Score Atlanta Vol 10 Issue 1

Time to look great!

VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1

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JANUARY 10-16, 2014

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YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

BLEAK OUTLOOK Tice is Nice | Pg. 4 Falcons hire Mike Tice to coach the offensive line.

Dual Domination | Pg. 8 Can anyone unseat Archer in Class AAAAAA?

Local college hoops teams appear lost as conference play begins. | Pg. 5

LAST YEAR SHE HAD THE WINNING

COMEBACK STORY. WHO WILL IT BE THIS YEAR? Know a young athlete who overcame a serious injury or illness? Nominate them for Comeback Athlete of the Month at choa.org/comeback. ©2013 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. All rights reserved.

For official contest rules, visit choa.org/comeback.

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Vol. 10 Iss. 1 | January 10-16, 2014

STARTING LINEUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg

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COLUMNISTS

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ON THE COVER

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INSIDE THE PREPS

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ Galbiati Blalock SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR Stephen Black

BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick

DIRECTOR OF SALES Melanie Snare & MARKETING

BEAT WRITERS Ricky Dimon (Braves)

Joe Deighton (Gladiators) Jay Underwood (Hawks) Brian Jones (KSU) Chris Nieman (UGA) Craig Sager II (Falcons) Stephen Black (Tech) Chris Schutter (GSU)

STAFF WRITERS Ryan Caiafa Alex Ewalt

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404.256.1572

Copyright 2014 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.

Score Atlanta is published in print every other week on Fridays and a digital version is posted to ScoreAtl.com in-between print issues.

Views expressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

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SCORE LIST | NUMBERS GEORGIA STATE | KENNESAW STATE GEORGIA | GEORGIA TECH BRAVES | FALCONS HAWKS | GLADIATORS

COVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ATLANTA FALCONS, SONNY KENNEDY AND GEORGIA TECH ATHLETICS

ON THE INSIDE AT SCORE Score Atlanta is looking for writing interns. Please e-mail Stephen Black at sblack@scoreatl.com or call 404-2561572 for more information.

Join us Feb. 5 for the largest signing day party ever at five Taco Mac locations around Atlanta. The National Signing Day Frenzy presented by the National Guard is a chance to join Atlanta’s most talented athletes and celebrate their future!

STAY CONNECTED! /SCOREATLANTASPORTS @SCOREATLANTA WWW.SCOREATL.COM WWW.GAPREPNEWS.COM

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

A CUP OF JOE

TICE HIRE GIVES FALCONS AN IMMEDIATE EDGE

BY JOE DEIGHTON | JDEIGHTON@SCOREATL.COM

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very successful NFL franchise starts at the top and Arthur Blank took responsibility this week for the Falcons 2013 season. Blank wants to see a tougher team, a team that can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Basically he wants a winning football team.

With the hiring of offensive line coach Mike Tice, the team, at least on the surface, got tougher. Tice is a no-nonsense coach that demands toughness. His demeanor, his voice and his success in coaching gives the Falcons a good head start to the 2014 season.

Tice played tight end for three different teams from 1981-1995 and became head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 2002. He was offensive coordinator in Chicago in 2012.

He helped the Bears to a 10-6 record, but was

let go after Lovie Smith was fired.

The hiring of Tice is good, because the philosophy of this team seems to be going in a different direction next year. The loss of tight end Tony Gonzalez to retirement will be the biggest change along the offensive line. The comments made by Blank lead me to believe that the 2014 Atlanta Falcons will run the ball more and the hiring of Tice leads me to believe that they will run more effectively.

The NFL Draft will certainly be interesting for the Falcons, as they hold the sixth overall pick. Last year, the Chiefs took an offensive lineman with the top pick and that instantly made them a contender this season. Cyrus Kouandjio, the offensive tackle from Alabama, would be a great pick and show fans the direction in which

SAGER SAYS

SEC FOOTBALL DOWN, BUT NOT OUT

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

he quality of play in the nation’s toughest T conference was down this year and, for the first time since 2005, a team outside of the SEC

won college football’s final game of the season.

Florida State solidified its No. 1 status with a perfect 14-0 season and a 34-31 win over the Auburn Tigers.

Auburn and Florida State offered an outstanding game and the teams were very evenly matched. With three lead changes in the final four minutes, I am confident that if they could theoretically play 10 times, the majority of the games would come down to the wire. While the Tigers and Seminoles are comparable in talent, their conferences and schedules were not. Auburn went 8-1 against its SEC opponents with an 8.88 average margin of victory

along the way. ACC champion Florida State went a perfect 8-0 in conference play with a 40.38 average margin of victory. If the SEC sent a team to the national championship with half of that margin of victory you would probably be watching the best team in college football history take the field.

Florida State proved it was the nation’s best team by topping an SEC champion Auburn in the national championship but the Tigers proved the superiority of the SEC’s overall prowess over the ACC by taking the unstoppable Seminoles down to the wire.

The SEC is not the only conference with great football. During the bowl season it was evident that teams all over the country are packed with talent, great coaches and great

the Falcons are headed next season.

ball Hall-of-Fame vote. Put these guys in!

DYNAMIC DUO ...

Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine are the two best pitchers in Atlanta Braves history.

Together, they won a combined six Cy Young awards and a World Series title in 1995. They were the best 1-2 punch through the mid1990’s and were virtually unhittable. Neither one had a strong fast ball, but both had devastating change-up’s.

Nineteen ninety-five was a special year for both Glavine and Maddux. Maddux went 19-2 with a 1.63 ERA and would win the Cy Young. Glavine won 16 games and led the Braves in the World Series with two wins and a 1.29 ERA, good enough for MVP honors. Both players eventually went on to other teams but when they were on the mound for the Atlanta Braves, they were dominant.

