Varsity Basketball - OC vs. Commerce

Girls Basketball – Trenetta Smith (4) and Latoria Royal (12) returning seniors for OC lead the way for OC’s victory over the Lady Tigers of Commerce 44-40 Tuesday night at home.



Team Captains Tanisha Eberheart (15), Latria Gambrell (23) and Emily Barnett (32). 

        Besides Smith’s 17 points for the game, making her OC’s top scorer, she had seven steals about half of which she turned in to points.  Royal, who had 11 points, was OC’s top player on the boards with 10 rebounds followed by Jessica Pulliam (14) with 5.  Pulliam also had 4 points for the game.

        The game started slow enough, the first quarter ending at 8-4 OC. The Pats really pulled away from Commerce in the second when Smith, Royal and Pulliam put in a collective 12 points with help from Morgan Dunsford (20) and Itika Howard (5) with a basket each.  Between Smith’s steals and Royal’s work under the boards Commerce could only answer OC’s 15 points with 5 of their own.

        After half-time both OC and Commerce hit the court with a more physical game.  OC players went to the line five times in the third.  Royal claimed the majority with three trips herself.  The increased pace also resulted in an increase in points for both teams.  Smith had two baskets while the remaining OC points came from the foul line from Royal, Pulliam, Dunsford and Howard resulting in a 33-19 quarter

        Commerce really turned up the gas in the fourth quarter becoming more physical still sending OC players to the line 8 times.  The Tigers cut into the scoring deficit putting up 21 points to OC’s 11.  But it was just short of enough when the final buzzer sounded giving OC a well-earned win.

        On the night Dunsford had 3 points and one rebound, Howard had 5 points and 2 steals.  Other OC players contributing to the win were Tanisha Eberheart with 2 rebounds and Jennah McElheney with a three pointer. 

        OC travels to Oconee County Friday, November 30 to play the Warriors at 7pm.   

        You can see all the pictures of the girls game here:  http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8770023

 

Boys Basketball – The OC boys lost a tough played game against the Commerce Tigers Tuesday night 46-32. 

What a way to start a game!

        Throughout the game OC stayed within four points of Commerce.  For example, at the end of the first quarter the score was tied 8-8 until Commerce hit a three pointer at the buzzer.  Still, by halftime the score was 20-16 Commerce. 

        Xavier Eberhart (24) and Clay Ogle(11) both hit 3 pointers for OC in the first quarter.  Quen Laguines had a basket topping off OC’s 8 first quarter points. 

        In the second Ogle and Laguines both put points on the board along with Tay Watkins (5) sophomore Austin Hulin (21) resulting in a halftime score of 20-16 Commerce.

        The third quarter was kept close with good play from several Patriots.  Ogle kept Commerce honest with several steals and Derk Jones (15) came down with much needed rebounds for OC. 

        Eberhart and Watkins both put 3 pointers on the board.  Hulin and Ogle had a basket each while Dylan Pulliam (1) came off the bench and put a basket on the board.  The quarter ended 32-28 Commerce. 

        OC came down with couldn’t-get-a-basket-if-they-paid-the-Pope-itis in the fourth with only 4 points put on the board from Jones and Hulin to Commerce’s 14.      Not to mention Commerce found the range from the three point line. Resulting in a 46-32 Commerce final score.

        Coach Derricotte said that the starting line-up was still a work in progress and that there was still much work to do.  Nevertheless, OC played well against Commerce for three quarters. 

        OC next plays against Jefferson at Jefferson Tuesday, December 4^th at 7:30pm.   

        You can see pictures of the boys game here:  http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8770037

Player of the Week

Coach Clifton sent in the following:

2012 OCHS Football Players of the Week

 

Week 1       August 31th

OCHS vs Johnson of Gainesville

          Offensive Player: # 6 Kendrick Presley – 3 Rushing Touch Downs, 1 for 3 passing,

          Defensive Player: # 78 Casey Pacheco – 6 solo tackles, 4 Assists, 1 fumble recovery

Week 2      September 7^th

OCHS vs Harlem

          Offensive Players:  The Fab 5 Fullbacks:

