Score Vol 12 Issue 6

Time to look great!

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 6 | FEBRUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 24, 2016

Can’t Knock The Hustle | Pg. 4 Kyle Sandy breaks down the most dangerous four seeds in this year’s tournament

It Was A Good Day | Pg. 9 Commerce wins fourth-straight wrestling state title as Tigers crown 11 individual champs

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YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

WHERE I WANNA BE The March for Macon begins with star-studded first round slate. | Pg. 7

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Vol. 12 Iss. 6 | Feb. 18 - Feb. 24, 2016

STARTING LINEUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ Galbiati Blalock

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Rhonda Rawls

MANAGING EDITOR Craig Sager II

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COLUMNISTS

07

ON THE COVER

09

PREP COVER

ASST. MANAGING EDITOR Kyle Sandy

MARKETING/ Lauren Goldstein

PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR

BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick

BEAT WRITERS: Ricky Dimon (Braves)

Colin Hubbard (GA Tech) Dan Mathews (UGA) Craig Sager II (Falcons,

Kennesaw)

Kyle Sandy (GSU, Hawks)

Lauren Goldstein (GHSA)

STAFF WRITERS Tyler Andrews Ned Kaish

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Copyright 2016 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Score Atlanta is digitally published every week on ScoreAtl.com. 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.

TEAM SCOOP AND VOICES

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SCORE LIST | NUMBERS GEORGIA STATE | KENNESAW STATE GEORGIA | GEORGIA TECH BRAVES | FALCONS HAWKS | GHSA BASKETBALL

COVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF ATHLETIC IMAGE, TY FREEMAN, WESTFORSYTHATHLETICS.COM,

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SANDY’S SPIEL

UPSETS SHAKE STATE PICTURE

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

J

ust a day after defending Class AAAAA state champion Brunswick fell to Statesboro in the Region 3 tournament, eliminating the Pirates from postseason contention, more madness rocked the state.

The Statesboro Blue Devils struck again, defeating No. 9 Effingham County, bouncing the Rebels to the consolation game after Effingham had not lost a region game all year. The fifth-seeded Blue Devils now meet two-seed Camden County for the region title and a number one seed heading into state.

Stunners rattled the landscape of Class AAAA. Region 1’s top-seed No. 9-ranked Monroe was hammered by fifth-seed Westover 61-43. The Patriots advance to the region title where they will matchup with two-seed No. 10 Bainbridge. Tyree Crump (UGA) and the

Bearcats are peaking at the right time, winners of six-straight. They advanced to the championship after dispatching of three-seed Worth County 80-59.

Region 1 gets Region 4 in round one. No. 1 Jonesboro blew past the second-seeded No. 8 Eagle’s Landing Eagles 70-52. In the championship the Cardinals meet opposite number one-seed and No. 7-ranked Walnut Grove. The Warriors rallied past three-seed Eastside 51-47 last night. The two-time defending state champion Cardinals are the favorite to three-peat this year and are expected to win their region, but the first round of state won’t be a cakewalk as they will draw either No. 9 Monroe or Worth County, a team which has spent time in the top ten and boasts one of the best frontcourts in the state with 6-foot-8 power forward Anfern-

SNADY’S SPIEL 2

MOST DANGEROUS 4-SEEDS IN TOP THREE CLASSIFICATIONS

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

F

ebruary Frenzy is finally here. Over 100 brackets have been submitted to the Sandy’s Spiel bracket challenge so now it is time to highlight a couple of the most dangerous 4-seeds looming in the tournament throughout each classification.

CLASS AAAAAA

Two 4-seeds stand above the rest in the state’s highest classification. Grayson (208) and Douglas County (16-11) will not be pushovers. Both teams spent time in the top ten this year before faltering late. The Rams looked as if the 2-seed or at worst 3-seed was going to be theirs coming out of Region 8, but instead the Central Gwinnett Black Knights stunned them in the consolation game, 87-78.

The Rams draw No. 1 ranked Wheeler in round one, the defending state champs. Grayson will

ee McLemore heading to Auburn and 6-foot-5 Brandon Moore, who posts over 22 points and 12 rebounds per game.

In Region 6-AAAA No. 4 St. Pius blew a 50-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter against No. 5 Grady. The Knights were fouled attempting a three with 1.6 seconds left in a tied game and sank all three free throws to overcome a 15-point deficit and win 59-56. Grady now plays No. 2 Lithonia in the region championship while St. Pius plays fifth-seed Columbia.

Class AA’s defending state champ No. 2 Seminole County lost to No. 9 Early County 7366 in Region 1. The Indians will face fourth-seed Fitzgerald in the consolation game while No. 1 Thomasville draws the Bobcats with the topseed out of one of the state’s toughest regions up for grabs. If things go chalk in Region 4 with No. 4 Crawford County advancing to the region title game and beating No. 8 Macon County, if Seminole County were to lose to Fitzgerald, or if the Indians won and Crawford County lost, the opening round of the state tournament would see a 2015 state title rematch between Seminole County and Crawford County, a high-flying game the Indians won 76-71.

The upset of the night took place in Region 4-AAA. No. 7 Westminster entered its game with Jackson-Atlanta, winners of 21-straight and holding a 22-2 record. After dispatching of four-seed Jackson-Atlanta in the middle of Jan-

uary, 52-44 at Jackson, the Wildcats looked like a lock to advance to state. The Jaguars entered at 14-11 overall and 4-6 in region play, but it did not stop them from stunning the Wildcats 5348 and in the process eliminating Westminster from making the state playoffs.

