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 2001-2002 Stories |
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Bryant Returns to Lead Eagles to Win!!
 | |  | | Rashun Bryant, Photo by Ryan Smith /Rome News-Tribune |
Erik Green, Rome News-Tribune Sports Writer
Everyone knew Rashun Bryant would be back sooner or later. Unfortunately for the Darlington faithful, he made his comeback against them Friday night. Bryant, who returned from a shoulder injury he suffered during the 48th annual Rome News-Tribune Holiday Festival in December, and his fellow Coosa Eagles rolled over host Darlington 73-56 to end a three game losing streak. “Rashun fought through the pain and played well,” said Larry Bing, Coosa’s coach. “I was really pleased with the way our entire team played.” Bryant, Coosa’s 6-foot-8 center, made his return at less than 100 percent, Bing said. It was fairly obvious that the shoulder injury was still healing as Bryant fought for position under the glass. At some points during the game Bryant winced in pain on rebounds and low post shots, of which he had very few. It was from behind the three-point line that Bryant had the most success in the early going. He nailed two threes in the opening period to help give his team a quick 17-11 lead four minutes into the game. With Bryant back on the court, his team seemed to play at a higher tempo than they did at the end of 2001, when without him the Eagles finished 8th in the Holiday Festival. Chris Fife also played exceptionally well in the first half for Coosa, scoring all of his 16 points before the break. Bryant went on to finish with 12 points and the crucial rebounds that the Eagles had been missing since before Christmas. “I was pretty happy with the way our team played all around,” Bing said, which included the efforts of players like Demetrius Robinson and Brandon Buford, who had, until Bryant went out, been in primarily support positions. Bryant’s presence in the paint made a difference for Coosa, a team that actually suffers a size disadvantage without their big man. For Darlington, Porter Leslie had a sensational game, scoring 20 points and teammate Troy Watson added 11. With the win, Coosa improved to 8-3 on the season and 8-0 in Region 6-AA. Darlington is now 6-5 overall and 2-3 in Region 6-AA.
Eagles Remain Undefeated in 6AA
| |  | | photo by Ryan Smith, Rome News-Tribune |
01/08/02
Erik Green, Rome News-Tribune Sports Writer
The last time Coosa High’s boys basketball team faced Chattooga it was a total disaster. The team’s dominant center, Rashun Bryant, went down with a shoulder injury, the Eagles blew a 17-point lead, and lost the game and a certain amount of confidence. Tuesday night the No. 11 Eagles intended on winning the Region 6-AA rematch and they did so with a knockout. Bryant scored 32 points, Roger Rich added 16 and Chris Fife had 14 in the Eagles’ 84-66 win over the visiting Indians. “The thing I was pleased with was, regardless of the situation in the first game, they beat us,” said Coosa coach Larry Bing. “But the guys wanted to amend that and they did.” Bryant got things started for Coosa, scoring the first four points for the Eagles in the opening period and by the second, the 6-foot-8 big man had 12. Chattooga’s Jarod Parrish and Sandez Lawrence kept the game close until midway through the second period when Coosa began to take control. Coosa went on a 13-4 run to open the second period and with less than six minutes to go in the half, the Eagles were on top by 16. Two minutes into the third period Bryant and Coosa marched to a 50-29 lead before Lawrence and Chattooga battled back to within 13. Coosa moved in for the kill in the final eight minutes and led by as many as 17 midway through the period. The feisty Indians struggled to the end and though they were down by as much as 20, Parrish and Chattooga never stopped trying to create plays and make shots. Foul trouble also worked against the Indians. As a team, Chattooga had a total of 18 fouls. Coosa, who would hold on to win by 18, improves to 9-3 overall and 9-0 in the region. Parrish finished with 26 points for Chattooga and teammate Lawrence chipped in 20 in the loss. “I was pleased with our intensity,” Bing said. “We were able to get the ball into Rashun and they had a hard time stopping him.” Coosa will face Model in a Region 6-AA contest Friday while Chattooga travels to Calhoun to play the Yellow Jackets Friday.
