Young Ladies Take Spotlight at State

Walking into a basketball game can be a little disorienting. The speed of the game and energy of the audience can create a blur. Catching up to the action is like walking outside from a dark room. It takes a second to get adjusted.

After a couple trips up and down the spots in your eyes start to clear as the organized chaos translates into a choreographed routine. But without some knowledge of the teams each player is no more recognizable than the numbers on their backs.

Then it happens.

With one bounce. One look. One step. One hesitation. One shot. One player lassos your attention. You glance down at your roster. You read the name out loud. And just like that you start to make sense of what's going on between the end lines.

I had one of those moments a few weeks ago. It was senior night at Trinity Christian. With the graduating class in the spotlight, junior wing Anna-Claire Knight took her place on the bench to start the game. That didn't last long. Head coach Rick Johnson brought in AC to cool down Gatewood after the Lady Dragons' blistering start. Being familiar with Knight's accomplishments I took note of her number before the game, and it didn't take long for her to make her mark once her number was called.

Knight took an outlet pass just beyond Gatewood's three point line, wove effortlessly past a pair of defenders, drove right of the paint, and in one smooth motion faked a pass and pulled up for an easy eight foot jumper. Just like that the 2,000+ career points, starting spot as an 8th grader, and steadily-accumulating division I offers made perfect sense.

With high school playoffs rolling on this week the play of many underclassmen like Knight will grab the attention of girls basketball fans in Central Georgia and around the state. Here are some others:

Faren Harris and Shanice Stanley (Tattnall): The Lady Trojans are another team in the running for the GISA AAA State Championship this weekend. That's thanks in part to their inside-outside junior combo. Harris is one part of Richard Reid's dynamic backcourt, along with senior Peaches Campbell and sophomore Kayla Steele. She is a high-energy lead guard that is just as dangerous setting up teammates as she is driving to the hoop and scoring on her own. Stanley provides the punch on the block. In the Lady Trojans' second round win over Deerfield-Windsor Shanice initiated a second quarter run with a pair of easy buckets in the post. She's just as much of a threat on defense and on the boards as she is off the entry pass. Tattnall faces Gatewood in Friday's Final Four matchup at GCSU.

Jasmine Wilson, Cierra Gordon, Chan Fann (Northside): Casaundra Wilson's team takes the court locked and loaded. How else would you explain a 93-point output against Houston County this year? And yes, all 93 came in regulation. With seniors Ladarria Clark and Tai Brown in the mix the region champs have a number of players that can cause damage. Wilson (So.), Gordon (Jr.) and Fann (Jr.) are certainly on that list. Wilson and Fann are both capable of 20-point outbursts, while Gordon shares floor general duties with Clark. While Fann does most of her damage in the post, Wilson is a do-it-all small forward that can shoot, sling passes to teammates, or score in traffic. The Lady Eagles play Chapel Hill at home in the first round.


Maria Bond and Jerryshia Williams (Northeast): Bond and Williams are Northeast's bread and butter. The Raiderettes' starting five is counted on to play heavy minutes and do a little bit of everything. These two do both. Bond, a junior, is a deadly shooter and an impressive passer, especially considering her small forward/power forward position. She is a gamechanger, plain and simple. Williams, just a sophomore, is a true small forward, especially given her ability as a slasher. She can knock down a jumper and is hard to stop in transition. Both Bond and Williams understand the game and can make the little plays that are often the difference in winning and losing. Albany visits the Raiderettes in the first round.

Alisha Gray (Washington Co.): Sug Parker isn't afraid to admit that much of the Lady Golden Hawks' success rests on the slight shoulders of a freshman. Alisha Gray doesn’t yet have the swagger of a division I prospect. But she is. The 5'8" guard is the classic example of a player who lets her game do the talking. She flies around with her eyes wide open, just like a freshman should. But she hits fadeaways, three-pointers, cutting teammates, double-pump layups, and runners like a polished veteran. She's a 20-point scorer and the focal point of Waco's offense. Like some of the aforementioned players she plays with an understanding of the game far beyond her age. If her Nikes are any indication, she's got some room left to grow, which will only add to her arsenal. For now, she'll look to lead the Lady Hawks past Shaw in the first round.

Ivy Slaughter (Crawford Co.): Slaughter proved her value in the Eaglettes' region championship win over Heard County, the school’s first since 1976. The 6-foot ninth grader slowed down the Lady Braves' strong start by wrecking havoc at the top of Melinda Traylor's defense. Tipped passes on one end led to layups for Slaughter and high-scoring senior Shanedra Lockett on the other end. Slaughter is a terror thanks to her long arms and constant motor. While some freshmen at her height might appear a bit awkward, she glides smoothly down the floor. While Lockett leads the way for Crawford Co. Slaughter plays a major role, and finished with 18 points against Heard Co. The Eaglettes welcome Walnut Grove to Roberta in their state opener.

