The Fayette County boys (2-1) placed third in the Arrowhead Tournament over Thanksgiving break. The Tigers opened up with a 75-61 win over Clarke Central. Noel Johnson led the team in scoring with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Cody Simmons added 17, Maurice Dorsey chipped in 13 and Terrence Turner scored 13 points and pulled in 15 rebounds.

In the second game, Sidney Lanier, a team out of Alabama, defeated Fayette County 66-55. Simmons led the team in scoring with 19 points, while Johnson added 10 points and 15 rebounds. The third-place game pitted the Tigers against Heritage and Fayette County emerged victorious. Johnson had his third consecutive double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Turner added 12 points and 12 rebounds and Simmons chipped in 10 points.

“We have a long way to go, but I feel we’ll be pretty good by seasons end,” Fayette coach Andre Flynn said. The team will get another boost from the return of several football players who also play basketball.

The Fayette County Lady Tigers (2-1) opened the tournament with a 59-55 loss to Clarke Central. Kristene Walker led the team in scoring with 12 points. The team picked up their first win of the season in the second game of the tournament, beating Sidney Lanier 49-26. Junior Dekota Walton led the team in scoring with 11 points and Walker added 10. The Lady Tigers closed out the tournament with a 64-36 win over Morrow. Anna Onyeuku led the team with 14 points, while Walker added 10. Junior Chasity Welch made the all-tournament team.

Fayette County hosted McIntosh last night after the paper went to press.

Whitewater’s boys and girls played in the Union Grove Tournament over the break.

The boys went 1-2. The team opened with a win over Salem, 67-35. Freshman Renaldo Jenkins led the way with 15 points while Joed Kendrick had 14 points and Sean Sargent had eight. Kody Hastings led the team in assists and Justin Smith led the team with seven rebounds. The Wildcats lost to Union Grove 52-45 in the second game and then fell to Peachtree Ridge 63-42 in the final game. Tom Bohrer had 13 points in the loss. Whitewater graduated nine seniors from last year’s squad and is in the process of getting game experience and learning the system.

The Lady Wildcats (1-2) opened with a 63-30 loss to Salem. Jackie Gittins and Kailey Sweatman each had nine points. Sweatman also pulled in seven rebounds. In the next game, Whitewater topped Woodland 38-36. Victoria Murray led the way with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Sweatman scored eight points and had six rebounds. The final game of the tournament was against Peachtree Ridge and Whitewater lost 44-29. Gittins had 10 points and Murray had eight points and 11 rebounds.

Whitewater hosted Alexander last night after the paper went to press.

Starr’s Mill’s boys (0-1) opened the season with a 62-52 loss to Duluth. Mark Conard had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Colin Elias added seven points, five assists and two steals, Paul Vogel had nine points and three rebounds and Andrew Davis had eight points and two steals.

McIntosh’s boys and girls opened their season last Tuesday with games at Northgate. The boys (0-1) lost 47-45 and the girls (1-0) won 38-37. Erin Justice and Shelbi Sims led the Lady Chiefs in scoring with 13 points each. Justice also had 13 total rebounds, Danette Hinton chipped in six points and seven rebounds.

Sandy Creek’s boys (2-1) took part in the Parkview Tournament, defeating East Coweta 71-68 and Mill Creek 61-25 and losing to South Cobb 66-60.
Blake Brewer scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds, Malcom Jackson, who was named to the all-tournament team, had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Jonathan Owens had 11 points and five assists against East Coweta. Brewer scored 18 points and Jackson had 11 against Mill Creek. Jackson scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds and Brewer scored 15 points and had eight rebounds against South Cobb.

Creek will be among 10 teams playing in a tournament Saturday at Philips Arena. It will play North Clayton at 2 p.m.

The Sandy Creek Lady Patriots (2-1) also played in the Parkview Tournament. They lost to St. Pius 43-37 in the opener but won the next two games, defeating Brookwood 43-38 and Riverdale 50-45.

The Lady Patriots will be off until next Tuesday when they play at Chapel Hill.

Staff writer Kevin Wandra contributed to this report.