About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2024)
SPORTS Bill MurphySports Editor I 770-718-3415 I sports@gainesvilletimes.com Sftncs gainesvilletimes.com Midweek Edition-July 17-18, 2024 Bill Murphy The Times Lakeview Academy’s Justyce Sadler goes for a basket against St. Andrew’s during the 2024 GIAA Class 3A state semifinals in Milledgeville. Sadler set on high goals as a senior Lakeview Academy standout looks to take next step after state championship in 2024 BY DAVID FRIEDLANDER dfriedlander@gainesvilletimes.com It's easy to look at Justyce Sadler and simply think of him as a particular type of basketball player. After all, anyone standing 6-foot-6 and weighing about 185 pounds fits into a specific role in the low post from many high school teams. At Lakeview Academy, how ever, Sadler's set of skills allow him a certain amount of freedom in his role, which the rising senior has excelled at throughout his career. “The thing with Justyce is even with his height, he shoots the ball exceptionally well,” Lakeview Academy coach Benjie Wood said. “He's a hybrid. He plays really hard. He's very active defensively.” Sadler has given solid pro duction as long as he has been playing, but has progressively developed as a player the last few years. He took a significant step for ward last season, averaging about 13 points and eight rebounds per game in helping the Lions to the GIAA Class 3A state championship. And he says that the work he's done with Wood and his staff since their arrival last summer was a major factor in that process. “Coach (Wood) really helped me when it comes to shooting when he first came here,” Sadler said. “It was mostly both (mak ing mechanical adjustments and working on the mental approach). It was more fundamental, (get ting) me jumping more and using my legs more in my shot.” As much as he worked on basic fundamentals and taking a more confident approach with the coaching staff played a strong role in Sadler increasing his perimeter shooting consistency in 2023-24, it takes the work he did strengthening his legs that helped him get the desired results. To that end, there was another major factor that he credits with the progress the made. Sadler said his cousin talked him into coming out for the Lakeview Academy football team last fall, and he played an impor tant role in helping the Lions qualify for the Class 3A state playoffs on both sides of the line of scrimmage at wide receiver and as a comerback. See Sadler 12C HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS First line of defense Kelly Mayror For The Times North Hall’s Charlie House (54) takes the field during a game in Gainesville. North Hall’s House eager for move to other side of the line BY BILL MURPHY bmurphy@gainesvilletimes.com North Hall's Charlie House is excited about change. A powerful lineman for the Trojans' football program, his position flipped following the 2023 season, back to his natural spot on the defensive front. And, as a result, he couldn't be any more upbeat about what's to come this fall. “I'm looking forward to it,” said House, a two-year starter as an offensive guard. “(Defen sive linemen) get to hit people. I really like the amount of effort it takes to be good on the defensive line. You're constantly going up against someone else. So, you have to be tough. The guy across from you always knows what's going on. As a defensive line man, you have to be smart.” North Hall coach Sean Pender decided to flip House to help strengthen the defensive line, mainly to better to defend against the run: an element that the Trojans struggled with in close losses to Madison County and East Forsyth last season, the coach said. Now, North Hall has a vet eran presence in the middle of the defensive front, who Pender believes can fortify the line against big run plays and also pressure the quarterback. Having the 5-foot-10, 240- pound House on defense is paramount, for Pender, who is looking to make up for the pro duction lost from the graduation of linebackers Trey Patterson and Zeke Harris, he said. House and Pender both said that North Hall's tal ent returning on the offensive line is already strong, so his move doesn't create a big void. “Charlie is just a great team player,” Pender said. “He's probably got the most (varsity) expe rience of any player that we have returning. And he’s one of the strongest, if not the stron gest player on the team.” With the move to the other side of the line, House is natu rally excited about the opportu nity to rack up tackles — and potentially sacks — for the first time in his prep career. To make the move as smooth as possible, House has contin ued to rely on his work in the weightroom, where he fills the bar in everything he does: a 570- pound squat max, 340-pound bench press max and 315 on the power clean. About this series This summer, The Times will be