About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2018)
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
