Cheerleading, hoops, wrestling on tap

By by: R. Garry Glenn

Posted 6:56AM on Friday 1st February 2002 ( 23 years ago )

It's a busy weekend on the prep schedule with competition on the cheerleading, basketball, and wrestling fronts. The Johnson cheerleaders won another region title this past weekend, and now head to State AAA Competition Saturday in Columbus. In the nine years Johnson has competed for the Georgia High School Association State Championship in cheerleading, they have finished as runners-up eight times. "We are the Susan Lucci of Georgia High School cheerleading, " said Knight coach Karen Ellis. "It just depends on who hits their routines and what the judges like." Ellis says triple-A is very tough this year, noting her squad is in the running for the tittle with "four or five other squads." She noted that they only edged South Forsyth out of their region (7AAA) by one point, and she expects Winder and Eastside out of 8AAA, along with defending state champ Carrollton out of 6AAA to be tough. "Maybe one time it'll go our way, but it's gonna be really tough this year, there are a lot of good squads, " Ellis added. "If we hit our routines solid and perform, then we've got a shot at it." Well, even Lucci eventually won an Emmy. Other northeast Georgia teams sending cheerleading squads to Columbus include Habersham Central, Dawson County, Commerce, and Jefferson. On the Knight Court Friday, Johnson hosts Forsyth Central for key region basketball games(WDUN- Newstalk 550-AM). Johnson's boys are coming off big wins at region opponent Gilmer last Friday, non-region foe North Hall Saturday and a road win at region opponent South Forsyth Tuesday. Jeff Steele's boys seem to have put early problems including some disciplinary problems behind them. "I think my kids just finally got tired of the way things were going, " Steele said. "They called a meeting without me, and ever since that's happened, we've seemed to get the ball rolling again in the right direction, and I hope it continues on for us throughout the rest of the season." Steele adds the Knights are shooting for the second or third spot in the region. "Either one would be a pretty good place to be, " Steele said. "You always hate being four or five, 'cause you know you know you're gonna play a pretty good team- four's always gonna play five." The Friday game with Central is big for the the Lady Knights as well as they are coming off the loss to South. "We have five teams right now that are separated by about a game, " Johnson girls' coach Benjie Wood had said."We're still jockeying for position right here, hoping that we can get a favorable seed for the tournament." Elsewhere, the Gainesville teams are at Gilmer. Coach Manson Hill's Lady Elephants are rated #7 in triple-A in the state, and are riding a 12 game winning streak. "We control our destiny.That's where we wanna be, and take care of the things we do," Hill said, noting they were two games away from being the region's top-seed with Gilmer Friday and Johnson Tuesday. Gainesville boys' coach Virgil Amey expects a tough contest in Ellijay. "They played Johnson pretty tough up there," Amey said. "We gotta find some type of challenge to get us motivated to play that game. I know the game should be important in itself; but it's gonna be a long drive, so I gotta find something to get us going up there." West Hall is at home with Habersham Central. The Spartans hoping to rebound from losses at Clarke Central Tuesday. "Right now, we're just trying to get ready for the tournament, and we seem to be making a little progress," West Hall girls' coach Steve Sweat had said after a Friday win over North Hall. Also Friday,East Hall hosts Banks County. Lakeview hosts Rabun Gap. North Hall is at Oconee County. Buford is at Jefferson. Commerce is at Tallulah Falls. Pickens hosts North Forsyth. Jackson County hosts Monroe Area. White County hosts Lumpkin County. South Forsyth is at Fannin County. In prep wrestling, Lumpkin County hosts the Area 4 AA tournament which includes East Hall and Riverside. The AAA Area, which includes Gainesville and Johnson, is at North Forsyth. The AAAA Area tournament is at North Hall. Meanwhile new Gainesville football coach Bruce Miller said his last season's North Forsyth fullback/defensive back, senior Jonathan Douglas, was voted by the coaches as the 7AAA Player of the Year. Douglas, expected by Miller to sign with North Alabama, had 1,364 rushing yards and 116 tackles for the 12-2 Raiders who made the AAA Final Four, before losing to eventual State Champion LaGrange in the Georgia Dome semi-finals.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/2/199361