Honor roll
Basketball
Holly Abernathy, Union County: Scored 17 points in a loss to Banks County on Friday and 17 in a loss to Rabun County on Saturday.
Shaquan Cantrell, Gainesville: Pulled down 13 rebounds to go along with nine points in a win over Lanier on Tuesday, and scored 16 points in a loss to East Hall on Friday.
Andraya Carter, Buford: Scored 23 points in a win over Decatur Tuesday.
Hayden Chapman, East Hall: Scored 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the 3-point line in a win over Banks County on Tuesday.
Skylar Evanson, Jefferson: Scored 27 points with eight steals in a win over Johnson on Tuesday.
Jaz Grier, Commerce: Scored 23 points in a win over Lakeview Academy on Saturday.
Joshua Hampton, East Hall: Scored 11 points in a win over Banks County on Tuesday, 11 points in a win over Fannin County on Friday and 22 in a win over Gainesville on Saturday.
Taylor Handte, Lakeview Academy: Scored 20 points in a loss to Commerce on Saturday.
Matt Hollis, Johnson: Scored 26 points in a loss to Jefferson on Tuesday, 21 in a win over Lanier on Friday, and 22 in win over Oconee County on Saturday.
Morgan Jackson, East Hall: Scored 13 points in a win over Banks County on Tuesday and 16 points in a win over Gainesville on Saturday.
Jasmine Jenkins, East Hall: Scored 10 points in a win over Banks County on Tuesday and 15 in a win over Gainesville on Saturday.
A.J. Johnson, Gainesville: Scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in a win over Lanier on Tuesday.
Ty Odem, Johnson: Scored 21 points in a loss to Jefferson on Tuesday and pulled down 13 rebounds to go with nine points in a win over Lanier on Friday.
Dre Pou, West Hall: Scored 20 points in a loss triple-overtime loss to Gainesville on Monday.
Peyton Robertson, Chestatee: Scored 11 points with 4 rebounds in a win over Franklin County on Tuesday and scored 17 points in a win over Lumpkin County on Friday.
Mary Kate Rushton, North Hall: Scored 12 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in a win over White County on Tuesday.
McKenna Rushton, North Hall: Scored 10 points in a win over White County on Tuesday and scored 20 points with nine rebounds in a win over Lumpkin County on Saturday.
Ke’Odric Sadler, Gainesville: Scored 11 points with 10 rebounds in a win over Lanier on Tuesday and scored 12 points in a loss to East Hall on Saturday.
Cam Schofield, Johnson: Scored 14 points in a win over Lanier on Friday and scored 17 points, with 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals in a win over Oconee County on Saturday.
Caitlin Sloan, Johnson: Scored 20 points with six rebounds and three steals in a loss to Oconee County on Saturday, scored 13 points with eight rebounds in a loss to Jefferson on Tuesday and scored 12 in a win over Lanier on Friday.
William Stroup, West Hall: Scored 20 points in a win over Monroe Area on Friday.
Taylor Swoszowski, North Hall: Handed out 10 assists in a win over White County on Tuesday and scored 13 points with eight assists in a win over Lumpkin County on Saturday.
David Watson, Jefferson: Scored 29 points in a win over Johnson on Tuesday.
Deshaun Watson, Gainesville: Scored 34 points in a triple-overtime win over West Hall on Monday.
Jackson Wells, Lakeview Academy: Scored 15 points in a win over Towns County on Friday and 21 in a loss to Commerce on Saturday.
Wrestling
The following wrestlers qualified for state sectionals
Class AAAA
Flowery Branch: Nick Lankford (119 pounds), Caleb Murphy (130), Zach Cannon (135), Adam Wellbourne (140), Eli Bloomfield (160), George Kudyba (189) and Johnathon Martinez (275).
Class AAA
White County: Billy Wurtz (103), Anthony Galimore (112), Dustin Forrester (119), Caleb Morris (130), Michael Limbaugh (135), Dylan Shearer (145), Bradley Mcdougald (160), Seth Lee (171) and Tyler Reeves (189).
Chestatee: Jose Reyes (103), J.W. Gilbert (112), Cody Etris (135), Malik Wesley (145), Taylor Wright (152), Daniel Moreno (171), Dylan Brock (189) and Aaron Anderson (215).
