Archive for February, 2012

In a wild Class AAAAA second-round playoff game, the North Cobb Warriors overcame a nine-point Stephenson lead in the fourth quarter to capture a 60-57 victory. Guard Lee Moore was clutch when it counted most, scoring 15 of his game-high 25 points in the final period when he was also 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

Guard Saxon Steele added 13 points for North Cobb. Derek Harper led the Jaguars with 20 points before fouling out. The Warriors will face Savannah in the quarterfinals on Saturday at Fort Valley State University.

Alpharetta 80, Peachtree Ridge 69: Ty Toney hit 17-of-21 free throws while pouring in 36 points for visiting Alpharetta. Carlos Burse scored 25 points and went 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point line. The win put the Raiders in the state quarterfinals for the first time.

Harrison 63, Valdosta 51: The visiting Hoyas relied on double-digit efforts from three players to defeat Valdosta. Guard Ryan Blumenthal poured in 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while …

Continue reading Class AAAAA roundup »

Alcovy 74, Bainbridge 65: The Tigers broke a halftime tie and outscored Bainbridge 27-15 in the third quarter. Guard Devon Edwards led Alcovy with 21 points and center Michael Turner added 20. Bainbridge’s Paul Chute led all scorers with 23 points.

Southwest DeKalb 72, Cedar Shoals 69: The visiting Panthers used a 20-11 third quarter to take a 50-43 lead into the final period. Jaguars point guard Kevon Scott led all scorers with 31, while Southwest DeKalb’s Jordan Price had 23.

Chattahoochee 91, Douglas County 65: The host Cougars outscored Douglas County 31-14 in the third period to blow open what had been a close game. Jaron Blossomgame has 25 points, while Chris Taylor poured in 21 for Chattahoochee.

Lovejoy 64, Liberty County 34: Lovejoy center Justin Tuoyo had 10 points, eight rebounds and nine blocks as the Wildcats won at home. DeAngelo Anthony had 13 points, while Michael Harden and Jermaine Hough both contributed 10 points.

Marist 65, Rockdale County 50: The War …

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Carrollton 54, North Hall 45: Carrollton’s Josh Barge led his team with 16 points, while Torey Johnson scored 11 and Telvin Brown had 10 for the Trojans. Ethan Smith scored a game-high 18 points for visiting North Hall.

Eagle’s Landing 67, Central-Macon 65, OT: Marquis Griffin hit a free throw with 15 seconds left in overtime to secure the victory for visiting Eagle’s Landing. Just before the foul shot, Griffin made a pair of 3-pointers to erase a six-point deficit.

Henry County 75, Howard 63: The visiting Warhawks soared to a 15-point second-quarter lead, but had to fight to hold it. Brandon Glover had 15 for Howard, which cut the lead to five twice, while Henry County was led by Dre Soulder’s 17.

GIRLS

Allatoona 54, Columbus 40: The Lady Buccaneers earned their first-ever trip to the state quarterfinals behind 21 points from leading-scorer Alexis Ezell. Elise Spann scored 14 points, and Alyssa Dobson had nine points for Allatoona.

Provided by Score Atlanta

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Albany 68, Bleckley County 41: Tim Pierce led Albany with 29 points while Larry Sanford had 16. The Indians outscored the Royals 16-7 in the third quarter to push their lead to 17. DeMario Beck led Bleckley County with 11.

Dawson County 42, Buford 35: Dawson County pulled off the upset of Buford at home thanks to 15 points from Tyler Dominy and 14 points from Gunnar Armstrong. The Tigers held Buford stars A.J. Davis and T.J. Shipes to 12 points apiece.

Greater Atlanta Christian 72, Jefferson 42: The host Spartans coasted to victory behind forward Cole Hobbs’ 19 points. Point guard Collin Swinton had 18 points and shooting guard Delano Spencer had 17. Austin Thompson led Jefferson with 12 points. GAC led 40-19 at halftime.

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Aquinas 60, Mt. Pisgah 56: The visiting Fighting Irish sank six straight free throws down the stretch to ice the game. Ahmed Hill led Aquinas with 24 points, while Michael Scott had 15 points and five steals.

Whitefield Academy 72, St. Francis 30: Shooting guard Kenny Gaines outscored the entire St. Francis team with 37 points for the host WolfPack. Gaines was 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Forward Eric Lockett added 10 for Whitefield Academy.

Wilkinson County 61, Landmark Christian 40: Rico Simmons scored a game-high 27 points for Wilkinson County, and Denzell Council contributed 10. Houston Kessler and Justin Ross each scored 10 for visiting Landmark Christian.

