Friday's Report: Southwest/East Laurens/GHSA, Central Georgia Tech, GCSU, Henley, Westside, Mount de Sales; GHSA finals, Falcons/Pearce, Braves, Kennesaw State, Georgia State, UGA, HoCo's Burress
📰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)
⚾ ⚾ ⚾ Baseball ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
Dodge County 8, East Laurens 3
Hawkinsville 14, Montgomery County 4
John Milledge 12, Brentwood 3
Jones County 13, Woodland 0
Sandy Creek 8, Upson-Lee 4
Tattnall 4, Strong Rock 1
Washington County 6, Bleckley County 4
Westfield 11, Tiftarea 0
⚽ ⚽ ⚽ Soccer ⚽ ⚽ ⚽
Girls
ACE Charter 4, Bleckley County 0
East Laurens 4, Dublin 2
Peach County 10, Monroe 0
Sherwood Christian 10, Macon County 0
Trinity Christian 7, Windsor 0
Boys
ACE Charter 2, Bleckley County 0
Baldwin 3, Washington County 0
Bulloch 3, Trinity Christian 1
East Laurens 3, Dublin 2
Montgomery County 2, Hawkinsville 1
Peach County 10, Monroe 0
Sherwood Christian 6, Macon County 0
Tattnall 5, Deerfield-Windsor 2
Upson-Lee 3, Fayette County 1
West Laurens 1, Richmond Academy 0
🎾 🎾 🎾Tennis 🎾 🎾 🎾
G-Terrell 3, Stratford 2
B-Stratford 5, Terrell 0
⛳⛳⛳Golf⛳⛳⛳
G-Stratford 100, West Laurens 101
🏫🏫🏫College🏫🏫🏫
(Colleges: Please post links to stories with social media posts, and team names instead of logos in graphics)
🏀🏀🏀Basketball🏀🏀🏀
W-Central Georgia Tech 96, Albany Tech 70, GCAA semifinal
Pro
🏀🏀🏀NBA🏀🏀🏀
📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰
Signings
Honor Roll
GCSU women’s basketball team earns PBC Team Sportsmanship Award
Around/About Central Georgia
Henley cruises on odd Players first day
Mother Nature is in need of meds again, this time in Florida.
The field at The Players Championship battled all the elements, except snow, and it led to an odd leaderboard.
Five players are tied for first, four for sixth one shot back, seven tied for 10th two back, and 13 tied for 17th three back.
Russell Henley is in that group tied for sixth, joined by Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, among others, with a 4-under 68.
“I’ll take 4 under par here any day,” Henley said. “I find this place visually intimidating, but I did feel I did a good job of committing to my shots today.
“There's a lot of gusty winds and changes of wind direction and rain, and so I felt like I was in a good place mentally and made some good decisions and executed pretty well.”
He had a nice round interrupted by bogeys on 12 and 14 – Henley started on No. 10 – but peeled off five birdies on his final 12 holes, with two par-5 birdies and two par-5 pars.
Henley just missed par putts of 12 feet and 10 feet, but drilled a 44-footer for bird on 17.
He sent his second shot on No. 4 102 yards to get within three feet for a birdie. A hole later, he covered 132 yards to get within a yard, for the birdie.
Four players have to finish the first round Friday morning with a hole left, and Henley tees off at 1:54 p.m., with Viktor Hovland and Robert McIntyre.
Around/About Georgia
Court filing: Jackson feared Pearce 'will kill me'
Prosecutors bring 3 felony charges against Falcons’ James Pearce Jr. in domestic dispute
With evolving repertoire, is Strider's best yet to come?
Kennesaw State fires WBKB coach Blue after five seasons
Georgia State separates from WBKB coach Hill after eight years
State college basketball
Georgia sloppy in first-game SEC loss to lowly Ole Miss
Simpson puts up 26 in Kennesaw State’s victory over Western Kentucky in C-USA
State college baseball/softball
HoCo’s Burress belts two bombs in romp over Clemson
GHSA basketball championships
Class A/II girls, Wilcox County 48, Washington-Wilkes 39
The Coliseum was Wilcox County’s home away from home for the second straight year as the Patriots defended their GHSA Class A/Division II title, against the same team they beat last year.
Wilcox County gained a measure of control with a 35-23 lead after three quarters and maintained it in the fourth.
Tyliah Benhamin had 20 points and 14 rebounds for Wilcox County, Shamauri Martin adding 14 and 10. The Patriots racked up 20 steals. Samaria Young had 15 for W-W.
Class A/II boys, Clinch County 63, Portal 43
The Panthers broke a 37-year drought, led by Traviian Miller’s 25 points.
Clinch County won in 1987 and 1989, but not since then. The Panthers led 28-24 at halftime, but took over in the third as Portal managed only six points.
Class 4A girls, Marist 58, Kell 50
Kate Harpring, daughter of the former Georgia Tech men’s standout and the state’s all-time leading scorer with more than 3,400 points, went for 40 points to lead Marist to its second title in three years. She grabbed 16 rebounds and was 15 of 25 from the floor.
Marist led 15-3 after one, but Kell battled back and made it a tight game, the War Eagles holding on in the fourth quarter.
Asiah Thompson had 12 poitns and five rebounds for Kell.
Class 4A boys, St. Pius X 54, Pace 51
The Golden Lions finished as the state’s lone unbeaten, thanks to 23 points from Clemson signee Harris Reynolds.
Pace was going for its sixth title, but Golden Lions won their first by holding on in the fourth quarter.