21-straight wins, only three losses on the year and all Westminster has to show for it is nothing at all. That is the definition of playoff basketball and that is what makes the March to Macon so unpredictably great.

ered by North Carolina signee Brandon Robinson. The swingman can take games over as he averaged 23 points per game and netted 33 at Holiday Hooopsgiving in a win over 5A No. 3 McIntosh. The Tigers get the guard-heavy No. 8 Newton Rams out of Region 2. JD Notae, Jaquan Simms and Ashton Hagans can all score the ball, but their ability to defend will be put to the test against the explosive Tigers.

8.7 points and 9.8 assists.

CLASS AAAAA need heroic performances from senior guards Alphonso Willis and Austin Dukes. Both average over 17 points per game and have been groomed in one of this year’s deepest regions.

Wheeler’s weakest spot on the floor is point guard. If Dukes and Willis can exploit that position as a liability, the Rams have a chance to hang around. Tre Sconiers is an active forward that hits the glass well. He and freshman Kenyon Jackson, a 6-foot-5 center averaging just under 10 rebounds and four blocks a game, will have their hands full with Georgia Tech signee Romello White and North Florida signee Al-Wajid Aminu.

Douglas County doesn’t have a sexy record, but it isn’t for a lack of competition. Region 3 was an all-out war with No. 2 Westlake and No. 7 Pebblebrook leading the pack. The Tigers still managed a 10-4 region record, pow-

Jones County (15-12) opened the season ranked No. 9 but quickly fell out of the poll and never returned. It has become the Devin Wooten show for Coach Dennis Woolfolk. The senior guard pops in 24.5 points per game and is one of the state’s leading scorers. Landravious Bowden has picked up his play as of late averaging over 16 points and close to seven rebounds a night. The Greyhounds are still looking for their signature victory, falling three times to No. 7 Warner Robins: 76-68, 96-90 2OT and 78-72 in the Region 2 semis. They are matched up with Region 3’s Camden County.

The Wildcats started out the year 13-0 and cracked the top ten before falling back to the pack. Camden heated up again at the end of the season and marched to the region title, defeating Statesboro in the championship. Point guard Johnathon Canada presents an interesting challenge for Jones County as he averages

UPDATE

In Region 3-AAAAA, Statesboro’s momentum was stopped by Camden County, the Wildcats taking the first seed and now set to host Jones County and explosive scoring guard Devin Wooten. Statesboro is tasked with Region 2 three-seed Cross Creek in round one. Region 1-AAAA saw Westover continue its meteoric rise, dispatching of Bainbridge 72-64. The Patriots get no favors as they take on Eastside and Isaiah Miller, a junior guard that is near the state lead in points per game. No. 1 Jonesboro gets to battle Worth County’s big men while St. Pius inexplicably was dropped by Columbia and gets sent to the state tournament as a 4-seed where they face Cartersville. Seminole County, the AA defending champs, also slipped to the 4-seed, setting up a state title rematch with Crawford County.

CLASS AAAA

No. 8 St. Pius (22-6) is a 4-seed. It doesn’t get much scarier than that. Ranked in the top five for most of the season, the Golden Lions faltered as they let a 15-point lead slip away to No. 3 Grady in the semifinals before falling in overtime to Columbia. Luckily for Coach Aaron Parr and senior forward Kerney Lane, they draw one of the weakest regions in the state in terms of competition level in Region 7. Cartersville will have more athletes than the Golden Lions but it will be Coach Mike Tobin’s job to take advantage of it. The Golden Lions have seen and defeated athletes and talented teams, scoring wins over Grady and No. 4 Lithonia throughout the year, so they will not be intimidated. St. Pius is a trendy pick to meet No. 1 Jonesboro in a rematch of last year’s Sweet 16 showdown. Another dangerous team is Eastside (20-9). Junior guard Isaiah Miller pumps in 25.3 points a night and will be tested by Westover, a 17-11 1-seed out of Region 1, and its trio of talented guards Allec Williams, Jordan Brown and Kris Gardner.

Visit SandysSpiel.com for Class AAA-AA breakdown.

Photo couttesy of Ty Freeman

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Vol. 12 Iss. 6 | Feb. 18 - Feb. 24, 2016

This comeback athlete had a long road back. Today it’s 8.5 miles.

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GHSA Basketball

Kennesaw State

At least one thing went right over All-Star Weekend. The dunk contest was a jaw dropping display of athleticism and talent that has been void of the weekend of so long. Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon matched jam for slam and ignited the freezing city of Toronto.

Congrats to those guys for making the dunk contest relevant again.

The state playoffs are here!

Time to make memories that last a life time as each team begins their march to Macon. The Peach state is once again loaded to the gills with talent. Whoever makes their way to middle Georgia will have earned it as there are no easy games in the state tournament.

Back-to-back wins for the Owls including a 90-69 beat down of Jacksonville on Senior Night has the Hooty Hoo faithful finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. KSU even stunned first-place North Florida with a 101-91 win last Thursday, the school’s biggest win in six years since beating Georgia Tech.

