The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, December 08, 2018, Image 10

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The times., December 08, 2018, Image 10

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Newspaper Page Text2B Saturday, December 8, 2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS FALCONS ■ Continued from 1B Ashley Scott and then Wysocki. Then, Locke blocked a pair of shots in the same possession on the other end of the court that led to a Morgan Aguilar layup, which pushed Flow ery Branch’s lead to 13. “She’s huge for us,” New- ton-Gonzalez said of Locke. “She played big minutes for us as a freshman, so now (in) her second year, just being consistent and having to put big numbers up for us has been big.” Wysocki got a pass out to Shaina Kriews in the corner, who drilled a 3 before the second-quarter buzzer, giv ing the Lady Falcons a 31-13 advantage at the break. And Flowery Branch didn’t slow down from there. Flowery Branch played their best defensive quar ter of the night in the third frame, holding the War Eagles to just five points in the eight-minute period, and Wysocki continued to stay in rhythm. After grab bing a steal early in the quarter, she crossed over a couple Chestatee defenders in transition before dish ing to Woodroffe, who sunk the left-handed layup while drawing a foul. “I’ve been playing with Ashley (Woodroffe) since eighth grade,” Wysocki said. “We know each other and how we play. We’re just there for whenever the ball comes.” Flowery Branch kept things rolling through the rest of the game, starting off the fourth quarter on a 15-3 run and quickly putting the game out of reach. Easter- wood’s team-leading four fourth-quarter points were all Chestatee could manage as the Lady Falcons pulled away. CHESTATEE BOYS 72, FLOWERY BRANCH 51: Chestatee’s Cameron Gwyn hit a school record 10 3-pointers, according to Chestatee coach Kevin Strickland, on a historic shooting night for the War Eagles, who made 15 total 3s in the win. “It’s a beautiful thing,” Strickland said of his team’s shooting performance. “This has been a fun group to coach. They’ve put in the work to be able to shoot it that well, and they have.” Gwyn led all scorers with 34 points, while Jonah Bull contributed six points with 12 assists for Chestatee (7-2, 1-1). Flowery Branch (0-5, 0-1) was paced by Mario Brown and Johnathan Gunter, who scored 14 apiece in the loss. The teams played close in the first quarter before the War Eagles opened things up offensively in the second frame. Chestatee poured in four 3s over the final four min utes of the period to take a 15-point lead at halftime. The War Eagles kept their foot on the gas, knocking down five more 3s in the third quarter and another four in the fourth. With nearly everything falling for the visiting team, Flowery Branch struggled to keep up. NORTH ■ Continued from 1B Morgan Holt was the only Fannin County starter to score in double figures with 10 points as the Lady Rebels dropped their fourth- straight game. Gillespie assisted three North Hall baskets that included a kickout pass to Grace Hollifield, who knocked down a 3 to give the Lady Trojans a 7-0 lead early. That success never carried over in the next frame, with North Hall only mustering a single field goal in the second period, while Fannin County’s Abby Led ford (nine points) and Holt tag-teamed a Lady Rebels rally. The pair combined to score all 10 of Fannin’s sec ond-quarter points to twice cut the margin to two inside the final two-minutes of the first half. Back-to-back layups from Ledford and Holt, respec tively, made it a one-pos session game, though North Hall would still cling to a 24-22 lead at the break. In the third period, a 3-pointer by Maleah Stepp (eight points) briefly gave Fannin County its only lead at 29-27. But on the ensuing possession, the second of Hollifield’s three treys in the contest put North Hall back out front for good at 30-29. Both North