Lumpkin County: Alex Ward (112), J.T. Todd (119), Robert Harris (125), James Stewart (135), Aaron Salazar (145) and Travis Burton (215).
West Hall: Omar Lopez (119), Israel Guzman (125), Anthony Vilicana (130), Tanner Yates (140), Logan Herford (145), Ricardo Mancilla (160) and Jimmy Lopez (285).
North Hall: Matt Joy (112), Tyler Kratzer (125), Shane Doster (171) and Lee Isson (189).
Gainesville: John Webster (171).
Johnson: Daniel Martinez (285).
Class AA
Jefferson: Kyle Kashuba (103), Josh Harris (112), Isaac Kelly (119), Cason Thurmond (125), Clay Richardson (13), Jack Dollar (135), Caleb King (140), Cain Finch (145), Jake Sherman (152), Shaquille Maxey (160), Forrest Przbysz (171), Jake McColskey (189), Zach Allen (215) and Kevin Selleck (285).
Jackson County: Jamie Stapler (103), Zach Moore (112), Conner Andreasen (119), Bryan Burnette (125), Ryan Shekey (130), Justin Brewer (140), Daivon Ledford (171), Austin McDonald (215) and Tre Velasquez (285).
Banks County: Taylor Wood (103), Mason Patton (112), Jordan Waters (119), Justin Fincannon (135), Wes Faulkner (140), Hayden Dilbeck (152), Jeremy Greenway (160) and Phillip Dean (215).
OAKWOOD— There are times when losing can have a positive effect.
With a 31-18 lead in the third quarter of its Jan. 31 matchup with Gainesville, the second-ranked West Hall boys basketball team started playing flat.
Winners of 11-straight at the time, the Spartans seemed sure they would prevail and began playing as if the game was already over.
Three overtimes later, Gainesville was victorious and West Hall (20-4, 11-1 Region 8B-AAA) went home with a loss.
West Hall coach Warren Sellers said the loss sharpened the team’s focus, something the Spartans proved over their next two games.
On Tuesday, West Hall defeated Oconee County by more than 30 points and three nights later beat eighth-ranked Monroe Area by 19.
The common denominator of those two wins: Senior guard Jarquise Young, who scored 21 points against Oconee and followed that with 32 against Monroe Area.
For his efforts, Young is The Times Athlete of the Week.
“He does whatever we need him to,” Sellers said of Young. “Whether that’s scoring or distributing or motivating, he does it all.”
Young had 13 points in the loss to Gainesville and said that he “just couldn’t get going.”
“They did a good job defensively,” he said. “That’s how they got back in the game, they stepped up their defense and we just couldn’t score in the second half.”
Young said the Spartans didn’t allow Gainesville’s comeback, the second double-digit comeback the Red Elephants have pulled off against West Hall this season, to get them down.
“Sometimes losing can be good,” Young said. “We just took it as motivation.
“The first time they beat us, we kind of hung our heads and played Chestatee and had a bad game and almost lost. This time we just decided to use it as motivation and take it out on the next two teams.”
The Spartans certainly did that, taking a 40-16 halftime lead on Oconee County and outscoring Monroe Area in each of the first three quarters.
Young was the only player in double figures against Oconee County, but 10 different players contributed points to the win. That kind of depth will be needed going into postseason play. The Spartans have secured the top seed in the south subregion and will have a bye in the first round of the Region 8-AAA tournament.
Despite the break — West Hall won’t open region tournament play until Feb. 17 — Sellers isn’t worried about his team getting out of shape. The Spartans will face Class AAAA’s Sprayberry at 7 p.m. tonight in Marietta in a non-region game that Sellers scheduled for the sole purpose of keeping his team in form.
“We had a bye for the last Tuesday of the regular season, but I wanted us to play someone so we stayed ready,” Sellers said. “They called and it worked out well for us.”
Sprayberry (15-8, 9-4 Region 5-AAAA) should provide a strong challenge for West Hall and allow Sellers to see how ready his team is for the region tournament.
“It’ll be a good game,” Sellers said, “and a good experience for our boys to have before we head to region.”
The rest of Region 8-AAA might just want to root for the Spartans to win tonight. If they lose, they might just take it out on everyone at the region tournament.