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SECTION B
ForsythSports
Sunday, June 3.2012
BASKETBALL
Three players lead All-County teams
Johnson named
top girls player
By John McWilliams
sports©forsythnews com
Forsyth County's girls
basketball teams made
history during the 2011-
12 season.
For the first time, four
local Georgia High
School Association
squads Forsyth
Central, Lambert. North
Forsyth and West Forsyth
— reached the state play¬
offs in the same year.
Each Forsyth County
J
■
J A*
M
an
Johnson closes
prep journey
with Lambert
By John McWilliams
imcwilliams@forsyttinews.com
Though it might be hard to look past the 21.3
points and 10.7 rebounds per game she averaged last
season. Christina Johnson is much more than a bas¬
ketball player.
Johnson, the 2012 Forsyth County News All
County girls player of the year, has led a life more
along the lines of the Johnny Cash song, “I’ve Been
Everywhere.”
Johnson was bom on a military base in Illinois
Shortly after, her family started moving due to her
father's career as an officer in the Air Force.
She's lived in Missouri. Washington. South
Carolina. Colorado. San Diego and Temecula, Calif.,
and now Georgia for the past two years In a few
months she will move again, this time to Cleveland,
Tcnn., to play basketball for (NAIA) I,ce University.
“Moving to Georgia was the hardest of all the
moves." Johnson said. “It was just different
“I had been in California for seven years, so l
didn't really want to leave My friends were all there
It was hard on all of us."
In second grade. Johnson began to realize she was
better than most girls she played against
Six years later, her eighth grade traveling basket
hall team was invited to play in the Staples Center in
Los Angeles. After the game, Johnson and her team¬
mates got to meet WNBA stars Lisa Leslie and
Candace Parker
"Basketball has been a blessing for me," Johnson
said "I've been able to meet lots of new people. I like
the team aspect {of basketball| and playing together
"But when there's five seconds left on the clock, I
want to be the one taking the last shot I have confi¬
dence in my shot My coaches arc always telling me
to rebound more and shoot more, so that’s what ! try
to remember."
Third-year Lambert head coach Seth Thompson
said she is the best player he has ever coached
"She is the epitome of what a great kid is,"
Thompson said.
See JOHNSON 12B
Sports Editor Jared Putnam can be reached at sports$forsythnews.com or (770) 887-3126 ext. 513.
team benefited from
strong individual perfor¬
mances, and the Forsyth
County News sports stall
has honored 11 of those
players for their efforts.
This year's All-County
girls basketball team
consists of a player of the
year, five first team hon¬
orees and five second
team selections.
Player of the Year
Christina Johnson.
Sr.. Lambert, F (21.3
points per game, 10.7
rebounds per game. 1.9
steals per game)
Johnson's career-best
4b points against Johns
Creek early in the 2011-
12 season was a preview
of how her senior year
would play out. Johnson
averaged a double-dou¬
ble for the season (21.3
points, 10.7 rebounds),
as she led Lambert to the
first state playoff appear¬
ance in its three-year his
tory and earned Region
7-AAAA Player of the
Year honors. She will
continue her career next
season at (NAIA) Lee
University.
See GIRLS 12B
e*
Fishier grew
in more ways
than one
By John McWilliams
imcwilliams@forsythnews com
In eighth grade. Andrew Fishier stood 5 feet. 11
inches tall and was in danger of being cut from his
basketball team Then, it happened
He began to grow.
Fishier, now seven feet tall and coming off a
record-setting senior season on the Forsyth Central
basketball team, is the 2012 Forsyth County News
All-County hoys co-player of the year.
He set a state record for blocks in a game with
19 against Rome High School on Jan 14 and fin¬
ished the season holding the record for most blocks
in a season (212) and a career (308), despite not
contributing heavy minutes on the varsity squad
until his senior season
While many players are most concerned with
their point totals. Fishier said he relishes his role
disrupting opponents' shots
“My job is to guard the basket." f ishier said "1
like it when people think they can shoot over me
“I'm like. You're not going to make it. and I'm
just going to make you look stupid.' Some guys
)ust don't learn though."
