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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, December 8, 2018
JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
Newly-hired Georgia Tech football coach Geoff Collins
speaks during a press conference on Friday in Atlanta.
Ga. Tech hires Collins
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
New Jackets coach pulled from Temple
Associated Press
Georgia native Geoff Collins said
Friday he landed his dream job when
hired to return as Georgia Tech’s
coach.
Most notable among changes the for
mer Temple coach will bring changes
to the Yellow Jackets will be a shift
from the spread-option offense used by
former coach Paul Johnson the last 11
years.
At his introductory news confer
ence after his hiring was announced
early Friday, Collins said he will install
“NFL-based” schemes on offense and
defense. Those changes will be a chal
lenge for players recruited by Johnson
for the run-first attack with its triple
option plays.
Collins said he began recruiting
immediately to prepare for the early
signing period that begins on Dec. 19.
There will be some key needs, possibly
including at quarterback, to assist the
transition to a pro-style offense.
“I’ve already been watching tape
on the plane,” Collins said, adding
“Recruiting matters. That is a huge pri
ority for us.”
The 47-year-old Collin, is a former
Florida and Mississippi State defensive
coordinator and Georgia Tech assis
tant who was 15-10 in two seasons at
Temple.
Before his time at Florida (2015-16)
and Mississippi State (2011-14), Collins
was a graduate assistant and tight ends
coach at Georgia Tech under coach
George O’Leary from 1999-2001. He
■ Please see TECH, 3B
NORTH HALL 49
FANNIN GIRLS 34
Defense
gets the
job done
Lady Trojans forced
18 turnovers for win
BY SARAH WOODALL
swoodall@gainesvilletimes.com
Even on nights when the shots aren’t
falling, North Hall’s girls basketball team
knows it can always rely on its defense to
get the job done.
And after the Lady Trojans found them
selves in a second-quarter scoring slump
Friday night, coach Kristi
House reassured her
players at halftime that
maintaining the pressure
on visiting Fannin County
would eventually reap
the rewards.
Sure enough, those
results came.
North Hall’s relentless
full-court press created
18 turnovers — including
eight in the final period — and the Lady
Trojans used a huge scoring run in the final
minutes to pull away with a 49-34 win and
their third-straight victory in Gainesville.
“We weren’t really clicking offensively,”
House said of the first half. “We thought if
we could put pressure on them the entire
game, we would be able to turn them over
quite a bit in the end,” House said.
After only managing
a single field goal in the
second period, the Lady
Trojans (4-2, 2-0 Region
7-3A) outscored the Lady
Rebels (1-7, 0-2) 27-10 in
the final 16 minutes. Lead
scorer Grace Hollifield
(15 points, two steals)
snagged a steal seconds
into the fourth period,
and Maci Gillespie
eventually converted the team’s take
away into a layup inside the paint. Back-
to-back 3-pointers by Ansley Smallwood
and Lauren Swanson aided a 13-0 scoring
run for North Hall. Minutes later, Trojans
recorded two more takeaways, and a Caro
line Cape steal and finish capped the Lady
Trojans surge for a 20-point lead at 49-29.
“I was like finally, because we’ve been
so stagnant and slow in the first half,”
House said with a smile.
“We keep telling them
just play defense, and it’ll
turn into offense. They
feed off that, they like
playing that way. So I was
just glad to see it worked
out.”
Swanson was the only
other player to finish to
score in double-digits
with 10 points off the
bench while making all four of her free-
throw attempts in two trips to the stripe.
Maci Gillespie finished with a team-high
four assists and six points, while fresh
man Rylee McCall had seven points and
Ansleigh Ferguson (six rebounds) chipped
in six points with four blocks.
■ Please see NORTH, 2B
Hollifield
House
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL I Flowery Branch girls 63, Chestatee 26
WELL-ROUNDED EFFORT
Fil
vnivm
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Flowery Branch’s Ashley Woodroffe lays the ball up with Chestatee’s Alex Edmonds close behind during Friday’s game in Flowery
Branch.
Lady Falcons played strong on defense in all four quarters
BY NATHAN BERG
nberg@gainesvilletimes.com
The Flowery Branch girls
basketball team put in a
complete effort Friday night
against Chestatee, getting dou
ble-digit points from Caroline
Wysocki and Ashley Wood
roffe while holding the Lady
War Eagles to eight or fewer
points in all four quarters of a
dominant 63-26 win at home.
“I thought our guards did a
great job just pressing them
defensively and rotating on the
ball,” Wysocki said. “Offen
sively, we attacked, and we
stopped their main shooters. I
thought that really helped us.”
Wysocki led all scorers with
15 points and added six assists,
while Woodroffe put in 13 and
dished out a pair of assists of
her own. Ashlee Locke scored
eight and blocked four shots
for Flowery Branch (4-1, 2-0
Region 7-4A). Chestatee (5-5,
1-1) was led by guard Emma
Easterwood, who scored 11 for
the Lady War Eagles.
Despite the lopsided final
score, this region contest
began as a back-and-forth
affair. Falcons center Locke
got things started with a quick
bucket in the post, followed by
a steal on the defensive end
that led to a Wysocki basket to
give Flowery Branch an early
lead.
But a pair of Easterwood
makes and scrappy defense
from Chestatee kept things
close early on.
“I thought the first quarter
we were a little bit sluggish,”
Flowery Branch coach Court
ney Newton-Gonzalez said.
“It took a little while for our
offense to get going.”
The Falcons changed gears
in the second frame.
After exchanging made
shots with the War Eagles
for the opening few minutes,
Locke connected on a cou
ple of short range baskets in
the post, getting assists from
■ Please see FALCONS, 2B
Chestatee’s Emma Easterwood attempts to get by Flowery
Branch’s Ashley Woodroffe to the basket during Friday’s game
in Flowery Branch.
HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD
Gainesville girls start fast, beat SW Atlanta Christian
The Gainesville High girls jumped to a
35-point, first-quarter lead en route to a
84-20 rout of Southwest Atlanta Christian
on Friday night in Gainesville. Tia Shelton
had a game-high 25 points for the Lady Red
Elephants (5-3), followed by Tija Blackwell
with 15.
Also for Gainesville, Amaya Topps had 12
points.
On Friday, Gainesville hosts Clarke Cen
tral for a non-region game.
CHEROKEE BLUFF BOYS 72, CUM
BERLAND CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 71:
Griffin Neville notched a team-high 30
points for the Bears, who improved to 4-3
overall in the win.
Also chipping in, Palmer Weaver scored
11 points, followed by Jason Evrett had eight.
Cherokee Bluff hosts East Hall at 7:30 p.m.
on Tuesday in Flowery Branch.
CHEROKEE BLUFF GIRLS 53, CUM
BERLAND CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 43:
Madi Phillips paced the Lady Bears (5-3)
with 30 points. Timber Gaither scored 13.
Cherokee Bluff plays East Hall at 6 p.m.
on Tuesday.
DAWSON COUNTY GIRLS 75,
GREATER ATLANTA CHRISTIAN 67:
Shyla Sheffield came off the bench and led
the Lady Tigers (5-2) with a game-high 22
points in the win. Maddie Anglin scored 14
points, while Kaylee Sticker tallied 12.
Dawson County plays White County in the
Dawson County Shootout tourney at 5 p.m.
today.
Compiled by Diana Lewis
High school sports can be reported by 10:30
p.m. each night by calling 770-718-3409 or
email sports@gainesvilletimes.com
