The Woodstock boys basketball team rolled over the weekend’s opposition, increasing their win streak to five games by beating East Paulding and Cherokee. It’s been a turnaround season for the Wolverines, who lost their last six games last year en route to a 9-17 season. With a 15-6 record thus far, the team looks poised to finish this season near the top of Region 5-AAAAA. Currently, Woodstock has a realistic shot at finishing second in the region, but they may need some help from South Cobb, who has beaten the team both times they have met this year. Of Woodstock’s next two opponents, Marietta is the most intriguing game. Earlier this season, the Wolverines won 64-55 over the Blue Devils. However, Marietta has played better as of late and is getting some serious production out of sophomores Dansby Swanson, a 6-0 shooting guard, and Devante Thornton, a 6-6 power forward. At 6-14, their record shows much room for improvement. However, the Blue Devils recently completed their first back-to-back wins of the season, the second of which coming to none other than South Cobb in a 64-55 victory.
The Cherokee girls basketball team not only faced region rivals over the weekend, but county bragging rights were at stake as well as the Lady Warriors took on Etowah on Friday and Woodstock on Saturday. Though Cherokee found itself in the middle of the pack coming into the weekend as far as county play was concerned, the team had been outstanding with wins already against Etowah, Woodstock, and Sequoyah. In fact, it was a three-game sweep in mid-December. On Friday, Cherokee outhustled Etowah and benefited from strong second and third quarters to hold on to a 46-40 victory. Senior gaurds Mia Jones-Johnson scored 16 points and Haley Chambers finished with 12 points. The county streak came to an end on Saturday, however, as Cherokee lost a tough decision 41-38 to Woodstock. The game was reminiscent of the first matchup, except in the teams’ first meeting it was Cherokee edging out a victory, 60-58. Tuesday’s game against Kennesaw Mountain could prove to have standings implications in region play as both teams jockey to remain in the top five of the 10-team field. On Jan, 12, Cherokee lost against Kennesaw Mountain on the road, 61-52. This time the lady Warriors will host the team as Cherokee looks to sweep its last three home games and finish the regular season on a win streak.
AROUND THE COUNTIES …
As Lambert attempts to build its athletic program in only its first year of competition, the swim team is having a strong season and recently gained quite a bit of recognition in Forsyth County. Competing without a senior class, the Longhorns won both the boys and the girls competition at the Forsyth County Championships, beating out North Forsyth, South Forsyth, West Forsyth and Forsyth Central. The victory was especially lopsided on the girls side as the team finished with 255 points, well ahead of second-place finisher West Forsyth with 107. The team has one more meet this weekend against Northview at the Dynamo Swim Club in Alpharetta before the state meet preliminaries on Feb. 12.
Chasing down Etowah’s swim and dive teams has not been an easy task for Woodstock this season, but the team is putting together a fine year none the less and is hoping to peak at the right time with the state championship right around the corner. Fresh off the North Georgia Regional Championships where the girls finished second and the boys finished fourth, Woodstock may be primed to have strong representation in the state meet again this year. Last year, Erika Staskevicus, Morgan Johnson, and, for the boys team, Alex Broome all made the finals in their respective events. This year, all three are back and are having fine seasons, especially Broome who has set school records in the 200 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 100 free,and 100 fly. Also, the girls team is hopeful that two or possibly three of the relay teams could qualify for state. The relay of Rachel Echard, Erika Staskevicus, Morgan Johnson and Becca Lombard recently set a meet record at the North Georgia Regional Championship. One member that will be surely missed is diver Alex Watson, who won the state championship last year and is currently diving for the University of Georgia.
The West Forsyth wrestling team will travel to Gilmer this weekend to take part in the Area 7-AAA tournament. For many of the West Forsyth wrestlers it will be an opportunity to get another chance at competing against the Gilmer squad. Gilmer beat West Forsyth in the finals at the state duals and is the only team to have beaten the Wolverines this season.
Gupta can be reached at rgupta@scoreatl.com.
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