Archive for March, 2013

The Buford football team will concentrate on finding some answers on the offensive and defensive line this spring. If successful there’s no reason to believe the Wolves can’t make an appearance in the state championship game for the seventh consecutive season.

Buford went 12-3 last year and beat St. Pius 10-3 to win the program’s ninth state championship and its fifth in the last six seasons. The Wolves always aim high and this year is no exception, despite losing the regular contingent of college signees.

“We’ve got a good group of players coming back and we’re off to a good start to our off-season,” said Buford coach Jess Simpson. “The hardest thing is going to be to fill in the leadership role left by our seniors. They were some great role models. But the good news is that these kids to watch it and see how great leadership is modeled.”

It is unlikely Buford will ever experience another similarly tumultuous season. They suffered through the death of a …

Continue reading 50-in-50: Buford »

By Score Atlanta

There is a new No. 1 in Class AAAAAA as Lambert took over for Parkview, which dropped games to Brookwood and Lassiter. Milton climbed into the top 10 with impressive victories over Walton and Lassiter. Brookwood also climbed into the rankings after wins over Parkview and Grayson.

In Class AAAAA, Gainesville dropped after losses to Winder-Barrow and Mill Creek. Winder-Barrow and Pope debuted in the top 10 after recent winning streaks.

Like the state’s largest classification, Class AAAA also saw a changing of the guard as Crisp County took over the top spot for Columbus, which lost to Carrollton. Wayne County entered the rankings after six straight wins and Redan joined after winning nine straight.

Buford lost to North Hall and fell to No. 2 in Class AAA as a result. Blessed Trinity, riding a 7-game winning streak, took over at the top. North Hall advanced to No. 3 while Woodward Academy entered the rankings after triumphing in seven of eight contests. …

Continue reading Baseball: Three new No. 1’s in Week 3 poll »

Compiled by Score Atlanta

Baseball

Arabia Mountain 12, Tucker 1

Brantley County 6, Appling County 5

Brookwood 6, Parkview 5

Carrollton 6, Fayette County 4

Chiles (Fla.) 6, Lowndes 1

Columbus 8, LaGrange 3

Dawson County 11, Banks County 1

Dodge Counry 16, Swainsboro 0

East Coweta 15, Langston Hughes 0

Effingham County 11, Calvary Day 1

Gordon Lee 10, Whitefield Academy 0

Howard 4, Rutland 0

Islands 18, Savannah 1

Johns Creek 10, West Forsyth 3

Jordan 11, Kendrick 1

Luella 2, Newton 0

Newnan 7, Douglas County 2

North Atlanta 4, Lakeside-DeKalb 3

North Cobb 13, Campbell 2

Ola 8, Drew 1

Screven County 15, Josey 0

Tattnall County 1-1, Johnson-Savannah 0-0

Telfair County 7, Lanier County 2

Thomasville 4, Cook 3

Troup 9, Sandy Creek 3

Union Grove 17, Mundy’s Mill 0

Veterans 10, Mary Persons 2

Washington-Wilkes 3, Social Circle 2

Wesleyan 5, Greater Atlanta Christian 4

Westminster 4, Lovett 2

Worth County 13, Americus-Sumter 3

Boys soccer

Apalachee 4, Alcovy 0

Benedictine 10, Bryan …

Continue reading Tuesday spring sports scores »

By Score Atlanta

In the latest chapter of a great high school sports rivalry, Brookwood and Parkview drew at 169, but Brookwood won the tiebreaker. Shawn Chong of Brookwood shot a team-high 40 while Parkview’s Brandon Gibbs also had a 40. … Gainesville won the Big Red Shootout Monday at Chattahoochee Golf Club for the first time in the 11-year history of the event, which the Red Elephants host annually. Going by the Modified Stableford System of scoring, Gainesville’s Red team turned in a 149 while runner-up Westminster Team A shot a 130. Cambridge had a 128, Johns Creek shot a 115 and Westminster-B rounded out the top five with a 112. Lawson King was the low medalist with a 40. … Norcross outclassed Duluth163-205 Thursday as Zach Healey carded a 36. … Greater Atlanta Christian nipped Blessed Trinity 156-158 Thursday at Brookfield Country Club as Steffan Smith shot a 39 for the Spartans. … Social Circle beat Hebron Christian Monday at The Creek at Hard Labor 191-213.