doing profile stories about many of the dynamic rising senior athletes in Hall County for the Class of 2025. And House enjoys the pros pect on having to try and out- muscle the biggest and strongest players on the other side of the ball, once the season begins against Wesleyan on Aug. 23 in Norcross. He said getting to ‘smash heads with peo ple’ in offseason train ing action has given House a good taste of what life will be like back on the defensive front, mostly as a nose tackle, he said. Charlie's first varsity playing time came as a defensive line man, as a freshman. House received the founda tion of his team-first mentality as the son of two coaches. Charlie's mother, Kristi, was the head girls basketball coach for many seasons at North Hall, while his father, Rodney, is the Lady Trojans' golf coach. Both are veteran educators: See House 12C Pender HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL Gainesville hires six-time state champion Brown as new coach HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TIMES SPORTS MEDIA DAY COMING ONLINE JULY 30 TO PREVIEW 2024 BY DAVID FRIEDLANDER dfriedlander@gainesvilletimes.com When Gainesville's baseball team was hoping for a home run hire to lead the program into the future beginning in the upcoming school year. The Red Elephants may very well have hit a grand slam with the hiring of Parkview's Chan Brown, which was announced by a press release from school officials late Monday afternoon. Brown brings nearly a quar ter-century of experience to the Gainesville program, the last 20 years of which has been in neigh boring Gwinnett County coaching a Parkview program that has been one of the most successful not only in Georgia, but also the nation. He will become the fourth coach for the Gainesville over the past 14 months after Cris Carpen ter announced his retirement in May, following his lone season leading the team, and his imme diate successor and fellow Red Elephants Hall of Famer Micah Owings having stepped down about a month later to take a job on the staff at North Greenville (S.C.) University. And Gainesville athletics direc tor Adam Lindsey is excited to bring a coach with Brown's cre dentials into the program. “The Gainesville baseball pro gram is deeply important to this community, so it was key for us to find a coach that has had a proven record of success not only in the wins column but by devel oping baseball players and young men of high character,” Lind sey said in a statement released Monday. “Coach Brown under stands the standard and tradition of Gainesville baseball and we have full confidence that his pro cess and standard will reignite the program.” Brown will enter the 2025 sea son ranking No. 19 on Georgia's all-time head coaching wins list with 579, which played a major role in his induction into the Geor gia Dugout Club's Hall of Fame in 2018, and is just 21 wins away from becoming the 16th coach in state history to reach 600 career victories. And he is excited and intrigued about the opportunity that awaits him in Gainesville, though he also noted that the situation for his family also played a role in his Dale Zanine For The Times Chan Brown. decision to accept the job. “I wasn't looking (to leave Parkview) per se by any means,” said Brown, who was also head coach at Elbert County before coming to Parkview. “We're going to miss our days in Lilburn and at Parkview. Our community has been great to our whole family. My kids grew up in the dugout at Parkview. It's not an easy decision See Brown 12C BY BILL MURPHY bmurphy@gainesvilletimes.com On July 30, The Times will release videos from the 2024 Times Sports Media Day to pre view the upcoming football sea son in Hall County. Each of the 11 programs in Hall will be represented with its head coach and two players to discuss the 2024 season, which starts Aug. 16. This season is expected to be filled with huge storylines here in Hall. In Class 5 A, Gainesville will be making a run for a state champi onship, after a deep playoff run in each of the past two seasons. This season, the Red Elephants (12-1 in 2023) will be competing in a challenging Region 7-5A, along with defending Class 7A state champion Milton and peren nial powerhouse Roswell, among others. Meanwhile, the majority of programs in Hall County will be classified in Class 3 A, starting this fall. In Region 6-3A, Chestatee, Johnson and North Hall will all be in the mix for one of the four state- playoff spots. Meanwhile, Region 8-3A will have Cherokee Bluff, East Hall and West Hall. In Class 4A, Flowery Branch will be competing in Region 8, along with East Forsyth, North Oconee and Madison County, among others. In 2024, two of Hall County's programs will be guided by a new coach. Lanier Christian is now under the leadership of first-year coach Joel Lulinksi, while Jeff Lee has taken over the program at Riverside Prep.