Hall teams break from region play for a matchup with 7A Forsyth Central at 3 p.m. today in Cumming. NORTH HALL BOYS 47, FANNIN COUNTY 40: Despite a 50 percent (19 of 38) mark from the free- throw line and an inconsis tent night from the floor, the Trojans (3-3,1-1 Region 7-3A) still held on for their first region win of the young season Friday. Trailing 33-27 entering the final period, Fannin Coun ty’s Brady Martin (eight points) notched a layup, and seconds later, Jalen Ingram drew contact inside before sinking 1 of 2 free-throw attempts to make it a three- point game with 7:23 left. The hosts answered sec onds later with a Luke Voile layup in traffic, and Luke Gunter later drove for back- to-back baskets inside the paint for well-timed scores that aided North Hall’s final trips to the line. The Trojans were 7 of 14 from the stripe to close out the game. The Trojans had no one reach double figures as Mat thew Gunter led with eight points, followed by Voile and Josh Cook with seven. Drew Faulkner was another to produce with six points. Kaeden Twiggs scored a game-high 10 points for Fan nin County (1-5,0-2). Football/NFL Transactions Basketball/NBA AMERICAN CONFERENCE East W L T Pet PF PA New England 9 3 0 .750 331 259 Miami 6 6 0 .500 244 300 Buffalo 4 8 0 .333 178 293 N.Y Jets 3 9 0 South .250 243 307 W L T Pet PF PA Houston 9 3 0 .750 302 235 Tennessee 7 6 0 .538 251 254 Indianapolis 6 6 0 .500 325 279 Jacksonville 4 9 0 North .308 212 273 W L T Pet PF PA Pittsburgh 7 4 1 .625 346 282 Baltimore 7 5 0 .583 297 214 Cincinnati 5 7 0 .417 286 371 Cleveland 4 7 1 West .375 266 312 W L T Pet PF PA Kansas City 10 2 0 .833 444 327 L.A. Chargers 9 3 0 .750 340 249 Denver 6 6 0 .500 276 262 Oakland 2 10 0 .167 220 367 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East W L T Pet PF PA Dallas 7 5 0 .583 247 223 Philadelphia 6 6 0 .500 258 266 Washington 6 6 0 .500 233 257 N.Y. Giants 4 8 0 South .333 267 315 W L T Pet PF PA New Orleans 10 2 0 .833 419 269 Carolina 6 6 0 .500 304 306 Tampa Bay 5 7 0 .417 318 355 Atlanta 4 8 0 North .333 296 333 W L T Pet PF PA Chicago 8 4 0 .667 344 241 Minnesota 6 5 1 .542 275 270 Green Bay 4 7 1 .375 281 287 Detroit 4 8 Wesl 0 : .333 254 316 W L T Pet PF PA y-L.A. Rams 11 1 0 .917 419 298 Seattle 7 5 0 .583 319 259 Arizona 3 9 0 .250 175 310 San Francisco 2 y-clinched division 10 0 .167 255 336 Thursday’s Games Tennessee 30, Jacksonville 9 Sunday’s Games New Orleans at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Washington, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Green Bay, 1 p.m. Indianapolis at Houston, 1 p.m. N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, 1 p.m. Carolina at Cleveland, 1 p.m. New England at Miami, 1 p.m. Baltimore at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Cincinnati at L.A. Chargers, 4:05 p.m. Denver at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m. Detroit at Arizona, 4:25 p.m. Philadelphia at Dallas, 4:25 p.m. Pittsburgh at Oakland, 4:25 p.m. L.A. Rams at Chicago, 8:20 p.m. Monday’s Games Minnesota at Seattle, 8:15 p.m. BASEBALL American League BOSTON RED SOX — Named Billy McMillon manager of Pawtucket (IL). CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Named Mike Reinold senior medical adviser. Promoted Brian Ball to athletic trainer, Brett Walker to physical therapist/assistant athletic trainer and James Kruk to assistant athletic trainer. National League WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Agreed to terms with LHP Patrick Corbin on a six-year contract. FOOTBALL National Football League NFL — Suspended New York Jets LB Darron Lee four games for violating its substance abuse policy. CAROLINA PANTHERS — Signed K Chandler Catanzaro. Placed G Amini Silatolu on injured reserve. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Promoted WR Daurice Fountain from the practice squad. Waived TE Clive Walford. Signed QB Phillip Walker to the practice squad. