Newspaper Page Text
December 27,2023
®l|e Aiuance
BASKETBALL
MCHS vs. Bryan Co.
Sat. 3:30 p.m. (H)
RTCA vs. Piedmont Aca., Brentwood
Wed. 3:00 p.m. (H); Thur. 6:00 p.m. (A)
TCHS vs. PSFAS, Wayne Co.
Wed. 5:00 p.m. (A); Fri. 4:30 p.m. (A) - Boys Only - VHS C
VHS Christmas Tournament
Wed. 6:30 p.m. (H); Thur. 6:30 p.m. (H); Fri. 6:00 p.m. (H)
Wheeler OFF
Treutlen vs. Hancock Central, E. Laurens
Fri. 5:00 p.m. (H); Sat. 5:00 p.m. (A)
Section C
Loran
Smith
Orange
Bowl
Memories
My college years included the fall
football season of 1959, when seren
dipity graced
the University
of Georgia
campus again
as it had almost
two decades
earlier.
With the
remarkable
coaching ac-
complish-
ments of Kirby
Smart — mak
ing him the
most successful
coach in UGA history, especially with
the balance of his career unfinished—
one can only imagine the magnitude
of what Wallace Butts had going in
the early days of World War II.
The first bowl game, the Orange
Bowl skirmish with Texas Christian
in 1942, was followed up with a suc
cessful bout with UCLA in the Rose
Bowl one year later. No telling what
“The Little Round Man” might have
pulled off had it not been for the
“Good War” coming about.
Then there were the Herschel
years, a singular highlight of the Vince
Dooley era—three consecutive SEC
titles and the national championship
of 1980.
Butts in the 40’s, Dooley in the
80’s and Kirby here and now repre
sent the three greatest eras in Geor
gia football history. The current se
nior class on the UGA campus, those
graduating in June, will have seen
their alma mater lose only four games
during their time on campus.
A victory over Florida State in
the Orange Bowl would mean that
they will have witnessed 50 victories
which would have been more had it
not been for the COVID year of 2020
when the Bulldogs posted an 8-2 re
cord.
Winning and winning champion
ships is the Kirby Smart self-imposed
mantra.
You always remember what took
place during your own campus time
as a favorite if not THE favorite. As
much as I appreciated the Herschel
years and the back-to-back champion
ships from the Smart attack of 2021
and 2022, I have the fondest memo-
Please see Loran page 2B
By Loran Smith
Myrtle Beach Bowl
vs. Ohio University
Lost 41-21
r *, ;;
Gasparilla Bowl
vs. UCF
Dec. 22,6:30 p.m.
Capital One
Orange Bowl
vs. Florida State
Dec. 30,4:00 p.m.
A Look Back At Sports In 2023
By Mike Branch
Sports Editor
sports 7 advance@gmail.com
Contributions from VHS, TCHS,
RTCA, MCHS, & VHA
It was a big year for local sports in
2023. From Area and Region Champi
onships to State Titles, local athletes
showed that they are some of the best
in the state. These are the top stories
from 2023 in chronological order.
UGA
We will start off this Year in Re
view with one of the biggest stories of
2023 in the state, was that of the Back-
to-Back National Champion Georgia
Bulldogs. The Bulldogs squeaked by
Ohio State in the semi-finals, 42-41, to
earn their spot in the Championship
Game, where they faced the Horned
Frogs of TCU. TCU won their semi
final game over Michigan, 51-45, in
the Fiesta Bowl to get to the title
game.
In the Championship Game, it was
all Georgia, as they rolled to a 65-7
win over TCU. That made them just
the third team in the modern era to
finish off a 15-0 season and the first
team since Alabama in 2012 to win
back-to-back titles.
Wrestling
Wrestling hits the mats for Area
and State Championships early every
year, and this year we again saw both
Toombs County High School and Vi-
dalia High School with big years.
Toombs and Vidalia battled it out
for the Area Dual Championship in
Nahunta on January 7. It was a hard
fought battle with the Bulldogs taking
the title over VHS, 45-24.
That moved the teams onto the
Duals State Championship, which was
held at Jeff Davis. Toombs defeated
Model in the first round. Up next,
though, was Fannin County, and
Toombs lost that battle, 39-27.
Toombs bounced back with a win
over Brantley County, 59-24, and then
beat Landmark Christian, 43-27, to
take third place in the state.
After the Dual Season was over,
both teams moved on to the individual
portion for the year. Both teams quali
fied several wrestlers for the State
Meet, and what a week it was for the
local wrestling programs.
Both Toombs and Vidalia finished
in the top 4 at the GHSA State Cham
pionships. The Bulldogs took the #3
spot with 101 points, and the Indians
finished #4 with 96 points. Rockmart
took the top spot with 244.5 points
and Fannin County was second with
169.5 points.
Esports
It has been an interesting year for
the Toombs County High School Es
ports squad. They competed in the
State Championships at the beginning
of the year and then after the GHSA
moved the title games, they were in
them again just a week ago.
The Toombs team finished the
Fall 2022 season as State Runners-up
in Splatoon 3 after falling short to the
Northview Titans in the PlayVS cham
pionship match. The team was led by
team captains Adam Copeland and
Christian (Gabe) Smith in their cham
pionship effort.