A Worthy Read
93 days to the World Cup: The trophy that was stolen and never found
Epstein and Sports
Giants' Steve Tisch aims to offload remaining ownership shares amid Epstein scrutiny
War and Sports
Trump discourages Iranian soccer team from attending the World Cup, citing safety concerns
Mancini unable to return to Qatar for coaching duties as war disrupts travel plans
College Sports, the changing landscape
College Sports Commission NIL Go report: 63% of deals tied to school boosters in last two months
College conference tournaments, women
Perry scores 21, Stephen F. Austin beats McNeese, wins Southland Conference
College conference tournaments, men
Big 12 ditching slippery glass floor for hardwood for rest of tournament
No. 1 Duke edges Florida State in ACC after Seminoles’ buzzer-beater rims out
Clemson holds off furious 2nd half rally from No. 19 North Carolina to win
No. 10 Virginia beats NC State for third time this season
Pack scores 20, Oklahoma beats Texas A&M at SEC
Aberdeen’s late basket pushes Kentucky past Missouri
Jefferson’s double-double sends No. 7 Iowa St to rout of No. 16 Texas Tech in Big 12
Peterson scores 24 to lead No. 14 Kansas past TCU in Big 12 quarters
Dybantsa passes Durant for most points scored in a single Big 12 Tournament
Blums and Davidson win in OT against Loyola Chicago in Atlantic 10
No. 6 UConn bounces back to beat Xavier in Big East quarters
Providence ousted from Big East, expected to fire English
North Texas defeats Florida Atlantic in American Athletic
Georgetown secures win in Big East over Villanova
Johnson, North Carolina Central beat Maryland-Eastern Shore in OT in MEAC
Oshodi and Southern defeat UAPB in SWAC
Charlotte takes down Tulane in American Athletic
South Carolina State defeats Norfolk State in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Louisiana Tech earns win in Conference USA against Middle Tennessee
College Basketball/Women
CSU-Bakersfield head coach put on administrative leave
Strong legacy: UConn star may be one of program's best ever
There's never been a Dance without Tennessee. This could be the year
‘Can’t imagine it anywhere else’: Mohegan Sun gets three-year extension to host women’s Big East
College Basketball/Men
Miami (Ohio) finally lost its first game, and now the RedHawks are no lock for March Madness
UCF’s John Bol helped off court after collapsing and clutching his chest in Big 12 game
Ex-CSU Bakersfield basketball assistant alleged to have operated as a pimp
As IU misses March Madness again, it's never been more clear: Indiana is a football school
NBA/Basketball
Spoelstra: ‘I apologize to absolutely no one’ over Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game
Gilgeous-Alexander scores 20 points for 127th straight game, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record
Doncic turns trash talk into first 50-point game with the Lakers
Jokic, Murray rally Nuggets from 20-point deficit to beat Spurs in Wembanyama’s absence
Baseball/MLB
Head priest of Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh accused of stealing baseball cards from Walmart
DeRosa owns ‘overly confident’ WBC remark before Team USA’s loss to Italy
MLB report settles World Series Game 7 plate drama: IKF was out by feet, not inches
Nick Kurtz and Elly De La Cruz among 7 players whose contracts unilaterally renewed by teams
College Football/SEC/ACC/Southeast
Hartline's first USF practice as a head coach felt "surreal" at times
DeBoer talks spring injuries, new coaching staff
Jax State: First practice of spring isn't for anybody who doesn't play physical
College Football
Ohio State's Downs claims Michigan teaches offensive linemen to hold
Shawnee State football: Former Marshall coach Snyder named Bears coach
College Sports
Here's hoping SEC commish willing to play nice with others
NFL/NFC
Vikings sign Kyler Murray in their latest QB pivot, bringing in competition for J.J. McCarthy
NFL/AFC
Kelce jokes he took page from Taylor Swift in teasing return to Chiefs
Bills and Allen agree to restructure QB’s contract in salary cap-saving move
Raiders have a tough decision to make regarding Maxx Crosby’s future now that trade was nixed
Raiders introduce new players after Baltimore backs out of the Maxx Crosby trade
Auto Racing
“The Aura Is Crazy”: Jordan watching Reddick pit leaves fans starstruck
Qualifying order for Cup Series at Las Vegas
Golf
Straka part of 4-way tie at the top at The Players Championship in wild weather
Homa and Finau among those who discover Sawgrass can take as quickly as it gives
Fox withdraws from The Players Championship to have kidney stones removed
McIlroy had an interesting first take on Brian Rolapp's plan to remake the PGA Tour
Tennis
Pegula's commitment to hard work every day has turned her into a leader
Sabalenka beats 'future champion' Mboko, Swiatek out
Draper beaten after controversial hindrance call
Hockey
Late comeback propels Canucks to shootout win over Predators
Bedard’s OT goal lifts Blackhawks past Mammoth
Rising Flyers trim wild-card deficit, top Wild in shootout
Chychrun fires game-winner as Capitals end Sabres streak
Soccer
NWSL to award its 18th franchise this year, with team expected to begin play in 2028
Ten months after her heart stopped during a game, Angel City’s Savy King returns to the pitch
Chelsea’s Pedro Neto apologizes for shoving ball boy during Champions League loss at PSG
Orlando City and coach Oscar Pareja are parting ways after 3 losses to open the season
WNBA/Women’s basketball
WNBA and players’ union resume labor talks after 12-hour session ends without a deal
Boxing/UFC/MMA/WWE
Boxing feels like it's operating from a P.T. Barnum playbook
Scoreboards