Newspaper Page Text
B2 Fayette County News
Wednesday, February 22,2023
Special to FCN
The Chiefs are playoff-
bound. Hosting their re
gion tournament, both
McIntosh teams punched
their tickets, with the boys
winning their side and the
girls earning the three
seed.
The McIntosh boys
capped the tournament
with a bang, winning a 65-
64 overtime thriller over
the Northside Patriots.
They led 29-26 at the
half and 46-42 after three
quarters, but the Patriots
weren’t going away. North-
side had them on the ropes
late, until Brandon Cheri
sent it to overtime tied 59-
59 with a clutch three-
pointer with 10 seconds
left in regulation.
Overtime was tight,
with the Chiefs waiting for
their moment. Trailing 64-
63, they used patient ball
movement, finding Lan-
don Dolhancyk open for a
jumper from just inside the
free throw line with seven
seconds left.
The win marks the
third region championship
in team history and the
first since the 2015-16 sea
son.
Cheri paced the Chiefs
with 26 points, including
eight three-pointers. Dol
hancyk posted 19 points,
and Uche Iloh added 14.
The Chiefs enter the
playoffs red hot, with a 20-
7 record and 13 wins in a
row. They host Chamblee
in round one of the state
playoffs.
The Lady Chiefs fin
ished the tournament with
a 30-3 run in the final
seven minutes to beat
Northgate 54-49 and claim
the region’s three seed.
They travel to play Arabia
Mountain in round one.
Black History
Block Party
Builds Community
Chilly weather could
not keep the community
from coming together as
Cleveland Elementary and
Bennett’s Mill Middle
teamed for a Black History
Month block party on Feb.
4-
Visitors were able to
take a walk through his
tory and view displays
created by students to
celebrate Black History
Month.
At Bennett’s Mill, stu
dent finalists from school
wide art and writing
contests had their works
displayed. Cleveland Ele
mentary students de
signed displays called
“ABCs of Black History.”
Each classroom re
ceived a letter of the alpha
bet, and they were tasked
with creating educational
displays around words
starting with that letter
that relate to black history.
The celebration in
cluded an outdoor market
with more than 50 ven
dors, including black-
owned businesses, along
with music, dancing, food,
contests, and a chance to
smash a pie in a teacher’s
face.
In addition to many
volunteers, the party was
made possible in part by a
grant of $1,000 to each
school from the Fayette
County Education Foun
dation to help the schools
offset expenses.
let us Share
Your News!
FCN Searching for Lifestyle Columnist
Fayette County residents, civic clubs, and or
ganizations: submit your local neivs,family re
unions, anniversary, birthday, and military
advancement announcements to Sydney
Spencer at sspenser@fayette-neivs.net. It’s free!
Please submit photos in .jpeg format in color.
Fayette County Neivs is currently searching
for a local recipe, gardening, or hobby enthusi
ast to contribute a iveekly lifestyle column.
Anyone interested in contributing can email
sspencer@fayette-neivs.net with your name,
contact information, and column ideas.
-64 in OT for Region Tide
MHS boys win region with OT thriller
The McIntosh High Dance team
Courtesy of Fayette County Schools
Home of the Chiefettes!
McIntosh Wins State Dance Championship
The Chiefettes have
grabbed the crown. The
McIntosh High Dance
team won the Class 5A/6A
Georgia High School Asso
ciation state dance cham
pionship at the Macon
Centreplex on Feb. 11.
The victory marks the
first official GHSA dance
state championship for the
Chiefettes, who also won
the jazz category for their
classifications.
“Winning the state
championship was the cul
mination of so much hard
work and dedication by
the dancers throughout
the season, who contin
ually improved on their
scores,” said coach
Carmen Yarbrough. “The
team culture was exqui
site, and, when you have a
winning culture, winning
the state championship
just meant so much more.”
The champion Chie
fettes include Heather Lee,
Sunia Xiao, Elizabeth
Stanton, Daisy Fidler,
Sarah Wilson, Khami Wil
liams, Sofi Schwartz,
Shima Arai, Nina Sey
mour, Lila Egseiker, and
Mady Kuehn.
They were coached by
Carmen Yarbrough, Adri
enne Scasny, and Sadie
Nash.
Yarbrough said he was
proud of the girls’ progres
sion and spoke to the goals
the team set before the
season began.
“The team set a goal at
summer camp that they
wanted to win a state
championship. We re
flected on the last two
years and knew that we
needed to change how we
do things,” Yarbrough
said.
As season picked up,
the coaches and the team
came together and made
adjustments to provide the
team with the jewels they
needed to win the crown of
champions.
“We added an extra
practice to our weekly
schedule and incorporated
ballet and strength train
ing into our regimen. We
worked smarter and not
harder at each practice,”
said Yarbrough.
Yarbrough praised the
team’s hard work through
out the years and placed
an emphasis on the team’s
drive and determination to
take on the challenge to
earn the "biggest award of
all.”
“I feel like our program
has been grinding for the
past three years to lead up
to this championship, and
I'm just thrilled for my
athletes that they were
awarded the biggest award
of all - the right to call
themselves state cham
pions!” Yarbrough said.
The Starr's Mill High Dance team Courtesy of Fayette County Schools
The Dancing Queens!
Starr’s Mill Dance Dynasty Continues at State
The Pantherettes still
reign supreme. The Starr’s
Mill High Dance team re
cently won the Class 3A/4A
GHSA State Dance Cham
pionship at the Macon
Centreplex, the squad’s
third-straight GHSA title
and sixth-straight state
championship overall.
The Pantherettes won
both jazz and pom en route
to the overall champion
ship.
The champion Panthe
rettes include Wells Al-
mand, Vivian Anderson,
Tessa Brown, Naza Bueno,
Kayla Foppe, Madison
Hand, Carina Jimenez, Ella
Long, Kristina Martin,
Emma Newell, Elizabeth
Peebles, Emily Purcer, Ad
dison Ransom, KG Sills,
and Camdyn Sweatt.
They were coached at
state by Shane Ratliff and
Todd Saye.
A team with a lot of
young dancers got a taste of
the culture it takes to win
championships.
“What made this special
is the drive and dedication
the girls gave to being the
best in their sport,” Ratliff
said. “The girls prepare
better than any team in the
state, and it shows in the
performances.”