The Baseball Hall-of-Fame is notorious for dismissing great players on their first ballot. Both Glavine and Maddux are up for their first ballots this year. Amazingly, no players were voted in last year. Even Babe Ruth didn’t receive 100 percent of the vote to get in Cooperstown. With that being said, Maddux and Glavine should be voted in and if they are not, blame it on the stupid system that is the Base-

YEAR OF THE HAWK ...

Through 35 games, the Hawks are still one of only three teams in the NBA’s Eastern Conference with a winning record. It doesn’t seem like they will be able to catch Indiana or Miami for one of the top two seeds, but the Hawks do seem like the team that will be the third seeded team in the East this year.

Kyle Korver has been spectacular so far, this season. He is shooting 47 percent from three-point range and is an always reliable shooter. Jeff Teague is quickly becoming one of the top point-guards in the NBA, as he has averaged eight assists per game, while the Hawks lead the league in team assists this year. Paul Millsap was a terrific pick-up for Atlanta and has shown his value by nearly averaging a double-double in 2013-14. This all adds up to a winning team with a real chance to do some damage in the NBA playoffs.

The Hawks have been in this position many times in their franchise history. This team can learn lessons from the past.

Photo courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons.

fans. The University of Central Florida and head coach George O’Leary earned the American Athletic Conference more BCS bowl wins this year than the SEC with its 52-42 win over No. 6 Baylor in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska weathered Georgia’s offensive firepower 2419 in the Gator Bowl and Oklahoma blew up the Alabama secondary with a 45-31 victory in the Sugar Bowl. Teams in other conferences can compete with the SEC and every year new teams prove they can. However, there is something about the wear and tear of an SEC schedule that other conferences will never be able to compete with.

They say don’t mess with Texas, but here I go. The Lone Star State, for example produces incredible players, especially at the quarterback position. In the AT&T Cotton Bowl this season, Missouri topped Oklahoma State 4131. The Tigers had 36 players on their roster that played high school football in Texas and OSU houses a staggering 71. My point: Texas does not play good defense at the high school level. The top high school programs are running complex passing offenses with highlypaid coordinators and the defensive quality suffers without a dose of the smash-mouth football found in the southeast.

Give me a college team loaded with Texas recruits and I will show you a team with super stars, but not a sound defense. Offense comes first there. In Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama, however, a brand of football that ingrains a defense-first mentality is taught to its its players. These hard-hitting kids populate the SEC. Several programs struggled on that side of the football this season but it will be improved.

The 2013 Draft sent a flood of defensive stars from the SEC into the NFL and this year’s depth charts filled a lot of holes with upcoming stars.

Most importantly, high school football in the south is as good as ever.

Photo courtesy of Rob Saye.

SEC TALENT …

The NFL Draft is a great indicator of where the top athletes are coming from. In 2013, the SEC East (32) and SEC West (31) each double the players drafted as the ACC (31) with 63 total and far more than the Pac-12 (28), Big 12 (22) and Big Ten (22). Of the firs 31 picks, 12 were from the SEC and four SEC teams (Alabama, Georgia, Florida and LSU) produced more picks than conference outside the SEC.

People have asked me about this SEC talent and why the southeastern United States produces players at such a rapid level and I have a simple answer to a question that could involve countless variables.

Vol. 10 Iss. 1 | January 10-16, 2014 Maryland, referring to Carter’s absence. “He is a big part of our team. Guys have to make shots and share the ball…. We didn’t play well as a team. We didn’t defend well. Some of our better guys didn’t shoot well. It’s a loss, but we have 18 or 19 more games.”

The Jackets cannot wait idly for Carter to get healthy. If they fail to get their act together sooner rather than later, they will have no more than those 16 remaining regular-season games on the schedule.

ON THE COVER

COLLEGE HOOPS

COLLEGE FOCUS SHIFTS TO HOOPS—A SCARY THOUGHT

BY RICKY DIMON

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memorable college football season came to a ceremonious end on Monday night in the form of Florida State’s thrilling BCS National Championship win over Auburn. Now it’s time for college hoops to take center stage with conference action heating up this month, helping to fill the void left by the departure of gridiron action.

Unlike with the pigskin, Georgia and Georgia Tech are rarely serious contenders for their conference titles in basketball (Georgia’s 2008 SEC Championship and Tech’s 2010 ACC Tournament runner-up showing were aberrations to the rule). Early returns suggest the 2014 story will be a familiar one for the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets, but hope for in-state success this season could come from a lesser-known source.

STINGER REMOVED ...

Brian Gregory’s third season as head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets got off to an

inauspicious start and that was even with nowinjured Robert Carter Jr. in tow. Tech lost three of its first eight games and all three setbacks came by double-digits—to Dayton (Gregory’s former school), Ole Miss and St. John’s. After their best win of the season over Illinois in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, in which Carter went for 21 points and nine rebounds, the Jackets lost at Vanderbilt by 13 points on Dec. 21.

Carter is now out for at least a month with a torn meniscus, sustained during a 58-55 victory at Charlotte on Dec. 29. Georgia Tech has promptly lost two games in a row without the sophomore forward, both in ACC play. Gregory’s squad fell at Maryland 77-61 last Saturday and tested Duke on the road for one half on Tuesday before succumbing 79-57. Heading into a Saturday home date with Notre Dame, the Yellow Jackets are a modest 9-6 overall and 0-2 in conference action.

“It’s a big adjustment,” point guard Trae Golden told the team’s website after losing to

DOGS ON BOTTOM ...

