About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2024)
®he Sftncs gainesvilletimes.com Midweek Edition-February 7-8, 2024 HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING North Hall claims 8-4A tide Seven programs in county sending wrestlers to the state sectionals BY BILL MURPHY bmurphy@gainesvilletimes.com Seven wrestling programs in Hall County have sent wrestlers on to the state sectional round. On Saturday, North Hall had eight wrestlers finish in the top four over all and finished with 217.5 points to claim the Region 8-4A champion ship at Walnut Grove High. Placing first overall for the Trojans were Connor Free (150 pounds), Zeke Harris (190) and Kade Hawthorne (215). Meanwhile, Parker Carlton (165) and Kam Mer ritt (285) were second-place finish ers for the Trojans. Also placing for North Hall were Jake Ladewig (third place, 106), Elkin Torres (third place, 113) and Colin Perry (fourth place, 120). Meanwhile, Chestatee took third place in Region 8-4A with nine wrestlers earning a top-four finish. See Wrestle 12B Bill Murphy The Times North Hall’s Zeke Harris wrestles against Central-Carroll during the Class 4A duals state finals on Jan. 20 in Gainesville. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Bill Murphy The Times Gainesville’s Julius Columbus (99) records the tackle against Habersham Central on Oct. 16 in Mount Airy. Gainesville releases ambitious schedule In 2024, Red Elephants will face Milton. Roswell and Carrollton BY BILL MURPHY bmurphy@gainesvilletimes.com On Monday, Gainesville released its football schedule for 2024. And it's an ambitious one for the Red Elephants (12-1 in 2023), which are moving down to Class 5A for the next two-year cycle in the GHSA. Most notably, Gainesville only has three home games in 2024, starting with a region matchup against Lanier on Sept. 20 at City Park Stadium. Currently, Gainesville's home stadium is under reconstruction after demolition of the former upper level of seating and press box that dated back decades at City Park Stadium. The other two home games for Gainesville are both in region play, including Seckinger on Oct. 4 and reigning Class 7A state champion Milton on Oct. 11 at City Park Stadium. The Red Elephants open the season against Marietta on Aug. 16, followed by a trip to Moody (Ala.) for a Thursday night game on Aug. 22. In 2024, Gainesville moves into a grueling Region 7-5 A with Milton, Roswell (which will be played the final night of the regu lar season Oct. 25), Lanier, Seck inger, Chattahoochee and Johns Creek. The highlight of the non-region schedule will be a trip to Carroll ton on Sept. 13. The Trojans are led by the nation's No. 1 quarter back, Julian Lewis, who is now part of the Class of 2025. In 2023, Carrollton went 12-1 and made the state quarterfinals in Class 7A, following a trip to the state finals the previous season. Starting next season, Class 6A will be the largest in the state, following restructuring by the GHSA. Gainesville's other non-region game is a trip to Westlake on Aug. 30 in Atlanta. The Lions were 9-3 as a Class 7A program in 2023 and are guided by former River side Prep basketball coach Rico Zackery. FRIDAY’S BASKETBALL SCOREBOARD Lanier Christian girls take down West Hall BY BILL MURPHY bmurphy@gainesvilletimes.com Lanier Christian's Adelyn Gough scored a game-high 11 points in a 49-26 win against West Hall on Lriday in Oakwood. Jia Thapar and Emma Llow- ers each scored 10 for the Lady Lightning (17-8,6-0 league play). MARANATHA CHRIS TIAN BOYS 86, TRINITY CLASSICAL 60: Tarrell Grant had a game-high 35 points to go with eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Eagles on Lriday. Also for Maranatha Christian, Bode Lisher chipped in 25 points and 10 rebounds. Jaxon Merritt scored eight points, while Nigel Clayton had six points and fives assists. EAST HALL BOYS 81, JOHNSON 48: Chris Alford and Chasen Jones scored 16 points apiece as the Vikings (13-11,7-7 in Region 8-4A North) powered past the Knights on Lriday at Valhalla. Jamarcus Harrison and Khalil Goss also reach double figures for East Hall with 10 points each, while Caden Crocker finished with nine points. High school scores can be submitted by sending an email to sports@gainesvilletimes. com. GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK Stepping up clutch Photos by Lee Heard For The Times Cherokee Bluff’s Kaitlin Cook (20) goes up for a basket against Walnut Grove on Jan. 6 in Flowery Branch. Cherokee Bluff’s Cook continues to contribute big late in regular season BY BILL MURPHY bmurphy@gainesvilletimes.com Throughout her high school career, Kaitlin Cook has clearly had the biggest impact on Cher okee Bluff's athletics programs on the soccer field. After all, the 5-foot-6 senior is a multi-year All-State player, a signee to play collegiately at Georgia Southern and well within reach of becoming Hall County's career scoring leader this spring. However, she's also been a solid contributor to the Lady Bears' basketball program, and the impact she's had during the 2023-24 season has been the largest of her career, especially during the past few weeks. “This year, she's really showed me her leadership and her (ability to score) in certain situations,” Cherokee Bluff girls coach Kassie Scott said of The Times' Girls Player of the Week. “She's done a better job this year of taking the great shot versus the good shot. She does a wonderful job of creating for her teammates. That's kind of made her a weapon. ‘A lot of people played off her because they don't think she can score. So, that's one thing I made sure of this year. I encouraged her that to have people respect her, she can (show that she can) play just as much as anyone else can that we have.” Indeed, Cook's scoring has picked up in a big way in recent weeks. After finishing with her sec ond 20-plus-point outing the pre vious week at Cedar Shoals, she came up with perhaps her most important games of the season thus far last week. Lirst, Cook scored a team- high 16 points, including six in the final 1:45, to help lift the sev enth-ranked Lady Bears (20-4) to a 54-49 win over North Hall and secure the No. 2 seed from Region 8-4A North for next week's region tournament. She followed that perfor mance up Lriday by tying for team-high honors with 10 points in a tough, defensive battle with sixth-ranked and subre gion champion Chestatee to help Cherokee Bluff grind out a 46-43 victory. But while her scoring produc tion picked up, Cook still man aged to keep producing in other areas of the game, pulling down nine rebounds in both games last See Girls 12B BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK East Halls Alford continues to have huge impact in senior year BY DAVID FRIEDLANDER dfriedlander@gainesvilletimes.com When the 2023-24 high school basketball season began last November, Chris Alford became something of a secret weapon for East Hall's boys basketball team. After averaging just 1.5 points per game as a junior last season, the 6-foot-3, 160-pound guard came out firing from the get-go by scoring 57 points in the Vikings' first three games. With his shoot ing touch being fairly consistent most of the sea son since then, he is an unknown commodity no more. While the added atten tion has made finding open floor to shoot from more challenging circumstances, The Times' Boys Player of the Week seems to have gotten used to the extra defensive attention and found his comfort level again. “He kind of had to make an adjustment,” East Hall boys coach Joe Dix said of Alford. “He only averaged about a point and a half or two points a game last year and all of the sudden, he became a focal point on people's scouting reports when he came out and shot it really well from the beginning. “He had a little, I don't want to See Boys 12B Alford