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — Signed WR Kelvin Benjamin to a one-year contract. Released DE Jarvis Jenkins. Canadian Football League EDMONTON ESKIMOS —Announced assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Mike Benevides will not return for the 2019 season. HOCKEY National Hockey League NHL — Suspended Calgary F Ryan Lomberg one a game for instigating in the final five min utes of a Dec. 6 game with Minnesota. Fined Calgary coach Bill Peters $10,000 as a result of Lomberg’s automatic suspension. LOS ANGELES KINGS — Assigned F Austin Wagner to Ontario (AHL). American Hockey League AHL — Suspended Iowa F Kyle Rau two games for an elbowing incident in a Dec. 5 game against Chicago. SAN DIEGO GULLS — Signed RW Matt Berry to a professional tryout. MOTORSPORTS ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY — Promoted Kyle Nelson to director of events. SOCCER Majpor League Soccer MINNESOTA UNITED — Announced an affilia tion agreement with Forward Madison FC (USL). United Soccer League OTTAWA FURY FC—Announced the resignation of goalkeeper coach Youssef Dahha to pursue an opportunity with Vancouver (MLS). COLLEGE BARTON — Named Treiston Burnette defensive coordinator. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN — Announced thew resignation of football coach Mark Tucker. DUKE — Announced redshirt senior DT Edgar Cerenord was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA and will be eligible to play in 2019. FLORIDA GULF COAST — Promoted Matt Ring to director of advancement. Named Katie Manns assistant director of development and Eagles Club coordinator. EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pet GB Toronto 21 6 .778 — Philadelphia 18 9 .667 3 Boston 14 10 .583 5 1 /z Brooklyn 9 18 .333 12 New York 8 18 .308 12 1 /2 Southeast Division W L Pet GB Charlotte 12 13 .480 — Orlando 12 14 .462 1 /2 Washington 11 14 .440 1 Miami 9 14 .391 2 Atlanta 5 20 .200 7 Central Division W L Pet GB Milwaukee 16 7 .696 — Indiana 15 10 .600 2 Detroit 13 10 .565 3 Chicago 6 20 .231 11 1 / 2 Cleveland 5 20 .200 12 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pet GB Memphis 15 9 .625 — Dallas 12 11 .522 2 1 / 2 New Orleans 13 14 .481 3 1 / 2 Houston 11 13 .458 4 San Antonio 11 14 .440 4 1 / 2 Northwest Division W L Pet GB Denver 17 8 .680 — Oklahoma City 16 8 .667 1 / 2 Portland 14 11 .560 3 Minnesota 13 12 .520 4 Utah 13 13 .500 4 1 / 2 Pacific Division W L Pet GB L.A. Clippers 16 8 .667 — Golden State 17 9 .654 — L.A. Lakers 15 9 .625 1 Sacramento 13 11 .542 3 Phoenix 4 21 .160 12 1 / 2 Thursday’s Games Boston 128, New York 100 Portland 108, Phoenix 86 Utah 118, Houston 91 Friday’s Games Charlotte 113, Denver 107 Indiana 112, Orlando 90 Philadelphia 117, Detroit 111 Brooklyn 106, Toronto 105, OT Sacramento 129, Cleveland 110 Chicago 114, Oklahoma City 112 Memphis 107, New Orleans 103 L.A. Lakers at San Antonio, late Miami at Phoenix, late Golden State at Milwaukee, late Today’s Games Houston at Dallas, 6 p.m. Sacramento at Indiana, 7 p.m. Brooklyn at New York, 7:30 p.m. Denver at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Washington at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m. Boston at Chicago, 8 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Memphis, 8 p.m. Minnesota at Portland, 10 p.m. Miami at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m. TODAY ON TV BASKETBALL ■ Michigan State at Florida, noon, CBS ■ Kentucky vs. Seton Hall, noon, FOX ■ Colgate at North Dakota State, noon, ESPN ■ Pittsburgh at West Virginia, noon, ESPN2 ■ Wichita State vs. Oklahoma, noon, ESPNU ■ South Carolina at Michigan, noon, FS1 ■ Xavier at Cincinnati, 2 p.m., ESPN2 ■ BYU vs. Utah, 2 p.m., ESPNU ■ Joseph’s at Villanova, 2 p.m., FS1 ■ Louisville at Indiana, 2:30 p.m., FOX ■ Georgetown at Syracuse, 3:30 p.m., ESPN ■ Clemson vs. Mississippi State, 4 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Northern Illinois at Butler, 4:30 p.m., FS1 ■ Wisconsin at Marquette, 5 p.m., FOX ■ Yale at Duke, 