About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2011)
— www.MainStreetNewsSports.com — December 28, 2011 Section B The Banks County News GIRLS BASKETBALL BEASLEY SELECTED Banks County High School varsity girls player Deasha Beasley was selected for the all tournament team at the Piedmont Holiday Tournament last weekend. Photo by Randy Crump WRESTLING KINGS OF THE MOUNTAIN Banks County High School Varsity Wrestling Team took first place in the two-day “King of the Mountain” tournament in Hiawassee. FIRST-PLACE FINISHERS Mason Patton and Francisco Hurtado finished in first place at the Choo Choo Classic. BCHS now in AA class GHSA's new -plan bumps school up BY RANDY CRUMP The Georgia High School Association announced the reclas sification plans for 2012-13 and Banks County is one of 65 schools that will be in AAA class. BCHS, which is currently slotted in AA, will jump up one class when the GSHA moves to a six-class system next fall. BCHS officials had hoped the school’s FTE (fulltime enroll ment) numbers would place them in AA, but its total of 665 students (ninth through 11th grade) put them in the AAA class. Mill Creek (2,766) is the largest school in the state with Norcross (2,709), Brookwood (2,560), Collins Hill (2,539), Berkmar (2,512), Peachtree Ridge (2,435), Meadowcreek (2,357), Lowndes County (2,346), East Coweta (2,143) and Camden County (2,127) rounding out the top 10 biggest schools in the state. BCHS is the sixth smallest school in the AAA class, Only Gordon Central at 664 students, Decatur (664), Savannah (663), Jefferson County (660) and Islands (651) are smaller. BCHS missed the 2A cutoff by only 18 students as Pepperell and Kendrick each have 647 students and are the two biggest schools in the AA class. Westside, Augusta (646), Calhoun (645), Jordan (635), Berrien (634), Murray County (625), Jefferson (619), Josey (613), Westminster (611) Toombs County (610), Fitzgerald (607) and Spencer (600) are the only schools in the class with more than 600 students. “It makes sense for us to be in AAA,” athletic director Jerry King said. “It has some of the same schools as 8AA (East Jackson, Dawson County, Fannin County and East Hall). The key is that we play a region schedule in all sports. GHSA divided all regions into sub regions. It is not logical for an eight team region to subdivide. It would make scheduling very difficult. I think the principals in AAA will have the 2/3 majority to over rule this and play a full region schedule in all sports.” In accordance with GHSA by-laws, a region may choose to play a full region schedule with a 2/3 vote of the principals of the schools in that region. This decision may be made on a sport-by-sport basis. “This will still give us room in schedules to play teams that have been historic rivals,” King said. “We are hoping to restore the Banks/Commerce rivalry in all sports. We also like the chance to keep playing East Jackson, Jackson, and Jefferson in some sports.” The GHSA does allow for an appeal based on geographical isolation. According to the GHSA White Book, “an individual school shall be considered to be isolated if the average distance from that school to all other schools in the region is 100 miles or more one way. The decision to place a school in a higher or lower classification will be based on a combination of factors that include travel distances and school population size. “This will still be a very difficult region for girls basketball,” King said. “Buford, North Hall, East Hall, and Fannin are all historically strong programs and Dawson has some very good players coming up in the program. Competition wise this is about the same level as 8AA. One could simply plug in Rabun for Buford and Union for North Hall and it would be about the same for girls basketball.” Coach Mike Cleveland said: “It is a tough region. The com petition will be at a high level. Buford played for the Class AA championship last year, and may be the best team in the state this year in AA. East Hall is always good; they competed in the sweet sixteen last year. North Hall is a team that I have coached against many times. They were a Final Four team two years ago, and are always very good. West Hall is similar. Almost every year, these two are in the state playoffs. Dawson County also has a very solid basketball program. It will be a competitive region, that is for sure.” Regions are encouraged to play full region schedules in football unless there are large travel distance issues. In sports other than football where there are multiple contests dining the school week, regions are encouraged to play sub-region schedules. Banks County would compete in the Region 7B section of Class AAA. Sub-region B includes Banks County, Buford, East Hall and West Hall. Sub-region A Includes Dawson County, Fannin County, North Hall and White County schools. Nothing about the current reclassification proposals may be considered to be final or official until ratified by the full GHSA Executive Committee on January 10. The classification plan covers the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic school years. CLASS 7-AAA Sub-Region A Dawson County Fannin County North Hall White County Sub-Region B Banks County Buford East Hall West Hall Photos by David Wood
