Albany Herald

After last Thursday’s region meet, all nine members of the Deerfield varsity wrestling team qualified for the GISA AAA State Tournament, which begins Friday in Macon, while 12 from Southland (not pictured) also qualified. (Scott Horton/Special to The Herald)

AMERICUS — Southland Academy produced four GISA Region 3-AAA champs during the recent region tournament, while Deerfield had three and each school will be sending a host of kids to the GISA State Tournament that starts Friday in Macon.

Deerfied’s region champs were last year’s state runner-up Reid Wright (120-pound weight class), Chandler Lane (132) and Harrison Stadnik (220). Stadnik, who finished runner-up a season ago to Tattnall’s Arthur Williams at state, has already beaten Williams twice this season and will be looking for revenge when he makes the trip to Macon.

Southland’s four region champs were Ryan Landreth (113), Cauldin Smith (182), Dillon Jerkins (195) and Lance Harrod (heavyweight). Southland will also be sending eight other wrestlers who qualified by finishing in the Top 4 during the region tournament, including Gary Ingram (4th-place finish in the 126-pound weight class), William Grinnell (3rd, 132,; Colt Stephens (3rd, 138), Mitch Eason (3rd, 145), Hood Soulter (2nd,. 152), Pyne Greene (4th, 160), Drew Howell (3rd, 170) and Andrew Alexander (2nd, 220).

Deerfield, meanwhile, qualified all nine of its varsity wrestlers for state, and joining Wright, Lane and Stadnik will be Kyle Gill (2nd, 106), Griffin Richardson (2nd, 113), Nathan Green (2nd, 170), Ethan Brock (3rd, 160), Graham Harpole (4th, 138) and John DeLoatch (4th, 138).

SGA boys, girls pick up wins against Emannuel Christian (Ala.)

DAMASCUS — The SGA boys basketball team slipped by Emannuel Christian (Ala.) on Monday night, 63-53, to add another W to one of the best seasons in school history and push its record to 16-3 overall. McKinley Chambless led the way with 17 points, followed by Billy Grimsley with 13, Kameron Whitaker with 12 and Alex Chambless with 11.

The SGA girls (4-15), meanwhile, picked up their fourth win of the year with a 51-44 victory against EC, thanks to a season-high 23 points from Taylor Stuart, 12 from Beth Burkett and eight from Jenna Kitchings.

Both teams play again today at Brookwood.

Albany Tech men, women sweep East Georgia at home

ALBANY — With the regular season winding down, the Albany Tech men’s and women’s basketball programs picked up a couple of key Region XVII wins Monday night on their home floor.

The men’s 71-60 victory against East Georgia not only helped them bounce back from a pair of tough losses last week, but moved the Titans up to third in the conference standings. Former Worth County star Jamorris Gaines led the way with 26 points, while former Terrell County star Robert Ellis added 17.

ATC is now 12-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play, but could easily slip into a tie for fourth if the Titans don’t take of business in their next game tonight at Chattahoochee Tech, which is currently fifth. Middle Georgia leads the conference comfortably at 10-1, followed by Georgia Perimeter.

The men and the women both have seven regular-season games left before the region tournament, which will be held at different times. The men’s tourney is March 1, while the women’s is a week earlier on Feb. 23.

Both teams currently are in good shape to make the tournament as the Top 8 teams get in out of the 10 total programs in the conference. The Lady Titans helped their cause Monday when they beat East Georgia, 58-46, behind 20 points from Shakima Wiggins, while Bianca Fennessee added a double-double with 14 points and 15 boards.

The win pushed the Lady Titans’ record to 14-8 overall and 6-5 in region — good for a tie for fifth place. South Georgia Tech leads the women’s side of the region at 11-0.

The women also hit the road tonight to face Chattahoochee Tech.