Coosa Downs Model in a Close One
Eagles edge Blue Devils
01/11/02
Staff reports /(Sports writer David Dawson and sports editor Jim O’Hara)
You don’t necessarily have to be in high gear to win the race. With Michael Williams scoring nine of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, the Eagles squeezed past a feisty Model squad 61-51 in Region 6-AA action Friday. The game was surprisingly low-scoring, but what it lacked in points it made up for in intensity, as the teams slugged it out for 32 very physical minutes. And the tightness of the game — the teams were not separated by more than six points until the final three minutes — only added to the tension. Lost in the shuffle of the high drama (the game featured three technicals and plenty of hard fouls) was several fine individual performances. For Coosa, Chris Fife and Adrian Marks both came up big, scoring 13 points each. Rashun Bryant added 12 points before being ejected in the fourth quarter after receiving his second technical. For Model, Blake Gilbert scored 19 points and Dante Pinkard added 10. In other boys games Friday: Darlington 64, Cartersville 53 OT Porter Leslie connected for nine of his team’s 17 points in overtime to lead the visiting Darlington Tigers to a Region 6-AA road win over Cartersville. After the two teams battled to a 47-47 tie at the end of regulation, the Tigers (8-6, 4-4) took control in the extra period, outscoring the Hurricanes (7-4, 4-4) 17-6. Leslie led the way for Darlington ending the night with a game-high 20 points. Khalif Mohammed and Chantz McClinic added 13 each for the Tigers. Calhoun 78, Chattooga 42 Casey Baxter and Caleb Hartley provided a lethal one-two punch as No. 9 Calhoun hammered Region 6-AA foe Chattooga. Baxter and Hartley scored 23 and 21 points, respectively, despite sitting out the fourth quarter for the Yellow Jackets (12-3, 8-1). Eric Cochran contributed 11 and Dorrell Hogan 10. The Indians (7-8, 4-5) were led by Junior Smith’s seven points. SE Whitfield 50, Rome 47 Visiting Southeast Whitfield used a strong second half to snap the Wolves’ six-game win streak with the Region 7-AAAA victory despite a 28-point outing by Rome’s Shan Finley. Craig Dunn led Southeast (8-7, 6-3) with 18 points as the Raiders overcame a 32-21 Rome lead at the half by outscoring the Wolves 29-15 in the final two periods. The loss drops Rome to 4-5 in the region and 8-7 overall. Trion 78, Adairsville 60 Keith Morrison hit half of Trion’s 10 three-pointers and was one of four players in double figures as the host Bulldogs rolled to a Region 6-A victory over Adairsville. Morrison ended the night leading all scorers with 21 points, while Brett Smith added 18 for the Bulldogs (11-4, 6-2), who took control in the third period by outscoring Adairsville 26-13. Levi Hatcher also reached double digits for Trion with 13 points and Blake Anderson had 10. Chris McConnell paced the Tigers (3-11, 1-6) with 17 points and Mac Pyle finished with 13. (Sports writer David Dawson and sports editor Jim O’Hara)
Coosa Defeats Dade County
Courtesy of Rome News-Tribune
Coosa 70, Dade County 51 No. 11 Coosa (12-3, 12-0) placed five players in double figures as the Eagles rolled over Dade County (2-15, 1-11) on the road. Chris Fife scored 20 points and Adrian Smith scored 14, while Roger Rich, Michael Williams and Demetrius Roberson scored 10 apiece.
Coosa Defeats Armuchee
Coosa 72, Armuchee 56 The ever-improving Armuchee boys basketball team gave Coosa a scare, but the No. 11-ranked Eagles eventually pulled away by using a barrage of 3-pointers and a 21-point outing from Chris Fife. Three additional Eagles joined Fife in double figures, as Adrian Smith scored 18 points, Roger Rich had 16 and Michael Williams 13. “I felt like our pressure bothered them some, and allowed us to score some points in transition,” said Coosa coach Larry Bing. “I was also pleased with the way we hustled all night.” For Armuchee, Brandon Moore and Trey Rickman scored 16 points apiece. Armuchee trailed by only two points at the end of the first quarter and enjoyed a 21-20 advantage with 3:00 to play in the first half. But Coosa closed the period with a 14-0 run to build a 34-21 edge at the break. Armuchee hung around in the second half, trailing by just 10 points early in the fourth quarter, before a late Coosa run put the issue to rest. The Eagles, who hit seven 3s in the game, improved to a perfect 11-0 in the Region 6-AA and 11-3 overall.
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