Amber Uptain Crowned Homecoming Queen 2009

Tharptown - Amber Uptain was crowned Homecoming Queen 2009 in halftime ceremonies during Friday night’s game against Phillips. The crowning capped off a week of events at Tharptown including Friday’s pep rally and Homecoming parade which is arguably the biggest event held at the school each year.

Amber was escorted by her father, John Uptain. She is the daughter of John and Trina Uptain.

In the ceremony, she was crowned by last year’s Homecoming Queen, Miss Kylee Chaffin.

Also appointed as alternates were Miss La Tosha George as 2nd alternate, and Miss Nicole Lancaster as 1st alternate.

Rounding out the 2009 Homecoming Court were Miss Heather Hatton, Miss Casey Mitchell, and Miss Lori Metcalf.

For more photos of the Homecoming Ceremony and Parade, Click Here

Jess Myrick is first THS player to sign college offer

Published: Friday, April 10, 2009 4:25 PM CDT

Scot Beard

sbeard@franklincountytimes.com

THARPTOWN – Tharptown senior Jess Myrick made history Thursday night when she became the first athlete in school history to sign a letter of intent to play collegiate sports.

Myrick signed with Jefferson Davis Community College in Brewton to play softball.

“It’s a little bit exciting, but it’s a little bit sad because I’m moving away,” Myrick said.

She chose Jeff Davis for several reasons. She said she liked the small-town feel of the area and because of the success of the program.

Myrick also liked the way the coach approached her.

“Coach wanted to know about me, not my earned run average,” she said.

Another advantage Jeff Davis had over other programs was the attitude of the other softball players. Myrick said she liked the way her future teammates were outgoing and were able to have fun while being able to stay serious about softball at the same time.

Myrick said there are quite a few memories from playing with Tharptown that she will cherish for years to come including winning county titles at the junior high and high school levels and helping the Lady Wildcats reach the playoffs for the first time.

While at Jeff Davis, Myrick will study secondary education with a focus on history. She said she isn’t ready to give up softball when college is over.

“I want to teach history and coach either a junior high or high school team,” Myrick said.

Myrick’s coach, Laura Sellers, said she had sent information on the players to several colleges before the start of the season. She said several programs showed interest in the players.

Sellers said she was excited that Myrick was the first Tharptown player to sign.

“It has been a total blessing and privilege to be part of Jess’ life,” Sellers said. “It is hard to find kids like her. I can’t replace her.

Copyright © 2009 – Franklin County Times

Hazlewood administrators nominate THS’ Hogan for Coaches Hall of Fame

Published: Friday, March 20, 2009 3:24 PM CDT

Slade Gilmer For the FCT

THARPTOWN - One of the most storied traditions in Alabama high school football is the one at Hazlewood in Town Creek, where the Golden Bears have won 11 state championships and have boasted several college and NFL players.

One of the key components to the Golden Bears’ success is Tharptown Elementary School assistant principal David Hogan.

Due to his success at Hazlewood from 1980-84, administrators Clyde Goode and Darin Liles nominated Hogan for the Alabama Coaches Hall of Fame. “I guess you could say in the five years I was there, the kids won 54 games and I lost seven,”Hogan said of his record with the Golden Bears.

After early stops at Hartselle, Austin and J.O. Johnson, Hogan took the reins of the Golden Bears in 1980. After a 6-4 season in 1980, the Bears exploded the next two years. In 1981 Hazlewood went 13-1 – losing only to Colbert County 7-3 in Leighton – to win the Class 1A state championship, thanks in large part to the efforts of senior tailback Chris Goode and his younger brother Kerry. T

he next season Hogan asked the former head of the Alabama High School Athletic Association, Herman “Bubba” Scott, to move the Golden Bears up to Class 2A – even though the student population still put them in the 1A classification – in order to give his team more competition against schools such as Stevenson, which consolidated with Bridgeport to form North Jackson in 1988, who Hogan referred to as Hazlewood’s “biggest nemesis.” Hazlewood did not disappoint, going 14-0 in 2A, including two wins over Stevenson.

Their toughest game came against Gordo and head coach Waldon Tucker in the semifinals of the playoffs. The Green Wave boasted two future Alabama players in Wayne Davis and Derrick Knox, while Hazlewood featured star running back and defensive back Kerry Goode. Late in the first half, Goode suffered an injury after one of Gordo’s players stepped on his exposed back with a metal cleat. “At halftime, Kerry was getting stitched up, and he looked at every one of (his teammates) and said ‘You better pick it up. You better pick it up,’” Hogan said. The Golden Bears went on to defeat the Green Wave 16-12 before beating Dadeville 29-16 to win the 2A state championship.