                                      #3 Tanner Bowman

                                      # 7 Zytavious Watkins

                                      # 14 Taylor Liedburg

                                      # 32 Jay Fleming

                                      # 88 Tyler Sharp

          Defensive Player:  # 25 Kenney Cinereski – 10 solo tackles, 4 assists, 1 tackle for loss, 1 caused fumble

Week 3       September 14^th

OCHS vs Fellowship Christian School

          Offensive Player: # 8 Griffin Giles  - 5 for 5 Point after Touchdowns, 2 kickoffs for touch backs, 2 kickoffs for 59 yards, and 1 sky kick

          Defensive Player: # 78 Casey Pacheco – 12 solo tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack

 

Week 4       September 28^th

OCHS vs Riverside Military Academy

        Offensive Player: #25 Kenny Cinereski – 3 carriers for 46 yards, 15.3 yards per carry, several key blocks in the game.

        Defensive Player: #3 Tanner Bowman – 8 solo tackles 2 tackles for loss -24 yards, 2 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery

Week 5       October 5^th

OCHS vs Union County

        Offensive Player: # 6 Kendrick Presley - 19 rushes for 158 yards, 1 pass for 10 yards

        Defensive Player: # 21 Jarrett McElheney -  8 solo tackles, 1 assists, 1 tackle for loss -8 yards

 

Week 6       October 12^th

OCHS vs Social Circle

        Offensive Player:  # 50 Matt Beyatt – 9 rushes for 43 yards, 2 Touch Downs, 1 reception for 29 yards

        Defensive Player:  # 3 Tannner Bowman 5 solos, 2 assits, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack

 

Week 7       October 19^th

OCHS vs Jefferson

        Offensive Player:

        Defensive Player:

 

 

Week 8       October 26^th

OCHS vs Greene County

        Offensive Player:  # 21 Anthony Thornton – 22 rushes for 120 yards and 3 touchdowns, long of 15 yards and real good job of blocking outside.

        Defensive Player: # 25 Kenny Cinereski -  7 solo tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception

 

Week 9       November 2^nd

OCHS vs Washington Wilkes

        Offensive Player:  # 17 Trey Martin - Outstanding work week and a Great job of Blocking on the edge on corners

        Defensive Player:  # 58 Austin Pinson - 2 solo tackles, for Loss and Sacks of -15 yards. His motor never stops running.

 

 

Week 10       November 9^th

OCHS vs Rabun County

        Offensive Player: # 6 Kendrick Presley - 27 rushes for 194 yards, long of 40 yards and 1 touchdown. 7 of 16 passing for 87 yards and 1 touchdown

        Defensive Player: #18 Will Mathis – 8 tackles, 6 solo tackles, 2 assists, and 2 tackles for Loss -8 yards

 

 

Varsity Golf

OCHS - Nathan Mallonee, son of Rick and Darcy Mallonee, signed today to play golf at Georgia State University.  Nathan is a member of the OCHS golf team that won the Region 8 - AA championship last year and came in third in the state tournament.  Congratulations to Nathan on this accompishment. 

Pictured above from L to R: Sitting; Nathan's mom, Darcy, Nathan and Nathan's dad, Rick.
 
Back Row:  Varisty golf coach Dr. Ed Rock, Nathan's brother Eric and middle school golf coach Robert Goodwin. 

Club Soccer

OSA U19 - The Oconee Soccer Alliance U19 team finished their season with a 10-0-1 record thus winning their Georgia Soccer Classic III division.  Recall that last year they won the division IV title which allowed them to move up to division III.  OC soccer players Sean Atkinson and Griffin Giles were starters on the field. 

OC’s student counselor and golf coach, Dr. Ed Rock, coached the team to its second championship. 

The team will compete in the Nike Cup tournament held in Norcross December 1 and 2. 

You can see the pictures here:  http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/store.aspx

Varsity Football

OC vs. Rabun Co. – OC traveled to Rabun last Friday with high hopes of getting into the state tournament.  They had to beat the Wildcats by ten to slip into fourth place, the cutoff point for moving on to the playoffs.   But the football gods thought otherwise as OC travel down from the mountain suffering a 49-27 loss to Rabun. The ultimate contest didn’t come out OC’s way there were other positives from the game.

