Sandy Creek's

girls basketball team is off to slow start. They are 0-2 and have committed

66 turnovers in those two games; 30 against Fayette County in a 52-48

loss and 36 to Creekside in a 54-28 loss.

"We have

a lot of young players and a lack of experience," said Coach Jim

Waller. "We're not advancing as fast as I thought we would. We just

don't understand winning yet. We'll try to learn on the run."

In the Lady

Patriots first game they faced the Fayette County Lady Tigers. Maya Hughes

had 12 ponts and Tiffany Paschall chipped in 11 points. Both girls had

eight rebounds. Paschall lead the team in scoring in the loss to Creekside

with 14 points. The girls then split games over the weekend, defeating

Rockdale, 42-31 and then losing to Westminster, 52-23. The Lady Patriots

are now 1-1 in the region. They were scheduled to face Woodward Academy

last night. Coach Waller was the coach at Woodward for a number of years

and is familiar with their players and staff.

The Sandy Creek

boys team is off to a better start. The Patriots placed second in the

Arrowhead Thanksgiving tournament and defeated Creekside on Tuesday night,

61-48.

Sandy Creek

faced Forest Park in the first game of the tournament and won 58-51. William

Belton scored 20 points and Corey Adams scored 15. Their next game was

against Pope and the Patriots won in double overtime. Belton scored 21

points, while Richard Lott added 12 points and Adams contributed 11 points.

In the final game of the torunament, Sandy Creek lost to Morrow, 57-50.

Cornelius Brown lead the team in scoring with nine points.

"Belton

and Adams are back doing a good job for us this year, as is Richard Lott

who is playing phenomenal basketball in the post" said Coach Rick

Francis. "Lott leads the team in rebounds and blocks and is a defensive

presence for us. Everybody is picking it up for us so far."

The Patriots

are always looking to work hard and improve, but their focus is not just

to make the state tournament again but to win the title. The Patriots

are certainly in the mix to win the region as they knocked off Creekside,

which is a contender every year.

Over the weekend,

the Patriots defeated Rockdale, 71-46 with Samuel Young, Kevin Craig and

Adams each scoring 10 points. They also got a 51-23 win over Westminster

with Adams netting 16, Belton adding 12 and Lott contributing eight points.

The Patriots hosted Woodward last night.

Starr's Mill's

girls survived a wild one last Tuesday night as they defeated Eagle's

Landing, 62-60 in overtime. The Lady Panthers were down by six points

with 1:27 to go. Thanks to Eagle's landing missing free throws and Ashley

Marine sinking hers, Starr's Mill sent the game to overtime, where they

outscored their opponents 11-9. Erin Ricker lead the team in scoring with

21 points. She was six of seven from the free throw line, had 11 rebounds

and five steals. Jenny Norman added 16 points in the win.

Starr's Mill

opened the season with three straight losses in the Morrow tournament,

two of which were to top 15 teams; Griffin and Northeast Macon. The other

loss in the tournament was to Mays.

The Starr's

Mill boys fell to Eagle's Landing, 62-56, after leading until midway through

the third quarter. Eagle's Landing went on a big run in the third and

fourth quarter and though the Panthers stayed close they couldn't break

through at the end. Che Brewer lead the team in scoring with 15 points,

while Gary Kubik scored nine and Aubry Kidd and Micah Fletcher added eight

points. Starr's Mill faced Riverdale last Thursday and hosted Fayette

County last night.

The McIntosh

Chief boys basketball team started off their regular season play with

consecutive wins on Friday and Saturday. First came a convincing victory

over the Newnan Cougars, 70-42, followed by a win over cross county rival

Fayette County, 79-66, made more intense this year, after last year's

leading scorer for the Chiefs, Josh Burr, left the Peachtree City team

and headed for Fayetteville.

Friday's game

for McIntosh showcased a well balanced attack on both offense and defense.

At the end of the first quarter, the Chiefs held an 18-9 lead over Newnan.

Defense was strong, as McIntosh held the Cougars to just 13 points in

the first half, while heading into the locker room with 37. Scoring for

McIntosh was lead by Dexter Manley with 18, followed by Scott Prah and

Drew Hartley with 11 each. Aaron Haight and Ian Hardy each had eight points,

while Markuiz Griffith tossed in seven.

Saturday's

game with Fayetteville was a battle as the two rivals met for the first

time this season. Burr scored 24 points for the Tigers but it wasn't enough

to overtake a fired up Chiefs team lead by Dexter Manley and Markuiz Griffith

on offense. Manley also dominated the boards.

A sizable amount

of Burr's points were at the foul line, while Griffith caught fire with

three pointers. After several lead changes, the first quarter ended with

the Tigers in the lead 17-15. The McIntosh offense exploded in the next

period, giving them a 41-32 margin over Fayette County going into the

half. The lead was extended to 14, with the Chiefs ahead 60-46 at the

end of the third period.

Solid defense

along with McIntosh guards Ben Allen, Markuiz Griffith and Scott Prah

denying Burr his three point threat. Scoring for McIntosh was once again

lead by Manley with 25, followed by Griffith coming off the bench to rack

up 24. Hartley threw in 10 points and Haight added seven.

McIntosh is

now 4-1 overall after taking two out of three games at the Mt.Zion Thanksgiving

Tournament with wins over Paidea and S. Cobb. McIntosh played at Jonesboro

last night.

On Friday night,

the Fayette County Lady Tigers (3-1) defeated Morrow, 44-43. Alison Horne

lead the team in scoring with 18 points. The Fayette County boys (1-4)

lost to Morrow, 78-62. Morrow's stifling defense helped them build a 43-29

lead at the half.

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