These are just a handful of the names that will stuff the stat sheets and lead their teams through the brackets in the coming weeks. So pick up a roster, sit down, and wait. Because in the blink of an eye you'll see a player do something that will make you pay a little closer attention the next time down the court.

Tiger's Tale

Tiger talked.

Tiger Woods went before a national television audience and apologized to his wife, family, friends, and fans on Friday. The event was carefully scripted with only a certain select group of people invited to the event including Tiger's mom. Media members in attendance were not allowed to ask any questions. Woods said he would be returning to rehab and he did say he plans on returning to competitive golf although he did not say when that might happen.

In short, we don't know a whole lot more now than we did before Tiger talked. He said he was sorry, but many people responding to our 13WMAZ.com Web Poll thought the apology lacked sincerity and was more of an orchestrated event put on by his management handlers. One thing we do know is that there are no winners in this story. Tiger's reputation is severely tarnished with many of his fans and sponsors. His wife and two children were thrust awkwardly into the spotlight where they will probably remain despite Tiger's pleas to "leave them alone." The PGA tour takes a hit every time Tiger stays home as opposed to teeing it up in front of huge galleries and television cameras.

In short - Tiger's tale is a tragedy that will continue to play out over the next several months as people search for answers to questions that were not allowed to be asked on Friday.

Frank Malloy

Tattnall Versus Mount De Sales: Always a Good Matchup

We've got a lot of talented basketball programs in Central Georgia. But as a sports anchor let me share how our nightly drill usually goes down. We show up at a game and shoot one quarter or maybe two and head on out to try and cover another school, thus getting you as many highlights as possible. Rarely do we ever get to sit back and watch and enjoy the hoops action.

Because some of my friends have kids playing on the Mount De Sales team I've watched the guys hoop it up against Tattnall twice this season. And boy what a show they've put on the court. MDS relies on the spectacular shooting of John Rhyne, the guy's dumped in over 2,000 points in his career. Most kids never even reach the 1,000 point mark. Tattnall turns to one of the best all-around athletes in Bibb County, Deondre Smelter. Even though this kid can take it to the hoop whenever he wants, he's truly unselfish and logs an assist as often as he scores a bucket.

The two teams split wins during the regular season. Saturday night they made it to the region championship. And boy let me tell ya even though we had snow outside...folks were sweating in their turtlenecks...fans packed the stands and stood up all around the second level overlooking the floor to catch all the action.

The Cavs started out slow and it looked like the Trojans may have put things in cruise control, especially since Mount De Sales found themselves in a ten point hole at half-time. They must of had a great locker room chat because they clawed their way back and with a minute-thirty the Trojans had it by a mere three points. Smelter had a key lay-up and Andrew Layson was money dumping in a couple of clutch free throws. Tattnall took it 59-53.

But hey the GISA State Championships get going this week. The girls start Wednesday and the guys will work toward the crown beginning Thursday. So my gut tells me we will see these two meet up again for the State Championship. At this point I'd call it a coin toss on who could come out for all the marbles.

See ya on the air,
Suzanne

Marshall Runs the Patriots

This past football season in Central Georgia, football fans across the state were introduced to an extremely talented athlete on the mission of winning his first state championship.

Nick Marshall, junior quarterback for the Wilcox County Patriots, ran and passed his way through Class A competition, in his coming out party of sorts, placing his name in the mouths of sporting fanatics young and old.

This past December in the Georgia Dome, in front of the state; on-line and on air, Marshall rallied his troops to win that elusive state championship over Savannah Christian, finishing the season with nearly 3,000 passing yards and 32 touchdowns.

Now here it is over a month later, the shoulder pads are stowed away. The cleats have been mothballed and replaced with high top sneakers and a head band substitutes for that Riddell helmet.

His battlegrounds of gridiron proportions outlined in chalk are now hardwood floors stained with polyurethane.

This Patriot is still a field general, sharing the ball with teammates, but is equally if not more impressive playing the game of basketball.

In an 8 day stretch in January, the 6'2" guard posted 48 points against Fitzgerald, 32 points over Turner County, 29 points defeating Montgomery County and 25 points in a loss to Dooly County.

He scores from the outside, slashes on the inside. Plays defense aggressively and dunks even more so.

During the Jan 22, game against Dooly County in Vienna, Marshall took a loose ball near the top of the key, dribbled 3 steps and gave a one handed jam to the rim all in the opening seconds of the game. The slam sent the opposing fans into a frenzy while his traveling faithful watched with their usual amazement.

