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The Banks County High School basketball teams mark the return to the courts this week.

The Leopards returned in the boys only game on Wednesday against Riverside Military Academy. Banks hosted Riverside for the first game of 2009. Results were unavailable at press time, from Wednesday’s game.

This Friday, Jan. 9, Banks County travels to Union County where the Lady Leopards will mark their return in the first game starting at 7 p.m. with the boys to follow. [ Full Story » ] 

Banks County’s Lady Leopards picked up a third place finish over the weekend at the Piedmont College Christmas Invitational.

After dropping the first round to Stephens County on Friday afternoon, the ladies came back to defeat White County 42-30.

So far this season, the ladies are 5-7 in all games and winless in region competition.

After the holiday break, the Lady Leopards will return to the court to face Union County on Jan. 9. Going on the road for the first game of the 2009 calendar year, the ladies will look to upset the 6-1 team which has won the past four games between the schools. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Union County.

Over the weekend, Banks took a short drive to Habersham County to play in the second annual Piedmont College Invitational. The tournament allows the teams from Stephens County, Habersham County, Banks County and White County a chance to compete against different northeast Georgia schools.

For more on this story see this week's edition of The Banks County News.

With a 4-6 record heading into the final tournament before Christmas, the Banks County Lady Leopards would like a win for Christmas.

If the Lady Leopards can win the Piedmont College Christmas Tournament this weekend, the ladies will have a tied record for the new year.

The girls play Stephens County in the first round of the tourney on Friday. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. in Demorest at the Johnny Mize Athletic Center.

Last weekend the ladies competed in the Prince Avenue tournament facing Brookstone and Prince Avenue.

For more on this story see this week's edition of The Banks County News.

The Banks County High School Lady Leopards are two and two, four games into the season.

Monday night the Lady Leopards won a narrow victory over Lakeview Academy. The girls played a much better game compared to the previous game against Jackson County.

Banks County’s next game is on the road at Rabun County Friday night. The game starts at 7 p.m. [ Full Story » ] 

The Banks County High School Lady Leopards started the basketball season with their first game last Thursday evening.

The Lady Leopards traveled to Gainesville to compete against the Lady Lions of Lakeview Academy. Lakeview carried the win 53-36 over Banks County, but the Lady Leopards noted some key points that will benefit their progress this season.

After dropping the season opener to Lakeview, the Lady Leopards competed in the Jackson County Thanksgiving Tournament Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, Banks County competed against Oglethorpe. The Lady Leopards will be seeing more of the Lady Patriots later this season in sub-region contests. Banks carried Monday’s tournament contest 43-17 over Oglethorpe's Lady Patriots.

Tuesday, the Lady Leopards were overwhelmed by the Jackson County Lady Panther's offense, but brought home second place from the tourney after falling to Jackson County 53-25.

For more on the Lakeview game and the Oglethorpe contest, pick up this week's edition of The Banks County News.

The Banks County High School girls basketball team is preparing for another season on the courts.

The Lady Leopards are looking to improve on the 7-15 record from last year.

“We still have a long way to go,” said coach Jerry King. “However the girls are becoming more familiar to the drills and philosophy of the program.”

With several returning players as juniors and seniors, the ladies are jumping right in with the first game on Thursday. [ Full Story » ] 

BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County High School fast-pitch softball team fell one-game short of advancing to the state sectionals this fall.

While narrowly missing that goal was a disappointing, the Lady Leopards did manage to record 13 wins in 2008 and will lose just two seniors (Samm Kennedy and Kathy Davidson) to graduation this spring.

Hayley Baird was the team’s top batter with a .398 average with 35 hits and 19 runs scored. Madison Franklin, a freshman on this year’s team, finished with an impressive .318 batting average including 28 hits with six doubles, nine RBI and 18 runs scored. [ Full Story » ] 

BY CHRIS BRIDGES
When the Region 8-AA tournament was over for the Banks County High School softball team, the Lady Leopards were one game shy of state play.

To be more exact, BCHS was two runs away.

The Lady Leopards fell to Dawson County 3-1 in a game they needed to win to guarantee themselves a spot at the next level. BCHS entered the contest off a 18-1 thrashing of Oglethorpe County, but could not manage to get past the Lady Tigers. [ Full Story » ] 

BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Region 8-AA arrived Tuesday for the Banks County High School softball team as the Lady Leopards entered postseason play.
Coach Josh Lord’s team fell to Union County 6-3 in the opening round of tournament play but rebounded for an 11-0 victory against Fannin County later in the day to remain alive.

For more BCHS softball see Thursday's edition of The Banks County News.