In …

Continue reading Golf: Brookwood sweeps Parkview »

By Score Atlanta

It was a quiet week in Georgia high school gymnastics last week as many of the top teams rested after competing in Lassiter’s House of Troy Invitational. Forsyth Central pulled out a victory last Tuesday in a meet that saw the Bulldogs post 88.60 points to beat out Lovett. The Lions finished ahead of Walton and Cambridge. Lovett was back in action at home against Jefferson, Carrollton and Pope. Lovett finished ahead of Jefferson but Carrollton took home the win, beating out Pope 101.1-94.85. Lovett finished with a team score of 58.60. Westminster took first at a meet against Alpharetta, Northview and South Forsyth. The Wildcats will next be in action Wednesday when they travel to Lovett while Tift County is next in action Wednesday against Colquitt County. Lassiter travels to Lovett next week for competition that will also feature Oconee County and Wheeler. … Looking back at the House of Troy Invitational, several gymnasts that performed well at the event …

Continue reading Gymnastics: Forsyth Central scores impressive win »

By Score Atlanta

While the streak is still in its early phases, the Walton girls tennis team has started a new streak after seeing its record-breaking winning streak snapped during last year’s GHSA Class AAAAA playoffs. The Raiders are 10-0 after downing the Roswell Hornets 4-1 last Thursday, the same team that snapped the Raiders’ streak and ended a run of eight straight GHSA state championships. The victory gave Walton a perfect 7-0 mark in Region 5-AAAAAA play with the region tournament set to begin today. Suzanne Zenoni has had a strong run this year at No. 1 singles with senior Melissa Mashburn holding down No. 2 singles. Walton will look to make it 11 titles in 13 seasons with a strong run in the region tournament leading up to the state playoffs. … Walton also notched a victory at the Buckhead Rotary Invitational at the Westminster School with a 3-2 victory over Starr’s Mill. The Peachtree Ridge boys slipped past Christ Church in the event thanks in part to wins by Alex …

Continue reading Tennis: Walton starting new streak »

Mike Muschamp’s Lovett team played 12 of their 13 games against teams that made the playoffs last season. (David Tulis, Special to AJC)

Lovett Lions

2012 record: 8-5, 4-0 in Region 6-AA, lost to Lamar County 35-28 in the Class AA quarterfinals.

Starters returning: 6 offense, 5 defense

Key players lost: LB/OL John Coletti, LB/OL Corey Erdoes, DB/WR Winn Martin, LB/RB Brant Wells

Key players returning: QB/DB Willie Candler, DB/RB Grant Haley, DL/OL Tej Suber

Spring practice dates: April 29-May 10

Outlook: With just five teams in Region 6-AA, making the playoffs should be little problem for Lovett. If the Lions can survive the regular season with their health and confidence intact, they will be in position to make another deep playoff run. Lovett reached at least the quarterfinals in six of the past seven seasons.

Schedule:

Aug. 23 – Woodward Academy

Aug. 30 – at Blessed Trinity

Sept. 13 – at Marist

Sept. 20 – St. Pius

Sept. 27 – at Fort Payne, Ala.

Oct. 4 – …

Continue reading 50 in 50: Lovett aims to survive again against rugged schedule »

By Score Atlanta

In the Class AAAAAA boys rankings, South Forsyth joined the poll after an upset of previously second-ranked Lambert. It was the Longhorns’ first loss since 2011. Despite a 7-5 record, South Forsyth debuts in this week’s poll at No. 10 after winning five of six games including the mammoth upset of Lambert.

Class AAAAA also saw a bit of a shakeup in the wake of Greenbrier’s suspension of 18 soccer players for alleged alcohol consumption on a school-sponsored trip. The Wolfpack have two ties in their last four games and a 4-0 loss to McIntosh Saturday. Greenbrier, therefore, fell to No. 6 while Dunwoody fell out of the rankings entirely after recent losses to Clarkston and Lakeside-DeKalb. Tucker joined Lakeside in this week’s top 10.

The big news in Class AAAA was Chestatee taking down No. 2 Johnson-Gainesville. The two schools switched places in this week’s rankings while Spalding debuted at No. 10.

