From Staff Reports
Northwest Whitfield’s girls basketball team gave coach Margaret Stockburger one heck of a birthday present on Saturday in Tunnel Hill.
The Lady Bruins hammered Hiram in Region 7-4A play, 72-37, as the veteran Stockburger won her 300th career game. Stockburger, who been the Lady Bruins’ head coach for 14 seasons, is 300-93 overall.
“Well, it’s pretty exciting,” Stockburger said. “Not a lot of people have the privilege to reach 300 wins. It was senior night, it was my birthday and it made for one great night.”
Stockburger didn’t try to hog the spotlight, though.
“Going into the game, my emotions didn’t have anything to do with 300 wins,” she said. “It had everything to do with senior night. I have six unbelievable seniors. At the end of the game, they presented me with a plaque and my emotions were bubbling over. It was a humbling moment.”
Jordi Cook’s 19-point performance led the Lady Bruins (20-2, 12-0 Region 7-4A), who ran their winning streak to 20 games. Quaneisha McCurty added 14 points and Christy Robinson 10 points, four rebounds and three blocks.
The Lady Bruins, ranked sixth in Class 4A in the latest GaSports.com coaches poll, led 29-11 after one quarter and stretched the margin to 53-23 at halftime.
“We had a real fun night,” Stockburger said.
Nikki White led Hiram with nine points.
• Southeast Whitfield girls 54, Heritage-Catoosa 19: Briana Sosebee finished with 21 points as she outscored the Lady Generals by herself in the Sub-region 6A-3A victory.
“We played really well,” Lady Raiders coach Elizabeth Crane said. “We were up 34-6 at halftime. Honestly, everybody was pumped for senior night and we played a very good game. Everybody got to play significant minutes and all but three scored, so that was good for us.”
TaQuasha O’Neal added 11 points for Southeast (13-9, 8-1 Sub-region 6A-3A).
• Rome girls 55, Dalton 45: The unbeaten Lady Wolves, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, pulled away from the visiting Lady Catamounts in the final four minutes for the victory.
“The 10-point margin was the biggest lead of the game,” Dalton coach Jeff McKinney said. “We had to foul in the last four minutes and they made some free throws.”
Amanda Rector led the Lady Cats (18-6, 9-4 Region 7-4A) with 20 points and Shelby Whitfield added 13.
Mauri Wells had 20 points for the Lady Wolves (24-0, 13-0).
“I think Rome’s got the best player in the state in Wells,” McKinney said.
• Murray County girls 56, Sprayberry 55: Lindsay Watts scored 19 points — she was 7-for-8 on free throws — and the host Lady Indians won their second straight game.
Tember Marchant had 15 points and Kayla Stanley 13 for Murray County (5-18, 2-11 Region 7-4A).
Ashley Speek led Sprayberry with 15 points and Katina Barbee had 12.
• Christian Heritage girls 60, Colonial Hills 22: Kathryn Green had eight rebounds and scored 14 points, with 10 coming in the first half as the Lady Lions built a 41-7 lead.
Maggie Peeples added 10 points and five assists, Bradley Townsend 10 points and five rebounds and Caty Nagel eight points for Christian Heritage (19-3, 11-2 Region 4-2A GISA) in the game played in Lithia Springs.
“We got sloppy in the second half,” Lady Lions coach Heather Lowery said. “We chalk that up as a lesson. We can’t go out and not give 100 percent.”
Christen McKay led Colonial Hills with nine points.
• Dalton boys 88, Rome 48: Kelly Phillips scored a career-high 31 points and Jalen Fields added 15 for the Catamounts (17-4, 9-4 Region 7-4A) as they routed the Wolves.
“We won this game by 40 points with Shaquon Moore and Watts Dantzler scoring two points,” Dalton coach Mike Duffie said. “Watts didn’t score a point. They were in foul trouble the entire game. Two minutes in, they were on the bench with two fouls each. I would say they only played about seven minutes, but with two minutes left in the third quarter we were up 30 and there was no need for them to play.”
