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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Sftncs
gainesvilletimes.com
Wednesday, November 21,2018
ATU\NTA FALCONS
JOHN AMIS I Associated Press
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) tries to avoid the sack against
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence (90) during the first half
of Sunday’s game in Atlanta.
Demise of season
largely a result of
extensive injuries
The 2018 season has gone terribly
awry for the Atlanta Falcons. How
ever, no one is to blame.
Catastrophic injuries com
pounded by stalled last-minute
drives have the Falcons (4-6) in a
position where they need to run the
table with six games remaining to
sneak into the postseason.
Atlanta’s must-win run starts
against the New Orleans Saints —
the hottest team in all of the NFL —
on Thursday
Falcons at
Saints
When: 8:20 p.m.
Thursday
Where: New
Orleans
TV: NBC
night in New
Orleans.
For those
not up to date,
New Orleans
is 9-1 this
season and
coming off a
48-7 thumping
of the Eagles
on Sunday in the Big Easy.
Yep, the Falcons are hanging on
by a thread in the playoff conver
sation. Now, a national television
audience will see the Falcons put
out of their misery after a day full of
Thanksgiving turkey, dressing and
all the fixings.
Finger pointing is already going
rapid fire among Atlanta fans. How
ever, there’s no road map to match
ing the preseason expectations of
winning a Super Bowl, after three
of the Falcons’ best defensive play
ers went down in the first month of
the season. Some want coach Dan
Quinn chased out of town. However,
Bill Belichick couldn’t make a
BILL MURPHY
bmurphy@gainesvilletimes.com
contender out of a club with as
many injuries as the Falcons.
Others question the skill set of
franchise quarterback Matt Ryan,
despite the fact he entered Monday
leading the league in passing yards
(3,306) and has thrown only four
picks in 10 games. He’s not elite,
they say, and not worth a second
$100 million-dollar contract.
I beg to differ with that assess
ment. Without Ryan under center,
Atlanta could be a one-win team
right now.
When things go wrong, there’s
always got to be a guy who takes
the fall. Things have certainly gone
wrong in Atlanta.
However, when costly injuries are
the catalyst, there’s no road map for
the upcoming offseason to make it
all better through the draft or free
agency.
Fact remains that the Falcons
have one of the most talented teams
in the league.
And certainly the most unlucky.
■ Please see FALCONS, 2B
COLLEGE GOLF
Ralston earns second at
All-American Classic
University of Georgia junior golfer
and Gainesville High graduate Spen
cer Ralston carded a final-round
68 (3-under par)
in the final round
Tuesday at the Sun
Bowl Marathon All-
American Classic
in El Paso, Texas.
His three-day total
of 13-under par put
him in a tie with
the University of
Oklahoma’s Quade
Cummins after
54 holes. After a one-hole playoff,
Ralston took second place when his
par was one shot back of Cummins’
birdie. Ralston’s best day was a
7-under par second round where he
carded four straight birdies on the
back nine, and six on the final eight
holes. In the first round Sunday,
Ralston carded a 3-under par.
Cummins stormed back to win
with a 9-under par on the final 18
holes. The Sooners’ golfer had nine
birdies and no bogeys during the
final round.
Ralston’s 13-under par was one-
shot better than his previous tourna
ment best, which came at the 2018
Linger Longer Invitational.
Compiled by Bill Murphy
Ralston
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL I Player of the Week
Sharpshooter off
to a strong start
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Cherokee Bluff’s Griffin Neville takes a shot while Lanier Christian’s Stephen Maclagan attempts to
block it during the game Nov. 13 in Flowery Branch.
Cherokee Bluff shooting guard
scored 39 points in recent loss
BY SARAH WOODALL
swoodall@gainesvilletimes.com
Hours before Cherokee
Bluff High is expected to take
the floor for tipoff, junior Grif
fin Neville likes to get his head
in the game — well, listen to a
high school basketball inspired
tune about said mindset.
Even in the era of Drake,
Migos and Cardi B, the shoot
ing guard for Cherokee Bluff
prefers the Disney Chan
nel classics. He revealed the
soundtrack to “High School
Musical” as his go-to playlist
to blast in the earbuds during
individual shooting drills at the
high school gym.
“It has the best music ever.
It is my all-time favorite
movie, and I dunno why, but it
gets me pumped up a little bit,”
Neville said as he laughed.
