Thursday's Report: GHSA/GIAA basketball, Mercer, Georgia College; Braves, Falcons, UGA, Hawks, state 🏀/⚾; NCAA/NIL, college 🏀, NBA, Olympics, college 🏈, NFL/Combine, MLB, NASCAR, NHL
📰S📰C📰O📰R📰E📰B📰O📰A📰R📰D
High Schools
(Teams: Please post first and last names, and names are preferred over social media handles (they know who they are, most people don’t) and post team names, not mascots)
(Basketball: Postseason tournament scores/pairings on www.centralgasports.com)
🏀🏀🏀Basketball🏀🏀🏀
GHSA playoffs
Girls
Baldwin 50, Cedar Grove 28
Suri Clark and Zuri Grant combined for 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists for Baldwin, with 9 rebounds from Connya Reaves and 7 from Kari Leslie.
Putnam County 62, Chattooga 40
Boys
Baldwin 71, Hephzibah 46
Dodge County 69, Dade County 36
Kyler Johnson went off for 27 to lead Dodge County (18-7), with Galvin Hilburn adding 17 and Xavier McCoy 12.
Dublin 63, Jasper County 57
Elbert County 63, Washington County 44
Freshman Braylon Yorker had 11 points and sophomore Aiden Watts 10 for the 18-10 Golden Hawks.
Eastside 58, Warner Robins 40
East Laurens 71, Bremen 54
Elite Scholars 66, Hawkinsville 54
Fitzgerald 72, ACE Charter 49
Houston County 67, Pope 48
The Bears put four in double figures, led by 23 points from Karon Plummer. Malik Gillespe added 14 points and 8 rebounds, while Josh Jackson scored 12 and Mahkel Stephens 10.
Lassiter 61, Veterans 35
Metter 76, Wilkinson County 50
Portal 67, Twiggs County 44
Putnam County 75, BEST 50
The War Eagles cruised behind 32 points from Tamaud Woodson, with 13 each from Jaylen Nelson and J’Mari Greene. They had a 45-26 lead at halftime.
Savannah 66, Hancock Central 64
Southwest 66, Woodville-Tompkins 48
The defending state runner-ups took control in the second quarter and had little trouble the rest of the way. CJ Howard led Southwest with 23 points from all over the court, while Chase Dupree added 21 and Alex Butts 12.
Swainsboro 59, Northeast 49
Taylor County 55, 55, Brooks County 42
Thomson 68, Rutland 58
Turner County 52, Macon County 49
GIAA semifinal
Terrell 38, Westfield 22
⚾ ⚾ ⚾ Baseball ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
Evans 5, Washington County 2
Howard 14, Westside-Augusta 10; Howard 21,Westside-Augusta 6
Howard broke open the first game with six runs in the sixth, and then held on. The Huskies put up 9 in the fourth to break a 6-6 tie.
Jasper County 5, Ridgeland 1
John Milledge 6, Brentwood 1
Mary Persons 15, Jordan 0
Montgomery County 18, Twiggs County 1
Northside 8, Hawkinsville 3
Piedmont 14, Hampton 3
Taylor County 10, Manchester 7
Treutlen 4, East Laurens 3
⚽ ⚽ ⚽ Soccer ⚽ ⚽ ⚽
G-Dodge County 2, Central 0
🎾 🎾 🎾Tennis 🎾 🎾 🎾
G-FPD 5, Taylor County 0
B-FPD 5, Taylor County 0
G-Stratford 3, Mary Persons 2; Stratford 5, Morgan County 0
B-Stratford 5, Mary Persons 0; Morgan County 3, Stratford 2
🏫🏫🏫College🏫🏫🏫
(Colleges: Please post links to stories with social media posts, and team names instead of logos in graphics)
🏀🏀🏀Basketball🏀🏀🏀
W-Georgia College 55, Lander 51
M-Lander 88, Georgia College 43
M-Western Carolina 78, Mercer 74
⚾⚾⚾ Baseball⚾⚾⚾
Mercer 5, Florida A&M 1
📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰
Around/About Central Georgia
BSB-Mercer gets another big pitching night
WBKB-GCSU completes Lander sweep on the road
MBKB-Nichols III goes over 1,000 in Bobcats road loss
MBKB-Stansberry scores 21, Western Carolina beats Mercer
Around/About Georgia
Juuuuust a bit outside: Olson challenges Skenes pitch that missed by how much?