After the season was over the Birmingham News named Hogan its 2A Coach of the Year while the Decatur Daily named the team the best team in Lawrence, Morgan and Limestone County history. The 1983 team went undefeated through the regular season, but was upset by Oak Grove 22-21 in the state semifinals.

The following season, the Golden Bears went through the regular season undefeated, including a 41-0 thrashing of Courtland – now R.A. Hubbard – in the season opener. An injury to Pierre Goode – Chris and Kerry’s brother – before a second-round rematch came back to haunt Hazlewood as Courtland avenged their previous loss 7-6.

After that season, Hogan left to take over a downtrodden Haleyville program. The Lions had finished 2-7 in 1984, and the Lions struggled in 1985, going 3-6. In 1986, the Lions went 8-5 and won their area for the first time since 1976. During the run, they defeated perennial power Fayette County, who had begun their ascent after Tucker took over in 1984, twice – 7-0 in the regular season and 20-8 in the second round.

The next year, Haleyville went 10-2, with their only losses to eventual 5A state runner-up Russellville and a Pike County team led by future Mr. Football Steven Coleman. Haleyville moved up to 5A in 1988, and although they won their area, they were beaten 42-6 by Russellville in the second round.

After the Lions struggled the next two years in an area featuring 5A powers Fayette County and Hamilton, Hogan left Haleyville and moved his sons, Charles David and Jeff, to Russellville.

In 1992 Hogan worked as a volunteer with the Russellville staff while Charles David started at quarterback. The Golden Tigers went 9-0 in the regular season and were 13-0 before facing Blount in the 1992 Class 5A state championship game. Late in the first quarter, a gunshot was fired from the Blount side of the field, and a shaken Golden Tiger team eventually lost the game 29-15 “I believe if they played (that game) at Legion Field, (Russellville) could have pulled it out.”

In 1998 Hogan took his current position at Tharptown Elementary. He described the move as an adjustment from his days coaching high school athletes. “It was a transition from high school athletes and going down to the little ones,” says Hogan. “(But) I love these younger kids and dealing with them.”

In 2006 Hogan was an assistant on the first ever Tharptown Junior High football team. The team won two games that year, beating Phil Campbell and Lynn in its final two games. “I’ve been at programs that have been down, but it’s another experience to start a program,” Hogan said. “The kids have to learn how and what it takes to win.”

The Alabama Coaches Hall of Fame is a very exclusive group, and Hogan says it is possible that it will take a year or even two to be inducted. However, Hogan finds something else to be more satisfying than being inducted. “The thing that means the most to me is that I’ve been gone since 1985 and Mr. (Clyde) Goode and the other coaches (still) thought enough of me to nominate me.”

Copyright © 2009 – Franklin County Times

Franklin County Times 2009 All-County Girls Basketball Team

 

Published: Friday, March 13, 2009 4:34 PM CDT

sbeard@franklincountytimes.com

Copyright © 2009 – Franklin County Times

First Team members include Amber Smith, Belgreen; Morgan Duncan, Red Bay;

Whitney Sharp, Red Bay;Erin Reynolds, Russellville;Tasha West, Russellville.

Tharptown’s Hollie Hines was named the Offensive Player of the Year while Phil Campbell’s Jessica Taylor was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Belgreen’s Shuana Humphries was named the Coach of the Year.

Second Team members include Martha Billingham, Belgreen; Kirsten Sharp, Red Bay; Kendra Baker, Tharptown; Chelsea McCluskey, Tharptown; Jesse Norwood, Vina.

Honorable Mentions include Katelin Barber, Belgreen; Caitlin Stancil, Phil Campbell; Whitley Yocum, Phil Campbell; Britan Bolding, Red Bay; Amber Elliot, Russellville.

Tharptown seniors earn top spots

Published: Friday, March 13, 2009 3:42 PM CDT

Kim West

kwest@franklincountytimes.com

THARPTOWN – From kindergarten through their senior year, Beth Lane and Lauren Scott have seen their share of historic moments at Tharptown High School, which will graduate its first senior class of 32 students on May 22.

Along with graduation and senior prom on March 27, they will experience another first this spring after being named the top senior students based on their cumulative grade averages through last fall.