By Kyle Sandy

WHO’S HOT

NBA Dunk Contest

SCORE LIST

By Craig Sager II KINGS OF THE MAT

Commerce secured the program’s third consecutive Class A traditional wrestling state title in record-setting style this weekend. After dominating last year’s field with 283 points and a school-record eight individual champions, the Tigers accumulated a massive 322-point total this year. All 14 state qualified wrestlers advanced to the finals and the team crowned 11 individual state champions.

BROTHER’S PERFECTION

Class AAAAAA Archer (172.5) total held off second-place North Forsyth (106) and third-place Mountain View (94) to bring home the program’s fourth straight sweep of dual and traditional titles. Brothers and Archer standouts Thomas Bullard (170) Daniel Bullard (182) capped off their perfect seasons and became the 31st and 32nd four-time individual state champions in Georgia state history.

FALCONS LEGEND

Falcons legend Mike Kenn will be inducted into the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame on Friday night, along with Chipper Jones, Al Ciraldo, Clarence Scott and Kevin Willis. Kenn, who started all 251 Falcons games from 1978 to 1994, joins fellow Falcons Steve Bartkowski, Claude Humphrey, Tommy Nobis, Deion Sanders, Jessie Tuggle and Jeff Van Note in the Atlanta Sports HOF.

SHUTTING DOWN

Hawks’ offseason addition Tiago Splitter, 31, missed the last six games with a lingering hip injury that has hindered him for most of this season. The team announced Tuesday, that Splitter will be shut down for the remaining year, as he elected to undergo the procedure on his right hip. Splitter averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 36 games this season.

TRADE RUMORS

NBA trade rumors are an annual noise fans have grown used to, but years like this one can be especially annoying. The Hawks have until Thursday at 3 p.m., to make any changes regarding the direction of the franchise for the rest of the season and the future. Despite the ever-increasing number of rumors involving the Hawks, no indication of moves has been documented.

STATE TOURNAMENT ACTION

The basketball state playoffs are here and after a thrilling week of region tournaments, the storylines are endless. In Class AAAAAA, the Norcross boys fell to Collins Hill in the region championship and the No. 2 seed landed the Blue Devils on the side of the bracket with Wheeler, Newton, Shiloh, Westlake and Woodstock among others.

WHO’S NOT

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Region 3-AAAAA

NBA All-Star Game

Region 5-AAAAA

Thought to be one of the most powerful girls regions in the state, the south Georgia based region got destroyed in the first round of the state playoffs going 1-3. South Effingham was thrashed by Cross Creek 8654 in the #3 vs #2 game. Two-seed Glynn Academy was wrecked by three-seed Warner Robins 53-32 and Camden County was stomped 75-25 by one-seed Grovetown.

Brunswick, R3’s No. 1 seed, survived 42-37 against Northside.

What a mockery of the game.

I understand it’s an all-star game, but you would think at some point the players would respect the game and play hard for at least two minutes of the game. Nope.

I’m not sure what the price of admission was, but it probably was way too expensive for the glorified shoot around that was on display.

It was a clean sweep for R8 against the girls of R5. Villa Rica, Hiram, South Paulding and Lithia Springs all came up short against the state’s deepest region. Flowery Branch has only one loss this year and will take on Northside-Columbus in round two.

Loganville is the lone team to not meet a Region 1 team in the next round, instead drawing R4 #1 Dutchtown.

NUMBERS

OUR TWO CENTS

By Kyle Sandy

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

WHEN IS THE LAST TIME JACKSON COUNTY BOYS WON A STATE PLAYOFF GAME? ANSWER ON PAGE 14

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SANITY AT LAST

“Nothing could be further from the character of Hank Aaron than the divisive conversations that are occurring over his iconic statue.”

- Braves on keeping Aaron’s statue in Atlanta

2014

The last time Georgia Tech basketball notched back-to-back ACC wins

2011

The last time KSU basketball won an Atlantic Sun weekend sweep prior to Saturday

370

Boys and Girls basketball state tournament games.

11

Individual state wrestling champions crowned by Commerce this weekend.

20

Traditional State Wrestling Titles by Jefferson, including 16 straight.

8

Weeks until the Falcons and coaches can begin their offseason workouts.

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points scored by Maryland signee Jenna Staiti in West Forsyth’s first-ever playoff win. points scored by Dominique Oden in Marist’s 41-34 first round win over Gimler.

Vol. 12 Iss. 6 | Feb. 18 - Feb. 24, 2016

ON THE COVER

TUESDAY TOURNEY ROUNDUP

STAITI LEADS WEST FORSYTH TO HISTORIC WIN

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM & KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

R

6 #1 West Forsyth 65, R7 #4 Mill Creek 51: Host West Forsyth jumped to a 42-24 halftime lead after outscoring Mill Creek 23-12 in the second quarter. Mill Creek answered with a 20-9 scoring advantage in the third quarter to make it 51-44, but a key three-pointer by Jane Ortlip stopped the scoring run and put West Forsyth up 56-47. This is Lady Wolverines’ the first playoff win in program history. University of Maryland signee Jenna Staiti dominated with a 35-point performance, while adding 12 rebounds and three blocks. West Forsyth teammate Brooke Pirkle added 10 points and dished out five of the team’s 19 assists.

