One of the Morrow girls basketball team’s best seasons since its glory days of the 1980s and ‘90s under Hall of Fame coach A.C. McCullers has taken a dramatic turn.
The GHSA has ruled one unnamed Mustangs player ineligible and instructed the team to forfeit all game in which she played. According to MaxPreps, the GHSA’s official score- and record-keeper, Morrow has forfeited region victories against Rockdale County (Dec. 1), Jonesboro (Dec. 8), Forest Park (Dec. 9), Alcovy (Dec. 12) and Lovejoy (Jan. 9).
The school is scheduled to appeal at a hearing on Feb. 7 after the completion of the regular season, and the GHSA still considers this to be an open case.
If the forfeits stand, Morrow’s record will go from 14-2 to 9-7 overall. The Mustangs had been in second place in Region 3-6A with a 6-2 region record, but the forfeits would make them 1-7 and in last place in the eight-team region.
Morrow continues region play this week with games against Mundy’s Mill (Tuesday), Forest Park (Friday) and seventh-ranked Woodward Academy (Saturday).
Morrow’s girls won state championships in the highest classification in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1993 but have advanced past the first round of the playoffs only twice since 2000.
*Harping dominates: Marist’s Kate Harpring was a first-team all-state selection last year as a freshman, and there has been no slowing down in her second season. The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 43 points per game last week in the third-ranked War Eagles’ victories over Lakeside-DeKalb (64-28) and North Atlanta (75-24). Marist is 18-1 overall and 7-0 in Region 4. Harpring, a four-star recruit with offers from several Division I schools, is rated as the No. 21 player in her class and the No. 2 sophomore in Georgia by ESPN. She is the daughter of former Georgia Tech and NBA star Matt Harpring and the sister of Tech football signee Luke Harpring.
*Red Terrors on the rise: The Glynn Academy boys team moved into the Class 6A rankings this week at No. 10 after improving to 18-3 by defeating Lakeside-Evans 72-62 on Saturday for its fifth consecutive win. The Red Terrors are in second place in Region 2 with a 7-1 mark in league play and will have a chance to move into the lead when they face region leader Grovetown (12-7, 6-0) twice over the final 12 days of the regular season, including Friday night in Brunswick. Glynn Academy was 12-14 last year and finished in sixth place in the region during the regular season, losing to Lakeside 58-57 in the region tournament quarterfinals.
*Tuesday’s top games: The sixth-ranked Riverwood boys (15-5, 6-1) will seek to avenge a 90-87 double-overtime loss to No. 8 St. Pius (13-5, 6-0) when the teams meet again at Riverwood. That victory by St. Pius is the only thing separating the teams at the top of the Region 4 standings. … The third-ranked Lee County boys team (16-3, 5-0) will face its top challenger in Region 1 when it travels to Veterans (12-6, 4-1) for the first of two games between the teams in the final two weeks of the regular season. They’ll meet again on Feb. 6 in Leesburg. … The North Forsyth girls (19-0, 6-0), ranked No. 2 and the only undefeated team remaining in Class 6A, boys or girls, will seek to increase their winning streak to 20 games when they host second-place Lanier (10-9, 5-1) in a Region 8 game. North Forsyth won 50-17 when the teams met at Lanier on Jan. 3.
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