5:30 p.m., ESPN ■ Florida State vs. Connecticut, 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Nuggets at Hawks, 7:30 p.m., FSSE ■ New Mexico at Kansas, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Notre Dame at UCLA, 10:30 p.m., ESPN2 GOLF ■ European Tour: South African Open, 4:30 am, GOLF ■ PGA Tour: QBE Shootout, 1:30 p.m., GOLF ■ PGA Tour: QBE Shootout, 2:30 p.m., NBC FOOTBALL ■ Army vs. Navy, 3 p.m., CBS ■ Heisman Trophy ceremony, 8 p.m., ESPN MLS CUP FINAL Atlanta seeking title CURTIS COMPTON I The Associated Press Atlanta United players Miguel Almiron (from left), Josef Martinez, and Greg Garza start the celebration after Martinez scored a goal against the New York Red Bulls during the first half in their Eastern Conference finals on Nov. 25 in Atlanta. City’s last championship was Braves in 1995 Associated Press A city that has known plenty of sporting heart break is one win from a championship. It sure has been a while. Atlanta hasn’t won a major professional title since the Braves captured the 1995 World Series . A 2-year-old soccer team has a chance to end the drought when Atlanta United hosts the Portland Timbers in the MLS Cup final Saturday night before an expected crowd of 73,000 at Mer cedes-Benz Stadium. “I was texting the mayor the other evening,” United owner Arthur Blank said. “She’s already planned on a parade, so she’s ahead of me. We haven’t a parade in Atlanta, a sports-related parade, since 1995. God will ing and play willing, we’ll be in position to do that again next week.” The Braves are recog nized by many as Atlanta’s only true sports champions — and even their accom plishment came with a giant caveat. The team won an unprecedented 14 straight division titles, but became known mostly for its post season failures, los ing four times in the World Series and every other year but one in the earlier playoff rounds. Blank was on hand for perhaps the city’s biggest disappointment. He also owns the NFL Falcons, who reached the Super Bowl for just the second time in fran chise history in 2016, only to squander a 25-point lead late in the third quarter. The New England Patriots rallied for a 34-28 victory in overtime. “I’m as excited about this as I was about the Super Bowl,” Blank insisted, before quickly adding, “I don’t want to end up with the same feeling we had several years ago.” Since big-league sports arrived in Atlanta more than five decades ago, the only other team that can claim a major title is, in an interesting twist, a soccer club. The Atlanta Chiefs won the championship in the North American Soccer League’s very first season in 1968 , but that event is remembered by only the most devoted fans. The Chiefs lasted a total of 10 sea sons over two incarnations, but both times went out of business for lack of support. The entire league expired after the 1984 season. Enter United, which has quickly built a fan base in Major League Soccer that would fit right in with the Premier League or La Liga. Atlanta has broken essen tially every MLS attendance record during its short exis tence, averaging more than 53,000 per game this season. Seattle posted the next-best attendance figure at just under 41,000; no other team in the 23-team league aver aged as much as 27,000. “We’ve set a new bar for per formance in Major League Soccer, both on the pitch and off the pitch,” Blank said. “You are what you dream about. You have to be able to visualize it to be able to execute it. We’ve been able to do that to the highest possible level.” United’s opponent in the title game is a surprise. After finishing fifth in the Western Conference, the Timbers have had three huge road victories in the playoffs. First, they Atlanta United vs. Portland Timbers When: 8 p.m. tonight Where: Mercedes -Benz Stadium, Atlanta TV: Fox eliminated Dallas 2-1 in the knockout round. Then, they won on penalty kicks in sec ond leg at Seattle. Finally, after drawing at home in the first leg of the conference final, they