R5 #2 Cherokee 53, R8 #3 Dacula 46: The Lady Warriors flexed their muscle against the bigger and more athletic Lady Falcons, scoring a seven-point win. Lacie McCoy led Cherokee with 15 points while Kaleigh Karl (12), Laiken Wade (11) and Havyn Wilson (9) all chipped in. Cherokee plays either Tift County or Hillgrove in round two.

R7 #3 Mountain View 46, R6 #2 North-

view 41: The young Lady Titans fell behind by 17 points early but battled back to take a fourth quarter lead before falling to Mountain View.

With only three seniors on the team, the future looks bright for Northview. Freshmen led the way once again for Coach Chris Yarbrough’s team as Maya Richards scored 18 points and Ashlee Austin added 12. Over the course of the year, Austin broke the school record for points scored for a freshman. Junior Shannon Titus is the third piece of the puzzle, setting school records for steals and blocks in a season before ending the season in the first round. Mountain View gets the winner of Tucker and Campbell, a Wednesday night affair.

AAAAA

R4 #1 Dutchtown 56, R1 #4 Harris County 43: Kamera Harris recorded 12 blocks through the first three quarters, including five in both the first and third quarters. Sophomore forward Jordan Maney netted 10 first half points to give Dutchtown a 35-23 lead.

The Bulldogs were outscored 12-3 in the third quarter as Harris County cut the lead to 3835, but they responded with a 18-8 advantage in the final frame.

R8 #1 Flowery Branch 58, R5 #4 Lithia Springs 50: First year head coach Courtney Newton received another balanced effort from her Lady Falcons. Taniyah Worth went for 19 points and eight rebounds while Julianne Sutton posted a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. Maddie Hetzel chipped in eight points from her guard position while Kierra Knight added six points and six boards.

R8 #3 Gainesville 69, R5 #2 Hiram 66 OT: In a nip and tuck game, the Red Elephants managed to push Hiram to overtime before stealing the game in the extra period. Tied at 28 at halftime, in the fourth quarter the Lady Hornets began to make their move and push their lead to five six points, 51-45 with 3:10 remaining. Gainesville responded with a 14-8 run to tie the game at 59 to force overtime. Taylor Hawks (25) and Shikiya Brown (19) combined for 44 points to rally the Elephants.

R6 #1 Southwest DeKalb 65, R7 #4 Rome 22: A 16-0 run in the first quarter buried the Lady Wolves at Southwest DeKalb. The state’s No. 1 ranked team, the Lady Panthers, opened up a 29-5 lead heading into the second quarter following Daisa Alexander’s 15 points. Alexander finished with a game-high 21 points. Jada Walton netted 14 points in the rout. They now face R2 #2 Cross Creek in round two, the Lady Razorbacks coming off of a 86-54 blowout of South Effingham.

R2 #3 Warner Robins 53, R3 #2 Glynn Academy 32: Warner Robins took the three hour trek down to Brunswick, Georgia to take on Glynn Academy, both teams holding top ten rankings entering the showdown. In the end, it was the Demons getting the best of the Terrors. Shynia Jackson posted 14 points and six rebounds while Keiza Holmes harassed the Glynn Academy guards, picking up eight steals and three blocks to go along with her 14 points.

R8 #4 Winder-Barrow 53, R5 #1 Villa Rica 32: The Lady Wildcats’ home court advantage didn’t seem to matter much as the fourth-seeded Lady Bulldoggs from power Region 8 wiped away any ideas of a first round exit. 6-foot-4 sophomore Olivia NelsonOdoda was too much inside finishing with

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23 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Tiera Mayweather added nine points. Villa Rica star freshman Deasia Merrill entered the game averaging 25.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.9 steals per game from her forward position. The Lady Doggs held her to just 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-20 shooting. Winder-Barrow led 9-6 after the first quarter before pushing its lead to 23-11 at the half and 40-24 heading to the fourth quarter.

AAAA

R6 #1 Marist 41, R7 #4 Gilmer 34: Host Marist built a 24-19 lead at the half and held Gilmer to just five points in the third quarter to grow the lead to 32-24. Marist senior Dominque Oden dominated the game with 28 points, seven rebounds and five steals.

R4 #1 Mt. Zion-Jonsboro 67, R1 #4 Monroe 51: Tyeisha Juhan continued her offensive onslaught, this time taking the big stage of the state tournament to do her damage. The senior averaging over 25 points and nine points per game, exploded for 41 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals. The Lady Bulldogs face either defending state champion Buford or Whitewater in round two.

R7 #2 Northwest Whitfield 61, R6 #3 St. Pius 48: Bria Clemmons scored 16 of her teamhigh 18 points in the first half and the Lady Bruins sank six first half threes to take a 35-17 lead at the half before cruising into the second round. Whitley Brooker scored 13 points and Holly Heath added 10 to blow past the Golden Lions. Chandler Hiland chipped in nine points in the win.

Photo courtesy of WestForsythAthletics.com

PREP SPORTS

2016 GHSA TRADITIONAL STATE WRESTLING RESULTS

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

T

he dual and traditional high school state wrestling titles were swept in each classification for consecutive years Saturday at the Infinite Energy Arena in Gwinnett. Class AAAAAA Archer, Class AAAAA Camden County, Class AAAA Gilmer, Class AAA Jefferson, Class AA Social Circle and Class A Commerce successfully defended their traditional titles while crowning a combined 35 of the 84 individual state champions across the 14 weight classes and six classifications.