Georgia has not done anything to make Georgia Tech’s second best win of the season look particularly impressive. The Bulldogs fell to Tech at home, 80-71 on Nov. 15. Since then, they have compiled an even 5-5 record and have lost to Davidson, Temple, Nebraska, Colorado and George Washington. Double-digits setbacks against the Buffaloes and Colonials ended a five-game winning streak and had UGA reeling in advance of a Wednesday night trip to Missouri (results were not available at press time).

Georgia is currently No. 242 in the RPI and its best win according to those rankings is over Western Carolina, which happens to be tied with the Dawgs at No. 242. Heading into its first SEC game of the season against the Tigers, Mark Fox’s team was tied for last in the conference with an overall record of 6-6. It currently ranks last in the SEC in assists (10.4 per game), assists-to-turnovers ratio (125-151) and three-pointers made (4.2 per game), while registering at 12th in freethrow percentage (65.2).

“It’s been tough the last four or five days,” junior forward Nemi Djurisic told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “But we also have to stay positive. We know the things we have to improve are fixable. Coach is telling us to stay positive and just do the little things and concentrate more on the defensive end and rebounding.”

TAKE NOTE ...

As for two local programs of the smaller Division I variety, they are currently experiencing different fortunes. Kennesaw State is making it hard to get noticed by anyone out-

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side of Owl country. KSU has already matched its win total from last season, but that is nothing more than bad news. The Owls, who went 3-27 in 2012-13, are off to a 3-14 start that includes a 1-3 mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference. A 68-58 win over USC Upstate on Monday ended an eight-game losing streak in which they dropped every single contest by at least 16 points.

Don’t sleep on Georgia State, however.

The Panthers may not let you. They are 9-6 overall and a perfect 2-0 through two games of their Sun Belt Conference debut as of Wednesday. GSU has won six in a row, a stretch that includes defeats of SBC foes Troy and South Alabama. It has forayed out of conference against SEC opponents Vanderbilt (lost 8680 on the road) and Alabama to get properly battle-tested for more important contests.

Speaking of the SEC, a big reason for the Panthers’ success is Kentucky transfer Ryan Harrow. After averaging 9.9 points per game for the Wildcats last season, Harrow is posting averages of 19.1 points, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals per outing at Georgia State. The Walton graduate is getting help from sophomore R.J. Hunter, who is second on the team at 18.9 ppg. Hunter is averaging 29.5 points over his past four games, a surge that included a 41-point outburst in a win at UT-San Antonio on Dec. 22. For his recent efforts he was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Monday.

“As a coach, R.J. has really allowed the game to slow down for him on the court and that has been evident in this latest stretch,” head coach Ron Hunter, who is R.J.’s father, told georgiastatesports.com. “As his dad, I am really proud of him. I have always said that I do not get to enjoy watching him play during the games, but afterwards when I watch film, his play right now brings a smile to my face.”

And right now it looks Georgia State has the best chance of bringing a smile to this state come March.

Photos courtesy of Sonny Kennedy.

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Kyle Korver

Tony Gonzalez

College Football

Things are not going particularly well for the Hawks right now, but Korver has extended his record streak for consecutive games with at least one three-pointer to 104. Korver scored 14 points in Atlanta’s last victory, a 92-91 road scalp of Boston last Tuesday. He is averaging 12.2 points and 2.8 threes per game this season.

Gonzalez’s Hall of Fame career did not exactly end as planned from a team perspective, but the best tight end in NFL history got the job done until the end.

He caught touchdown passes in four of his last five games and grabbed all four of the balls that were targeted to him the Falcons’ final 21-20 home loss to Carolina on Dec. 29.

An incredible college football season ended in style with an epic National Championship game on Monday night.

Atlanta certainly played a part in the entertaining festivities, producing a double-overtime thriller between Georgia and Georgia Tech on Nov. 30 and hosting a great Chick-filA Bowl that pit Texas A&M against Duke.

SCORE LIST

By Brian Jones

PROMISE TO FANS

Falcons owner Arthur Blank addressed the media this week and he promised the team will go from last to first next season. While that is a bold statement, you have to love how passionate he is about his team. He wants the Falcons to do so well and I’m sure the Falcons will do whatever it takes to reach that goal.

QB TRANSFER

After suffering a 7-6 season, Georgia Tech quarterback Vad Lee decided to leave the program and transfer to another school. Lee said that he wants a fresh start for his final two years of college football. It was clear Lee was tired of running the triple-option offense and wants to go to a place that will help him grow as a quarterback.

BACK ON TOP

Despite the 8-5 season the Bulldogs had, many experts including Mark Schlabach believe they will be a Top 25 team in 2014. The Bulldogs did suffer a lot of injures and they won’t lose too many players to the NFL Draft. So if they are able to stay healthy, there is no reason the Bulldogs shouldn’t be a contender for the SEC title.

BIG SOUTH DEBUT

The Big South Conference released its 2015 schedule and Kennesaw State will play its first-ever conference game on Oct. 17 when it hosts Gardner-Webb. The Owls will also face Charleston Southern, Monmouth, Liberty, Coastal Carolina and Presbyterian. As a KSU alum, this makes me even more excited for the 2015 season to begin.

SUCCESSFUL EVENT

Over the holidays, Score hosted the Elite Junior Classic and to say it was a success would be an understatement.

The game was well-contested and the festivities beforehand were a hit for players, coaches and families.

We thank everyone who was involved and we can’t wait to do it again next year.

WHO’S NOT

By Ricky Dimon

WHO’S HOT

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Horford’s Health

Braves’ offseason

Tech Hoops

Horford getting hurt is getting old in a hurry for Hawks fans.

The team’s best player saw only 11 games in 2011-12 due to a torn left pectoral muscle and he suffered a similar injury to his right side on Dec. 26. Horford (18.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg) underwent surgery last week and is out for the season after appearing in just 29 games.

