East Cobb Sports & Recreation

East Cobb sports update: Pope baseball, Lassiter and Walton boys lacrosse reach state semifinals

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The Pope baseball team’s hopes of winning three consecutive state championships is alive. There’s also a chance for an all-East Cobb boys lacrosse state final.

The Greyhounds, who ousted Lee County 2 games to 1 in a home baseball series this week, moved up the finale of that series on Thursday to avoid the rain, and came away with a 9-1 victory.East Cobb sports update

The victory came in a rematch between the finalists for the 2017 Georgia Class 6A title. Lee County won the opener 8-7 and Pope rallied with an 18-8 win in the second game of a doubleheader.

Pope is 28-7 on the season and won’t have to travel far in the semifinals, meeting Harrison, which eliminated Houston County Friday in a game that was delayed by rain from Thursday night.

This will be the fourth consecutive semifinal appearance for Pope. The series with Harrison begins with a doubleheader on Tuesday, and a third game, if necessary, would be played on Wednesday.

Walton’s baseball season came to an end this week when the Raiders were swept in the Class 7A quarterfinals by Parkview, by scores of 5-3 and 7-4. The teams have won two of the last three titles.

Lacrosse playoffs

New Lassiter High School gym, Lassiter back stadium parking lotThe Lassiter boys lacrosse team has reached the semifinals of the Class 6A-7A tournament after defeating Mill Creek 16-9 this week. The Trojans, who have reached the finals three years in a row, will next play the team they’ve met in those championship games.

The Lambert Longhorns downed North Gwinnett 12-4 and will play host to Lassiter on Tuesday or Wednesday. Lambert, in Forsyth County, has beaten the Trojans in two of those three title games.

The Walton boys reached the other semifinal match in Class 6A-7A, as the Raiders toppled Etowah 8-5 on the road on Friday. They will be playing host to Centennial.

The Walton girls team was eliminated Friday in the quarterfinals, losing at North Paulding 14-13.

Soccer semis

The Pope boys have reached the Class 6A semifinals, and will be playing at Dalton on Tuesday. The Greyhounds defeated Tucker 3-2 in the quarterfinals this week.

The Kell boys were eliminated in the first round in Class 5A by Lithia Springs, while Walton reached the second round in Class 7A before falling to Hillgrove. The Lassiter boys also lost in the second round in 7A to another Cobb school, Kennesaw Mountain. 

In girls soccer, the Walton girls also were ousted in the second round by Hillgrove, while Lassiter beat Kennesaw Mountain to advance to the Class 7A quarterfinals, where they were beaten by Parkview.

In Class 6A, the Pope girls were eliminated in the quarterfinals this week by Heritage of Conyers, and Johns Creek downed Sprayberry in the first round.

 

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Mabry Park opening the culmination of ‘imagine a place’ dreams

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Mabry Park opening

Thirteen years after the idea of a passive park in Northeast Cobb first came about, Thursday’s Mabry Park opening astonished even those who most avidly worked to make that dream come true.

The Friends of Mabry Park, a group of citizens pushing for a park, have long called their campaign “Imagine a Place.”

Many of them, along with members of the Mabry family, turned out for the ribbon-cutting and opening festivities, and some were blown away by what they saw.

“Wow. Just wow,” said Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who has shepherded the Mabry Park idea from the start, and it was one with many stops and starts.

“It was my baby,” she said, her voice breaking a little, “and I’m proud of it today.

“The brilliant tagline, ‘Imagine a Place.’ Here we are. I never it imagined it would look this wonderful, but it is. . . . . I’ve never seen a more beautiful park than Mabry.”

The 26 acres of former Mabry farm land on Wesley Chapel Road, near Sandy Plains Road, still has a rural feel.

The long road leading from Wesley Chapel to the new county park is lined with wooden fencing, as horses graze nearby.

A pond in the middle of the park glistens, with the late-afternoon sun rendering the surface mirror-like.

Kids shout and chatter from swings and the playground. Dogs bark, geese honk and frogs croak.

“Hearing the geese on one side, and the kids on the other, there’s no better serenade to open a park,” said Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, whose District 2 includes Mabry Park.

Mabry Park Opening

Peter Hortman, the current president of the Friends of Mabry Park, also got choked up talking about what for him has been a 10-year journey to this day.