Lane, 18, the final junior high valedictorian at Tharptown, became the high school’s first valedictorian with an average of 96.31, which was only eight-hundredths of a point higher than Scott, 17, the class salutatorian. Gaby Gomez nabbed the No. 3 ranking, while Amber Toller was fourth and Brittn/ Campbell ranked fifth.

Lane and Scott, who played together on the first Wildcats team to reach the sub-regional basketball playoffs and were elected to the first senior homecoming court, said they were surprised about their rankings after being notified via the school’s public address system in January. Both will attend the University of North Alabama this fall on valedictorian and salutatorian scholarships.

“I knew I’d have a chance, but I didn’t know where I stood,” said Lane, who belongs to seven clubs at Tharptown, served as president of the school’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter and played basketball. “But, I’ve always wanted to be the (senior) valedictorian ever since junior high school.”

“In the back of mind, I thought it might be possible,” said Scott, who also belongs to seven clubs, served as president of the National Honor Society and Students Against Destructive Decisions and lettered in basketball, softball and track. “I think I took school more seriously once I was in high school, and I’ve always worked as hard as I could.”

Scott said she plans to keep her salutatorian speech “short and sweet” while thanking her family, classmates and faculty. Lane said she plans to keep her speech under wraps until graduation night after over-rehearsing her junior high valedictorian address. Both said their proudest accomplishment is having the opportunity to represent their classmates.

“Just to be the first graduating class – it’s an honor that’s hard to explain,” Scott said. “It’s an opportunity a lot of people don’t get to experience.”

“We have all worked so hard, and we have been looking forward to this day for so long,” Lane said. “I never thought graduation would get here, and now it’s almost over.”

Principal Darit Riddle, who has been a coach, teacher or administrator for the past 10 years at Tharptown, said Lane and Scott are both outstanding students. He has literally watched the senior class grow up, and he said witnessing the first high school’s inaugural graduation will be bittersweet.

“I’m very pleased to have Lauren and Beth represent our senior class, and we couldn’t have hand-picked better students for our first salutatorian and valedictorian,” said Riddle, who coached both in junior high basketball and has known them since they were kindergarteners. “They are both very trustworthy and the type of people you can go to when you need something done.

“This senior class is special to me because I have coached the girls in junior high basketball and the boys in football … graduation will be kind of a happy day, but also a sad day for me because going to miss having all of these kids around.”

Lane, who will major in business at UNA and then apply for physical therapy school at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, is the daughter of Mark and Libby Lane and the granddaughter of Elizabeth Chunn and Ted and Carol Murray and the late Howard Lane.

Scott, who will major in finance at UNA, is the daughter of Tim and Cynthia Scott and the granddaughter of Gaynell Heaps and the late Billy Heaps and Judy Scott and the late Brownie Scott.

Copyright © 2009 – Franklin County Times

Scholarship

We need all members of the Tharptown Athletic Booster Club to be at the monthly meeting Sunday March 8, 2009 at 2:30. We have several items to discuss and make decisions on. If you are not a member you can still join the fee is $10 for individual and $20 for family a year. We will be deciding the final details on the scholarship to be given away to a Senior female and male athlete. You must be a paid member to be able to vote on this scholarship. If you have any questions or would like to join feel free to contact any of our officers. Thanks for all the support. Go Wildcats!!

THS Varsity Girls Go Toe To Toe With Belgreen

2008-09 Varsity Lady Wildcats with their Area 15
Runner Up Champions Plaque – Photo by Renita Flannagin

Belgreen – The Tharptown Wildcat Girls traded blows with Belgreen for 4 regulation periods, and 2 overtimes on Saturday Night. In the end it was the Belgreen Bulldogs who prevailed to win the Area 15 Tournament 68 – 65. The Tharptown team played with more determination and grit than I’ve seen all season. Giving a heroic effort were Hollie Hines, Chelsea McClusky, Kendra Baker, Heather Hatton and LaTosha George. But after Hollie and Chelsea fouled out, it was veteran Laken Barnett along with Kendra Baker who led the team in overtime. Also playing significant roles in overtime were Jessica Myrick, Elly Valdez, and Autumn Hatton.

Congratulations to the girls for a great season, and winning the Region 15 Runner Up trophy. Go Wildcats!

Laken Barnette, Elly Valdez, Hollie Hines, Kendra Baker
and Chelsea McClusky take the court on Saturday - Photo by Tim Flannagin

Tharptown Basketball Senior Night 2009

Tharptown - As the parent of a THS Senior, I’ve looked forward to and dreaded this day for a long time. Friday night January 30th was the night that the Senior Class Basketball players stepped onto the floor as Wildcats for the last time. I’ve never been prouder of a group of young people. This group paved the way for all successive generations of Tharptown Basketball players. They’re the one’s who went out and played their hearts out against bigger, stronger, faster  teams as Sophomores and Juniors. They kept coming back, and they always played to win. I for one am proud of them all.

