Sports

By Walter Geiger

The Lamar County Trojans closed out 10 days of spring practice in pads last week without conducting a public spring scrimmage.

“With the GHSA allowing only a limited number of padded contact opportunities, I decided a 10th day of practice was more valuable to us. We will be able to get a better feel of where we are July 19 when we have a controlled session with Crawford County and Central Macon,” head coach John Flath reported. [Full Story »] 

The #3 Lamar Lady Trojans (19-2-0) dispatched two opponents last week to roll into the GHSA Class AA soccer Final Four. LC hosts #1 St. Vincent’s (16-3-1) today. First touch is set for 5:30 p.m. at Trojan Field. St. Vincent’s eliminated Lamar 5-1 in the semifinals last season.

Coach Wayne Calvert and his players are hoping for a big crowd at the stadium for the big match.

The winner of tonight’s match will face the East Laurens-Oglethorpe County winner in the state title match Friday.

UPDATE: Private schools, with far superior resources and which recruit players, prevailed in girls soccer action. St. Vincent's topped LC 6-1; Marist defeated Spalding 4-1; Pike County hung tough with Lovett, falling 5-4 in PKs.

The LC Lady Trojans topped Rabun County 4-1 Tuesday evening at Trojan Field to advance to the Elite 8 round of the GHSA Class AA state soccer playoffs. LC will host Fitzgerald Friday. The Lady Canes beat Johnson 4-2 to advance. The three other Elite 8 matchups in AA Friday are East Laurens at Model, Harlem at Oglethorpe County and Elbert County at St. Vincent's.

UPDATE: The LC Trojans lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Pepperell at Trojan Field Wednesday and saw their season come to an end. The Trojans had multiple scoring chances but could never find the net.

In AAA action Tuesday, the Pike Lady Pirates routed Long County 10-0 to advance. Their Elite 8 opponent is pending.

In AAAA, Woodward Academy dispatched Mary Persons 2-1.

Also in AAAA, the Spalding Lady Jags shut out Eastside 5-0 and host White County Friday.

Boys Sweet 16 action ramps up Wednesday. LC hosts Pepperell at 5:30 p.m. at Trojan Field.

It’s a great week to be a Lamar County sports fan as seven different teams from the high school are in postseason action this week as Spring sports wind down.

UPDATE since print edition distributed: The baseball playoff series pitting LC vs. Therrell High of Atlanta has been moved to Aldora Field here due to wet conditions at Therrell.

Both the Trojans and Lady Trojans soccer teams are Region 5AA champs and # 1 playoff seeds.

The Lady Trojans host Therrell High, the #4 seed from Region 6AA, Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

The Trojans host KIPP Academy Friday at 5:30 p.m. KIPP is also the #4 seed from Region 6AA.

Both the Trojan and Lady Trojans tennis teams won their round one matches last week, advancing to the Sweet 16 to face Elbert County this week. Match times were not set at press time.

Likewise, the Trojan and Lady Trojan track teams won the Region 5AA meet in Franklin last Thursday. They will move on to the sectionals in Calhoun April 28.

The Diamond Trojans closed out regular season play with a sweep of Temple. Seeded #3, they host Therrell for a doubleheader Thursday with the rubber game set for Friday.

Therrell is the #2 seed from Region 6AA.

Last but not least, the LCMS Diamond Trojans stunned top-seeded Gray Station to advance to the CGMSAL title game where they fell to Monroe County 4-1.

For playoff updates throughout the week, monitor barnesville.com.

The LC Trojans and Lady Trojans play their final regular season home games tonight at Trojan Field against Hampton. They close out regular season play Friday at Monticello.

The #3 Lady Trojans (14-2, 8-0) play at 5:30 p.m. The Trojans (10-4-2, 7-1) play at 7:30 p.m. with senior recognition between games.

Both teams have clinched Region 5AA titles and the all-important #1 seed headed into the playoffs. The Trojans play their first round match here April 27. The Lady Trojans play April 26.

Their opponents have not yet be determined. Monitor barnesville.com for updates.

The Jordan Red Jackets have forfeited Friday night's boys region soccer match, LC's last region contest, clinching the Region 5AA title for LC. The Lady Trojans clinched their fifth straight region crown earlier.

LC hosts Peach County tonight. First touch for the girls game is set for 5:30 p.m. at Trojan Field with boys action to follow at 7:30 p.m.

The #3 Lady Trojans are 12-2 overall and 7-0 in Region 5AA and have clinched the region title. Peach County is 5-7-1 overall and 2-2 in region play. They are unranked in Class AAA.

