Notebook: Bibb County having good year on the hardwood
Stratford is in its second season in the GHSA, but boys basketball head coach Jamie Dickey is proud of the success this season of all Bibb County basketball programs.
The boys teams at Stratford, Tattnall Square and Central are still alive, as is the girls team at Tattnall.
Stratford beat Walker, a team from metro Atlanta, in the Class A public first round on Saturday, while Tattnall topped Southwest Atlanta Christian.
"Our guys wanted to prove that Macon basketball is really, really good," Dickey said after the convincing 87-58 win Saturday. "Atlanta basketball does get a lot of hype. I think they wanted to prove that we got some good ballplayers down here, too."
A tweet during the weekend by basketball website HoopSeen noted that there were four Bibb County boys teams left and only two from Gwinnett County.
Just as notable are the records of some of the teams that were eliminated in the second round of the GHSA Tournament. Westside, which ended up 22-7, will be a destination for the next two seasons for college scouts looking at Khavon Moore. But the Seminoles also return several other players, including junior point guard Samone Reed.
Westside lost 71-43 at Calhoun in the second round.
Southwest finished 16-9 but returns more regulars than it loses. The Patriots fell 77-62 to region champ Laney, a top-10 team, in the first round.
Howard's girls were a fourth seed and lost only 44-42 to Burke County in the first round after battling ranked Veterans respectably in the Region 2-AAAA Tournament.
Central, making its third straight state appearance, and Tattnall suffered first-round tournament defeats.
Bibb County's last GHSA champion was Southwest in 1989. Rutland lost in the Class AAA semifinals last year. The county's last girls champion was Northeast in 2002.
-- Michael A. Lough
CENTRAL FAN BUS
A charter bus will be available for fans who want to attend Central's GHSA Class AAA quarterfinal Thursday in Augusta.
The bus will leave at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday from the Kroger located on Pio Nono Avenue. The cost is $30, which covers transportation and the game ticket.
Reservations are necessary, and they must be made Wednesday. For information or to make reservations, contact Melvin Flowers at 501-2525.
-- Ron Seibel
CRAWFORD COUNTY TIME CHANGED
Crawford County players will get to bed on time Friday night after all.
The Eagles were supposed to play Holy Innocents at 8:15 p.m. on Friday at Georgia College, but the GHSA changed the time to 4:45 p.m. so the Holy Innocents boys and girls would play in back-to-back games.
Holy Innocents' girls will play Pelham at 3 p.m.
The GHSA apparently did the same thing for Mays, which has both teams playing in Columbus on the same day in Class AAAAA.
Both teams from Treutlen and Taylor County are in the quarterfinals, and the way the brackets fell, they were scheduled to play back-to-back at Valdosta State. That was the case with several other schools with both teams advancing: They were scheduled to play back to back on the original schedule.
The switch put Thomasville and Pace Academy in the 8:15 p.m. game.
-- Michael A. Lough
WINDSOR BREAKS DROUGHT
Windsor's girls broke a GISA Tournament slump by making the tournament.
The Knights, who played Twiggs Academy on Tuesday, earned the second seed after losing to Monsignor Donovan in the GISA Region 4-AA Tournament.
Windsor's defending GISA Class AA champion boys (24-2) host Citizens Christian at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and will host again on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. with a win. Windsor also hosts the Bethlehem Temple-Crisp Academy game at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
-- Telegraph Staff
ALUMNI UPDATE
Ivey Slaughter had a double-double for Florida State in the Seminoles' 73-66 loss to No. 2 Notre Dame on Monday.
The Tattnall Square grad is fifth on the team with 8.9 points a game and second with 6.5 rebounds.
On the Seminoles' men's team, Jones County's Jarquez Smith has played in every game this season and is averaging 13.5 minutes, 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds. He is second with 26 blocks. His best game of the season came against Boston College when he had 13 points and nine rebounds, both season highs.
Former Westside standout Duran Porter is tied for third in scoring for Abilene Christian with 8.9 points a game. The 6-8 senior is also second with 3.9 rebounds, and leads the team with 26 blocks in 27 games.
Marquise Williams, a sophomore from Baldwin, was named to the second-team all-conference by the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association.
The 6-foot-8 forward plays for Columbia State, a junior college in Columbia, Tennessee, and is averaging 13.8 points and 13.6 rebounds this season. He transferred there from the Florida State College.
-- Michael A. Lough
This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 8:48 PM.