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Five to watch in round 3 of the AAA state tournament

Columbia boys (28-1) vs. Carrollton (27-3): Columbia has had just one close game since the new year, and the Eagles appear to be on autopilot. In Carrollton though, Columbia faces an athletic and experienced club. Columbia has an extensive height advantage with Jarmal Reid, Chris Horton and Jhaustin Thomas, all of whom are 6-6 or taller, while Carrollton’s hopes probably lie in its outside shooters. If they find the hot hand, this one could be a lot of fun. If the game turns into a battle of second-chance points, Columbia will be very difficult to beat.

Eagle’s Landing boys (27-3) vs. Crisp County (20-9): Eagle’s Landing has turned two big mid-game leads into tightrope acts in the first two rounds of the state tournament, and they face a No. 1 seed for the second straight game in Crisp, which has also survived a pair of tight games. The records might seem to indicate a disparity, but both teams played tight games against …

Continue reading AAA basketball blog: Five third-round games to watch »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

If Milton goes on to win the Class AAAAA state title, a little bit of the credit should go to Tift County. The Blue Devils caught Milton napping back on Dec. 10 and stole a 57-52 win at the Eagle’s Nest.

“We took them lightly and didn’t show up to play,” said senior guard Shaquille Johnson. “But we said to ourselves then that that was the last game we were going to lose this season.”

That promise lives on. Top-ranked Milton (26-4) came out clicking on all cylinders Wednesday night and overwhelmed upstart Shiloh (25-4), ranked No. 5, 72-52, in front of a jam-packed and full-throated home crowd. The win sends Milton to its fourth consecutive Elite Eight, Saturday at West Georgia, against North Gwinnett, which won a thriller over Wheeler, 70-68 in overtime.

Milton slept-walked through much of its first-round win over Walton (65-62), last Saturday. But their intensity was on display early and often against the Generals, particularly on the …

Continue reading Class AAAAA Boys: Milton 72, Shiloh 52 »

Kamaran Calhoun, a freshman without a basket until 2 seconds left, scored the game-winner on a layup in overtime Wednesday as North Gwinnett defeated Wheeler 70-68 in the second round of the Class AAAAA playoffs.

North Gwinnett (21-9) advanced to quarterfinals for the first time since 2004, when North Gwinnett upset defending champion Wheeler in the first round.

Wheeler had eliminated North Gwinnett from the state playoffs three times since 2002, including a 23-point win in the 2011 first round.

‘’We came down here last year and got it handed to us, so this feels good,’’ said North Gwinnett senior A.J. Clements, who scored 17 points and made the drive and pass to Calhoun at the end. “We beat one of the top teams in the state.”

Chris Bolden, a Georgia Tech-signee, scored 30 points, including five in overtime, but the guard fouled out with 51 seconds left. Wheeler’s Jacob Obande made the resulting two free throws for a 68-68 tie.

Without Bolden, North Gwinnett played for the …

Continue reading North Gwinnett beats Wheeler 70-68 in overtime on freshman’s layup »

The Elite Eight field for the girls is almost set. Here’s what we’ve got for this weekend:

Friday at the Northwest Georgia Trade Center in Dalton: No. 1 Model vs. No. 6 Lovett at 4 p.m.; No. 3 Buford vs. No. 9 Heard County at 7 p.m.

Saturday at Savannah State University: No. 4 Morgan County vs. the winner of Wednesday’s contest between Thomasville and No. 2 Laney at 4 p.m.; Brooks County vs. Putnam County, 7 p.m.

The boys quarterfinalists will be determined tonight. That schedule features: Thomasville at No. 3 Laney, Early County at No. 9 Morgan County; No. 2 Buford at Dawson County; No. 6 Jordan at No. 10 Coosa; Bleckley County at No. 4 Albany; Dodge County at No. 8 Vidalia; Jefferson at No. 1 Greater Atlanta Christian; and East Hall at No. 5 Manchester.

Five highlights from Tuesday night:

Buford rallies at beat North Oconee

The No. 3 Wolves trailed by six points with 6:10 left in the fourth quarter before battling back against No. 7 North Oconee for a 53-45 victory.

Kaela …

Continue reading AA Basketball Blog: Five big second-round moments »

Dominique Wilson took the inbounds pass in the backcourt with nine-tenths of a second remaining in the first half of McEachern’s second-round girls basketball playoff game against Westlake on Tuesday.

She took one step and let the shot fly from about 50 feet away, hitting nothing but net as the buzzer sounded to give the Indians a 61-29 lead. It was that kind of night for top-ranked McEachern, which played an almost flawless first half in a 93-50 victory.

Wilson finished with 24 points, Te’a Cooper had 28 and Pachiyaanna Roberts scored 21 as McEachern advanced to Saturday’s 4 p.m. Class AAAAA quarterfinal at Fort Valley State. The Indians, ranked No. 2 nationally by ESPN, will play the winner of tonight’s Valdosta-Harrison game. Tenth-ranked Westlake’s season ends at 23-7.