The Braves appear to be content to fill production voids left by Tim Hudson and Brian McCann from within. After all, ultra-minor additions of pitcher Gavin Floyd and backup catcher Ryan Doumit are nothing to write home about. General manager Frank Wren acquired Floyd and Doumit last month but has done little else.

Part of it is bad play; part of it is bad luck. Robert Carter Jr., who had been averaging 10.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, sustained a torn meniscus late last month and is not expected to return until February. Georgia Tech is a modest 9-6 overall and 0-2 in the ACC after losing at Duke by 22 points on Tuesday night.

NUMBERS

OUR TWO CENTS

By Ricky Dimon

Our email newsletter is something we take a lot of pride in at Score. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a high school sportsheavy publication that we produce each day to fill in our readers on the latest happenings in Georgia prep sports. We send it out Monday through Friday throughout the year and Monday through Saturday during the fall.

Not only do we cover popular sports like football, basketball and baseball, we also cover every other varsity sport the GHSA fields. If you like Georgia high school sports at all, sign up for our email newsletter by visiting www.tinyurl.com/scorenewsletter and enter your email address(es) that you’d like added to the distribution list.

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TRIVIA QUESTION

WITH THE INDUCTION OF GLAVINE AND MADDUX, HOW MANY BASEBALL HALL OF FAMERS HAVE BEEN INDUCTED AS BRAVES? ANSWER ON PAGE 14

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SANITY AT LAST

“I still don’t know how it feels. It still feels pretty surreal. It hasn’t sunk in yet, and it probably won’t for some time.”

Tom Glavine on his induction to the MLB Hall of Fame.

85

Regular-season games missed the past three years

by Al Horford, who is out for the season.

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Double-doubles for Paul Millsap in the last nine games, including four of six without Horford.

25.3

Assists per game by the Hawks as of Wednesday, still the most of any team in the NBA.

35

Days since the Hawks last beat a team with a winning record (Dec. 4 over the Clippers).

97.2

Percentage of Hall of Fame votes for Greg Maddux, eighth-highest in baseball history.

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Consecutive Cy Young’s won by Maddux, tied for the longest streak with Randy Johnson.

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Wins in two starts by Tom Glavine in the 1995 World Series victory. He was named Series MVP.

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Times Glavine led the National League in wins in a span of 10 years (1991 to 2000).

Jefferson has Pepperell, Spencer and Toombs County in its path to the championship and Lovett will face state runner up Bremen or East Laurens if it can top the Redskins.

Holy Innocents’ was just three points from a Class A title last year, but failed to qualify for the tournament his season. Defending state champion Gordon Lee will open with Treutlen and faces a possible matchup between the winner of Athens Christian and Eagle’s Landing Christian in the semifinals.

PREP SPORTS

ARCHER PACES FIELD IN STATE TOURNEY

BY RICKY DIMON AND CRAIG SAGER II

C

ollins Hill earned its Class AAAAAA state tournament berth by claiming a 10th consecutive area championship last weekend.

Defending Class AAAAAA state champion Archer owns a perfect 18-0 duals record this season and has racked up nine tournament titles, including a 52-team tournament championship over the holidays against the nation’s top teams.

Archer shut out area opponents South Gwinnett, Parkview and Grayson and took the Area 7-AAAAAA title by a combined score of 240-0. Archer will meet Lowndes in the first round of the state tournament for the second consecutive season and topped the Vikings 62-10 last year. Sophomore twins Daniel Bullard and Thomas Bullard lead the Tigers along with senior M.J. Couzan. Collins Hill’s Ryan Millhof is a senior committed to the University of Oklahoma and has never lost a match in his four-year career with the Eagles.

In Class AAAAA, Pope reigns as the defending champ and leads a field of 16 teams.

Five schools (Lakeside-DeKalb, Clarke Central, Northside-Columbus, Warner Robins, Dunwoody) earned tournament berths after failing to qualify last year.

Class AAAA features an opening-round matchup with defending champion Gilmer and a surging Fayette County team that failed to qualify for the tournament last year. Fayette County began the season unranked and climbed into the top five this past week.

Defending Class AAA state champion Banks County edged Buford in its area championship and earned the top seed in the state tournament. Buford is one of the four teams in the Class AAA Elite 8 that did not make the tournament last year. The Wolves will face Sonoraville in the quarterfinals and the winner of Appling County and Woodward Academy in the semifinals if they can get past the Phoenix.

In Class AA, Lovett faces a first-round rematch with Social Circle, which sent the Lions into the consolation bracket last year with a 30-29 win. Defending state champion

IN THE POOL ...

Parkview has been no stranger to thrilling swim meets, as 2014 began in similar fashion to 2013’s conclusion. Just prior to winter break, the Panthers battled Collins Hill on Dec. 20 at Norcross. The girls tied 157-157 while Parkview’s boys edged the Eagles 162-153. Panther seniors Megan Reeves and Megan Yang combined to win four individual events and teamed up to win the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay. The boys were led by freshman Bradley Downs, who prevailed in the 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle relay.

The Parkview girls swam to another tie last Saturday against Lambert. Both teams accumulated 151 points. The Panther boys had an easier time and rolled over the Longhorns 21293. Morgan Fleming paced the Lady Panthers with triumphs in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay. For Parkview’s boys, Gregory Paulukaitis won the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle.

