i Tabor bailer signs with Western Carolina
Kendra Eaton
expected to add more
than athletic ability
BY ANTHONY HILL
the chronicle
Ml. Tabor's varsity girls
1 head coach, Rick Anderson, is
j happy to get his first year
' under way, but he admits to
this year being bittersweet. He
; said goodbye to his star play
?, er, Kendra Eaton, before she
even scored one point for him,
> but he was happy to see her
sign her future away at' the
. same time.
"To just take over a job and
have a persort-of this quality to
coach is a great thing," Ander
son said. "The sad part is I
only have her for one year. I'm
sad to see her leave, but to
have a player sign with a
major school will hopefully
inspire the rest of (he players
to play better."
A large number of stu
dents, family members,
friends and faculty packed the
Mt. Tabor media center to
watch Eaton sign a national
letter of ^ntent to play for
Western Carolina last week.
Anderson was definitely glad
that Eaton's early signing will
give her more time to concen
trate on Spartan Basketball,
i while she was simply happy to
Photo by Anthony Hill
Mf. Tabor star basketball player Kendra Eaton signed a national letter of intent to play for
Western Carolina in front of family members , coaches and classmates last week.
get the frustrating recruiting
process over with.
"I'm so happy this is over,"
Eaton, a senior, said with a
smile. "A lot of schools
recruited me, hut I got injured.
So things changed a little bit. 1
had a lot of ACC schools wait
ing on me, but 1 really wanted
to get this over with. Plus, the
coach of Western is a former
Pat Summit player. That's all
you neeijjo know right there."
"But this process was very
frustrating," Eaton continued.
"Schools called and text me at
all times of the night."
Eaton's signing was full of
excitement for all that shared
the moment. Even two of her
AAU basketball coaches were
on hand to share the joy. But
Eaton was actually late for the
ceremony.
"First of all, it wasn't my
fault that I was late," Eaton
told hie crowd. "It was my
cousiq's fault 1 was late. She
didn'V bring my clothes on
time. So it wasn't my fault."
After speakers shared with
audience members some of the
memories they had of Eaton.
Mt. Tabor principal Martha
Land made sure that the most
important characteristic of
Eaton didn't go unnoticed.
"There's a quality about
her that makes her special."
Land said. "She's a great stu
dent and a wonderful person.
Western Carolina is getting
the whole package with
Kendra. Mt. Tabor is sending
out one of the best. We're call
ing it stealing. They're getting
a great student, person and
athlete. Western has done
themselves proud to get
Kendra to sign with them."
Now Eaton has her mind
set on getting back into action
for her senior season at Mt.
Tabor. She missed the Mary
Garber tournament because
she hasn't been cleared to play
this season yet. due to an
injury. But she expects to be
on the court soon.
"She's already running."
Anderson said. "They haven't
released her to cut yet. They
might release her to do that
today."
Eaton added: "I'm already
cutting. I cut yesterday. I'm
just ready to get back on the
court to hefp my team. I got a
lot of people out there saying
that I won't play anymore this
season, but I'm gonna prove
everybody wrong."
Eaton hopes to be back on
the court by Dec. I .
"You might see me on the
court on Nov. 30 when we
play Reynolds," Eaton con
cluded. "That's what I'm
shooting for."
Reynolds
from page Bl
est of her and her friends.
"We spent a lot o^time at
our houses making up forms,
figuring out what we needed
for liabilities, all sorts of differ
ent things...," Braswell said.
The cheerleaders were
mostly junior and senior foot
ball players, but included
underclassmen as well.
Braswell also said that much of
their planning was done during
lunch periods that she shared
with Delbano and Southard.
All of their devising and
preparation came to a head as
members of the RGC
(Reynolds Girls Club), DGSS
(Demons Girls Service Soci
ety), LDSC (Lady Demons Ser
vice Club), Girls Council, and
SGSC (Senior Girls Service
Club) all met in a heated, but
fun showdown.
The game was tied 7-7 at
halftime. During the break
there was a Cheer-off between
the senior and junior guys, as
well as a performance by the
Step Team. The final score was
10-7.
Afterward, Porscha Evans
Hardy, leading rusher for the
seniors and Girls Council
member, said: "The game is
Photos by J arson Pitt
A player takes a hand-off during the charity football game
over the weekend.
really fun. It's a really good
cause. I hope that if they
(Reynolds) can do it again.
We'll get more fans and specta
tors."
They are hoping to make
the game an annual event used
for various charities in the
future. Principal Elrod noted
that the fund-raiser earned a lit
tle over $1,200 for the hurri
cane victims in Haiti.
Members of a female step team performed a routine at half
time of the game.
Hill
r from page HI
| anything to them without any
? kind of retaliation. That's part
! of what all the money is for.
J You didn't think athletes got
? paid all that money simply
because they put fans in the
! stands. No, some stadiums
1 and arenas are far from full.
But the pockets of the athletes
1 on the roster are still far from
| empty. Hey, you get paid to
? take ANY kind of criticism or
! ridicule. It's all a part of the
J package.
And Stephen Jackson and
. Jermaine O'Neal are simply
! stupid.
