About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2018)
SPORTS Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com Unties gainesvilletimes.com Thursday, December 6, 2018 HIGH SCHOOL BASKCTBALL Tourney brackets set AUSTIN STEELE I The Times East Hall’s Alexis Bruce takes the ball down court with North Hall’s Macy Clark close behind during Tuesday’s game In Gainesville. MICAIts Dl UOt? Ldl\tR> LI It? Uclll UUWI I OUUI L Will I INUIII I ndll 53 IVIdOy Old! I\ OIUI Lesville boys, Flowery Branch girls ■v yv s-A o -t- /~\ i /-» /-v /» I I s~\ HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Nominations for Gainesville High’s inaugural Hall of Fame class due by Jan. 1 The deadline to nominate players for the Gainesville High athletics Hall of Fame is Jan. 1. The eight-member inaugural class (six athletes, one team and one athletic sup porter) will be inducted during a ceremony April 20 at Scott’s Downtown in Gainesville. To be eligible, a candidate must have gradu ated from either Gainesville High School or the former E.E. Butler and Fair Street high schools no less than 10 years before induction. Candidates will be considered for either their athletic achievements or “outstanding service to athletics in Gainesville.” Each inductee class will also include a team that “achieved and performed at the highest level of competition.” Nomination forms are available at the school’s athletics website: www. gainesvilleredelephantathletics.com. For more information, contact Gaines ville athletics director Adam Lindsey at adam.lindsey@gcsskl2.net. Compiled by Bill Murphy GEORGIA BULLDOGS Defensive coordinator Tucker takes Colorado job Mel Tucker doesn’t shy away from setting the expectations high. Because lately that’s the only level he’s known. Colorado hired the Georgia defensive coordinator as its football coach Wednesday after he helped rebuild the Bulldogs into a national contender. He wants to bring that same sort of swagger to Boulder. Not down the road, either, but pronto. “Colorado should be a ‘no excuse’ program,” Tucker said in a state- Tucker ment. “There’s absolutely no reason we can’t achieve success at an extremely high level.” Tucker receives a five-year, $14.75 mil lion contract under a deal that’s pending approval from the board of regents. He starts immediately and won’t coach Geor gia in the Sugar Bowl against Texas on New Year’s Day. The 46-year-old Tucker replaces Mike MacIntyre, who was fired with a game remaining in the season and the team mired in a six-game skid. The Buffaloes lost their final game under interim coach Kurt Roper to miss a bowl berth for a second straight season. After several stints as an NFL defen sive coordinator, Tucker became an assis tant head coach for Nick Saban at Alabama in 2015. He spent a season with the Crim son Tide — capturing a national title — before fol lowing coach Kirby Smart to Georgia to build a feisty defense. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama last weekend in the SEC championship contest and in overtime last season in the champi onship game. Tucker has never been a head coach on the colle giate level, but has learned under some big names. He helped Ohio State and Jim Tres- sel to a national title as a defensive backs coach in 2002 and was brought on board by Saban on three different occasions. “I’ve known Mel for well over 20 years and he is one of the brightest coaches in our profession,” Saban said. Associated Press It’s December, and you know what that means: Lanierland is returning to Hall County. The 59th installment of Georgia’s longest-standing invitational basketball tournament is back, this time with more teams and — as always — plenty of intrigue. Tournament play will commence Dec. 20, with two play-in games between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds for the boys and girls at Chestatee High. The winners of Lanierland schedule Play-in games Dec. 20 at Chestatee High ■ Cherokee Bluff girls vs. Johnson, 6 p.m. ■ Cherokee Bluff boys vs. Chestatee, 7:30 p.m. those games advance to face Lanierland’s top-seeded squads when play resumes Dec. 27-29. The Dec. 27 games will be held at Ches tatee High before tournament play shifts gears to West Hall for the semifinal and final games Dec. 28-29. The Flowery Branch girls and Gaines ville boys are the reigning Hall County champions, and look to defend their titles against a slightly bigger field of compe tition. The bracket pool on both sides First-round games Dec. 27 at Chestatee High ■ Chestatee