| By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com Now that I’m back on the sports beat, not only do I get to enjoy viewing local high school athletes play for pride and not cash, but I also get to enjoy listening to fan chatter; most of it positive, but some of it not. Either way, it can be lots of fun and carry one through some of the lulls in the games. By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com Though they had been eliminated from postseason play, the Patriots from Sandy Creek have been battling as the season nears its end. They played and defeated Pebblebrook last Wednesday, Lithia Springs Thursday and Forest Park Friday. By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com When the Starr’s Mill Panthers posted their dramatic, come-from-behind win over the East Coweta Indians earlier this season, Panther fans could not have imagined the next game between these two teams to be anywhere near as compelling. It was. Ralph Woolfolk has been an Our Lady of Mercy Bobcat since the school’s inception and when he heads to Morehouse College next year and into his life after college, he will remain a Bobcat at heart. The Southern Crescent Lightning kicked off their inaugural season last weekend with a 92-79 win over the Rome Gladiators Friday and a 95-91 loss to the Raleigh Knights Saturday. Though two wins would have been a better way to start the season, the crowds at Starr’s Mill High School, home of the Lightning, got a solid performance from an up-tempo team and an entertaining evening for the fraction of the cost for an evening with the NBA. In its first year as a school, Whitewater High has given students and their parents and fans something to look forward to. Many of the athletic teams surpassed expectations this year, playing junior varisty schedules with teams made up entirely of freshmen. The JV girls soccer team was no exception, going 9-2-4 and playing extremely well against teams that will be region opponents next year. The second round of games for the local soccer teams in the AAAAA state playoffs were much more competitive than the games in the first round. Fayette County, McIntosh and Starr’s Mill picked up wins but the games were close, and in Fayette’s case it took two overtimes and a round of penalty kicks to get a winner. The Starr’s Mill varsity boys tennis team opened the AAAAA state playoffs with a 4-1 win last Thursday over the Wayne County Yellow Jackets playing at Whitewater tennis courts. Sandy Creek’s girls track team won three individual region titles at the Region 4-AAAA meet held recently at Woodward Academy. Brandice Ware won the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.02, while Mellany Stanislaus won the triple jump with a jump of 38’06.” Ware and Stanislaus were also members of the region champion 4x100-meter relay team with Brenay Grimble and Iman Person, which finished with a time of 50.28. | 