The Milton Eagles took on all their critics and won the Region 6-AAAAA championship against the host team Campbell, 77-61. The tournament was filled with drama. In the semifinals against Wheeler, the Eagles escaped after a buzzer-beating jumper by Wheeler was ruled a 2-pointer instead of a three to give them a 72-71 win in overtime. Before the tournament even started, many, including myself were questioning the Eagles’ resolve after finishing poorly in the regular season. But, the No. 3-ranked (AJC rankings) team put its game together and earned a spot in the state tournament. In the championship game against Campbell, Julian Royal led the team with 24 points and got key contributions from his fellow stars Shannon Scott, Dai-Jon Parker and Evan Nolte. Scott had 12 points and six assists, Parker has 15 points and five assists and Nolte added 14 points. It was a total team effort as the Eagles combined for 21 assists in all. They will take on Collins Hill in the first round of the state playoffs.
Centennial was not as fortunate after losing to Campbell in the semifinals of the region tournament. After trailing by eight points at halftime, the Knights made a comeback to tie the score at 55 in the fourth quarter. From there, Centennial could not overcome the nearly flawless free-throw shooting from Campbell and lost, 68-60. Despite 23 points from Devonta White, the team had to settle for playing in the consolation game. To add salt to the wound, the Knights lost that game as well to Wheeler, 64-52. On the bright side of things, they will be playing against Norcross in the state tournament next week, which is an achievement in itself coming from Region 6. However, the Knights will likely be without their star center Vincent Bailey, who is nursing an ankle injury he suffered in the region semifinals.
Westlake cruised through the 4-AAAAA tournament with wins over East Coweta, 67-47, and Creekside, 59-49. Marcus Thornton got the tournament off to a great start for Westlake against East Coweta, scoring 12 points in the first quarter. He was not needed much after that, finishing with 14 points in the game. Westlake went on to defeat Lovejoy in the region championship 76-66 to earn the No. 1 seed, and will face Valdosta at home in the first round of the playoffs this Friday night.
South Atlanta continued it dominance of 4-AAA by winning its second consecutive region championship with a 48-46 win over Eagle’s Landing. The win was also the Hornets’ 11th in a row. They finished the regular season at 26-2 and will be one of the top teams in the 3A state tournament and the favorites to win back-to-back championships.
The Milton girls won their region championship against Campbell, 49-39. The game was not as easy as the score would indicate. With two minutes left, the Eagles had a six-point lead and it could have gotten away from them had it not been for the great free-throw shooting down the stretch from Kris Puthoff-King, who hit 8-of-10 and finished with 16 points. The defense from center Tori Waldner was incredible as well. She had 18 rebounds and eight blocks to lead the Lady Eagles. Nikki Dixon contributed 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists in the win.
WINTER SPORTS WRAP-UP …
At the state wrestling finals, Brian St. James of Centennial won the 5A 119-pound class over Roswell’s Adam Wilson. It was the 109th consecutive win for James, and also made him 52-0 this year to finish off a stellar high school career. Centennial finished sixth in the team standings. In the 2A 145-pound class, Lovett’s Brooks Cowles took the title. The Lovett team finished third overall.
The 2010 Swim and Dive Championships were a successful event for many county swimmers. In the 200-yard freestyle, Northview’s Matias Koski won with a time of 1:40.53. Alpharetta’s Allen Browning won the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:53.63. Julia Treible of Centennial won the girls 200 IM with a time of 2:04.70. Roswell’s Julia Henkel finished third at 2:06.21. Treible also won the 100-yard backstroke for the Knights, who finished fifth as a team. The Westminster girls won the 200-yard medley relay. Rachel Astles and Nicole Stafford won that race and the 50-yard freestyle and 100 yard butterfly, respectively.
Deighton can be reached at jdeighton@scoreatl.com.
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