JV Lady Panthers top Woody Gap
By JARED PUTNAM

Union had a tough matchup with Pickens County.

The JV Lady Panthers earned a win by defeating Woody Gap this week, but fell victim to a strong Pickens County JV Dragonettes squad 51-23.

"We have some pretty good defense, we just don't have the shooting," said Coach Jessica Stewart. "All of our points come down low and on steals."

Coach Stewart, whose Lady Panthers softball team finished in the top 5 in the state of Georgia this year, was a last minute substitution as coach. In fact, she did not know that she would be coaching the team until a few days before practice was set to begin.

"I played [basketball in high school], but I have never coached it," said Coach Stewart. "But Coach West helps out a lot, he is very knowledgeable."

The team does have some size, but needs to develop its skills. This 2006-2007 squad includes multiple players who have never even played the sport. "We work mainly on fundamentals, ballhandling, shooting, and defense," said the coach. "That's what we focus on. Everything is very basic. I think some of them will develop their shooting, but for some of them this is their first year playing."

Above: Brittany Odom drives in.

Coach Stewart said that while fundamentals are the primary focus, the team does establish marks that they would like to reach. "[Against Pickens] we set goals as far as how many we would like to score and what we would like to hold them to," said the coach. "35 points is the highest we have scored this year, so we are trying to beat that."

Right: Union plays tight defense.