Ranked teams in Class AAA suffered a bevy of losses …

Continue reading Soccer: South Forsyth boys’ upset shakes up AAAAAA »

By Score Atlanta

The Woodstock girls track and field squad blasted past the field at the Etowah Invitational, finishing with 104 points to cruise to an easy win. Woodstock easily took both relays en route to the win. Maya Ramsey scored victories in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and Arielle Hunter won the 400-meter dash. Sprayberry’s Maya Marshall took both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, but Sprayberry would finish sixth. Pope secured 70 team points to edge past host Etowah. The Pope boys would also edge past host Etowah for the boys title. Pope took both relay events while also picking up Patrick Fleming’s win in the 1600-meter run. Sprayberry finished third on the strength of victories in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. Etowah’s Ross Gudger beat out teammate Michael Perona in the 3200-meter run while Woodstock’s Kylon Drones took both meter events. Woodstock finished fourth. … Landmark Christian School hosted a meet Saturday and the host took the girls event and …

Continue reading Track and Field: Woodstock girls take Etowah Invitational »

Parkview coach Cecil Flowe will be in his 21st season. ((Akili-Casundria Ramsess/Special to the AJC)

For the next 50 weekdays, AJC.com will report on 50 of the most intriguing football programs in Georgia as teams prepare for spring practice.

Here is the schedule of teams for this week:

Monday – Parkview

Tuesday – Lovett

Wednesday – Buford

Thursday – Burke County

Friday – Mays

Parkview Panthers

2012 record: 9-4, 6-2 in Region 8-AAAAAA, lost in quarterfinals to Colquitt County 31-15.
Starters returning: 5 offense, 5 defense.

Key players lost: QB Rob Youngblood, RB Chris Carson, LB Kyle Williams (Air Force)

Key players returning: LB John Patterson, OL Trey Derouen, RB Justis Rosser, CB Turshard Kimble-Brinson, CB Bryce Lewis (Vanderbilt)

Spring practice dates: May 7-18

Outlook: A significant core returns from a team that put Parkview in the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2005. Finding a new quarterback for the pistol offense will be a priority …

Continue reading 50 in 50: Parkview football hopes to build on revival of 2012 »

By Score Atlanta

The top of the boys AAAAAA rankings remains unchanged as No. 1 Milton and No. 2 Centennial stayed unscathed last week with Milton beating No. 9 Roswell. No. 2 Centennial scored a nice win over No. 6 Lambert Saturday. North Gwinnett is the new No. 5 after several blowout victories. West Forsyth moved into the poll at No. 10.

Class A-AAAAA No. 1 Northview lost to new No. 2 Decatur but rebounded to beat No. 7 Westminster to maintain the top spot in the poll. Decatur suffered its first loss of the season to Class AAAAAA No. 4 Lassiter. No. 3 Allatoona fell to Roswell last week to drop down from No. 2. Greater Atlanta Christian fell to No. 8 after sustaining a pair of losses last week including to No. 6 Blessed Trinity.

In girls AAAAAA, Chattahoochee shot up to No. 6 while Alpharetta moved into the polls at No. 10 as Roswell fell from No. 6 after a recent string of four straight losses.

Finally, Woodward Academy moved up from No. 10 to No. 6 after beating new No. …

Continue reading Lacrosse: Decatur moves up after latest victory »

Compiled by Score Atlanta

Baseball

Jackson 3, Peach County 2

Boys soccer

Calvary Day 6, Echols County 1

McIntosh 4, Greenbrier 0

Oconee County 3, Riverwood 0

St. Pius 3, St. Joseph’s (S.C.) 1

Stratford (S.C.) 3, Coffee 0

Girls soccer

Calvary Day 8, Echols County 0

McIntosh 5, Greenbrier 1

Riverwood 1, Oconee County 0

Boys lacrosse

Brentwood (Tenn.) 10, Woodstock 9

Centennial 13, Lambert 8

Lassiter 14, Decatur 5

Northview 9, Westminster 7

Girls lacrosse

Columbus 12, Lovett 11

Decatur 17, Greenbrier 7

Holy Innocents’ 13, Whitewater 7

Kennesaw Mountain 9, St. Pius 8

West Forsyth 14, South Forsyth 8

Westminster 20, Starr’s Mill 7

Continue reading Saturday spring sports scores »