Wesleyan prepared for in-state competitions later this month against Collins Hill and Greater

Class AAAA

Score Atlanta Wrestling Rankings Class AAAAAA

Class AAAAA

1............................. Archer 2....................... Collins Hill 3...............Camden County 4.............................Etowah 5............................Roswell

1................................ Pope 2....................Ware County 3......................Whitewater 4................................... Ola 5.......................Creekview

6................North Gwinnett 7................Chattahoochee 8...........................Grayson 9......................... Parkview 10................ North Forsyth

1..............................Gilmer 2........................Alexander 3............. South Effingham 4.............................. Marist 5................ Fayette County

Class AA 6..................West Laurens 7...................Locust Grove 8........... Heritage-Catoosa 9........................ Carrollton 10.......Southeast Whitfield

Class AAA 6... Woodland-Cartersville 7........... Effingham County 8..................Richmond Hill 9......................... Allatoona 10..............Warner Robins

1..................Banks County 2.......Woodward Academy 3............................. Buford 4................Oconee County 5................Morgan County

Atlanta Christian with a Dec. 20 meet against Girls Preparatory School and McCallie (both based in Chattanooga, Tenn.). The Lady Wolves fell to GPS 161-142 and the boys were defeated by McCallie 202-106. Wesleyan got individual victories from Caroline White in the 50 freestyle, Taylor Panther in girls’ one-meter diving and Kayla Raabe in the 100 backstroke.

Chattahoochee triplets Jay, Kevin and Mick Litherland were in action last month at the Winter Junior National Championships in Greensboro, N.C. In the 500 freestyle final, Jay placed third, Kevin came in sixth and Mick was 20th. Kevin won the grueling 1650 freestyle in 14:58, eight seconds better than the runner-up finisher. Jay also powered his way to a ninthplace showing in the 200 backstroke and second-place performances in the 200 and 400 individual medleys, while Mick finished second in the 200 butterfly. Kevin was seventh in the 400 individual medley. All three of them teamed up to help win the 4x200 freestyle relay.

As the temperature drops this week, action in the pools will heat up with the reopening of schools after the break. Woodward’s boys and girls will host Marist’s boys and girls on Thursday. Lovett is hosting Pope and Whitefield Academy while St. Pius X is facing Dunwoody at Chamblee High School. On Friday, Westminster’s boys will welcome McCallie to town while the girls go up against Girls Preparatory School.

Photos courtesy of Sonny Kennedy, Woodward Academy, and Lassiter.

1.........................Jefferson 2............................Bremen 3................Toombs County 4....................Social Circle 5...............................Lovett

6...........................Spencer 7........................ Fitzgerald 8...................East Laurens 9..................................GAC 10..................... Monticello

Class A 6......................Sonoraville 7.........................Rockmart 8.............. Jackson County 9.............................McNair 10.................Elbert County

1......................Gordon Lee 2.......................Commerce 3.............. Mt. Zion-Carroll 4....... Eagle’s Landing Chr. 5............. Athens Christian

6.....Strong Rock Christian 7........................... Treutlen 8..................Turner County 9...............Holy Innocents’ 10.... George Walton Acad.

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Score Atlanta/AJC Basketball Rankings AAAAAA Boys

1.........................Westlake 2.......................... Wheeler 3.......................Tift County 4.............................Walton 5.........................Norcross 6............... North Gwinnett 7.......................... Marietta 8.............. Douglas County 9.......................... Grayson 10....................... Hillgrove

AAAAA Boys

1.........................Allatoona 2.............................Tucker 3....................Miller Grove 4...........................Jenkins 5.........................M.L. King 6...........Effingham County 7.................... Stephenson 8................ Clarke Central 9..................... Sprayberry 10............................. Mays

AAAA Boys

1........................ Columbia 2...................Sandy Creek 3................Fayette County 4..................South Atlanta 5.......................Jonesboro 6..............Eagle’s Landing 7.........................Westover 8....................... Alexander 9...................... Statesboro 10......................... Rutland

AAA Boys

1........................Savannah 2........................ St. Pius X 3.....................Cartersville 4........ Washington County 5....................Cedar Grove 6...... Johnson (Savannah) 7..................Elbert County 8......Woodward Academy 9...............Morgan County 10...........................Buford

AA Boys

1................................. GAC 2.............................Vidalia 3..............................Model 4..............................Laney 5.................... Manchester 6........................ Jefferson 7...........................Calhoun 8........... Hapeville Charter 9................... Westminster 10..........Northeast Macon

A Boys

1......North Cobb Christian 2.......Whitefield Academy 3...................... St. Francis 4....... Landmark Christian 5.....Greenforest Christian 6.............. Holy Innocents’ 7...........................Aquinas 8............ Seminole County 9.............Athens Christian 10.......Mt. Vernon Presby.

AAAAAA Girls

1..................... McEachern 2.............................Archer 3.........................Parkview 4.........................Norcross 5.............. Douglas County 6................Mountain View 7..................North Forsyth 8......................... Hillgrove 9.........................Westlake 10......... Langston Hughes

AAAAA Girls

1..........Southwest DeKalb 2.............................Tucker 3..............................Salem 4...........Effingham County 5.................... Stephenson 6.....................Forest Park 7............................... Drew 8......................Gainesville 9..............................Hiram 10......................Sequoyah

AAAA Girls

1..............................Redan 2....................Cross Creek 3........................ Columbia 4....................... Columbus 5.................Mary Persons 6..............................Marist 7................Fayette County 8........................Chestatee 9........................Carrollton 10............ Monroe-Albany

AAA Girls

1........ Washington County 2.............................Buford 3........................ St. Pius X 4...............Morgan County 5..............................Beach 6..................North Oconee 7...............Dawson County 8..........Southwest, Macon 9................. Dodge County 10..............Tattnall County

A new wAy

to fly!

