Sports

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O n Saturday, March 7, the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs basketball team made an historic appearance in the class 1 A sub-state tournament. The Lady Dawgs traveled to Wayne County to face the Lady Wildcats, of Wayne County, on their home court. The tip off was controlled by the Lady Cats who made the first strike in the game as they scored the first 6 quick points in the game. The Cats also showed a smothering defense that seemed to have the Bulldogs chasing their tails at first, but they calmed down and started handling the ball patiently and were able to find some shots. Camile Franklin was assessed with 2 quick fouls which put her on the bench for most of the first half of play. Faith Eguia made a big showing as she came in to cover for Franklin while she sat the bench. The 2nd quarter saw the Dawgs forcing passes and shots early on, but they got fired up midquarter and dug their way back into the game. Sophomore Annamarie Cooper was a massive presence on the court as she made two steals for easy layups to bring the Dawgs within two points. Then she showed some very unselfish play as she stole, yet another ball, and passed off to assist Eguia as she put in the basket to take the lead for the first time in the game. The Lady cats answered at the last second and went into halftime with only a 1 point lead (17-18) The 3rd quarter was a slow scoring quarter thanks to the relentless defense from the Dawgs, but they had trouble scoring as well due to the tight zone defense of the Lady Cats. The contest was a physical one from the very beginning as the officials decided to let the teams play and did not seem interested in blowing their whistles. The core remained a 1 point difference at the end of the 3rd quarter as Cornersville still trailed 24-25. The Dawgs came out in the 4th quarter showing a press. They were chasing the Cats everywhere and they took the lead back. The next 2 minutes of the quarter remained scoreless until the refs finally blew their whistles sending Wayne County to the free throw line where they tied the game. The Bulldogs then turned on the heat and started to take control of the game along with the lead. The frustration from the Lady Cats began to show as they pushed, elbowed, and threw Dawgs to the floor! The officials, however, suddenly decided that they should step in and help out the home team. In an obvious one sided display of calls, they assessed both Camile Franklin and Annamarie Cooper with foul after foul until they were fouled out of the game, even though Franklin and Cooper were the bodies flying to the floor. Emma Kate Dunivan was injured and had to be removed from the remainder of the game also. The Dawgs kept digging, but they just couldn’t win when playing 5 against 8. They never gave up, but the officials made sure the hometown team came out on top with a 37-30 final score. One fan quoted, “It is always hard to lose a game, but it is even harder when the officials (who are supposed to keep the players under control and safe) take the game away.”

Friday, March 6, was another warm night for baseball as the Cornersville Bulldogs hosted their inner county rivals the Forrest Rockets. Coming off a win at Santa Fe, the Bulldogs knew that this would not be an easy match up. The Rockets are coached well and always play hard. Both teams started the match well. Colin Schillig began pitching for the Dawgs and the first inning was scoreless for both teams. The 2nd inning looked to be going the same until an error at first base advanced the Rocket runners to 1st and 3rd bases. The runner on third was able to score before the Bulldogs could scoop up a 3rd out. The Dawgs remained scoreless in the inning. In the 3rd inning, a carbon copy error was made and the Rockets added another run to their score. The game was a standstill from this point until the top of the 7th inning when the Rockets were able to add 3 more runs.

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