Commerce secured the program’s third consecutive Class A traditional title in recordsetting style. After dominating last year’s field with 283 points and placing a wrestler in the top four of every weight class with a schoolrecord eight individual champions, the Tigers accumulated a massive 322-point total. All 14 wrestlers advanced to the finals and the team crowned 11 individual state champions. Tucker Flint (106), Kole Burchett (113), Jacob Brewer (120), Dylan Deaton (126), Dalton Flint (132), Owen Brown (145), Nick Patrick (152), Chase

Forrester (160), Knox Allen (170) Cole Chancey (182) and Michael Patton (220) each took home titles, while teammates Austin Brock placed second behind Landmark Christian’s Colin Greer (138), Dontavious Mosley fell to Treutlen’s Cody Calhoun in the 195-pound final and sophomore Cade Ridley finished second behind Mt. Zion’s Chandler Butler at 285.

In Class AAAAAA, Archer’s 172.5 total held off second-place North Forsyth (106) and third-place Mountain View (94) to bring home the program’s fourth straight sweep of dual and traditional titles. Brothers and Archer standouts Thomas Bullard (170) Daniel Bullard (182) capped off their perfect seasons and became the 31st and 32nd four-time individual state champions in Georgia state history. Chris Diaz took home the 145-pound title after winning gold at 132 pounds a year ago.

Class AAAAA Camden County successfully defended its first traditional state title with 268.5 points as Woodland-Bartow finished second with 187.0. Raydan Wilder

(120), Bunmi Smith (160), Antonio Stewart (170), Dominique Hargrave (182) and Gabe Smith (285) gave the Wildcats five individual champions. Woodland-Bartow crowned three individual champions, including Kyle Golhoffer (106), Logan Sims (132) and Cody Cochran (152).

Class AAAA Gilmer (152.5) edged North Hall (141.0) and Buford (124.5) for the program’s fourth-straight traditional title. Lucas Patterson (132), Matthew Waddell (182) and Levi Seabolt (285) repeated as individual champions and senior Albert Perez scored a 5-4 decision over Madison County’s Cody Bond for the 120-pound title.

SWEET SIXTEEN…

In Class AAA, Jefferson won the program’s 16th straight traditional title and 20th all-time, outscoring second-place Ringgold 273-119. The Dragons crowned six individual champions. Murray County’s Marcelino Lopez joined the Indians for his senior year after spending three seasons as a former champion with Class AAAA Gilmer. Lopez won the 113-pound individual Class AAAA title in 2014 over Heritage-Catoosa’s Charles Thurman. The next year, however, Thurman beat Lopez in the 120-pound final. This time, both former champions brought home titles as Lopez took home the 126-pound title in Class AAA and Thurman clinched Class AAAA’s 126-pound title.

Social Circle (235) edged second-place

Bremen (184) to claim the program’s second traditional title at Class AA. Levi Leach (126), Travis Tyson (132), James Corasaniti (138), Reid Harris (145), Cameron Paschal (182) and David Engstrom (195) won individual titles for the Redskins.

Photos courtesy of Athletic Image

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS CLASS AAAAAA

1. ARCHER 172.5 2. NORTH FORSYTH 106 3. MOUNTAIN VIEW 94

CLASS AAAAA

1. CAMDEN COUNTY 268.5 2. WOODLAND-BARTOW 187 3. UNION GROVE 102.5

CLASS AAAA

1. GILMER 152.5 2. NORTH HALL 141 3. BUFORD 124.5

CLASS AAA

1. JEFFERSON 273 2. RINGGOLD 119 3. MORGAN COUNTY 107

CLASS AA

1. SOCIAL CIRCLE 235 2. BREMEN 184 3. LOVETT 97.5

CLASS A

1. COMMERCE 322 2. TRION 109 3. MT. ZION 106

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Vol. 12 Iss. 6 | Feb. 18 - Feb. 24, 2016 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

GATORS RALLY FOR WIN IN ATHENS

BY DAN MATHEWS | DMATHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

G

eorgia led Florida 25-19 at the half after the Gators abysmal shooting performance that included 24 percent shooting and just one point in the final 8:13. Florida (17-9, 8-5 Southeastern Conference) missed 18 of its first 19 3-point attempts and its 11 final shots of the first half, but Georgia could not keep the game out of reach and freshman guard KeVaughn Allen came up huge in the second half. Allen netted 14 of his 19 points after intermission, including a tiebreaking three-pointer that put the Gators ahead 50-47 with 3:25 remaining.

Florida outscored Georgia 38-28 in the second half and left Athens with a 57-53 victory.

Georgia pushed out to a seven-point lead early in the second half before the Gators found their rhythm. Allen hit a pair of threes and sparked a 15-5 run that gave Florida a 4138 lead.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” said Florida’s Yante Maten. “I knew they were going to try

GEORGIA STATE

IS THE SEASON SALVAGEABLE?

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

A

once promising season has gone by the wayside as the Georgia State Panthers (1310, 6-8) continue to struggle in Sun Belt play.

They have now lost six of their last seven games after falling to last-place Troy 54-53. John Walton III sunk the Panthers with a layup with 10 seconds remaining to stun the visitors.

“This is a tough one to swallow,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “We made a couple of nice plays down the stretch, but then allowed them to knock down shots on back-to-back possessions. This has been a tough road trip with back-to-back one-point losses, but this team has shown the ability to bounce back all season and we will get after it again next week.”

