Jeff Hart

Gainesville girls basketball coach Manson Hill was expecting a tough game against defending Class AAA state champion and arch-rival East Hall Tuesday night. Yet he and the Lady Elephants also went to the East Hall gym looking for a win. Hill did not leave disappointed, as his Lady Elephants came away with a tough 44-39 victory.

With the graduation of Walter Hill and the loss of Ken Wise to injury, East Hall boys basketball coach Joe Dix has been looking for someone to step up and lead a young Vikings team. Senior Dedric Ware made his bid Tuesday night, scoring 19 points, including 10 straight at one point in the first half, to lead the Vikings to a 69-62 win over arch-rival Gainesville at the East Hall gym.

Kari Lehtonen turned aside 33 shots in his first NHL appearance in six weeks, and Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and assist in the Atlanta Thrashers' 4-0 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

Georgia coach Mark Richt turned politician late Saturday night as he lobbied for his No. 4 Bulldogs to land a spot in the national championship game.
Richt stated his case after watching No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia lose on Saturday night, opening the way for No. 3 Ohio State, Georgia, No. 5 LSU, and No. 6 Virginia Tech in the new national championship game.

The curse of No. 2 claimed another victim. West Virginia is out of the national title race. Ohio State is in. In a season defined by upsets, Pittsburgh came up with an enormous one, beating the second-ranked Mountaineers 13-9 Saturday night to throw another curveball at the BCS.

The No. 9 Sooners rushed for three touchdowns, quarterback Sam Bradford threw for two more and Oklahoma coolly captured its fifth Big 12 title since 2000 by upending the upstart Tigers 38-17 Saturday night in the conference championship game in the Alamodome.

The Chestatee boys basketball team won its second straight game in as many days holding off Lakeview Academy 51-42 Saturday night at the Lakeview gym.

The Buford football team erased four years of frustration Friday night knocking off Charlton County 21-14 in the quarterfinals of the Class AA state playoffs. The win moved the Wolves into the semifinals at The Georgia Dome next week. They will take on Dublin, who was a 27-13 winner over Pepperell, next Saturday at 9 a.m.

Ware County

North Gwinnett scored 21 consecutive points in the second half and then held off a furious rally in the final minute to beat Newnan 38-35 and advance to the Class AAAAA semifinals at the Georgia Dome next week.