girls vs. West Hall, 9:30 a.m. ■ West Hall boys vs. Lakeview Academy, 11 a.m. ■ Lakeview Academy girls vs. North Hall, 12:30 p.m. include first-year Cherokee Bluff High and Lanier Christian. The Lady Falcons seek to become the first girls team since West Hall (1997-2000) to secure four- straight Lanierland titles. And then you have the Gainesville boys, which secured the repeat at Lani erland last year and look to be the first boys program to capture three-straight championships since East Hall won six in a row (2002-2007). Both the East Hall boys and girls are still the winningest programs with 24 and 17 titles, respectively. Riverside Military is the lone school in Hall County not taking part in Lanierland. Compiled by Sarah Woodall ■ North Hall boys vs. Flowery Branch, 2 p.m. ■ Gainesville girls vs. East Hall, 3:30 p.m. ■ Johnson boys vs. East Hall, 5 p.m. ■ Cherokee Bluff/Johnson girls winner vs. Flowery Branch, 6:30 p.m. ■ Cherokee Bluff/Chestatee boys winner vs. Gainesville, 8 p.m. Tickets $7 per day Smart Atlanta United’s Martinez named the league MVP Associated Press Josef Martinez choked up a bit when he saw his grand parents in the front row. On most days, he’s not sus ceptible to tears. This time, he couldn’t help himself. A teary eyed Martinez claimed the MVP award from Major League Soccer on Wednes day after shattering the record for goals in a season and lead ing Atlanta United to the championship game. While he nor mally speaks through a translator, the 25-year-old Ven ezuelan gave the first part of his acceptance speech in English. “This is a special day for me, for my family, for my teammates, for the city,” Martinez said, without the benefit of notes. “I want to say thank you to the fans for the amazing support this year.” In just two years, Atlanta United has established itself as a flagship franchise in MLS, setting numerous attendance records and achieving immediate suc cess on the field with a high-scoring, attacking style spearheaded by its 25-year- old Venezuelan striker. Another record crowd of more than 70,000 is expected for Saturday night’s MLS Cup final against the Portland Timbers. Martinez already claimed the Golden Boot for scoring 31 goals in 34 games this season, break ing the MLS mark of 27 shared by Roy Lassiter, Chris Won- dolowski and Brad ley Wright-Phillips. “He wears his heart on his sleeve,” United president Darren Eales said. “You can see it in his hunger for goals. That drive is part of his skill set.” Martinez joins a very select club in Atlanta. During the ceremony, he received video congratula tions from the city’s other ■ Please see MARTINEZ, 2B Martinez NFL Latest losing streak for the Falcons results from offensive line struggles SARAH WOODALL swoodall@gainesvilletimes.com The Atlanta Falcons’ 2018 season continues to spiral out of control. Since rattling off three-straight wins to get back to .500, Atlanta has dropped four-straight. As the seats began to empty during an under whelming loss to Baltimore this past Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, any modicum of hope to make the playoffs ended. So who’s the culprit behind the Fal cons being caught in a tailspin? It can no longer be pinned to injuries; that narrative has been exhausted by now Is leadership in question with Dan Quinn? I don’t think so. You can let Quinn off the hook, given his proven track record leading a franchise to the Super Bowl and what he’s done with a decimated (here I go again playing the injury card) defense. What about the play calling? Offensive coordinator Steve Sarki sian, who after leading the Falcons on an upward trend — due in large DANNY KARNIK I The Associated Press Atlanta Falcons center Alex Mack prepares to snap to quarterback Matt Ryan during Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens in Atlanta. to Matt Ryan’s MVP-caliber numbers — during a 4-4 start has now stalled. The Falcons have failed to put up 20 points in the last four weeks. But Sarkisian’s not fully to blame either. Quinn wouldn’t be the first head coach to identify the line of scrim mage as the key to success in most matchups. And a lack of physicality along the line of scrimmage, I feel, has been to blame for the Falcons’ latest blunders. Atlanta lost both starting guards (Andy Levitre and Brandon Fusco) for the year, sure. But that’s no longer an excuse for the poor display of blocking from others to step in their place. There has been inconsistent play in multiple areas, but the trenches is ■ Please see WOODALL, 2B