If it worked for Zac Efron in
the film, why not him too?
Known as the team “gym
rat” to his coach and peers,
Neville has no shame in admit
ting his pre-game ritual, not to
mention putting in those extra
reps. And that was certainly
the case Monday.
“He works at it,” Bears
coach Benjie Wood said of
the 6-foot-2 Neville. “(Monday
night’s) game started at 6:30
(p.m.) and he was in the gym
at 11:30 (a.m.) with his head
phones on shooting, getting
ready for the game. Most of
the people don’t see the work
he puts in as far as developing
his skill in shooting the ball. ”
It paid off in the hours to
follow.
Neville went on a tear
against Denmark as he racked
up 36 of his game-high 39
points in the second half,
which included five 3-pointers,
in the Bears’ 94-86 loss.
For his efforts, Neville is the
Times Athlete of the Week.
“Griffin can score in
bunches, and when he gets in
a rhythm, he can score a lot at
a time,” said Wood, who also
coached Neville at Gainesville
High last year. He certainly
played well in the second
half.”
The third quarter started a
little rough, said Neville, but
it wasn’t long before he was
off to the races. Neville did a
chunk of the damage along
the perimeter as he knocked
down his bevy of treys to help
the Bears keep chase with the
Danes in the second half.
“It’s a lot easier when our
point guards are out there
looking for me, and my team
mates are looking to get me
the ball and give me those
shots so I can get in a rhythm,”
added Neville. “If my point
guards give me good looks, it’s
going to be a good night. I’m
■ Please see NEVILLE, 3B
HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD
Buford girls top Grayson, 67-58
The Buford High girls bas
ketball team topped Class 7A
Grayson, 67-58, for a first-place
finish in the Dacula Tipoff Tour
nament on Tuesday in Dacula.
Blair Wallis led the Lady Wolves
(3-0) with 15 points, while Tate
Walters chipped in 12 points
and was named the tournament
MVP. On Tuesday, Buford hosts
Morgan County at 6 p.m. in the
school’s gym.
CHESTATEE GIRLS 54,
CUMBERLAND CHRISTIAN
29: Maggie McNair led the Lady
War Eagles (2-3) with 12 points
for a third-place finish in the
Tiger Tipoff Classic on Tuesday
in Dawsonville. Also for Ches-
tatee, Beth Eddins scored 10
points.
Chestatee visits Providence
Christian on Tuesday in Lilburn.
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY
GIRLS 56, STARR’S MILL 31:
■ Please see SCORES, 2B
GOLF
Success of Tiger vs. Phil is how many viewers watch
The winner between Tiger
Woods and Phil Mickelson might
be the least relevant aspect of
their Friday night match in Las
Vegas.
Far more compelling was the
outcome of a 72-hole exhibition
played over two courses for an
obscene amount of money —
Harry Vardon received nearly
seven times more than what he
had won from his one-shot victory
over Willie Park Jr. in the 1898
British Open.
That next summer, Vardon and
Park played an exhibition billed
DOUG FERGUSON
dferguson@ap.org
by the British press as the great
est golf competition ever. Vardon
won 100 British pounds with his
2-up advantage at North Berwick
before 10,000 spectators,
and another 100 pounds
for completing the 11-and-
10 rout at his home course
of Ganton.
So Woods vs. Mickelson
is nothing new, except the
public is not allowed at
Shadow Creek.
What’s unique about
this exhibition, with $9
million supposedly going to the
winner, is the delivery. This
is golf’s first venture into pay-
per-view, and organizers were
smart to keep the price at $19.99,
which is about 25
percent of what
a compelling
heavyweight fight
would command.
How many peo
ple care enough to
sign up on Black
Friday?
“Um, no,” Rory
Mcllroy said
when he was asked last week in
Dubai if he would pay to watch.
“I contemplated it. I was hav
ing lunch with Phil at one of the
FedEx Cup events and I said, ‘I
might watch it.’ He took
$25 out of his pocket and
said, ‘No, here’s $25, I’ll
pay for it for you.’ Thank
you.”
Mcllroy says it might
have been worth it 15
years ago, but that now it
has “missed the mark a
little bit.”
Woods and Mickelson
remain the two biggest names
in golf even in this tidal wave of
youth, but their one-sided rivalry
■ Please see GOLF, 2B
Mickelson
