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The ADVANCE, December 15,2021 /Page 4B
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Vidalia Heritage Academy had six football players named to both the All Region and
All State teams. The Eagles had an outstanding season as they took home the State
Championship with a win over Horizon Christian Academy, 66-36.
The six players that were recognized for their play this season were (L to R): Ethan
Sikes, James Hutcheson, John Smith, Josiah Smith, Mason Beacham, and Ledger Curl.
VHS To Remain In AA
Vidalia High School
will not be moving to
AAA. They were granted
an appeal last week to re
main in AA. The GHSA
has been going through re
classification and origi
nally the Indians had been
denied their appeal and
were heading up a classifi
cation to AAA.
VHS Athletic Director
Tommy Dailey said, “It has
really been chaotic with
everything that has been
going on. When the GHSA
added the multiplier back
to all the private schools
and put them back in the
mix with Class A, AA, and
AAA, it skewed every
thing. They had to get the
numbers right and adjust
every school. When they
originally put us in AAA
and we have 760 kids try
ing to compete against
schools with 1,300 kids,
then that would have been
really tough.
“We have some natu
ral rivalries around here
that make for a really good
Region, and that is what
we were trying to shoot
for. We were granted the
appeal to stay in AA but
nothing has been finalized.
This is only temporary and
things could change next
week. The executive com
mittee of the GHSA will
vote in January and will
have the final word.”
VHS currently looks
to be moving from Region
2AA into a new Region
3AA. This is going to be
one of the toughest regions
in the state to compete in.
Along with Vidalia will be
their cross county rival
Toombs County. The
other teams in the Region
will be Appling County,
Brantley County, Jeff Da
vis, Pierce County, Tattnall
County, Savannah Arts
Academy, and Windsor
Forest.
Robert Toombs Plays Three Games
Photo by Mike Branch
Drew Vaughn drives in against the defense of Thomas Jefferson before kicking the ball
out for a Crusader basket.
Photo by Mike Branch
Asnley Akins gets a layup to fall for the Lady Crusaders as
they roll over Thomas Jefferson.
The Robert Toombs
Christian Academy Cru
saders took on Pinewood
Christian Academy on
Monday of last week split
ting those games with the
boys winning. On Thurs
day they hosted Thomas
Jefferson Academy and
swept the Jaguars. Then on
Friday RTCA traveled to
Statesboro to face Bulloch
Academy with the boys
picking up their third win
of the week.
Girls vs. Pinewood
Robert Toombs Chris
tian Academy competed
against Pinewood Chris
tian Academy on Monday.
The Lady Patriots defeated
the Lady Crusaders 20-
8. Top scorers for Mon
day's game were sopho
more Ansley Akins with
four points and freshman
Kylie Acosta with three
points.
"Monday's game was a
tough loss. PCA is a big ri
val since they are right
down the road from us.
The girls played very hard,
and we played solid de
fense. We just couldn't get
some of our open shots to
fall," said Coach Jake
Wilkinson, Lady Crusad
er's Head Basketball
Coach.
Boys vs. Pinewood
The Crusaders de
feated the Patriots 74-55.
Top scorers were senior
MK McBride and sopho
more Drew Vaughn with
16 points each. Senior Ty
ler Buggs followed with 10
points.
"We came out sloppy
in the first quarter and
then woke up in the sec
ond quarter going on a
25-2 run to open the sec
ond. PCA has a really good
athletic team. This was
their first game back from
football playoffs, so we
know the next time we play
them they will be a differ
ent team and we won't be
able to come out of the
gate sloppy," stated Coach
Adam Callaway, Head
Crusader Basketball
Coach.
Girls vs. TJ
On Thursday, the
Lady Crusaders defeated
Thomas Jefferson Acad
emy 46-18. Top scorers for
the Lady Crusaders were
sophomore Ansley Akins
with 17 points and fresh
man Meredith Durden
with 10 points and 12 re
bounds.
Here's what Coach
Wilkinson has to say about
the game, "We started off
slow but finally had a few
shots fall and found our
momentum and never
looked back. It was great
seeing the girls being more
aggressive offensively and
playing hard on defense.
Senior Morgan Newsome
is out for a few weeks with
an ankle injury. Therefore,
we needed the girls to step
up and they did just that.
Freshman Kylie Acosta
had a great game defen
sively and senior Elbe Gra
ham and sophomore Ans
ley Akins stepped up of
fensively. Newsome is a
leader for the team and a
four-year starter, so it was
good for them to get that
win for her and the team."
Boys vs. TJ
The Crusaders de
feated Thomas Jefferson
68-26. Top scorers for the
Crusaders were senior MK
McBride with 17 points, 8
assists, and 7 rebounds. Ju
nior JaShaun Powell had
14 points and 10 rebounds
followed by sophomore
Aaron Hankers on with 12
points and 6 steals.
