The Banks County High School varsity girls basketball Lady Leopards rang in the new year competing in the Wing Slinger Holiday Bash last week. The varsity team played in the final action of 2011 portion of the schedule.
BCHS captured third place in the Wing Slinger Holiday Bash at East Jackson and are ready to take on the sub-region schedule. Madison Franklin was chosen as the All Tournament Team Player for BCHS, scoring 11 three point shots during the three-day event.
The girls bracket saw Banks County, Commerce, Newton County and Hancock Central facing off for the race to the tournament title. The Lady Leopards came home with a 2-1 record from the tournament and sit 8-4 overall with one region victory. The back half of the schedule is mostly region games.
"I thought the girls played a solid tournament,” head coach Jerry King said. “We started off well against Commerce after two consecutive losses ( Habersham Central and White County)."
The Leopards ran over the Lady Tigers in the first three periods to take the game 50-32. Commerce outscored the Lady Leopards in the fourth period 19-9 but the damage was done and the lead stayed in favor of BCHS.
Scoring for the Leopards were Morgan Cox with six points, Madison Franklin nine points, Deasha Beasley five points, Ashley Morris three points, Haley Warner five points, Kaitlyn Duncan 12 points, Katlin Parks four points, Sabrina Porter two points, Taylor Kennedy two points and Casey Turner three points.
Winning the opening round the Lady Leopards would face Newton County in round two. Newton County is a AAAAA school with a lot of talent.
"The girls played a solid game against Newton County,” Coach King said. “They are a really good team and we had our chances to win but we went cold at the free throw line in the fourth period."
BCHS took the lead early and held on to it until the end of the first period. Then, Newton County took control of the board and never let up. The Rams doubled the score of the Lady Leopards in the second period and the lady Leopards managed to squeeze in one more point than the Rams in the third period. But Newton finished five points ahead of the Lady Leopards in the fourth period to end the game 58-48.
Madison Franklin hit four three point shots and one for two with two of three free throws sinking for a total of 16 points. Kaitlyn Duncan continued to perform and contributed 10 points, Taylor Kennedy eight points, Deasha Beasley six points, Sarah O'Kelly and Katlin Parks scored four each.
The Lady Leopards went to the free throw line six times in the fourth period but came up empty handed. They were 6 of 11 through the first three periods of play.
In round three, the Lady Leopards would be playing for a third or fourth place finish. The opponent for BCHS turned out to be the 7B-A Hancock Central Bulldogs (2-4). The Lady Leopards jumped out to an early lead and never looked back winning 55-30.
BCHS scored 16 points in the first period and gained a six point lead in the game. The Lady Leopards increased that lead by 11 points in the second period and went into the locker room up by 17 points.
Madison Franklin added nine points to the board with three point shots in the third period. That was two more than the Bulldogs during the period and the Lady Leopards pulled away by eight more points.
Coach King pulled his starting lineup in the fourth period and the Bulldogs were able to score 11 points in the fourth to match the Lady Leopards on the board but BCHS would win by 25 points by the end of the game.
Madison Franklin scored 14 points, Deasha Beasley and Taylor Kennedy scored nine points each, Ashley Morris and Kaitlyn Duncan six points each, Haley Warner and Savannah Blalock four points each, Casey Turner two points and Sabrina Porter one point.
"The girls bounced back against Hancock Central,” King said. “We shot the ball well outside and pounded it inside as well. We play East Jackson and then two undefeated teams to get back into sub-region play."
The Lady Leopards return to play on January 6 at East Jackson, Jan. 7 at East Hall and return home for a game against Rabun on the 10. The team would like everyone to participate in a blackout at the game against Rabun County on January 10.
