain and Sand Hill boys’teams faced each other in theopening round, with the winnerset to take on Richton in thetourney finals Thursday at 7p.m. at Sand Hill.The LJHS Bears will playhosts to Dixie on Thursdaywith the Lady Bears tippingthings off at 5 p.m. Boys’action will follow immediatelyafterward. The Bears andBucks will then play a daytimematchup on Monday (Dec. 9),with the girls tipping off thecross-county rivalry at noon inthe Leakesville gym. The boys’game will follow. They willrepeat that schedule Thursdaywith two mid-day games on theSand Hill campus.Greene County fans will haveto travel to catch their belovedWildcats in action, but only toRichton, as the Cats and LadyCats are competing in theRichton Rotary Tournament,beginning Thursday. The LadyCats will tip things off at 4:30p.m. Thursday against PerryCentral, with the boys match-ing up with the Bulldogs imme-diately afterward. The twoteams will play Richton onFriday with the girls gettingunderway at 7 p.m., followedby the boys’ game. They playWest Jones Saturday, begin-ning with the girls’ game at4:30 p.m.

Bears remainunbeaten withsweep of

BuckatunnaThe LJHS Bears improved to4-0 and took a decisive lead inconference play on Mondaywhen they swept visitingBuckatunna in boys’ and girls’action.The Lady Bears rolled to a 33-20 win over the Lady Bucsthanks to a 20-point, 10-stealperformance by BeyonceHiggins. McKay Lee Bray fol-lowed with seven points, whileKarleah Malone (2 pts., 5rebounds), Lajala Hardy (2 pts.,2 rebounds) and DestinyBlackston (2 pts.) were all solidfor LJHS.“We struggled in the first halfwith foul trouble and some mis-takes causing problems,”Coach Clara Burley said. “But,we were able to overcome thatand posted a great second half.That led to a 20-point lead andan opportunity for a lot of play-ers to play.”In boys’ action, Jonas Burleyand Derrick Grice each scoredin double figures to lead LJHSto a 45-22 win over the Bucs.Burley led the team with 13

points, three rebounds and fourassists, while Grice had 11points and four steals.Quentralis Washam netted ninepoints and had two steals, whileLarue Weaver continued hissolid play with six points andseven rebounds. DemeekoLockhart had three points forthe Bears, while AustinAverette was a beast on theboards with ten rebounds.“We played a much smoothergame this go-around againstBuckatunna,” Coach CarlWoullard said. “Our defensewas solid and our offense wasimproved with balanced scor-ing from the whole team.”