State success! The wrestlers took third at the Traditional State meet at Gwinnett Arena last weekend. Lee Davis and Jason Grimes both won state crowns, Davis in the 182-pound slate and Grimes at 170. Brendan Quigley took second at 126. Other state placers included third Charlie Rousseau (195), fourth John Hiles (106), fifth Court Fanning (120) and Grant Chastain (152) and sixth Wes Fanning (132), Rod Davis (160) and Jack Thomson (220). The third place finish at traditional is the best in HI history; the Bears were fifth last season.

Moving on! Girls hoops (22-7) advanced into the Round of 32 in state with a win over Greenforest Tuesday. Reshaundra Owens had 33 points and 21 rebounds; McKenzie Bolden scored 21 and Bailey McBride 12 assists. HI went in as the #4 seed after falling to Wesleyan and Pace last weekend. Against Wesleyan, Owens led with eight points and six rebounds. She had 17 and 10 boards vs. Pace; Bolden added 16 points and McBride six assists.

Base hits! Baseball lost 8-4 to Lovett in a scrimmage last week despite 2-for-4 performances from Will Small, Skye Bolt and Jake Maziar. Daniel Topping led the pitching. They opened Monday with a 12-6 loss to Walker. Howard Joe drove in all six runs with two, 3-run homers. Bolt and Maziar also collected two hits each…JV fell 4-2 to Walker Monday. Cole Hanks and Joe Chapman pitched well; Luke Wright and Billy Lenhart drove in the runs. In a loss to Centennial Tuesday, Joe Charron, Will Morton and Jack Ballou clouted doubles…MS lost 8-2 to GAC yesterday despite great pitching from Chris Shaw, Trevor Palatine and Josh Levy.

Aces! Tennis season opened yesterday at Whitefield, with both boys and girls falling 4-1. Connor Thompson captured the win at #1 for the guys; Natalie Kessler won at #2 for the girls…JV girls fell to Walker despite a win at #2 doubles from Callie Kennedy and Isabella Vear.

Lax facts! Boys lax topped Wheeler 12-10 in a scrimmage last week. Breck DeHart led the offense with four goals and an assist; Walker Snellings scored three times. E.J. Thurmond and Jake Kuniansky solidified the “D”. They opened with an 8-3 loss to Marist yesterday. Cameron Johns looked good in goal; Will Thurman played well at defensive midfield.

Re-lax! Girls lax began its season with a 15-14 loss at Kell last night. Arden Birdwell led the scoring with five goals; great efforts also came from Annie Bennett, Claire Kelsey, Nicole Farmer and Alexis Stewart…JV topped Kell 9-6; Madison McNeill scored three goals; Clara Forrestal had six saves in goal and Kaki Spencer, Kylie Thurber and Eboni Statham excelled defensively.

Direct kicks! Girls soccer fell 4-1 to Etowah last night. Taylor Anderson scored on an assist from Grant Wilmer. Shannon O’Hanlon, Keller Donnell, Emma van Beuningen, Madison Collins and Julia Bird also had big games …JV lost 4-1 to FCA last week despite a goal by Nicole Cohen. They lost 2-0 to Etowah yesterday; Amber Abernathy excelled as goalkeeper…MS lost to Sutton Middle Wednesday despite hustling defensive efforts.

Goal! Boys soccer (3-0-1) shutout River Ridge 2-0 last week and beat Sequoyah 5-3 last night. Clay Pfohl scored both goals; Dylan Thomas had an assist vs. River Ridge. Against Sequoyah, Pfohl scored twice, Jake Decker twice and Thomas once…JV drilled River Ridge 10-1. Leading the scoring barrage were Jesus Vasquez (5 goals, 2 assists) and Robert Rousseau (3 goals, 1 assist). They topped Sequoyah 5-2 yesterday…MS lost to Holy Spirit 4-1 last week. Eli Best scored on an assist from Niall Durst.

Until next time,

“We were born to love people and use things; instead we love things and use people.” – Leo Buscaglia

From the desk of Sports Information Director Dunn Neugebauer