; Either one of them could
? have used their energy to keep
! Artest from going in the
; stands. Instead, they were try
1 ing to prove to him they had
! his back in a time of need by
! drilling (punching) out anyone
; that looked like he might harm
? him. Now they are both going
! to miss plenty of games and
j hurt their team's chance of
returning to the playoffs,
i Let's see, Artest is sus
! pended for the rest of the sea
; son, while Jackson (30 games)
and O'Neal (25 games) were
> suspended three times as long
| as the last player to hit a fan.
j That player was Vernon
? Maxwell. Y'all remember
! when the former Houston
] Rocket punched a fan back in
J 1995. Well, his mistake
' seemed like a joke compared
i with last Friday's "thugged
| out-looking" brawl.
] I don't think this fight hurt
i the NBA or the progression of
i the league. It's insane to think
[ that. Sure, the scene of the lit
1 tie boy crying in the arms of
i his brother is concrete in our
! heads, but kids will be back at
J games and so will adults. No
? act is bigger than the entire
File photo
Carver's Herb Miller prepares to launch the ball.
league, but it has made people
more aware of the conse
quences. I'm sure there are a
number of instances where a
player might want to slap or
harm an irritating fan, but
players are far more unlikely
to do that now that NBA Com
missioner David Stern put his
foot down and made it clear
he won't tolerate it.
Friends and assoSiates of
Artest say that he feels Stern
did him wrong. Then again,
he's probably kind of happy
he got suspended for the
remainder of the season. After
all, isn't this the same guy
who said he wanted to take the
year off to produce some R&B
group?
This is his chance. He's
got all year.
Chronicle All-County JV
team coming
Who was the best junior
varsity football player in the
city this year? Which JV play
er dominated on offense and
defense more than anyone in
the city?
Those questions and more
will be answered in two
weeks, when The Chronicle
All-County JV football team
will be released. The team will
consist of a first- and second
team offense and defense. An
offensive and defensive player
of the year will also be
announced, as well as a most
valuable player.
Coaches are urged to e
mail their team nominations
by Monday, Nov. 29. at 5 p.m.
Coaches are allowed to nomi
nate as many or as few players
to the list as they want. The
Chronicle All-County JV foot
ball team will be released on
Dec. 9.
Carver's Herb Miller
is special
I watched Carver senior
quarterback Herb Miller juke
defensive linemen, run out of
the reach of pursuing defen
sive backs, and I also watched
him toss pinpoint passes to
wide outs. Now, all this
occurred during the first half
of the Yellowjackelv 41-25
victory over Franklin last Fri
day.
I'm one of the first people
to bring up when I'm right
about athletes. And I was def
initely right when I told any
one who would listen that
Herb was going to play very
well this year. Now. I didn't
know that Tory Woodbury was
going to be his coach, but I
was the first one to tell him he
was. And I remember the reac
tion I got from Miller. He
seemed honored and very
eager to please and impress
the former Ram.
Whether that's the reason
for Herb's great success this
year is not known.
"I really couldn't tell you
why I've been playing like
this," Miller said after the
game. "I'm just a little 'geed'
up, I guess. We're gonna con
tinue to work hard in practice
and try to eliminate mistakes.
I'm gonna continue to do what
1 do for the team."
Anthony Hill is the sports
editor for The Chronicle. He
can he reached at 722-8624
( extension HI) or
ahill@wschronicle. com.
File Photo
Tennis star Serena Willaim?
makes a shot.
Murder
charge
dismissed
in death
of Yetunde
Williams
&
I HI ASSOC! VI I I) PKESS
A judge dismissed the
murder case against one of
two men charged in the fatal
shooting of the half-sister of
Venus and Serena Williams.
A jury deadlocked 9-3 this
month in favor of acquitting
Aaron Michael Hammer of
murder. Hammer was accused
of shooting at Yetunde Price
with a .22-caliber handgun,
but prosecutors said the shot
that killed her wasn't from
that weapon.
State law allows a murder
charge for taking part in a
crime in which a person is
killed by someone else.
Hammer was sentenced to
three years in prison today on
a separate charge of being an
ex-felon in possession of a
gun.
Hammer was tried along
side Robert Edward Max
field. 24, an alleged gang
member accused of firing the
gun that killed Price. A mis
trial was declared two weeks
ago in Maxfield's case after
jurors deadlocked, with five
voting to convict, six favor
ing acquittal and one juror
unable to decide.
A judge last week refused
to dismiss the case against
Maxfield and ordered him
back to court" on Nov. 29 to
determine whether he will
retain his current attorney.
Price, 31, of Corona, was
shot in the back of the head
while riding through Comp
ton in September 2003. A
mother of three and a beauty
shop owner, she was also a
personal assistant to her sis
ters. who began their tennis
careers in Compton.
| Apply tor
?^Catloan
omthe
I hone !
CALL THE LOAN HOTLINE
727-4830
or TOLL FREE 1-888-325-4830
Use a Touch-Tone Phone ? 21 Hours a Day
7 Days a Week ? Confidential ? No Hassle
A/o Obligation to Buy
AUTOMOTIVE NETWORK
CHEVROLET 'TOYOTA ? NISSAN ? SMARTCARS
CUSTOM FINANCE CENTER ? 800 VI. 4TH ST. ? WINSTON-SALEM