Compiled by Score Atlanta

Baseball

Allatoona 8, North Paulding 1

Appling County 10, New Hampstead 0

Arabia Mountain 7, Tri-Cities 6

Baconton Charter 15, Mitchell County 0

Brantley County 17-18, Johnson-Savannah 0-0

Bremen 15-10, Kendrick 0-0

Brookwood 9, Berkmar 4

Cedartown 5, River Ridge 2

Commerce 5, Prince Avenue Christian 1

Cook 12, Pelham 2

Dunwoody 4, Stephenson 2

Dutchtown 6, Riverdale 4

East Paulding 10, Rome 3

Emanuel County Institute 7, Johnson County 2

Glascock County 7, Wilkinson County 3

Glynn Academy 3, Bradwell Institute 0

Griffin 11, Locust Grove 6

Harlem 15, Laney 0

Hawkinsville 5, Brookstone 3

Heard County 21, Spencer 0

Jefferson County 5, Thomson 3

Jonesboro 14, Eagle’s Landing 0

Lakeside-DeKalb 10, Southwest DeKalb 6

Lovett 4, Peachtree Ridge 3

Luella 7, Morrow 2

Marist 11, Grady 1

McEachern 10, Pebblebrook 0

North Atlanta 7, M.L. King 4

North Hall 15, Dawson County 0

Northside-Warner Robins 6, Warner Robins 0

Riverwood 17, Osborne 1

Rutland 2, …

Continue reading Friday spring sports scores »

By Score Atlanta

Class A-Private No. 4 George Walton Academy destroyed host Class AA No. 2 Wesleyan Thursday 14-4. … Class A-Private No. 2 Mount Paran rode a 5-run fourth inning in a 7-5 win over Class AA No. 4 Calhoun Wednesday. … Mill Creek upended Class AAAAA No. 2 Gainesville 1-0 to hand the Red Elephants their second loss in a row. Pitcher Cody Pugh gave up just three hits in a complete-game shutout. … Parkview, the top-ranked team in the state’s largest classification, dominated Berkmar Thursday as pitcher Mason Caskey tossed a complete game shutout. … Milton upset Class AAAAAA No. 3 Walton 5-3 Wednesday after taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Raiders, however, rebounded to beat Woodstock 6-3 Thursday as Stephen Wrenn doubled in two runs to tie the game in the seventh. … South Gwinnett took down Archer 7-3 Thursday. … Class AA No. 1 Lovett edged Peachtree Ridge 4-3 Thursday. … Class AAAAA No. 9 Sequoyah topped Osborne 10-0 May 15 as Ryan McGlamry threw a …

Continue reading Baseball: Class A-Private teams beat larger, ranked foes »

ALL-STATE TEAMS

GIRLS

All-classification player of the year: Diamond DeShields, Norcross

CLASS AAAAAA

Player of the year: Lexie Brown, North Gwinnett

Coach of the year: Angie Hembree, Norcross

First team

G+Lexie Brown, North Gwinnett+5-9+Sr.

F+Shayla Cooper, Norcross+6-1+Sr.

G+Diamond DeShields, Norcross+6-2+Sr.

C+Mackenzie Engram, Hillgrove+6-1+Jr.

G+Kylee Smith, Alpharetta+6-0+Sr.

Second team

G+Te’a Cooper, McEachern+5-8+So.

G+Makeba Ponder, Colquitt County+5-8+Jr.

G+Amber Reeves, North Cobb+5-9+Sr.

F+Peyton Whitted, North Gwinnett+6-3+Sr.

F+Ashley Williams, Alcovy+6-0+Sr.

Honorable mention: Lauren Brown, Alpharetta; Haley Gerrin, Habersham Central; Anriel Howard, Westlake; Madison Newby, Archer; Genesis Perrymond, Parkview; Stormm Phillips, Valdosta; Katie Powell, Duluth; Breanna Richardson, Rockdale County; Meagan Tucker, Alcovy; Aunesha Williams, Cherokee.

CLASS AAAAA

Player of the year: Erykah Davenport, Tucker

Coach of the year: Kathy Walton, Southwest …

Continue reading All-state basketball teams »