The Trojans dropped out of the most recent rankings released April 2. Lamar (9-4-1, 6-1-0) is tied with Callaway for the region lead but clinched on tiebreaker #2 - goal differential. Peach (4-4, 2-1) is also unranked.

Friday night's girl's match with Jordan is still on and LC will celebrate Alumni Night - similar to homecoming for soccer.

Former players will be recognized immediately after the girls varsity match and an alumni pick-up game will be played dif there is enough participation.

Link for more info: https://lamarcountyathletics.com/2018/03/01/soccer-alumni-night-april-13-2018/

The #3 LC Lady Trojans defeated Callaway 4-0 in Columbus last night to clinch the Region 5AA soccer championship. It was the fifth straight title for coach Wayne Calvert's squad.

Lamar's senior goalkeeper Ashley Haddock had another clean sheet in the shutout and has only allowed one goal to a region opponent in her three years as the starter in the net for LC.

The LCMS Trojans (7-1-2) battle Monroe County (9-0-1) tonight at the MP soccer complex in Forsyth for the CGMSAL boys district soccer title. Coach Ricci Jules’ team defeated Henderson 3-0 in their last regular season game.

UPDATE: LCMS lost Monday's title game to Monroe County 1-0. Regulation play ended in a scoreless tie. The match was still scoreless after two, five-minute overtimes. The Dogs outshot the Trojans 3-2 in penalty kicks to give them a narrow 1-0 win. LCMS fielded a very young team in its initial season and the future is bright.

The team roster includes: Graham Adamson, Gabe Blount, Justin Brannan, Mason Bushby, Jackson Callaway, Chip Crawford, Matthew Ctibor, Joe Davis, Daniel Dinkins, Samuel Edwards, Caleb Fossett, Skyler Hannan, Nathan Layton, JD Lucier, Joseph Mauney, Joshua Moore, Daniel Navarro, Ethan Popham, Kentavious Reed and Luke Sappington.

LCMS fielded soccer teams for the first time this season. [Full Story »] 

The LC Diamond Trojans (8-4, 1-2) lost two games of a three-game series against region foe Jordan last week.

On Tuesday, Jordan belted LC 16-1, mercy ruling the locals after only three innings. LC had only four hits and were tagged with three errors. Collin Thompson and Logan Sharpton pitched for LC in the shellacking. [Full Story »] 

The LC Diamond Trojans (7-2) added two more wins to their record for the young season last week.

On Wednesday, Lamar routed Crawford County 13-3. Collin Thompson went four innings for LC and got the win. He had four strikeouts. He also had two hits and two RBIs to help his cause. His brother, Caleb Thompson, also drove in two runs.
[Full Story »] 

The LC Diamond Trojans, coached by Mike Oberg, won two of three games last week to run their record to 5-2 for the young season.

Last Wednesday, LC topped Putnam County 8-6. Collin Thompson got the win for LC, going six innings, striking out three and allowing seven hits. Michael King led LC with four hits. Logan Sharpton had two RBIs for Lamar. [Full Story »] 

The LC Lady Trojans (21-7) lost to the Rabun County Wildcats (24-6) in the second round of the GHSA Class AA basketball playoffs here Wednesday night.

The Ladycats will go on to face the Washington County-Fitzgerald victor Feb. 27 or 28. Washington County is #8 in the most recent polling. Lamar's stellar season came to an end.

Scoring:

End 1st: RC 14 LC 10

HALF: RC 28 LC 18

End 3rd: RC 46 LC 27

FINAL: RC 63 LC 43

The LC Lady Trojans defeated Callaway 52-46 Friday night to win the Region 5AA tournament and the all-important #1 seed it carries into the state tournament.

Coach Adam Ballard's team had a bye in round one and beat Spencer 62-38 in round two.

No one is exactly sure but the conventional wisdom is that LC had not won a girls title since the 1980s. We have reached out to former coach Cecil Spear for that information.

Much more in the 1.13.18 print edition of The Herald Gazette.

The GSC Highlanders lost two games last week.

On Jan. 31, GSC dropped a narrow 88-83 decision to South Georgia here.

Kevon Tucker had a career night with 32 points. Oronte Anderson had 17 while Paul Miller pitched in 16 points for Gordon.

Other GSC scorers were Seth Brown-Carter (11), Xavier Jones (3), Kai Lambert (2) and AJ Cheeseman (2).

On Saturday, Gordon lost at home again. This time it was a 61-59 loss to Albany Tech.

Anderson led GSC with 17 points while Brown-Carter had 14 and Tucker added 13.

The Highlanders’ record took a big hit as they were forced to forfeit nine previous wins due to an ineligible player. They are now 3-20 overall and 2-7 in conference play.