AA Girls

1.........................Kendrick 2........................ Wesleyan 3..............................Laney 4..................Taylor County 5................................. GAC 6............................Pelham 7........................ Pepperell 8...........................Calhoun 9..............Bleckley County 10.............Putnam County

A Girls

1.............. Holy Innocents’ 2...................... St. Francis 3...... SW Atlanta Christian 4.George Walton Academy 5............... Randolph-Clay 6.....................Gordon Lee 7............................Paideia 8.......................Darlington 9.......Eagle’s Landing Chr. 10..........................Claxton

book nt r evye! youo a d t

• oPen JuMP • bIrtHday PartIes • dodGeball • skyslaM • skyFItness

• FoaM Zone • volleyball • toddler Court • CorPorate events

roswell • suwanee • kennesaw

skyzoneatlanta.com

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UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

DAWGS FALL TO NEBRASKA IN GATOR BOWL

BY CHRIS NIEMAN | CNIEMAN@SCOREATL.COM

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he Georgia Bulldogs’ roller-coaster of a season came to an end on New Year’s Day with a 24-19 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. Georgia concluded the season with an 8-5 record and finished unranked for the third time in the last five campaigns (’09, ’10 and ’13).

In a close game, the Bulldogs did not look like their usual selves—at least not on the offensive side of the ball. Meanwhile, the defense gave up a back-breaking 99-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter. That scoring strike occurred on the very next play after the defense thought it had sacked freshman quarterback Terrence Armstrong on the goal line for a safety.

Down by five with 25 seconds remaining, redshirt junior Hutson Mason threw a slant to senior tight end Arthur Lynch on 4th-and-3 from Nebraska’s 16-yard line in attempt to either move the chains or score a game-winning touchdown. Unfortunately, Lynch dropped the

GEORGIA STATE

PANTHERS ON THE PROWL EARLY IN CONFERENCE PLAY

BY JAY UNDERWOOD | JUNDERWOOD@SCOREATL.COM

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fter struggling at the start of the season, Ron Hunter’s Panthers have gelled and found their momentum going into Sun Belt Conference play. The Panthers are 9-6 overall and 2-0 in conference action during their first season back in the Sun Belt. Following a 3-6 start, Hunter was able to make adjustments leading to a six-game winning streak before their trip to Western Kentucky.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK …

One of the keys to the turnaround has been the reemergence of R.J. Hunter, who struggled to find his place in the offense early in the season. The heralded addition of Ryan Harrow, while providing another scorer, also made it difficult to allocate shots and find an identity on offense. Now that the players have gotten valuable playing time together, it is easier for them to find the open shots. They are also better equipped to anticipate their teammates’ movements and look ahead in the game

ball and ended any hopes of a come-frombehind victory. Lynch was devastated after the game and made that clear in a post-game interview.

“I think I turned my head at the last second and was thinking endzone,” he said. “It’s one of those situations. It’s not so much I dropped the pass. It’s that I let my team down. At the end of the day, it’s one of those things that you can never forget, brush off your shoulders.”

HOOP, THERE IT IS …

After reeling off five consecutive victories, head coach Mark Fox and the UGA men’s basketball team has lost two straight with the most recent loss coming against the George Washington Colonials last Friday at the Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C. In the 73-55 defeat, sophomore forward Cameron Forte scored a career-high 14 points in addition to pulling down eight boards, which was also good enough for a career-high. The Dawgs bested the Colonials from the floor, shooting 46 percent compared to 44 percent, but when it came to free throws the Dawgs only made eight of 15 (.533) attempts versus 20 of 28 (.714) for George Washington.

When playing at Stegeman Coliseum, the Dawgs are 6-1 and have averaged 72.5 points per game while holding opponents to 61.1 points per game. They were 0-5 away from home as of Wednesday.

to find and exploit weaknesses in the defense.

This means that from here on out any number of players can be the leader any given night. Harrow, Hunter and Manny Atkins all have to ability to lead the Panthers to victory and have all done it at times this season. Hunter has pulled his season average up to 18.9 points per game thanks to hot stretch that garnered him Sun Belt Player of the Week honors on Monday. He is second on the team behind Harrow, who is averaging 19.1 points per game.

While the offense has spurred the turnaround, the defense has also improved despite not yet being a lynchpin of the team.

Curtis Washington, another new addition, is key to the new intensity on defense. His job on is to patrol the paint and protect the rim, which he has been doing very effectively this season. Washington blocks 2.9 shots a game, adding a shot-blocking presence to prevent guards from trying to attack the rim. This keeps them on the perimeter, where the guard trio of Harrow, Hunter and Devonta White all average at least a steal per game.

SUN BELT FORECAST …

State’s main competition in the Sun Belt is likely going to come from Western Kentucky as well as Arkansas State. South Alabama, which was one of the favorites entering the season, has struggled. The Jaguars lost their first two conference games, including one to Georgia State via a 73-63 decision last Saturday.

GEORGIA TECH

TECH FALLS IN BOWL YET AGAIN; LEE TRANSFERS

BY STEPHEN BLACK | SBLACK@SCOREATL.COM

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fter making its 17th consecutive bowl game (tied for the third longest streak in the NCAA), Georgia Tech fell to Ole Miss 25-17 in the Music City Bowl in Nashville. It was the eighth loss in nine bowl games for Tech.

“We didn’t play well enough in any facet to win the game,” said coach Paul Johnson.

“We were fortunate that we had a chance at the end to come back and win.”

After trailing just 13-7 at the half, the Jackets fell behind 23-7 by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. A quick 10-point spurt by the Jackets narrowed the lead to 23-17, but Ole Miss held on for the win.

The Rebels rolled up 477 yards of offense to Tech’s 298. The Jackets ran for just 151 yards, one of their lowest outputs of the season. The Jackets end the season at 7-6, the third time in four seasons they’ve won seven games or less.