Fishler’s other statistics vastly improved during
the 2011-12 season as well He went from averag¬
ing 4.9 points per game his junior year to 13.6 last
season, and his rebounds increased from 4 2 per
game to 8.1.
His play earned him an athletic scholarship from
Gulf Coast State College, an NAIA program in
I'anatna City Beach, I la
But Fishier is more than a product of his unusual
height Former Central head coach Steve Barnes
said it was Fishler's work ethic, not just genetics,
that made him the player he is today
I Fishier spent three hours a day. six days a week,
practicing to enhance his basketball skills during
the summer of 2011 He worked on free throws,
hall handling, conditioning and footwork
“He put in all of the work." Barnes said. "Some
guys may have had better raw talent, but Fish
See FISHIER 12B
Fishier, McCorkle
head boys squad
By John McWilliams
sports©* or sythnews c om
Forsyth County's boys
basketball teams all fell
shim of the playoffs dur¬
ing the 2011-12 season,
but several players
turned in standout indi¬
vidual numbers.
The Forsyth County
News sports staff has
honored 12 of those
players for their efforts.
This year’s All-County
boys basketball team
consists of two co-play¬
1
%
\
SI
* ‘
%
I
>■ t
t v
McCorkle took
aim at honing
shooting skills
By John McWilliams
imcwilliams@forsyttinews com
Mark McCorkle fires more shots than the villains
in your average summer blockbuster movie. The
difference is. McCorklc's shots find their target
McCorklc's shooting accuracy helped earn him the
2012 Forsyth County News All-County boys co-play¬
er of the year honor and an athletic scholarship at St.
Andrews University, an NAIA program in
Laurinburg, N.C.
McCorkle said he got serious about basketball after
his junior year at South Forsyth. He didn't like to
miss shots and watch as players blew by him while
he played defense. So, he worked to change that
Six days a week. McCorkle spent five hours per
day working on his game. He shot 500 free throws.
100 3 pointers, practiced ball handling drills and lilt
ed weights
"1 knew I had to get better." McCorkle said "I had
to improve my jump shot anil free throws Free
throws should be as automatic as a layup People
don't like to take free throw s seriously, but they can
win or lose you a game."
It worked.
McCorkle averaged 18 points per game, shot 40
percent from the three-point line and hit a iaw drop
ping 98 percent from the free throw line in his senior
season
McCorklc's attitude is what every coach craves,
former South Forsyth head coach Kevin Dankosky
said
“Nobody works as hard as Mark does." Dankosky
said "I've coached for 25 years and I've never seen
someone pul in as much work as he does, and I've
even had someone in the NBA He sets the bar for
other players around him and he always wants to get
better.
"St Andrews is getting someone who is like the
Energizer Bunny with the drive of a nuclear reactor "
Although McCorkle had offers to play basketball at
other schools. St Andrews' head coach Andrew
Brown made him feel like an important player
See MCCORKLE 12B
ers of the year, live first
team honorees and five
second team selections.
Players of the Year
Co-POY: Andrew
Fishier, Sr., Forsyth
Central, C (13.6
points per game. 8 1
rebounds per game, 8.1
blocks per game)
Fishier doubled many
of his totals from his
junior season and
became a human wall in
the post, setting a hand¬
ful of state blocks
records.
He was voted to the
All-Region 7-AAAA
second team and signed
with (NAIA) Gulf Coast
State College in Panama
City, Fla.
Co-POY: Mark
McCorkle, Sr., South
Forsyth, G — (18 PPG,
40 percent 3-point shoot¬
er. 98 percent frce-throw
shooter. 4 RPG, 3 assists
per game, 2 steals per
game)
McCorkle went from
being a three-point spe¬
cialist in his junior year
to an all-around standout
guard his senior year.
He was named to the
All-Region 7-AAAA
See BOYS 12B