Braves notes: Riley goes yard, bullpen competition heats up
Stefanski feels good about Falcons' roster, offseason plan
Cunningham hopes to accrue more picks in Draft
Smart shares hilarious story about how he knew Ellis Robinson would be great for Georgia
Georgia releases salary information for 3 assistant coaches
Kuminga shines in his Atlanta debut after trade by the Warriors
State college basketball
Georgia falls just short at Vanderbilt
Georgia Southern women handle App State
Coastal Carolina holds off Georgia State
Davis scores 24 as James Madison beats Georgia Southern
State college baseball/softball
Missed opportunities haunt Georgia baseball in loss to Troy
A Worthy Read
Vesia cheered in first outing since daughter's death: 'It means a lot'
College Sports, the changing landscape
As NIL cash grows, coaches call for rules to protect athletes from 'street agents'
Cincinnati sues ex-QB Brendan Sorsby after his transfer to Texas Tech
College Basketball/SEC/ACC/South
Led by Mackinnon’s 34 points, LSU snaps 5-game skid with 2OT win over Mississippi
Okorie scores 34 points as Stanford holds on to beat Pittsburgh
Shaw tips in game-winning basket as Boston College beats Wake Forest to snap 8-game skid
Machowski has 20 as Wofford defeats East Tennessee State
Bacchus’ 20 lead North Alabama over Bellarmine
Olsen’s 29 help South Alabama defeat UL Monroe
Riley and East Carolina take down UTSA
Nelson’s 24 lead South Florida over Rice
College Basketball/Women
Olson’s career-high 31 points propel No. 8 Michigan to OT victory over No. 13 Ohio State
No. 17 West Virginia pull away in 3rd quarter to beat UCF
College Basketball/Men
Washington State F Egbo suspended for remainder of season
Sixth-ranked UConn flexes its defensive muscle in blowing out No. 15 St. John’s
Condon scores 23 and No. 7 Florida turns back Texas for 8th straight win
Graham Ike scores 19 points as No. 9 Gonzaga beats Portland to clinch WCC crown
Allen scores 23 points to lead No. 17 Alabama to win over Mississippi State
Richmond scores 23 points to lead No. 20 Arkansas past Texas A&M
NBA/Basketball
Pat Riley revives the NBA coach suit debate. Spoelstra wants to keep sideline wear casual
Pacers’ Carlisle says NBA investigator did not speak with team doctors before issuing fine
Jokic has 30 points and 12 rebounds in the Nuggets’ win over the Celtics
Sheppard makes 7 3s, Sengun has a triple-double as Rockets rout Kings
Vassell and Spurs overcome Wemby’s rough night to beat Raptors, extend win streak to 10
Duren, Cunningham lead Pistons past short-handed Thunder
2026 Winter Olympics/Milan Cortina
Knight wants focus on the US women’s Olympic success, not Trump’s ‘distasteful’ joke
From Expo to the Olympics, Milan bets on big events to fuel its transformation to a global city
Swayman admits U.S. men's hockey team 'should've reacted differently' to Trump call
U.S. men's gold-medal game win over Canada averaged 20.7M viewers
College Football/SEC/ACC/Southeast
Beamer won't cancel South Carolina football's basketball games despite injury
Florida passes 'The Gauntlet' before spring practice
College Football
Report: NCAA committee to recommend eliminating carry-over suspension for first targeting offense
College football player Boutros dies of carbon monoxide poisoning during blizzard
Rondale Moore had greatness and humility, a winning combination in any walk of life
NFL/AFC
Steelers GM says he expects a faster Rodgers resolution this year as QB weighs return or retirement
Titans release C Cushenberry and S Woods
NFL Combine
The NFL combine is here, and there are plenty of intriguing names after Mendoza
Combine invites 2026: Complete list of participants, workout times & more
Texas Tech’s defensive line reaps benefits at NFL scouting combine
Rueben Bain Jr.: NFL teams haven’t raised concerns about his arm length
NFL/USFL/UFL/Football
UFL restricts punting beyond 50-yard line and makes 60-plus field goals worth 4 points
Vrabel calls for increased staffing at NFL replay center to help cut down on mistakes
Four teams with pass-rush needs, four trade offers for Crosby
Baseball/MLB
Scherzer and Toronto Blue Jays agree to $3 million, 1-year deal
Skenes loses 4 strikes to ABS challenges in Cy Young winner’s spring debut before WBC
DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approve land transfer Rays ballpark in Tampa
Raleigh not focused on trying for another 60-homer season in Seattle
Auto Racing
Joe Gibbs Racing seeks restraining order to block Chris Gabehart from joining Spire
NASCAR’s 1st All-Star race in Northeast at Dover scraps Promoter’s Caution, has $1 million prize
Golf
Koepka returns to the Cognizant Classic for his first start there since 2022
Hockey
Golden Knights face 18 games in 35 days in a tight Pacific Division playoff race
Quenneville reaches 1,000 victories, joining Scotty Bowman in an elite club for NHL coaches
Olympic star Jack Hughes returns to NHL -- missing a few front teeth
Golden Knights score 5 in third period to beat Kings 6-4 and spoil Artemi Panarin’s LA debut
Scoreboards