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Friday, February 16, 2007
Ellington’s Beach boys a hit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Each Friday, the AJC’s Jay Stone breaks down the state basketball scene online. Got comments about this roundup or have questions for Jay? Submit them below.
As stop-gap measures go, Beach High School could hardly have done better.
Russell Ellington had state championships on his resume at the Savannah school, where he starred as a player and led the Bulldogs to the first state basketball championship following integration.
A former player under Ellington, Beach athletic director Ron Booker leaned on Ellington when the boys basketball position came open last fall, and Ellington pushed aside his affinity for fishing and took him up on it.
“I was going to do it until they find someone else,” Ellington said. “I haven’t checked with the AD yet. I think they’re satisfied with what is going on.”
The No. 3 Bulldogs (23-2), a perennial state power, have not missed a beat. Behind the big three of James Fields (19 points per game, Ladaris Green (11.2 ppg, 16 rebounds per game) and Markeith Cummins (13.8 ppg), they’re in the Region 3-AAAA semifinals against Savannah tonight, already assured of a state tournament berth and hoping to delay Ellington’s return to his boat as long as possible.
On the flip side: Last year, Johnson-Savannah entered the Region 3-AAAAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed and ran the table to win the region championship.
Keyed by 6-foot-8 post player Toby Veal, who was averaging 20 points and 14 rebounds and being recruited by most SEC schools, this time around the Atom Smashers came in as a No. 2 seed and were shown the door by city rival Groves, which took a 66-63 win to qualify for state and move to the region semifinals tonight opposite Camden County.
“So now we’ve experienced both sides of it,” said Johnson coach Keith Arrington. “I like the other one better.”
Another upset: The Pickens girls secured a No. 1 seed in Region 7-AAA in large part because of the talents of Allison Tennant, who two weeks ago surpassed 1,000 career points and was the hub of the Nettes’ 21-4 regular season. All of that went for naught after a loss to North Hall, which built an 18-point first-half lead and never allowed Pickens closer than seven.
Rubber match: Franklin County avenged one of its two losses by beating Elbert County in the regular-season finale last week. Now the Lady Lions (22-2) face Hart County for a third time. They split the first two games, but Franklin won 64-38 in the last meeting.
Big down the stretch: Antonio Bailey’s six free throws in the fourth quarter helped the Shaw boys (17-7) put away Kendrick earlier this week. The Raiders beat Hardaway Thursday night and get a third chance at Carver-Columbus in the 2-AAA Tournament. Shaw has lost to the Tigers twice by a combined 10 points.
Now state your thoughts: Got a team or player you’d like to see profiled? Let Jay know who’s heating up the hardcourts around the state. E-mail: jstone@ajc.com.
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