“She was hot the entire first half,” McEachern coach Phyllis Arthur said of Wilson, who has signed with Arkansas. “But we reminded them at halftime that we had another half to play and you can’t lose your …

Continue reading AAAAA girls basketball: Wilson, Cooper spark McEachern’s rout of Westlake »

In a Class AAAA second-round playoff game, the three-time defending state champion Wolverines cruised to an easy 79-29 win over visiting Loganville. Miller Grove held the Red Devils to just two points in the third quarter and rested its starting unit for most of the second half. “It was a great defensive performance, and then some,” said Wolverines coach Sharman White.

Miller Grove center Tony Parker scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while guard Christian Houston scored 11 and notched a career-high 11 assists.

Hillgrove 50, Stephenson 48: Center Mackenzie Engram led the way for the Lady Hawks with 16 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Celina Rodrigo (12 points, four steals) and Maurissa Lester (11 points) also helped visiting Hillgrove to victory.

McEachern 93, Westlake 50: The Lady Indians, state finalists a year ago, are well on their way to another playoff run. They dominated visiting Westlake in the first half and led 61-29 at the half.

Freshman guard T’ea …

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Alcovy 71, Warner Robins 62: Junior forward Meagan Tucker led the visiting Lady Tigers with 27 points. Center Ashley Williams added 20 for Alcovy. Lady Demons shooting guard Kenyona Armstrong had a game-high 28 points.

Forest Park 60, Bainbridge 32: Junior point guard Raven Wynn led the host Lady Panthers with a game-high 18 points. Senior guard Ashlee Cole scored 13 points, while senior forward Tamara Brewster added 12 for Forest Park.

Miller Grove 52, Forsyth Central 45: Tashia Thompson finished with 19 points, six rebounds and three steals for Miller Grove, and Katie Hunt contributed 16 points. The Lady Wolverines withstood a 28-point night from Kayla Richards of visiting Forsyth Central.

Southwest DeKalb 44, Creekview 39: The host Lady Grizzlies held a six-point lead at the half, but could not hold the advantage. Jasmine Coleman and Nicole Martin each had 10 points to lead the Lady Panthers. Nicole Razor added seven points for Southwest DeKalb.

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Jonesboro 56, Statesboro 43: The host Lady Cardinals rallied from a 24-20 deficit at halftime to advance to the quarterfinals. Center Kimberly Dawkins scored six points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked eight shots for Jonesboro.

North Hall 47, Carrollton 45: In a back-and-forth game in which no team led by double-digits at any point, host North Hall escaped with a win. With the game in the balance, Carrollton guard Kenyata Hendrix missed a wide-open 15-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Troup 50, Chestatee 34: The Lady Patriots led from tip-off to the final buzzer in their win over visiting Chestatee thanks to the leadership of two seniors. Point guard Tanisha Jackson and center Shamya Brooks each tallied double-digit scoring.

Washington County 57, Westover 46: Washington County got 29 points, seven rebounds and four blocks from guard Allisha Gray to beat visiting Westover. Shon Kitchens contributed 11 points and six assists to help Washington County win its 61st game in a …

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Buford 53, North Oconee 45: Kalea Davis led the host Lady Wolves with 22 points, including six vital free throws in the final minute. Buford trailed midway through the final period and the game was tied with three minutes to go. Ginny Channell led North Oconee with 15 points.

Heard County 66, Calhoun 62, OT: Senior center Aaliyah Rutledge led the host Lady Braves with 18 points. Junior point guard Jasmine Cook had 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for Heard County, while Jemeka Parks added 16 points and eight rebounds.

Lovett 44, East Hall 43: Tatianna Jackson led the victorious Lady Lions with 19 points in a second-round victory. Host East Hall was led by Morgan Jackson, who led the Lady Vikings with 19.

Model 62, Greater Atlanta Christian 60: The Lady Spartans got 24 points from Brianna Cummings and 22 from Sydni Means, both sophomores, but were not able to overcome top-seeded Model on the road. The Lady Blue Devils improved to 29-1 on the season.

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St. Francis 61, Hancock Central 19: Keyona Hayes led all scorers with 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the host Lady Knights cruised to victory. Using an aggressive press defense, St. Francis advanced to the quarterfinals for the third consecutive season.

Wesleyan 71, Bremen 32: Wesleyan’s Jordan Frazier led all scorers with 25 points and swiped 10 steals. Holli Wilkins led the Lady Wolves with eight rebounds and contributed three steals. The victory improved host Wesleyan to 26-4 on the season.

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