THOMASVILLE TIMES
UNC and Duke get Atlantic Coast
Conference wins over the weekend.
Sports
tvillesports@yahoo. com
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16,2010
NJCAA BASKETBALL
Calendar
TODAY
Basketball
Thomasville
@ W. Davidson
6 p.m.
Basketball
E. Davidson
@ C. Davidson
6 p.m.
Basketball
Ledford
@ SW Randolph
6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Basketball
CCC Tourney (girls)
©Thomasville
6 p.m.
THURSDAY
Basketball
DCCC
© Sandhills CC
7 p.m.
Basketball
CCC Tourney (boys)
©Thomasville
6 p.m.
FRIDAY
Basketball
CCC Finals
' ©Thomasville
6 p.m.
Basketball
Carolina Prep
© DCCC
8 p.m.
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DCCC barely slips by Cobras
BY ZACH KEPLEY
Sports Editor
LEXINGTON — Rico
Geter was puzzled at half
time. He was shooting
wide open 3-point shots
in the first half that usu
ally go in for him, hut he
had a goose-egg in the
scoring column after 20
minutes.
The Davidson County
Community College
shooting guard spent
much of halftime find
ing his shot again. His
adjustments paid off in a
big way for him and the
Storm. Geter hit four 3-
pointers in the second
half, two of them com
ing during crunch time
to help DCCC slide past
Caldwell Community Col
lege 86-77 on Saturday.
“I don’t know what
was going on —it just
wouldn’t go in first half,”
said Geter, who like many
others in attendance, ex
pects his shots
to fall. “I knew
it was going to
go in eventual
ly, so I just kept
shooting.”
No. 6 David
son remained
perfect with a
9-0 record in
the Tarheel Conference,
23-4 overall. Justin Glov
er paced the Storm with
24 points with PhiUip
Williams and Geter get
ting 16 points each. Eric
Potts added 12.
In was an uncharacter
istic day for the Storm
aU around on Saturday.
The offense was not crisp
and there were defen
sive breakdowns that al
lowed the Cobras to stay
within strik
ing distance.
Caldwell took
a 67-63 lead
with 8:27 left,
but DCCC
used an 8-0 run
to turn the ta
bles and take
a four-point
lead for themselves.
Defense remained an
issue for the Storm with
the Cobras coming back
to trail by one after Octa
vius Robinson’s dunk.
After a DCCC timeout.
the ball found the hands
of Geter twice in the
next 40 seconds, giving
the Storm the boost they
needed to finish the game.
Geter buried one from
the corner with 2:37 to go,
but it was answered by
Caldwell’s Robert Shaw.
Next time down the fioor,
Geter stood in the same
spot as before and was
promptly fed the ball. His
release was perfect and
the ball swished through,
putting the Storm up 81-
77. The defense finally
got it right in the closing
moments, holding the Co
bras scoreless to the final
horn.
“We didn’t play with a
See SLIPS, Page 8
GETTY IMAGES
Jamie McMurray gets showered with Gatorade after winning the 52nd running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday. It
was McMurray's first Daytona 500 win, marking the biggest victory of his career.
McMurray
gets biggest
win of career
NASCARMedia.com
Game Report
Deadlines:
: Monday-Friday
9 p.m.
tvillesports@yahoo.com
DAYTONA BEACH,
Fla. — What a storybook
finish!
Jamie McMurray won
the 52nd annual NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series Day
tona 500 but it took three
green, white,
checkered flag
attempts and
an unbelievable
shove from the
sport’s most
popiolar driver.
Dale Earn
hardt, Jr., to pull the cur
tain down on one of the
most exciting 500’s in the
sport’s history.
After two red flags to re
pair a hole in the track’s
bumpy surface, McMur
ray wound up in the front
pack when iti^ame to the
two-lap showdown for
NASCAR’s biggest prize.
And Earnhardt provided
the help he needed to
hold off a snarling, hun
gry pack of professional
stock car drivers trying
to add their names to the
Daytona 500 record book.
Earnhardt
came from 10th
to second in
two laps to get
the assist, and
McMurray was
overcome with
emotion after
wards. McMurray was
the odd-man-out at Roush
Racing at the end of 2009
when that organization
had to drop a team to
comply with NASCAR’s
four-car ownership rule.
McMurray didn’t know
if he would have a ride
ON NASCAR
GETTY IMAGES
McMurray (No. 1) beat out Dale Earnhardt Jr. just before
the line to claim the coveted victory.
for 2010 until his former
car owner Chip Ganassi
called and put him in a
car for the second time.
McMurray responded
just like he did the first
time he drove for Ganas
si. He won his first race
with the team, just like
he did with Ganassi when
he won his first race, the
fall event at Charlotte.
(i-See GETS, Page 10
CATHY ELLIOTT
NASCAR Columnist
Drivers focus
on winning
races, not
other sports
Like everyone else on
the planet, I saw a lot of
pre-game Super Bowl
TV coverage on Feb. 7,
because there was no
racing that day and I
had nothing else to do.
Like everyone else in
NASCAR Nation, I got
aU excited and fangirl-
ish during the portion
of the broadcast when
celebrities were giving
their picks, and some
of “our” drivers were
included in that group.
Tony Stewart’s seg
ment was predictable, as
he reminded everyone
that he’s an Indiana boy
and therefore had to go
with the Indianapolis
Colts. He looked and
sounded good. Score
one for the home team.
Just a few seconds
later, Mark Martin filled
the screen. His prognos
tication went something
like this: “I don’t even
know who’s playing
in the Super Bowl, but
if Brett Favre was in
it. I’d pull for him.”
I hung my head. I
closed my eyes. I may
have groaned aloud.
Surely I hadn’t heard
this right. One of the
most respected, suc
cessful and popular
drivers in the entire
sport of NASCAR did
not just tell most of the
world that he had no
clue who was playing
in the Super Bowl.
Yes, he did.
This, in my spontane
ous and very reaction
ary opinion, was going
to be a PR disaster. As
NASCAR continues to
fight for dominance
in professional sports
— a battle in which it is
performing quite well
— it is vitally important
that our athletes be
visible, approachable,
articulate, and relatable.
But then it hit me, like
one of those smack your
self in the head “Wow,
I could’ve had a V8”
moments. The day before
the Super Bowl, Martin
went out and won his
first-ever Daytona 500
pole, becoming the old
est driver in history to
start NASCAR’s No. 1
race in the No. 1 spot.
I couldn’t help but
wonder, if someone
had asked New Orleans
Saints and Super Bowl
MVP Drew Brees on
that afternoon before
the game who was sit
ting on the pole for the
Daytona 500, would he
have known the answer?
I’m no Vegas odds
maker, but I’m think
ing probably not.
See FOCUS, Page 9