Jeremy Hollowell scored a game-high 22 points in the loss. The issue was a lack of bench production. In a total 40 minutes played by the substitutes, the five players combined for just 3 points on 1-of-10 shooting. Freshman Austin Donaldson, a two-time state champion out of Jonesboro, was the lone bright spot collecting

and punch. We needed to be ready to fight back and we didn’t fight back like we needed to.”

Georgia failed at the foul line, where the team knocked down five of just eight attempts.

Florida went 12 of 21, including five of their last six attempts to ice the game. Florida swept the season series with Georgia, after winning in Gainesville 77-63 on Jan. 2.

UP NEXT…

Georgia was able to rebound from last week’s 82-48 beat down handed out by Kentucky with a solid 66-57 win at Mississippi State on Saturday. The victory put the Dawgs at 7-5 in conference play, but the loss to Florida dropped them to just one game north of .500.

Georgia (7-6) has five games left on the schedule, including three on the road. The Bulldogs face Vanderbilt (7-6) on Saturday and visit Auburn (3-9) on Wednesday. Georgia returns home for a Saturday showdown with Ole Miss (6-7) and then visits South (8-5) Carolina on Thursday, March 3. The regular season finishes with a March 5 meeting with Alabama (6-6) in Athens. The SEC is in a current logjam with Kentucky and LSU each sitting at top with 9-3 records and South Carolina, Texas A&M and Florida in striking distance at 8-5. Arkansas and Tennessee can shake the seeding with strong finishes as they both sit at 5-7.

five steals, three rebounds and two assists in a career-high 20 minutes.

Things don’t get any easier for the Panthers as they go from last-place Troy to firstplace Arkansas-Little Rock (22-3, 12-2) on Thursday night.

“We have had a good week of practice and this team is continuing to show it can bounce back from the toughest of losses,” coach Hunter said. “Our team is hungry to finish strong and continue to defend our home court which we pride ourselves in doing.”

WHAT WENT WRONG?

Back on Jan. 14, the Panthers were riding high coming off a 65-51 win over UL-Monroe, moving their record to 11-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play. Since that win, Georgia State has gone a woeful 2-7. The loss that started it all? An 87-54 rout at home at the hands of UL-Lafayette.

So what has been the main issue? It starts with the offense and a lack of firepower.

The Panthers rank 321st in points per game at 65.5 and 306th in assists at 11.5. The rebounding has been an issue as well, grabbing 31.3 boards a night, good for 337th. Coach Hunter’s lone bright spot has been on the other side of the ball. Defensively the Panthers allow just 64.6 points per game, the 27th best in the entire country.

If Hollowell and Kevin Ware can get some help on offense, these Cats can have some claws come conference tournament time.

GEORGIA TECH

YELLOW JACKETS DROP TO 3-9 IN ACC PLAY

BY COLIN HUBBARD | HUBSAAB12@GMAIL.COM

G

eorgia Tech could not follow up a 71-66 win over Wake Forest last Wednesday and dropped its ninth conference game in 12 contests. The Jackets succumbed to a 66-52 loss at Clemson on Saturday, dropping the team to 3-9 in conference play and 13-12 overall. Tech faces Florida State in Tallahassee Wednesday and hosts #19 Notre Dame on Saturday before getting a shot at Clemson at home on Tuesday, Feb. 23. Tech has not had back-to-back conference wins since 2014.

PRESEASON HONORS

Georgia Tech sophomore outfielder Kel Johnson is one of 50 college baseball players nationwide named to the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, presented annually by USA Baseball to the top amateur player in the country. Junior pitcher Zac Ryan has been named to the watch list for the Stopper of the Year, presented to the best relief pitcher in college baseball.

KENNESAW STATE

BROWN RECOGNIZED

BY CONFERENCE AFTER HUGE WEEKEND

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

F

ormer Berkmar standout Yonel Brown was named Co-Atlantic Sun Player of the Week by the Conference on Monday. Brown is coming off a big weekend against the Sunshine State, where he fueled the Owls third victories in four games. Brown played all 40 minutes in Thursday’s 101-91 victory over North Florida and finished with 22 points off 8-16 shooting.

Teammate Kendrick Ray had a big game as well, with a game-high 25 points, eight rebounds and a team-high five assists. The duo added another impressive performance on Saturday as the Owls held off Jacksonville 90-69. Ray finished with 24 points and five assists and Brown added 27 points, five assists and six boards off an efficient 9-of-14 shooting.

Brown helped the Owls build a doubledigit lead in the first half scoring 16 of his 27 in the first 20 minutes. Brown has scored 20-plus points this season 11 times.

Kennesaw State is back on the road this

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Johnson becomes the 11th Yellow Jacket player since 2007 to earn mention on the Golde Spikes watch list, and is one of nine current players in the Atlantic Coast Conference to be named this season. The ACC has the secondmost players on the list, behind 11 from the SEC. The ACC led the way with 10 players on this year’s Stopper of the Year watch list.

A Freshman All-America selection last season by Baseball America, Louisville Slugger and D1Baseball.com, Johnson led all ACC rookies with 10 home runs, while hitting .298 (.314 in ACC play) with nine doubles, a triple and 34 RBI. The freshman was also clutch, accounting for five of Tech’s game-winning RBI and scoring three game-winning runs. Johnson was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and was an AllACC Academic honoree.