With a year-and-a-half still to go in high school, Marshall is fielding D-1 offers in both basketball and football from all over the country including Georgia, Mississippi State and Florida State,to name just a few.

I'm just excited that we don't have to worry about Marshall leaving Wilcox early for the pros. We all get a chance to marvel at the young athletic phenom from Rochelle who plays the QB position as cool as he does point guard, while helping Rochelle become a mainstay on the map of high school athletics.

Herschel Walker Mixes It Up

It didn't make huge sports headlines, but Wrightsville's Herschel Walker thumped the competition in his first Mixed Martial Arts match. Greg Nagy didn't last long against the guy who does 1,500 sit-ups and 750 pushups in a day. Nagy came in with youth on his side. Walker had pure determination and a 47-year-old body going into the bout.

I visited the folks in Johnson County before the match. Many worried about his safety, and others felt the kid they saw run all over the Trojan field and lead the team to a state championship could do anything he wanted no matter how many years accumulated in his life span. And if you look back on Walker's career he loves a challenge. He won the Heisman at Georgia. At Dallas the other guys were jealous because the coaches didn't make Herschel do the morning conditioning drills. They told them...if you can do what Herschel does every day you can skip them too. No one took the offer. After the pros wore down his body a bit, the athletic guy from Georgia turned heads again when he joined the Olympic bobsledding team.

Herschel is a sweet, yet intense guy. I had the chance to meet him when I emceed the cache ceremony (cache is when the post office issues a special envelope) in his honor. He was humble, funny and yet you can see that determination in his eyes. Like most people I didn't want Herschel to get hurt, and I had a big grin on my face when I found out he won in the cage.

As for the future he says he wouldn't mind fighting again. Jose Canseco has expressed an interest in fighting. Herschel told a radio show "If Canseco thinks this is going to be a circus, I will hurt him, this is not a joke because I don't do things as a joke."

Hershel is the real deal, I'm not a betting person but I'll try not to worry about the next bout and have complete confidence in the supreme athlete from Wrightsville.

Have a good week you guys.

Suzanne

Local Connection to Superbowl

Superbowl 44 (you see I didn't make you read the Roman Numerals... ha ha) happens this Sunday on CBS. Of course all of us in the sports department are excited, I'm sure you are too. I mean the night is like a national holiday with great commercials, piles of food that rival only Thanksgiving on the old gastric scale, and oh yeah, some what we hope will be gritty down to the wire football.

If you're still on the fence on who to root for, let me tell you about one of our Central Georgia connections. Travis Jones is a defensive line coach with the Saints. I met him last summer at the Bibb County Sports Complex. The last couple of years he's run a camp for kids that has them running plays and drills all over the field. Jones told me back then that the Saints would make a statement with their D-Line and I guess his predictions came to fruition. Now his guys only have to shut down Peyton Manning to make "Who Dat" nation ecstatic!!

No matter what happens Jones will have his fans cheering on the boys from NOrleans in Irwinton. That's where Jones grew up. He then went on to have a successful career at Georgia. He's found more success coaching than playing in the pros. According to his biography with the New Orleans Saints he played a short stint with the Canadian Football League and the Arena League. But as a guy on the other side of the ball he's earned a good bit of respect as a man that emphasizes fundamentals. The basics will go under scrutiny when they face Indianapolis who has dismantled most teams they've faced this season.

So root for whoever makes you happy. But I'm going to pull for the guy that we'll probably see working with kids again this summer!

Suzanne Lawler

Signing Day Is Here Again...

Central Georgia is packed with high school and college football fans whose passion extends far beyond Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. That make-up makes the first Wednesday of February one of the most important days on the sports calendar: Signing Day.

It's when two worlds collide in the gridiron universe...the one occasion when prep and college football truly cross paths. When years of lifting, running, sweating, hitting, catching, studying and dreaming give way to a pen, a piece of paper and an agonizing—not to mention life-altering—decision. And as the young men scribble their John Hancock (that they've no doubt practiced tirelessly in History and Pre-Calculus notebooks) both fan bases, high school and college, celebrate for different reasons. The high school players, teammates, family members and fans celebrate the realization of an 18-year-old dream. At the same time, college programs, coaches and fans get a glimpse into their team's future.

For one reason or another National Signing Day is one of the days I most look forward to. When you get a chance to be around athletes, you can't help but take an interest in their future. And when said athlete makes their mark in college and beyond it's in every fan's DNA to talk about seeing them show out on Friday nights. But if you're like me it offers a chance to live vicariously through each athlete in one of the biggest moments in their young lives. For those of us whose athletic endeavors never merited more than a participation award it's hard not to put ourselves at that podium in front of a few hats, one decision, and innumerable onlookers. To be at the intersection of hard work, achievement, recognition, and a bright future. It's a special moment, and one each kid will relive over and over for years to come.