KENNESAW STATE

OWLS’ FIRST FOOTBALL SCHEDULE BECOMING CLEAR

BY BRIAN JONES | BJONES@SCOREATL.COM

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e already knew Kennesaw State’s football team would play its first game on Sept. 3, 2015 against ETSU at Kermit Tipton Stadium. But the rest of the schedule had been an unsolved mystery.

That mystery was halfway solved on Tuesday as the Big South Conference announced its 2015 schedule. KSU will open Big South play on Oct. 17 when it faces Gardner-Webb at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. The Owls will then travel to Liberty on Oct. 24 and will have two consecutive home games with Monmouth and Charleston Southern on Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, respectively. They will travel to Coastal Carolina on Nov. 14 and will end conference play with another road contest against Presbyterian on Nov. 21.

“We’re excited about it,” head coach Brian Bohannon said after the announcement was made. “The Big South, what a great year they had this year and we’re excited about getting started in 2015. We’ve got six (conference) games slated for the ‘15 season and it’s good to

SO LONG, VAD ...

Starting quarterback Vad Lee has decided to transfer to a yet-to-be-named school. Lee made the decision shortly after the New Year.

“Making the decision to leave Georgia Tech was difficult for me,” said Lee in a prepared statement. “I am very close — and will continue to be close — with my teammates. I will also miss the overwhelming support I received the last three years from Yellow Jacket nation.”

“I greatly appreciate the opportunity Coach Johnson gave me, as well the chance to work with coaches like Brian Bohannon and Bryan Cook. Thanks as well to Andy McCollum, who helped recruit me to Tech.”

“My decision was also difficult because I know first-hand the talent coming back next season. I just felt that it is a good time for me to get a fresh start for my final two years of college.”

HOOPS UPDATE ...

Tech took on Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday and played well for a half.

The Jackets trailed 34-33 at the half but was outscored 45-24 in the second half. Marcus Georges-Hunt led Tech with 18 points while Daniel Miller had 14 and eight rebounds.

With the loss, coach Brian Gregory’s squad dropped to 9-6 (0-2 in the ACC). Tech hosts Notre Dame Saturday in the conference home opener.

know our league schedule.”

Before the schedule was announced, Kennesaw State had already surpassed 2,000 season ticket deposits, which represent 60 percent of the tickets at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

An additional 3,600 tickets will be sold to the public and they will be available only though season-ticket purchases.

FIRST CONFERENCE WIN …

The men’s basketball team went through a rough stretch in December, going 0-5 during the month. But January is already going a little better for the Owls as they defeated USC Upstate 68-58 on Monday.

The win was the first for KSU in the Atlantic Sun this season and the team was led by Delbert Love, who scored 18 points. Orlando Coleman, Bernard Morena and Myles Hamilton also scored double-digit points.

“We took a step tonight,” said Kennesaw State interim head coach Jimmy Lallathin, who is temporarily taking the place of head coach Lewis Preston. “It’s an emotional step because we’ve been fighting for so long to find a spark for these young men to step up and believe in themselves, and they did. We had some highs and we had some lows, but we battled back.

I’m just so proud of our guys.”

The reason Lallathin is the interim head coach is Preston started taking a temporary leave of absence last week due to health and personal reasons. It is unknown when he will return to the team.

Vol. 10 Iss. 1 | January 10-16, 2014 ATLANTA HAWKS

HAWKS STRUGGLE IN MIDST OF HORFORD’S INJURY

BY JAY UNDERWOOD | JUNDERWOOD@SCOREATL.COM

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ollowing a strong start, the Atlanta Hawks have lost their star in Al Horford and have struggled to adapt. The offensive and defensive games have each taken a hit and the overall team chemistry is lacking without his steady presence in the lineup. A rotation of Pero Antic, Elton Brand and Mike Scott is being utilized to try and simulate the production lost to a torn right pectoral. While the Hawks know they cannot replace Horford, they have other options to look to for production in the form of a spryer Lou Williams and another first option in Paul Millsap.

STEPPING UP …

Since Horford’s Dec. 26 injury, Millsap has seen his usage percentage grow from 23.3 to 29.1, showing that head coach Mike Budenholzer has put his faith in Millsap to win games and carry the load offensively. With more of the offensive burden, Millsap has been visibly gassed on the defensive end—which can be seen in his net rating of zero, meaning he

ATLANTA BRAVES

BRAVES’ HIGHER-UPS GO ON STADIUM TOUR

BY RICKY DIMON | RDIMON@SCOREATL.COM

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eneral manager Frank Wren and other members of Atlanta Braves management toured stadiums in the Midwest last month to get ideas for their team’s new ballpark that is scheduled to open in Cobb County for the 2017 Major League Baseball season. The trip featured visits to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Busch Stadium plus baseball parks in Minneapolis and Kansas City and Lucas Oil Stadium of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. In Minneapolis, Twins officials greeted Wren and company with “Welcome to Minnesota. Hope you’re enjoying Braving the weather” on Target Field’s video board. Braves’ brass has also stopped by AT&T Stadium in Dallas and upcoming visits are planned for the West Coast and Northeast.

“In each stadium we go to, there are nuggets we find,” Derek Schiller, the team’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We’re not going to build Turner Field in our new location. There have been a lot of advancements and it’s going to be a completely differ-

is allowing the same number of points per 100 possessions as he is scoring.

Another player who has stepped up is Jeff Teague, who has scored in double-digits in every game since Horford’s departure for the season. Even though his scoring is up, Teague still needs to learn how to utilize Millsap as a weapon on offense to create more shots for himself, as well as finding open looks for his teammates. This can either come from the pick-and-roll game with Millsap or the driveand-kick to facilitate the shooters on the wing.