Mackinley Flannagin, Tyler Cagle, Hollie Hines, Laken Barnett, Beth Lane, Lauren Scott, Jessica Myrick, Autumn Hatton and Gabby Gomez have made us all proud.

Tim Flannagin

Click here to see more photos of Senior Night 2009

Times Daily Article on THS vs PCHS County Championship game

Phil Campbell 63, Tharptown 62

Phil Campbell – Seconds after giving a retaliatory shove to get caught up in a double-technical foul with Phil Campbell trailing by two late in the fourth quarter, Jordan Benford made the most of his shot at redemption.

 

Following two missed Tharptown free throws that would have made it a two-possession game, Benford got the ball in the corner at the other end and drained a game-winning 3-pointer with 6 seconds to play.

After a timeout with 4.9 seconds left, Tharptown drove the length of the court for a layup that fell harmlessly through the net after the final buzzer, sealing the second Franklin County Tournament championship in the last four seasons for Phil Campbell (7-13)

“Before (Tharptown) shot the free throws, I told my guys, ‘I want you to rebound it, throw it to (Jordan) in the corner and I want you to make it,’” Phil Campbell coach Gary Odom said. “It was the only time all night he did what I told him.”

Behind seven 3-pointers and a game-high 27 points from Jacob Parker, Tharptown (7-12) won every quarter except for the fourth and led by five with less than a minute remaining.

But the Wildcats made crucial mistakes down the stretch, including fouling a 3-point shooter and missing three of their final four foul shots during a quarter in which they went 14-for-18 from the free throw line.

Tharptown also had the misfortune of the clock running for nearly two seconds after Benford’s 3.

“Those were big,” said Tharptown coach Jonathan Odom, the son of the Phil Campbell coach.

Matt Ward scored a team-high 18 for Phil Campbell. Lawrence Butts added 13 points, Pablo Santiago had 10 and Benford finished with 7.

Tharptown’s Trevor Hallmark scored 15, while making 14 of 15 free throws.

“I hate the way it turned out,” Gary Odom said of having to face his son in the county tournament final. “I want him to win, but I want to win. That’s about as good a game as there’s going to be.

“I’m excited about it. I’m a little down about it, too.”

Bryan App can be reached at 740-5730 or bryan.app@timesdaily.com.

Showdown at the County Tournaments

Recap by Tim Flannagin

Phil Campbell - The folks in the audience at Championship round of the Franklin County Tournaments expected a battle, and that’s exactly what they got! It was a match-up of the underdog Tharptown Wildcats, who entered the tournament ranked 5th in the county, against the Phil Campbell Bobcats who were ranked 2nd as the evening started. The game was as quick paced as you might imagine as the elder Odom and his Bobcats threw every trick in their bag at the younger Odom and his Wildcats. But in the end, it came down to two shots. The 3 pointer made by Phil Campbell to go ahead by 1 point with seconds left in the 4th period, and the beautiful run down the court followed by a perfect layup for two by Jacob Parker which would have resulted in a Tharptown win….except that it was denied. The shot was ruled as being after the buzzer. (Click here to see video) My eyes thought otherwise, but nevertheless, Tharptown had to settle for 2nd place.

Folks, in all my years of watching Tharptown Basketball, this is the toughest most focused Tharptown team I’ve seen. If you only know that Tharptown had to settle for second place, then you’ve missed out on the whole story!  The” little team that could” has just had everything Franklin County could muster thrown at it, and held on to within 1 point of being the County Champion. That’s phenomenal!

At the buzzer, our game ended. But for those who were watching closely, they saw the balance of power in Franklin County boys Basketball start to shift toward Tharptown. They also saw through out this tournament, the young Odom step up and be the Coach we knew he was.

So, congratulations to Coach Jonathan Odom and his Wildcats for a fantastic performance! It might only be 2nd place, but the folks in Phil Campbell know that 1/2 second would have told a different tale.

Scoring Recap:

Jacob Parker led the way with 28 points including a phenomenal 7 three pointers.

Trevor Hallmark with 15, Tyler Cagle 7 , Manny Ricardo 4, Drew Ergle 4, Mackinley Flannagin 2, Wade Berryman 2.

Click Here To See More Photos!