Ryan, a third-team Preseason All-America selection by Louisville Slugger, enjoyed a breakout season as a sophomore, finishing the 2015 campaign with a 9-1 record and seven saves in a team-best 28 relief appearances.

The righty posted a 3.59 ERA in 47.2 innings with 40 strikeouts against just 15 walks. Ryan, who was among the top relievers in the ACC, was the only relief pitcher in the conference to finish with seven or more saves and eight or more wins.

Led by Johnson and Ryan, Georgia Tech begins its 117th anniversary season of baseball Friday versus Purdue at Russ Chandler Stadium at 4 p.m.

week as they will face Stetson on Thursday, February 18 at 7 p.m.

Brown’s 27-point performance came on senior night, where he and Nigel Pruitt were honored. Kennesaw took a 44-34 lead at the half and despite the Dolphins going 22-34 from the free throw line, Kennesaw State built a lead as large as 23 points and scored the 90-69 win.

COACHING POINTS…

“The thing I was probably most pleased about is I think earlier in the season when we got fouls that we considered cheap fouls we would get frustrated,” said Kennesaw State head coach Al Skinner. “The last couple of games that hasn’t happened. We just continued to play and when guys are playing like that, that means they’re giving up themselves to the team because they continue to put forth effort regardless of the foul situation. I think earlier in the year, everyone was concerned with themselves and worried to play tough defense if they were in foul trouble. I changed practice up a little bit to make a point with that, but they’ve gone out and exercised some of the things that we talked about.”

The win over Jacksonville was the second time in a row and the sixth time this season that the Owls shot better than 50 percent from the field. The Owls also had a season-high 21 assists on their 32 made field goals and it marks Kennesaw State’s first weekend sweep since the 2010-11 season.

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ATLANTA HAWKS

TRADE DEADLINE DAY

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

I

n the mockery of what All-Star games in each sport have become, except for in the MLB when home field advantage in the World Series is on the line, the Western Conference All-Stars shellacked the Eastern Conference 196-173. In a spectacle where no defense was played, Paul Millsap finished the night with the worst statline in the game, 1-for-6 from the field with a game-low three points. Al Horford represented the Hawks a little better in the meaningless game, going 3-for-3 for seven points in nine minutes of action, the least amount of any player to play in the game.

Paul George led the East with 41 points, close to an All-Star game record before the West decied to play defense for the final minute to not allow him to capture the mark.

Russell Westbrook won his second consecutive MVP with 31 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals. An insane 139 total three-pointers were jacked up in the wild affair.

Usually teams start to play harder as the game

ATLANTA BRAVES

BRAVES’ BULLPEN BATTLE IS REAL AS SPRING TRAINING BEGINS

BY RICKY DIMON | RDIMON@SCOREATL.COM

P

itchers and catchers reported to Atlanta Braves’ Spring Training on Friday. Starters Matt Wisler, Mike Foltynewicz and Williams Perez were frequent visitors to Turner Field earlier in advance of the annual trek to Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Wisler should have one of the starting rotation spots in his pocket, while Foltynewicz and Perez are in the mix.

But it is the bullpen battle that may be even more intriguing. The Braves added Carlos Torres to their elongated list of veteran relievers (David Carpenter, Alexi Ogando and Alex Torres, to name a few) who are non-roster invitees at Spring Training. Torres, a 33-year-old righty, signed a minor-league contract earlier this week. In the past three seasons, Torres recorded a 3.59 ERA while making 165 appearances for the Mets. The Santa Cruz, Calif. native posted a 3.06 ERA while making a career-high 73 appearances in 2014.

PEREZ SUCCESS …

Former catcher and current bullpen coach

goes on, but it was never the case on Sunday.

With the new fad of three-point shooting all the craze, expect more shootouts like this to occur in NBA All-Star games.

TICK, TOCK

Tomorrow is the trade deadline, finally time for teams to decide the future of their franchises. For Atlanta and many other teams around the league, trade talks have engulfed organizations. Now that Tiago Splitter, one of Coach Mike Budenholzer’s first moves as operating decision maker, is shutting it down for the year after hip surgery, it’s time to see what Bud has up his sleeve. Will he try to make amends for the failed addition of Splitter and finally add a true big man to Atlanta’s roster? Or will he flirt with potential blockbuster deals with Horford, Jeff Teague and more all on the block?

I would guess that Atlanta stands pat and lets other around them make moves. The Hawks won’t contend for a title with the current formation of their roster, but they won’t completely fall off the map either. The franchise has been mired in the doldrums of being too good to miss the playoffs and enter the lottery for a future-changing player, but also too bad to ever make a legitimate title run outside of last season’s façade. Let’s see what the next 48 hours bring.

Eddie Perez recently managed a team to the Venezuela Winter League title and to the Feb. 7 Caribbean Series championship game against Mexico. The latter showdown was tied 4-4 going into the bottom of the ninth inning before Mexico beat Venezuela on a walk-off homer.

Perez, 47, retired after the 2005 season and was hired as a player-coach for Double-A Mississippi in 2006. He has been Atlanta’s bullpen coach since 2007.

