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BASKETBALL
RTCA Boys Final 4
Fri. 1:00 p.m.
Will play Brentwood Academy
at Georgia Southwestern in Americus
if win will play Saturday at 4:00 p.m. for State Championship
March 3,2021
®ljt Ailuante
Section B
Loran
Smith
Q^Morrison
You see them coming up the court,
the Lady Bulldogs daring a dashing
quintuple, but likely you don’t know the
rest of the story.
They are good,
damn good, but
as they bob and
weave, angling
for an opening to
the basket and
scoring with
verve and
aplomb, you are
impressed with
their athleticism.
You become
doubly awed, however, when you learn
that four/fifths of them are college grad
uates.
That is not a typo! Four of these
impressive young women already have
their sheepskins and are in hot pur
suit of Master’s degrees. They are the
epitome of the term student-athletes.
Sometimes, unfortunately, that term is
impertinent. All too often, many col
legiate athletes are just that—athletes.
The student part can be a misnomer, but
not with Que Morrison, Gabby Con-
nally, Maya Caldwell and Jenna Staiti.
Perhaps, the telling influence with
this Fab Four is that their coach, Joni
Taylor, enjoyed a similar experience
during her days on campus. As an un
dergraduate at Alabama, she was about
as “all-around” as a student-athlete
could be. Her modus operandi was to
make more than passing grades—she
wanted to excel in the classroom as well
as on the court.
Her coaching credentials reflect
that being an overachiever can continue
in the “after-campus-life.” She has just
been named coach-of-the-year by her
fellow SEC coaches.
The leader of her “Fab Four,” Que
Morrison has been singled out for high
honor, too. The league coaches voted
her the best defensive player.
Morrison, with an electric and abid
ing smile, hails from Riverdale where the
influence of her mother, Tonya, was the
foundation for her to excel as a student-
athlete. “My mother,” she says, “made
sure that I always studied as hard as I
played. It was the same with my broth
ers. She was a very good athlete herself
and she expected us to excel in class.
She stressed discipline in everything.
School, basketball and house chores.”
In sports, box scores are always im
portant, and seldom reflect academic
excellence, except for Georgia’s “Fab
Four.”
# 23, Que Morrison: has earned a
degree in communication studies and is
pursuing a Master’s in sports pedagogy.
# 2, Gabby Connally: earned a de
gree in criminal justice in three years
and is pursuing a Master’s in public ad
ministration; interned with the Athens-
Clarke County Police Department and
has secured an internship with the U. S.
Secret Service.
#11, Maya Caldwell: with a degree
in communication studies, she is on the
way to a Master’s in nonprofit manage
ment and leadership.
# 14, Jenna Staiti: after earning a de
gree in human development and family
science, she is studying for a Master’s in
sport pedagogy.
One can readily see between the
above lines, that this quartet is not only
excelling at a game they love and distin
guishing themselves in the classroom as
they compete, but are likely to become
proponents of altruism when their play
ing days are over.
You see them as good citizens, giv-
Please see Logan page 9B
r m ...... m
By Loran Smith
cL syl
Ik. mm
Photo by Mike Branch
MK McBride fights through two Edmund Burke defenders for a basket as RTCA rolls in their first round playoff game.
Crusaders Into Final 4
By Mike Branch
Sports Editor
sports 7 advance@gmail.com
The Crusader basketball teams of
Robert Toombs Christian Academy
took part in the GISA State AA Bas
ketball Tournament last week with
the boys playing their way into the
Final 4, while the girls fell in the first
round to the #5 seed in the tourna
ment.
Girls vs. SWG
The Lady Crusaders came into
the tournament as the #12 seed and
faced off with Southwest Georgia
Academy, the #5 seed, in the first
round of the playoffs. It was a tough
game for RTCA as they struggled to
get any offense going.
SWG had a 7-0 lead with just un
der three minutes to go in the first
period of the game. Kylie Acosta got
the first basket of the game for RTCA,
but at the end of the first the score
was 7-2 with RTCA trailing.
In the second the Warriors of
SWG pushed their lead to 11-2. Ans-
ley Akins made it 11-4 with five min
utes left in the first half, but it was
21-5 with just 2:30 left in the half as
SWG went on a run. At halftime the
score was 26-6.
In the third the score was 31-12
with four minutes on the clock after a
couple of baskets by Meredith Dur
den. At the end of the third period
SWG was on top 44-12.
SWG went on to win the game
over RTCA 56-14 to end the season
for the Lady Crusaders. RTCA fin
ished the season with a 6-12 record,
but did win their Region title.
Boys vs. EBA
The boys' first round opponent
was Edmund Burke Academy and the
Crusaders hosted them on Wednes
day of last week.
The Spartans jumped out to a 4-0
lead, but baskets by Jashaun Powell
and Clayton Meadows tied the game
at 4-4. Justin Walker, back from an
injury, hit his first three-pointer of
the game to put RTCA up 7-6 with
3:45 left in the first. MK McBride and
Tyler Buggs each got baskets on fast-
breaks as RTCA built up an 11-6 lead.
Walker and Buggs added to the
Please see RTCA page 9B
Bulldogs With Playoff Win
By Mike Branch
Sports Editor
sports 7 advance@gmail.com
What a season it was for the Toombs
County High School Bulldog basketball
teams. Both teams made it to the GHSA
State AA Playoffs with the boys winning
their first playoff game since 1998 as
they defeated Jasper County in the first
round. The girls played Washington
County in the first round and the boys
moved on to play Butler in the second
round before falling.
Girls vs. Washington
The Lady Bulldogs played well on
the road last Tuesday against Washing
ton County, but a bad second period was
the key to the win for Washington Coun
ty's Golden Hawks.
Toombs had the early lead 3-0, but
Washington came back and was up 10-7
later in the first. By the end of the first
the score was 16-10 with the Lady Bull
dogs trailing.
In the second the Hawks went on a
run. Theypushed their lead to 23-10 and
by the end of the first half they were on
top 39-16.
In the third period TCHS kept pace,
but were still trailing 57-31, and Wash
ington took the win, 75-45 over Toombs.
The loss ended the season for the
Lady Bulldogs with a record of 11-14.
Boys vs. Jasper
Toombs was into the first round of
Please see TCHS page 9B
i
Photo by Mike Branch
Julian Mann drives in for the Bulldogs as he leads his team to their first playoff win
since 1998 as they defeated Jasper County/Monticello.