Archived News

The Stephenson boys, led by Derek Harper (3) with 29 points, defeated Coffee 73-62 in the first round of Class AAAAA state playoffs. Photo by Travis Hudgons

BOYS BASKETBALL

Seven boys basketball teams—M.L. King, Stephenson, Miller Grove, Southwest DeKalb, Marist, Columbia and Towers—won first-round games in the state tournaments Feb. 24-25. Second-round games were held Feb. 28-29. 

Stephenson: Derek Harper scored 29 points to held the Jaguars defeat Coffee 73-62 in the first round of the Class AAAAA tournament. Traevon Gresham added 15 points, and Delmont Walton had 13 points and 10 rebounds. 

M.L. King: Tivius Guthrie, who has committed to Grambling, had 24 points and seven assists for the Lions in an 86-78 triple-overtime win over Coffee in the first round of the Class AAAAA tournament. The game was tied 57-57 at the end of regulation. De’Aires Tate added 19 points and a season-high 19 rebounds, while Johnny Garvin, Greg King and Lorenz Griggs each had 11 points. Garvin added 13 rebounds while King grabbed 12. The Lions made 31 of 47 free throw attempts for the game.

Miller Grove: Tony Parker had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Wolverines to an 83-35 win over New Manchester in the Class AAAA tournament. Tony Evans added 17 points and Brandon Morris had 15 for the Wolverines, who led 43-17 at halftime.

Southwest DeKalb: William Goodwin had 34 points, 23 rebounds and six blocked shots as the Panthers rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Osborne 70-58. The Panthers trailed 53-49 after three quarters. Justin Hollimon added 12 points and Jordan Price had 11.

Columbia: The Eagles rolled over Shaw 84-66 in the first round of the Class AAA tournament. Tahj Shamsid-Deen had 24 points and 10 assists, while Nate Mason had 13 points and Jarmal Reid had 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Also, Jhaustin Thomas had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks.

Towers: The Titans won their first state playoff game since 2002, beating LaGrange 61-59 in the Class AAA tournament. Tierre Smith led with 15 points and Brett Oakman added 13 for the Titans (20-8), who reached 20 wins in a season for the first time since 1996.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Five girls basketball teams—Stephenson, Southwest DeKalb, Miller Grove, Chamblee and Columbia—won first-round state tournament games Feb. 24-25. Second –round games were played Feb. 28-29.

Stephenson: Junior Kaliyah Mitchell scored 20 points and Naima Jackson added 18 as the Jaguars defeated Tift County 67-47 in the first round of the Class AAAAA tournament. The win was the 15th in a row for the Jaguars.

Southwest DeKalb: Nine players scored as coach Kathy Walton used 12 of her 13 players in a 63-49 win over Kell in the first round of the Class AAAA tournament. Nekia Sockwell led with 17 points, Jasmine Coleman added 16 and freshman Nicole Martin had 10 points and 17 rebounds.

Miller Grove: Klarissa Weaver had a triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocks as the Wolverines easily defeated Chapel Hill 73-45 in the first round of the Class AAAA state playoffs. Tashi Thompson led the scoring with 22 points and Tabitha Fudge added 16. The Wolverines made 31 of 51 field goal attempts for the game. 

Columbia: Miah Spencer scored 18 points to lead the Eagles to a 78-52 win over LaGrange in the opening round of the Class AAA tournament. Victoria Gonzalez and Yakitiva Hickson each added 12 points for the Eagles (20-5).

Decatur: The Bulldogs, at one time ranked as high as No. 5 in Class AA, lost to Heard County 55-47 in the first round. It was the third time in the past four seasons the Bulldogs have been knocked out of the playoffs in the opening round. 

BASEBALL

Stephenson: The Jaguars in the first week of the season matched their win total for last season with victories over Mount Zion (19-4), Central Gwinnett (5-2) and North Springs (6-3). 

Miller Grove: Trey Nelson and Juan Hambrick combined to throw the first no-hitter of the season in a 13-1 win over Stone Mountain. Nelson had four strikeouts in four innings. Fentress Henderson had three hits, three RBIs and four stolen bases while Sean Charleston had two hits, an RBI and two stolen bases.

Marist: The defending Class AAAA state champions opened the season with three losses—4-3 to Cartersville, 5-1 to Greenbrier and 3-2 to Lassiter. Will Curran was 2 for 7 with two RBIs in the three games and Griffin Davis hit a home run.

Cedar Grove: The Saints opened the season with an 8-2 in over Southwest DeKalb and a 9-8 win over Lithonia. Against Southwest, Denzel Washington struck out four and allowed one run to earn the win, and had two hits and three RBIs at the plate. Akheem Taylor, James Hartfield and Bryson Allen-Williams each had two hits, with Allen-Williams driving in three runs.

Dunwoody: The Wildcats opened the season with a 3-1 loss to Milton and a 4-1 loss to Pope.  Against Milton, Jerric Johnson had an RBI and Logan Elliot pitched a one-hitter through four innings. Jonathan Langley drove in a run in the loss to Pope. 

Chamblee: Patrick Golden, the winning pitcher, struck out three and allowed four hits in a 7-3 win over Riverwood on Feb. 20. David Coble led the offense with two hits.

Columbia: The Eagles got off to a 2-0 start with wins over Meadowcreek (11-5) and Tucker (9-6). Jaylen Atterburry was 5 for 7 with three RBIs in the two games, while Xavier Floyd, Trent Nash, William Belcher,  Demetrius Jones and Atterburry each had two hits against Meadowcreek.

Lakeside: Chad Sitten had three hits and an RBI in the Vikings’ 8-1 win over Druid Hills on Feb. 20. Rob Cosby added two hits and an RBI. Adam Hall was the winning pitcher.

Southwest DeKalb: Kevin Winbush struck out five and allowed three hits over five scoreless innings to pace the Panthers’ 6-5 victory over Martin Luther King Jr. on Feb. 20. Malcolm Moore had two hits and a stolen base for the Panthers.