rallied for a 3-2 victory at top-seeded Sport ing Kansas City. “We’ve been absolutely lights out on the road,” coach Giovanni Savarese said. “They continue to count this team out. But the good news is the players decide the out come of the game.” Timbers Army sold out its allotment of 1,300 tickets in just four minutes, assuring Portland of at least some fan support in Atlanta. Sava rese complained about the arrangement, saying it was far below the 5 percent standard that FIFA recom mends for road teams. “I’m not trying to stir the pot,” Savarese said before Friday’s final training ses sion. “You’ll still hear (Port land’s fans). They’ll bring it and bring it hard. I just wish we had more of them. They’ve always traveled well, and will continue to travel well. But we need to look at that rule going for ward and, frankly, that’s something we should’ve anticipated as a league.” Atlanta features the most prolific scorer in MLS his tory. Josef Martinez shat tered the record with 31 goals , earning both the Golden Boot and the MVP award. The 25-year-old Ven ezuelan has kept up the pace in the playoffs, adding three more goals in United’s victo ries over New York City and Supporters’ Shield winner New York Red Bulls. Blank MLB Two Latin American players die in Venezuela car crash Associated Press Former major league players Luis Valbuena and Jose Castillo were killed in a car crash caused by highway bandits who then robbed them, officials said Friday. The 33-year- old Valbuena and 37-year-old Castillo died late Thursday when their SUV crashed as it tried to veer around an object placed in the road, Yaracuy state Gov. Julio Leon Heredia said on his Twitter account. He said four people have been detained after being found with property of the athletes. Valbuena and Castillo were teammates on the Cardenales de Lara team in the Venezuelan winter league and were returning from a game in the capital when the crash occurred en route to the city of Barquisimeto. Third baseman Carlos Rivero was in the car and survived, according to the website beisbolplay. Valbuena, an 11-year major league veteran, hit .199 with nine homers and 33 RBIs in 96 games this year for the Los Angeles Angels, who released him on Aug. 7. “I will miss Luis’ banter, smile, gen uine love for his teammates, and, of course, the bat flips,” Astros man ager AJ Hinch said in a statement. “He was a beloved person whether he was on our team or across the field.” Valbuena hit .226 with 114 home runs over 11 big league seasons with the Angels, Seattle, Cleve land, the Chicago Cubs and Houston. “Luis was always smiling and was one of the happiest players in baseball,” Astros general manager Jeff Luh- now said in a statement. “He provided joy to his team mates and our fans. He helped our franchise turn a corner in 2015 and provided many cherished memories.” Castillo played five sea sons with Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Houston. He had a .254 average with 39 home runs. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said in a tweet that “I join in the mourning that has over whelmed the Venezuelan baseball family and all of its fans.” Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred issued a state ment calling it “a very sad day for our sport.” “It is clear by all the sto ries today that they loved baseball and made an impact on their teammates and the Clubs they repre sented,” he said, expressing “my deepest condolences to their families, friends and fans, particularly those in their native Venezuela.” The Venezuelan Profes sional Baseball League announced that all three scheduled games Friday were cancelled and it said flags will fly at half-staff in all stadiums for three days. League president Juan Jose Avila told Union Radio that he was evaluating the possibility of forbidding players to travel in pri vate cars to move between games, saying if the players had been on the team bus, “nothing would have hap pened to them.” Valbuena