This will allow Kyle Korver to get back into the offense after having a brief lull in the past few games. The team is progressing in its movement into a new structure on offense and time will allow each player to feel more comfortable with his role.

MARTIN RELEASED …

Cartier Martin was released on Tuesday, a move that gets the roster down to 14 players and opens up a spot to sign a necessary piece to a 10-day contract once that becomes an option next Monday. This will provide some flexibility for the Hawks as the season moves along. It also leaves the roster open for more manageable trades by taking on an extra player. This should allow Danny Ferry to make any moves he deems fit to provide the team with the best chance to win now, while also structuring the organization for sustained success in the future.

ent overall approach.”

The Braves are going to build not only a ballpark, but also an accompanying mixed-use development. Wren, Schiller and the five other voyagers took special note of St. Louis’ Ballpark Village, a restaurant/entertainment complex that is still under construction across the street from Busch Stadium.

“We’re not just building a stadium,” noted Mike Plant, executive vice president of business operations. “It has to be a destination.

At least 81 times a year we will play baseball there. But it has to work the rest of the year.”

WINTER WONDERLAND …

What will the Braves ultimately do this offseason? Nothing? Stand firm with their current roster and hope Dan Uggla and B.J. Upton return to form? Add a better-than-average starter to shore up the pitching rotation? The jury is still out because they came away from last month’s Winter Meetings having done next to nothing in the transaction department.

Other than the signing of veteran righthander Gavin Floyd, the only move Wren has made is a trade of pitching prospect Sean Gilmartin to the Twins in exchange for backup catcher and outfielder Ryan Doumit. The 32-year-old Doumit is a career .268 hitter. He started for the Twins each of the past two seasons, batting .275 with 18 home runs in 2012 before compiling a .247 batting average, 14 homers, 55 RBIs and 49 runs scored in 135 games last year.

ATLANTA FALCONS

FALCONS TOUGHEN UP WITH TICE

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

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hile addressing the media on Monday, Arthur Blank expressed his concerns that the toughness of the 4-12 Atlanta Falcons was lacking during the 2013 season.

“To play football on the professional level and the college level or even the high school level, you’ve got to be a tough kid,” said Blank.

“You’ve got to be a tough person…and I think a lot of our players are certainly that…. If I asked you…give me a brief definition of what toughness is, I think you might say something else, but you might say to me it’s how you control the line of scrimmage. Can you run the ball?

Can you stop the run? ... And I don’t think we did either one of those things very well this year…. I don’t think we were as tough as we needed to be.’”

The first step the organization took to toughen up the trenches was done on Dec. 30 with the firing of offensive line coaches Paul Dunn and Pat Hill and defensive line coach

GWINNETT GLADIATORS

GLADS ON FIRE TO START 2014

BY JOE DEIGHTON | JDEIGHTON@SCOREATL.COM

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he Gwinnett Gladiators are in the midst of their best run of the season. They have won five of their last seven games and have looked like a different team in 2014. The floodgates opened with a season-high eight goals against the Florida Everblades last Saturday night.

Those goals led to a season-high 11 players recording a point. Josh Currie led Gwinnett with two lamp-lighters and an assist, while Dirk Southern had four points (one goal, three assists). Goalie Paul Karpowich made 36 saves on 37 shots against one of the better teams in the ECHL. Gwinnett followed up on Tuesday with a 2-1 defeat of South Carolina.

The Gladiators have improved to 13 wins and 28 points. While they are still in last place in the South Division, the past seven games have given fans hope that Gwinnett can still compete with the best teams in the league.

Three of the five wins in this span have come against division-leading and division rival South Carolina.

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Ray Hamilton. The next step was taken on Wednesday by bringing in former Vikings head coach Mike Tice to coach the offensive line next season.

Atlanta finished dead last in the NFL in rushing in 2013 at just 77.9 yards per game.

While at Minnesota, Tice coached the Vikings in 2002 to the league’s best rushing offense for the first time in team history, and in 2003 the long-time NFL tight end’s squad led the league in total offense for the first time.

LOOKING FORWARD …

The 2014 Pro Bowl will be lacking Atlanta flavor as the NFL showcase inaugurated its first player draft to set the teams. No Falcons were selected out of the 86 players, which makes Atlanta one of four teams in the NFL without a representative (Giants, Jaguars and Jets).

The Falcons’ schedule appears easier next year and outside of the division they they will play just two games against teams that reached the playoffs this season (Green Bay and Cincinnati). In 2013, the Falcons were thrashed and went 0-8 against their playoff opponents.

Seven of those losses came to teams playing in the Divisional Playoffs this weekend and six of the setbacks came against the NFC’s final four teams (Carolina, New Orleans, San Francisco and Seattle).

MALOUIN MOVES ON …

Jeremie Malouin was traded last week to Cincinnati to finish a deal that had brought forward Mike Embach to Gwinnett earlier this season. In 30 games with the Glads, Malouin tallied one goal and six assists. Embach was a member of the Gladiators for only 11 games before he was traded for defenseman Rob Kwiet, Bobby Hughes and Brett Lyon.

Kwiet, Hughes and Lyon have combined for nine goals since becoming Gladiators and have been part of the team’s recent turnaround. Hughes has been an especially productive addition to the squad, contributing 16 points in 23 games since the trade.

WATCH LIST ...

The Gladiators will face off against the Orlando Solar Bears this weekend for two home games. Orlando has had the Glads number this season by winning three of four games.

The Solar Bears have won three of their past four games heading into this weekend. Forward Mickey Lang recently joined the Solar Bears’ roster and has three goals in four games.

Lang will have to be slowed down in order for Gwinnett to win. Karpowich will start in net for Gwinnett and he has been a brick wall between the pipes of late, sporting a .927 save percentage in four games with the Glads.

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