“I’m not surprised at all of Eddie’s success as a manager,” former third baseman and now special assistant to the baseball operations department Chipper Jones told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “It is just a matter of time before he is experiencing success as a big-league manager. He’s learned a ton, as have many coaches, from the great Bobby Cox. Some of the same traits that made him an all-time favorite teammate for countless players are also what makes him a great manager now and in the future.”

“Everyone likes him,” pitcher Matt Wisler added. “He can speak Spanish, speaks good English; he’s a funny guy. Good guy to have a conversation with, to sit there and talk with. He definitely cares for his players. I’ve sat in the bullpen and talked with him a couple of times.

It’s nice to have a guy like that around. He’s got a good baseball mind. He’s a catcher; most catchers are guys who can turn into coaches.

He caught the great pitchers they had here, so he knows pitching…. He’s just a good baseball mind to have.”

ATLANTA FALCONS

FALCONS MAKE MORE ROSTER CUTS

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

he Atlanta Falcons announced on Monday T that they have waived cornerback Travis Howard and fullback Collin Mooney.

Howard, 6-1, 200 pounds, was originally signed as a college free agent by the Houston Texans out of Ohio State on May 10, 2013. He spent time as a member of the practice squad for the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in 2013.

Mooney, 5-10, 238 pounds, was originally signed by the Tennessee Titans as a college free agent following the 2012 NFL Draft out of the U.S. Military Academy. He spent three seasons with the Titans, seeing time on the practice squad and active roster. These moves came exactly one week after the team parted with veteran safety William Moore and linebacker Justin Durant.

The offseason is picking up as the NFL Scouting Combine gets set for Feb. 23-29 and the deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition players is set for 4 p.m. on March 1.

GHSA BASKETBALL

LADY TIGERS HOLD OFF DANGEROUS CALHOUN

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

R

7 #2 Dawson County 71, R6 #3 Calhoun 54: After falling in the Region 7 championship game to upstart West Hall, the Lady Tigers rebounded with an impressive win over the stingy Yellow Jackets. Haley Burgess poured in five three-pointers en route to 19 points to lead the Tigers. Karlie Bearden added 17 points and Kaylee Sticker stuck 15 points. Coach Steve Sweat’s team drilled 11-of-25 threes and sank all 10 free throw attempts. Jana Johns, the Region 6-AAA Player of the Year, scored 20 points and collected eight steals in the loss.

Sydnie Parker finished with nine points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

R6 #1 Sonoraville 66, R7 #4 Banks County 46: Becca Cheeks powered the Phoenix with 20 points to advance to round two where they will face R2 #2 Kendrick. Evie Delp scored 19 points and Abby Connally netted 12 points on her birthday.

R2 #2 Kendrick 81, R3 #3 Hephzibah 57: Four days after Peach County snapped Kendrick’s 21-game winning streak in the Region

KENN IN THE HALL…

Falcons legend Mike Kenn will be inducted into the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame on Friday night, along with Chipper Jones, Al Ciraldo, Clarence Scott and Kevin Willis to form the 2016 class.

Kenn, who started all 251 Falcons games from 1978 to 1994, was one of the most durable and consistent offensive lineman in NFL history. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound tackle garnered five Pro Bowl nods, was named to three All-Pro teams and had his No. 78 raised to the Georgia Dome rafters in 2008.

Now 60 years old, Kenn joins fellow Falcons Steve Bartkowski, Claude Humphrey, Tommy Nobis, Deion Sanders, Jessie Tuggle and Jeff Van Note in the Atlanta Sports HOF.

GET WELL ARTHUR…

News broke last week that Falcons owner and Chairman Arthur Blank was diagnosed with cancer. Blank released a statement regarding his condition and treatment.

“In December I was diagnosed with a treatable form of prostate cancer. Over the last several weeks Angie and I have visited a number of expert doctors and hospitals across the country to identify the best treatment options for me. I have chosen an aggressive approach that will include surgery and the overall prognosis is good. I’m looking forward to getting this behind me and continuing a very active lifestyle, my upcoming wedding, as well as continued active involvement in our businesses and philanthropic efforts for years to come.”

2-AAA championship (78-73), the Cherokees engineered a team win as five players finished in double-figures. Brittany Thompson got the scoring started with nine first half points to build a 32-25 lead. The Cherokees used an 18-6 run in the final four minutes of the third quarter to grow a commanding 56-38 lead entering the fourth quarter.

AA

R6 #2 Wesleyan 86, R2 #3 Darlington 36: Mikayla Coombs, Amaya Register and Cairo Booker combined for 45 points, all scoring 15 apiece to lead the Lady Wolves on their search of state championship No. 12. Jameson Kavel notched 12 points in the win. Wesleyan meets R2 #1 Vidalia in the second round.

R8 #1 Rabun County 81, R5 #4 Bremen 41: Senior guard Bailey Dillard hit a pair of early three-pointers to build a 15-5 lead for Region 8 champion Rabun County. The Wildcats took a 26-12 lead into the second quarter and ballooned a 45-25 halftime lead with a 65-34 edge heading into the fourth. Rabun County’s (24-3) current win streak sits at 22 games.

CLASS AAAA

R8 #1 North Oconee 64, R5 #4 Troup County 50: Camryn Williams led four Lady Titans in double digits with 19 points. North Oconee is fresh off a Region 8 championship over perennial power Buford, 54-51.

Vol. 12 Iss. 6 | Feb. 18 - Feb. 24, 2016

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