Newspaper Page Text
INSIDE THIS SECTION
• BCA volleyball
— 2B
•Softball playoffs
— 3B
•Football contest winner
— 2B
•Sports Opinion
— 8B
October 19, 2016
Phone: 770-867-6397
Fax: 706-621-4115
sthompson@barrowjournal.com
Section B
★★★★
Also in today’s sports section:
The Apalachee and Winder-Barrow high school
softball teams were both swept last week by their
opponents in the first round of the GHSA Class
AAAAAA playoffs. Look inside for coverage of
those series and photos from Apalachee’s home
series against Dalton.
— Page 3B
High School Football: Bethlehem Christian Academy
Playoff seeding at stake for Knights vs. LCA
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
There will be a number of things on
the line as Bethlehem Christian Academy
travels to Loganville Christian for its reg
ular season finale 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The Knights (4-5 overall, 2-2 GISA
Region 1-AAA) could reach five wins in a
season for the first time in school history
and defeat an opponent that has become
their archrival for the first time.
But most importantly, a win could give
BCA a shot at hosting a home playoff
game next week.
“It’s as big a game as they get,’’ Knights
head coach Lance Fendley said Monday.
“Everything is riding on it.’’
The Knights enter Friday’s contest
in fourth place in the region standings
behind the Heritage School (4-0), Logan
ville Christian (3-1) and Trinity Christian,
Sharpsburg (3-1).
A BCA win over Loganville Christian
and a Trinity loss to Heritage would set up
a three-way tie for second between those
schools.
Fendley said region officials have told
him the first tiebreaker that would be used
would be the teams’ point totals against
each other. Trinity beat BCA 13-10 in
overtime on Sept. 16, and Loganville
Christian knocked off Trinity 27-6 a week
later.
The second tiebreaker would be the
teams’ results against Heritage, which has
already rolled over Loganville Christian
(67-9) and BCA (49-9).
In the event of a BCA win and a Trinity
win, the Knights would finish third in the
region, but a loss to Loganville Christian
would lock BCA in as a fourth seed.
“All I know for sure is if we win we
give ourselves a chance, and if we lose, we
don’t,’’ Fendley said. “We’ve been chip
ping away at a lot of barriers this season,
and now we’ve got to be able to do it again
this week.’’
Knocking off Loganville Christian (3-3
overall) may be easier said than done. The
Lions have outscored the Knights 91-20
the past two seasons, and this year’s squad
is similar to the previous two, Fendley
See Knights on Page 2B
LOOKING FOR ROOM
Bethlehem Christian’s Matthew Kamm runs the ball during last week’s loss
to the Heritage School. (Photo by Jessica Brown)
High School Volleyball: Winder-Barrow
High School Football: WBHS
Ousted at home
~
4
GOING FOR THE BLOCK
Top: Winder-Barrow’s Hannah Hubbard (1),
Madison Miller (5) and Olivia Nelson-Ododa play
defense in last week’s first-round GHSA Class
AAAAAA playoff match with Brunswick. Right:
Kori Estes goes for a block. The Bulldoggs won
the match but were shut out 3-0 by Johns Creek
in the second round Tuesday. (Photos by Jessica
Brown)
‘Doggs falls to Johns
Creek in 2nd round
By Scott Tkompson
Sports Editor
Five days after cruis
ing past Brunswick in the
first round of the GHSA
Class AAAAAA playoffs,
the Winder-Barrow High
School volleyball team
wasn’t as fortunate Tues
day in the second round
against visiting Johns
Creek.
The Bulldoggs (36-23),
the No. 1 seed from Area
8-AAAAAA, were shut
out 3-0 (25-17, 25-11,
25-22) by the Gladiators,
the No. 2 seed from Area 7.
Johns Creek (35-15),
which has been ranked
in the top five all season,
advances to the quarterfi
nals and will face Pope.
“We didn’t play our
strongest really, but (the
Gladiators) were consis
tently good hitters and
passers,’’ Winder-Barrow
See WBHS on Page 10B
Bulldoggs try to
solve Gainesville
in region battle
By Scott Tkompson
Sports Editor
Winder-Barrow High School head football coach
Heath Webb said his team’s open date last week
probably couldn’t have come at a better time.
The beat up Bulldoggs were able to rest some key
players and take two weeks to prepare for an oppo
nent that has traditionally overpowered them.
When it travels to Gainesville on Friday for a
7:30 p.m. tilt, Winder-Barrow will be attempting to
exorcise its demons against the Red Elephants, who
have won the last four meetings between the schools
by a combined score of 223-32, including a 40-26
victory last season.
According to the Georgia High School Football
Historians Association website, the Bulldoggs have
only managed five wins in 32 tries against Gaines
ville. All of those, as well as a tie, came during a
six-year stretch from 1988-93.
Few of those meetings have had similar implica
tions to Friday’s showdown. A win for the Bulldoggs
See Bulldoggs on Page 4B
High School Football: AHS
Wildcats go for
upset at Lanier
By Scott Tkompson
Sports Editor
Friday’s GHSA
Region 8-AAAAAA
matchup at Lanier is
not necessarily a “must-
win’’ for Apalachee, but
an upset of the Long
horns would certain
ly give the Wildcats a
much better shot at the
postseason.
“Obviously, all the
games are very import
ant and we could really
help ourselves out this
week,’’ said Apalachee
coach Steve Sims,
whose squad currently
sits at 0-2 in region play,
2-4-1 overall.
“There’s still a shot
for us to make the play
offs even if we lose Fri
day, but that just means
we would need even
more help the last two
weeks.’’
The Wildcats will be
tasked this week with
stopping a Lanier team
that is one of two unbeat
en in 8-AAAAAA (5-2
overall) and loaded with
college recruits, partic
ularly on the defensive
side of the ball.
See Wildcats on Page 4B