Tevin Collins had 13 points and five assists and Tre Beck four each in steals and assists for Dalton, while Fields also pulled down nine rebounds.
“Kelly played like he’s capable,” Duffie said. “He hit three 3s, but the player of the night was Fields with those 15 points and nine rebounds. He played super well.”
• Hiram boys 75, Northwest 58: The Bruins had three players in double figures, but the visiting Hornets scorched the nets again, outscoring Northwest 24-11 in the second quarter on the strength of five 3-pointers.
“They shot lights out,” Northwest coach Ryan Richards said. “We were down one point going into the second quarter. We defended as best we could, but it just wasn’t our night for that.”
Michael Kelley led the Bruins (14-9, 5-7 Region 7-4A) with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Nermin Delic added 11 points and 13 rebounds and Alex Thames 10 points.
• Sprayberry boys 63, Murray County 47: The visiting Yellow Jackets got 18 points from Duncan Lunsford and made 27 of 38 free throws to subdue the Indians.
“We hit a drought in the third quarter and couldn’t score,” Murray County coach Greg Linder said. “They gained confidence and started making baskets and going to the free-throw line. In fact, they spent most of the second half on the free-throw line.”
Beau Booth led the Indians (7-16, 3-10 Region 7-4A) with 12 points and Seth Davenport had 10.
• Heritage boys 80, Southeast 59: The Raiders’ Trey Parris scored a season-high 22 points, including six 3-pointers, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the visiting Generals.
“Trey had a very good shooting night,” Raiders coach Josh Carter said.
Bradley Grant had 12 points and Josue Quintero 10 for Southeast (3-18, 1-8). Treas Jackson led Heritage with 16 points and Matt Chattin scored 15.
• Christian Heritage boys 71, Colonial Hills 64: Will Clark scored 26 points, Landon McClure added 22 and the Lions (14-8, 9-4 GISA Region 4-2A) made 11 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win.
Terrell Wilson had 15 points, 10 rebounds and four steals for the Lions, while McClure had 10 rebounds and Clark dished out six assists.
“We shot well and pulled away in the third quarter,” Lions coach Chad Woodson said. “Landon had four 3s and Will made two. We held them off at the free-throw line.”
Landon McCampbell scored 16 points, Julian Wise 15 and Matthew Lee 14 for Colonial Hills.
JV basketball
• Northwest Whitfield girls 61, Hiram 14: Alice Ann Barber scored 13 points to lead the Lady Bruins (10-2), who were ahead 37-10 at halftime.
Brook Everett and Carley Fetzer each scored 11 for Northwest, which plays at 6 p.m. Monday in the Cass Invitational.
• Sprayberry girls 45, Murray County 31: Kellie Newport scored 15 points to lead the Lady Indians (2-9).
• Northwest boys 56, Hiram 35: Alex Heard scored 15 points and Cole Currie had 12 for the Bruins (10-3).
JV wrestling
• Nine local wrestlers earned medals at the Area 6-3A traditional tournament at Heritage-Catoosa High in Ringgold, with Southeast claiming seven.
The Raiders’ Carlos Fraire claimed the title in the 285-pound weight class — he beat teammate Melvin Araiza in the finals — while Alex Disney (145) was second, Zach Williams (130) and Austin Stafford (171) were third and Aaron Thomas (103) and Fidel Gonzalez (285) were fourth.
North Murray’s Tyson McClure (160) was second and Kayla Webb (103) was fourth — she shared the place with Thomas because of an error in the way the brackets were drawn.
9th basketball
• Northwest’s boys won two games to capture the Woodland-Bartow tournament, including overcoming a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Sprayberry, 61-55, in the championship game. The Bruins outscored Sprayberry, 21-5, in the final quarter.
Tanner Quarles scored 23 points, including seven 3-pointers, Case Mathis had 12 and O’Shea Hill 11 for the Bruins (11-5).
In the semifinals, the Bruins defeated Allatoona, 47-36, behind Hill’s 19 points. Jonathan Willman scored 10.