Coach Callaway said,
"We played pretty well
against TJ. They had three
players at an All-Star foot
ball game, so they were a
little shorthanded, but we
will be ready for them
when we play them again."
Girls vs. Bulloch
On Friday the Lady
Crusaders traveled to
Statesboro to take on Bull
och Academy, the number
one team in AAA and cur
rently 7-0. Bulloch Acad
emy defeated the Lady
Crusaders 51-24.
Top scorers for the
Lady Crusaders were
sophomore Ansley Akins
and freshman Meredith
Durden with seven points
apiece.
Coach Wilkinson
stated, "Since last week
when we played them, I
think we have already got
ten better. BA is an athletic
and tall team who presses
and pushes the ball up the
court well. For us to keep
them to 15 points under
their average score is a
huge plus for us. We gave
them a tough game and
never gave up. We played a
tough defensive game; we
just need to do a better job
of limiting our turnovers
and being more aggressive
offensively. However, these
games help better prepare
us for our tournaments in
late February. I'm just
proud of our growth
throughout this stretch of
games.”
Boys vs. Bulloch
The Crusaders de
feated Bulloch Academy
60-26, taking RTCA to a
record of 5-0. Top scorers
for the game were senior
MK McBride with 26
points and 11 rebounds.
Sophomore Drew Vaughn
and seniors Tyler
Buggs and Jackson New
ton all had 10 points apiece.
Vaughn also had seven as
sists and Buggs had nine
rebounds.
Here's what Coach
Callaway had to say about
the game, "We played a
great defensive game. They
came out of the gate ready
to go and played the best
defense they've played all
year. I've been on them
during practices about
how our defense will push
us over the top and they
did just that in this game."
This week RTCA will
have a light week as they
host Citizens Christian
Academy on Friday with
tipoff of the girl’s game at
6:00 p.m. with the boys to
follow.
VHS
continued from page IB
fourth quarter. VHS bat
tled in the fourth, but fell
short as they lost the
game 57-47.
Boys vs. Woodville
The boys picked up
the win over the Wolver
ines, making it the first
time VHS had defeated
them on their home
court in Savannah. VHS
was in control of this
game as they got the win,
66-45.
VHS was up early 9-2
after a fast break from
Konner Owens to
Whited. Another steal by
Owens led to a Dailey
three-pointer as VHS
built up a 17-4 lead on
the Wolverines. Threes
by Dailey, and Owens
pushed that lead to 23-7.
Later in the game the
Indians were on top 59-
40 in the fourth quarter
as they got the 66-45
win.
Girls vs. Wheeler
Vidalia was facing a
very depleted Wheeler
County team who was
without their top two
scorers, and the Lady In
dians easily ran away
with this game.
Vidalia led the game
20-0 at the end of the
first and held a 44-0 lead
at halftime. Vidalia was
on top 57-0 at the end of
the third quarter and
won the game 57-7.
Boys vs. Wheeler
Dailey gave VHS a
3- 0 lead early, but
Wheeler tied the game at
4- 4. VHS got baskets by
Whited and Siricco Jones
to lead 11-4 with 3:50 on
the clock. Jones added
another three and VHS
held a 20-10 lead at the
end of the first quarter.
In the second Wash
ington made it 22-12, but
Wheeler hit a three and
got a pair of free-throws
to close it to 22-17. But a
three by Powell and a
basket by Whited pushed
the lead back to 27-17.
Dailey found his rhythm
and hit two three-point
ers as VHS led 35-25
with 3:15 left in the half.
Baskets by Powell and
Jones made it 40-30.
Wheeler hung on,
but VHS was on top 44-
35 with VHS on top.
Wheeler hung
around throughout much
of the second half keep
ing it around a 10-point
game. In the fourth they
trailed 75-65, but the In
dians went on a late run
to take an 82-65 win over
the Bulldogs.
This week VHS was
at Emanuel County Insti
tute on Tuesday after
presstime. They will be
at Montgomery County
on Friday at 6:00 p.m.,
and then on Saturday
they will host ECI at 4:00
p.m.
MCHS
continued from page IB
33.
The Bell sisters again
led MCHS with Makyla
scoring 23 and Marley
added 18 points.
Boys vs. Toombs
The Bulldogs handed
the Eagles a loss. Toombs
was on top by only two
points at the end of the
first, 12-10, but in the
second they increased
their lead to 24-16.
TCHS extended that
lead to 37-27 by the end
of the third quarter, and
the Bulldogs got the win,
54-39.
This week the Eagles
were at Hawkinsville on
Tuesday after presstime,
and will host Vidalia on
Friday at 6:00 p.m.
She Aimantc IS NOW ONUNE!
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