Any coach will tell you that a key to a successful team is having good team chemistry. It is very important that players can play well together. For some teams building that relationship takes a few years but the Whitewater Wildcat basketball team had at least two players enter the program with that on court relationship already established.

• Deante Battle, a Starr’s Mill graduate at Northwestern University, had some playing time in the Wildcats 38-21 win over Illinois.

Brett Bartels, a student from Our Lady Of Mercy Catholic High School in Fairburn, received recognition as the male state winner for the 2005 Wendy’s High School Heisman Award. The annual award celebrates high school seniors who excel in athletics, academics and community service.

Prior to both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) will stock eight popular North Georgia streams to benefit anglers. Although many North Georgia trout streams are closed after Oct. 31 (end of the state trout season), these eight streams are part of a long list that remain open for year-round trout fishing.

Traditional hunting seasons for waterfowl and other migratory birds will soon open, announces the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). Some of Georgia's early waterfowl hunting opportunities have already come and gone, including an early teal hunting season (Sept. 17-25) and an extended September season for Canada geese (Sept. 3-25), but the more traditional late seasons are just about to begin.

Atlanta Motor Speedway hosted a Winter Flurry season race last week and several local drivers performed fairly well.

In the Bandolero Bandits division, Brooks’ Matt Dooley placed ninth overall, while Peachtree City’s Ed Clark took second in the Roadtsers race and third in the Masters race. Tina Johnson of Senoia placed 17th in Semi-Pro.

The basketball season will get underway for Landmark Christian School’s boys and girls at the Arrowhead Classic in Morrow on Monday. It will mark the beginning of a process of rebuilding for both programs and while each team hopes to have a speedy transition in their journey to becoming a solid team, they also know that this year is a building block for future years.

Sandy Creek’s boys and girls basketball teams had very successful years last year with the boys making the AAAA final four and the girls winning their first-ever region championship. Both teams would like to repeat those achievements this year, but they will be making those attempts under new head coaches and with rosters that look different from a year ago.

When Brookwood and Starr’s Mill last met on the girdiron, Aug. 30, 2003, the Broncos emerged the victors in a 30-0 shutout. The Panthers are hoping for a better result tonight and if they win they will be making a trip to the Georgia Dome to compete in the AAAAA state semi-finals.

East Coweta Lady Indians
Coach: Paula Jones
Last year: 4-18

The Lady Indians return three starters from last year’s team, including senior guard Shasta Ellison. Ellison was the team’s best defensive player last year and is looked upon as the team’s leader. She joins Vanessa Colton as the team’s main ball handlers. East Coweta also gets a boost from senior post players Kijuana Holiday, who is a scoring threat on both the inside and outside, and Deretha Puckett. Sophomore Kevi Martin has worked hard in the off season and should contribute on both offense and defense.

The McIntosh Chiefs Wrestling Team has hit the mats in preparation for another exciting season. The squad returns 12 lettermen that are very focused on improving on last year’s winning season. The returning lettermen are seniors Matt Penn, Scott Ritter, Alex Shoemaker and Alan Sarvis, juniors Landis Ford and Brett Buehler and sophomores Norm Brooks, Matt Carroll, Richard Hughes, Carl Scheumann, Jonathan Smith, Jessy Toscano, and Erik Willanzheimer.

The Starr’s Mill Lady Panthers started the 2005-2006 season on the right foot by defeating Woodward Academy 46-45. Outscored 17-4 in the first quarter, the Lady Panthers caught fire. Kirstin Massman hit two big thre pointers in the second, sparking a rally, and the Starr’s Mill defense tightened up, holding Woodward to six points in the third quarter. Emily Woodward hit a shot at the buzzer ending the third quarter to give the Lady Panthers their first lead. Katie Jacobsen hit two three pointers in a row in the fourth and Starr’s Mill handled the ball well and hung on for the win.

Local runner set and achieved a lofty goal

Starr’s Mill has advanced to the elite eight of the AAAAA state football playoffs and the weight of all those troubles getting out of the second round have been lifted. By defeating Colquitt County 16-14 last Friday, Starr’s Mill has earned a home game with the Brookwood Broncos this Friday.

On a beautiful autumn day made for fast times, Connie Robertson, 43, of Hapeville, set a new women’s course record at the 5th Annual New Hope Harvest Classic in Fayetteville.

• Deante Battle, a Starr’s Mill graduate at Northwestern University, had three solo tackles and three assists in their 48-7 loss to Ohio State.

The Fayette County High School Sports Hall of Fame nomination committee is encouraging nominations from the public for induction.

The Gym South Level 5 & 6 Girls Gymnastics Team continued their season this past weekend in Woodstock for the 'Turkey Tumble' Gymnastics Meet.

On Feb. 27, 2006, all eyes will be on the Historic Fox Theatre’s Egyptian Ballroom as the city comes together to celebrate outstanding athletic achievement with the inaugural Atlanta Sports Awards.

Making the sweet sixteen is always sweet, especially when you get to play at home, like the Starr’s Mill Panthers do tonight. In fact, a win will give them another home game next week against the winner of Brookwood and Marietta. Before they can think about that game though, the Panthers must focus on Colquitt County.

Three cross country teams from Coweta County ran in the state cross country meets last Saturday, all performing well against some of the top teams and runners in the state.

Only one area football team survived the first round of the state playoffs. Starr’s Mill picked up a 45-14 win over Brunswick last Friday, while Landmark Christian was upset by Temple and Sandy Creek got shutout by Griffin.

Landmark Christian and McIntosh girls capture state title

The McIntosh High School girls cross country team won their second state title in cross country on Saturday. Top runner Emily Borsare collapsed before the finish but the Lady Chiefs had a full saff of runners to back her up and capture the title. McIntosh last won the AAAA state championship in 1998. Their top five runners were:

The past two weeks have been quite busy for the newly created Team Georgia weightlifting team. Since its establishment in mid-July of this year, the lifters of Team Georgia have trained vigorously in preparation for the fall tournaments: the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Junior Pan American Championship and the Chattanooga Open.

• Ryan Barr, a Starr’s Mill graduate, got some playing time for Bloomsburg University in their 42-28 win over Millersville.

Fayette County Youth Soccer, in conjunction with the Georgia Youth Soccer Association, will host the Kohl’s American Cup at McCurry Park in Fayetteville on Nov. 12-13. The tournament is part of a nationwide event - held in more than 40 locations throughout the country. In its fourth year, the local tournament will host more than 160 youth recreational soccer teams, boys and girls, ages 9-18, as they compete for the title of champion.

Landmark Christian School earned region titles last week in the region 5-A meet, which was held at Our Lady of Mercy High School.

At the One Love Tennis Championships of the South, USTA Level 4, there were three local players who performed well:
• Jessica Lange, Champion of G-16

The region cross contry championships were held at various locations last Saturday and three local girls teams and two local boys teams ran away with region titles. There were also five individual region champions in the meets, all of whom have hopes of being crowned state champions this Saturday.

Four local teams begin play in state playoffs tonight

The Friday night lights are shining a little brighter tonight as the state football playoffs begin.