Then again this fall they concluded
their most successful season to date,
capping off a sensational journey with
the Splatoon 3 team securing State
Runner-up for the second consecutive
year. In the short four-year history of
the program, the Bulldogs have proven
themselves a force to be reckoned
with, finishing the Fall 2023 regular
season as the second-ranked team in
the state of Georgia.
MCHS Basketball
The Montgomery County High
School Lady Eagles basketball team
had one of their best seasons in school
history last season. They brought
home the Region Championship and
finished the regular season with a re
cord of 26-1, and entered into the
State Playoffs as the #3 ranked team in
the state.
The Lady Eagles defeated Treutlen
County in the first round of the GHSA
Class A Division II State Playoffs, but
were then upset in the second round
by Clinch County. MCHS finished the
year with a record of 27-2.
RTCA Basketball
The Robert Toombs Christian
Academy Crusaders basketball teams
both brought home Region Champi
onships last season. The Lady Crusad
ers won their seventh straight title and
through that season had also not lost a
Region game in those seven years. The
boys won their second Region Cham
pionship in a row as they defeated
Memorial Day in the title game.
That moved both teams into the
GIAA State Playoffs. Both teams had a
bye in the first round, sending them
into the Elite 8. Both the boys and
girls won their Elite 8 games, with the
Lady Crusaders beating St. George’s,
and the boys defeating Grace Chris
tian.
In the Final 4 both RTCA teams
fell to end their seasons. The Lady
Crusaders lost to the #1 team in the
state, LaGrange Academy. RTCA held
the lead through most of the game, but
LaGrange made a run in the fourth
and took the win, 50-45.
The boys fell to the Rams of Mon
signor Donovan. RTCA tried to make
a run in the second half of the game,
but lost their Final 4 matchup, 57-43.
VHS Cheer
What a year it has been for the Vi
dalia cheerleaders. The Game Day
Cheer Team not only won their sec
ond State Championship in a row at
the end of February of this year, but
after moving the season to the Fall
from Winter, they won their third
straight State Championship in De
cember of this year.
For the first Championship of the
year, in Columbus, the Indians took
their 2nd straight 1A/2A State Cham
pionship, outscoring their nearest
competition by 6.2 points. The score
of 95.10 in the finals would have been
good enough to win even 3A/4A Divi
sion.
The Vidalia High School Game
Day Cheer Team made it three for
three just a few weeks ago, taking their
3rd GHSA State Championship, this
time in Atlanta. With the win, the
Lady Indians are the first team to
three-peat as GHSA State Champions
in Game Day Cheerleading.
This State Championship is the
sixth State Title for the Vidalia Cheer
Team since 2003.
BPC Basketball
For the first time in 17 seasons,
Brewton-Parker College’s Women’s
Basketball headed to the NAIA Wom
en’s Basketball National Champion
ship.
The Lady Barons went to Alexan
dria, Louisiana, to compete in the
NAIA National Championship First
Round on Tuesday, March 7.
BPC earned an At-Large berth
into the tournament as a No. 12 seed
and faced No. 5 seed Texas Wesleyan
on Tuesday in the First Round. BPC
played them tough, but lost the game,
104-87, to end their season.
“I’m so proud of our group,” Head
Coach Steve Edwards said. “We fought
hard tonight, and we lost to a better
team. Our group stayed connected
through a lot of adversity this season
and I’m truly proud of them.”
Warmouth Sands
For several years now the Toombs
County area has lacked a golf course.
After Rocky Creek and Hawk’s Point
shut down there has been a definite
need for a course in the area. Not just
for the recreational aspect, but it is
also a big part of charity events, and it
helps to bring more business to the
community.
That is all changing as the City of
Vidalia has already begun work on its
new golf course at the Regional Sports
Complex on Ezra Taylor Road. The
Sweet Onion Golf Authority, the com
mittee put together to help oversee
this project, unveiled the name of the
new course in front of a crowd of
nearly 200 community members in
April of this year. The new course will
be called Warmouth Sands, and ac
cording to committee chairman Andy
Woodruff, the name comes from mul
tiple sources from the area of the
course. It was named after the war
mouth fish that inhabits the creek that
runs through the course and from the
sandy soil that makes the onions here
so sweet.
There were some issues mid year
on the project, but work is scheduled
to resume in the near future.
The city realizes the importance of
golf as a recreational opportunity for
patrons of all ages along with the sig-
Please see 2023 page 2B
VHS Game Day Cheer 3-Peats As State Champions - (L to R, Front): Greer Slack, Nitta-
nia Durham, Nylah Harvey, Kyndall Dunford, Journey Clements, Malie Carey; (Middle):
Rayley Brantley, Ava Anderson, Remi Spell, Emily Coleman, Taylor Cox, Hillaree Hanker-
son, Malaysia Ricks; (Back): Coach Bricyn Fitzgerald, Braylie Davis, Emily Kicklighter,
Kalli Jo Roberson, Zoey Alvarez, Coach Harley Paradice, Alexis Head, Grade McLen
don, Reagan Burton, AnnaBeth Martin, and Head Coach Ann Michele Toole,