Jarrett McElheney

        For instance, Anthony Thornton was OC’s big scorer with two of OC’s four touchdowns.  Griffin Giles put three on the board with a 39 yard field goal, his longest for OC.  Kendrick Presley put a touchdown on the board and to top it off he connected with Kenny Cinereski for a nice touchdown reception.  Even Casey Pacheco ran down and tackled, from behind, mind you, Rabun’s leading running back. 

        Presley had a career night passing to Cinereski, Tanner Bowman, Jarrett McElheney and Thornton going 8-14 with one interception late in the fourth quarter.  OC also had 21 first downs in the game.



Casey Pacheco

        OC also had few penalties for the game.  They got caught off sides a few times but there were only one or two big 15 yarders, which is far better than games earlier in the season. 

        OC will lose 13 seniors from the team; however, Coach Ronnie Harris will be sending good players from the middle school, who won their region with a near perfect record this year, to fill in the spaces. 

First it was good, then it wasn't. 

        OC had a 4-6 record this year, the same as last, but an improvement from 2010. 

        For now, we have basketball season to look forward to, along with wrestling; both sports competing in a new region.  Cross County has done well, earning a team spot for both boys and girls at the state meet in Carrollton; an accomplishment not seen in quite some time. 

        There is a great deal to be optimistic about for OC athletics. 

Varsity Cross Country

Carrollton, State Cross Country Meet - From Coach Norton:

After 3 years of getting individual qualifiers to State, both Oglethorpe's boys and girls cross country teams had the honor of experiencing the State Meet this weekend. On Friday, they previewed the State course, which was made even more difficult this year with several leg killing hills. They woke up Saturday ready to finish out the best season they've had collectively in several years. The goal for the boys was a top 10 team finish and for the girls a top 20 team finish. When it was all said and done the Boys finished 11th and the Girls finished 18th.

Sid Wightman once again led the charge for the boys. Though he battled sickness all week and had a hard fall on the course, he gutted out a 24th place finish. Behind him was Quinton Nash and Abe Tompkins finishing in the 70s and Otoniel Padilla, Brandon Pinto, Garrett McCormack, and Ezra Underwood. On average, the boys times were a minute slower than usual, showing just how difficult the State course was. Though they didn't finish in the top 10, where they were ranked for much of the season, 11th out of 32 teams sure isn't bad for a team consisting of 4 freshmen and 3 juniors.

The girls were led once again by the duo of Sarah Chastain and Jordan Pringle. Following them was runner Jeri Willcox, Vivi Diaz, Natalie Doker, Brianna Basinger, and Jojo Diaz. Like the boys times, the intimidating hills of the State course took a bite into their times but the result was still very strong. Out of 30 teams, the girls placed 18th. The girls will lose senior Jeri Willcox, but should bounce back strongly next year in hopes of making it back to back State appearances.

Running in the OC is looking really good in the next couple years not only for Cross Country, but track as well. For many of these runners, soccer is right around the corner where they'll be hoping to go to State twice in the 2012-13 school year. It's been a privilege to coach these fine student-athletes this season and I'm very proud of all their accomplishments.

Until next time...

PS. Soccer conditioning starts after Thanksgiving break

Fall Senior Night

OC vs. Washington-Wilkes – About all that can be said is that they won and we lost.   A late report on John Mathews from team mates that visited him in the hospital is that he hyper-extended his knee.  The same one he hurt a couple of years ago.  Painful though it was, as those who stayed until the end could see; at this point it appears that his injury is not as severe as first thought.  Mathews will probably be out for OC's next game but should be ready to go for baseball season. 

Megan LaFlam and family. 

On a brighter note, both boys and girls cross country teams earned a spot at the state finals in Carrollton next weekend.  Freshman Sid Wightman was second overall for the boys earning the boys a second place finish overall, and the girls were fourth overall.  This is the second year in a row that OC has been represented at the state meet.  Well done to Coach Norton and all his cross country athletes. 

OC cross country headed to state.

The OC football Patriots travel to Rabun County (5-4, 3-3) to take on the Wildcats in OC’s last game of the regular season. 

You can see the pictures here:   http://hdgp.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8738938