It's both an end and a beginning. Another crop of football talent has done all they can do on the prep level. Now they move on to the bigger and better. And when they get there another passionate fan base awaits, hoping for the same results on the college gridiron that got them on campus in the first place. And that makes February 3rd, 2010 one of the most important days of their lives.

Darnay Tripp

Choose Wisely Young Men of Middle Georgia

As we begin to welcome the month of February, many young men across Central Georgia, the Peach State and this great nation will make decisions that will impact their lives forever.

These young men, in the form of successful prep student athletes, will select their place of higher learning to continue their football career on National Signing Day on February 2, 2010.

Just 16 short years ago, like many of these young men, I spent my January being courted by college coaches, visiting university campuses on recruitment trips and contemplating where I would spend the next chapter in my life pursuing a degree and experiencing college football.

It was not an easy choice. In 1994, there weren't many cell phones so I didn't have to avoid text messages from coaches or potential suitors. Internet was just starting, so no e-mails or YouTube video clippings either. No Facebook friends, MySpace pals or tweeting Twitter twits trying to influence my decision night and day, day and night. Of course I didn't have the Southern Cals, or the Notre Dames or even the Bulldogs busting down my door. But I did have the attention of Middle Tennessee State, Clark-Atlanta, Valdosta State, West Georgia and Georgia Southern University. Either way it's a lot for a 17 year old to handle. A lot of pressure and stress to make a choice on where to continue playing the game you love while getting the education of a lifetime without cost to you or your family.

My final choice was Georgia Southern University, where I spent the best 5 years of my life traveling across the country playing the game I love, winning championship rings, partying with lifetime friends, meeting my wife, partying some more and graduating with my degree. It's the time where the foundation of my journey to manhood was built. I fostered relationships there with coaches, friends, professors and fans that will last a lifetime along with an allegiance and pride in a university that is second to none.

So as seniors Jeffrey Whitaker-Warner Robins, Brison Williams-Northside, Lamar Zanders-Peach County, Keith Humphries-Dooly County, Dartez Dennard-Twiggs County and Lonnie Outlaw-Wilcox County...to name just a few Central Georgia graduates, prepare to sign their letters of intent and select their future, I want you all to realize that you are not just trading in your Football Friday Nights for Saturdays but instead building a bridge to years and years of your future.

It's more than choosing a ball cap, a mascot, a conference or school colors. It's choosing the place you'll spend your weekends, holidays and celebrate your new milestones.

A city or town that will help redefine you.

I wish you gentlemen all good luck and hope you choose wisely.

Marvin James

Fidgety Fishermen

Hey Everyone!

This is the time of the year that fishermen start to get a little fidgety. You'll see boat shows and fishing classic sales start to pop up at local stores. But before you load up the worms, crickets and chicken livers you may want to wait for mother nature to come around a bit.

We've had winter weather that we haven't seen in these parts in quite some time. It seems torrents of rain wash in freezing temperatures followed by another round of thunderstorms. The fish don't seem too impressed with the conditions.

I recently talked to my buddy Tom Hamlin. He fishes a lot of local tournaments and he told me recently a guy won a local competition at Lake Sinclair with just eleven pounds in his live well. Tom said he fished his buns off and only caught a few small ones. And imagine the frustration for the guys that persevered out on the water and didn't get one bite the whole night.

Tom who has gone to the Bassmaster Classic before says the fish just don't feel that great right now with all that mud and stuff washing into the lakes. And think about it, if you don't feel that well you don't hunker down to a good meal. The fish, and pardon the pun, are rather in the same boat.

So keep browsing through those catalogs and hoping for warmer days. In no time I'll probably see ya out on the water reeling in those big ole fish.

Suzanne Lawler

Prep Passion

We live in the south and we all know that in the south football is king. Just drop by your local high school football stadium on a Friday night in the fall if you don't believe me.

However, there is ample evidence that Central Georgia prep fans are also catching the basketball bug. Earlier this month fans overflowed the gymnasium to watch Baldwin and Wilkinson County do battle. Last Saturday night saw another standing room only crowd as top-ranked Wilco traveled to Twiggs County in a throw down between two long-time rivals. This week another packed house watched as Northside and Warner Robins squared off in the Demons gym and it was standing room only on Tuesday night as Southwest welcomed rival Northeast into its new gym. Fans have also flocked to GISA games as rivals FPD, Mt. de Sales, Stratford and Tattnall battle for bragging rights and playoff position.

This outpouring of support for prep teams indicates that school spirit is very much alive and well in Central Georgia and that people love more than just the pigksin. So if you're looking for a warm place to hang out this winter, may I suggest a local high school gym where the action is proving to be hot, heavy and entertaining.

Frank Malloy