“We couldn’t have gotten here without the community,” he said, rattling off names of other park advocates and asking for a show of hands from those in the Mabry family (about 20 hands went up).

“To the Mabry family,” Hortman said, “what a legacy.”

Hania Whitfield, a former Friends of Mabry Park board member and a resident of nearby Loch Highland, has regularly visited East Cobb Park and Laurel Park in Marietta. She said when she first moved to the county, she heard from neighbors that there were plenty of parks in Cobb, “but most of them had ballfields.”

Mabry Park, she said, “is more than I ever expected.”

Passive parks have been in greater demand in recent years from citizens, Cobb parks and recreation director Jimmy Gisi noted.

He said when the parks department was formed in the 1960s there was a “tremendous” need for athletic fields, to accommodate the growing legions of youth sports leagues.

“The new emphasis that we’ve heard of loud and clear from across the county is a want and a need for more passive parks.”

The county has conducted public input meetings for parks the last two years, and Gisi said “the one resonating message” is that “people are wanting more trails, more passive parkland.”

Of the six recent green space purchases by the county with proceeds from the 2008 Cobb parks bond, all of them—including 18 acres on Ebenezer Road—will have trails and passive green space as part of their master plans that are in development.

“All these amenities you will have right here, in your own backyard, at Mabry Park,” he said.

Mabry Park Opening

Mabry Park goes beyond that, in keeping with the farm history of the land. In 2004, the state designated Mabry Farm as a “centennial farm,” meaning it had been a working farm for more than 100 years.

Across the road on Wesley Chapel, a new subdivision is going up on another portion of the Mabry Farm, and the 1915 homestead was razed in early 2018 to make way.

To preserve the farm feel of the park, and to protect its natural surroundings, the county has installed modern technologies.

“You will find that the ecofeatures and attention to nature in this park will second to none,” said Cobb County Manager Rob Hosack, noting that Mabry has only a small amount of impervious surfacing at the parking lot. A retention pond was located near the lake to handle stormwater runoff.

Mabry Park cost $2.85 million to build. The county bought the future park land for $4.3 million in 2008, but the recession put a halt to any further construction plans. A master plan was completed in 2011, and final approval was delayed in late 2017 due to issues over funding.

The park construction was paid for with 2016 SPLOST money, but operating costs (around $105,000 a year) come from the county’s general fund.

Like East Cobb Park, the future building out of Mabry Park will come about based on community desires, including treehouses, another bridge over the lake and holding events there.

“The Friends of Mabry Park doesn’t end today,” Hortman said. “It has a life long beyond today. There’s a lot left to be done.”

For now, there’s plenty to enjoy, and savor: a playground, community garden and picnic pavilion, as well as 1.2 miles of trails.

“I can’t wait to come back here this weekend and walk every bit of it,” Whitfield said. “They’ve not only made this park functional, they’ve made it picturesque.”

Mabry Park Opening

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New Kennesaw State basketball coach is former Wheeler star

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Submitted information and photo is below; the introductory press conference is Friday at 12:30 p.m. at the KSU Convocation Center (590 Cobb Ave., Kennesaw):Amir Abdur-Rahim, Kennesaw State basketball

Director of Athletics Milton Overton and Kennesaw State University are pleased to announce the hiring of County’s own Amir Abdur-Rahim to a four-year contract as the seventh head coach in KSU men’s basketball history.
 
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Amir Abdur-Rahim and his family back home to Cobb County and Kennesaw State University,” said Director of Athletics Milton Overton. “We believe that Coach Abdur-Rahim is the best fit to build the Kennesaw State basketball program into Cobb County’s team because of the roots he has laid over the course of his life developing local basketball players into young men. He has the ability to raise the profile of KSU basketball both locally and nationally as someone who has proven to be very successful at identifying and acquiring great talent. We look forward to seeing Amir hit the ground running with the relationships he has already established in the community both at the high school level and with AAU coaches.”
 
Abdur-Rahim grew up just a stone’s throw away from KSU, playing his prep career at Wheeler High School. A standout guard at Wheeler, he has a proven track record of winning as a player and a coach with 13 years of experience developing and recruiting talented athletes out of the south.
 
“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Abdur-Rahim as the newest member of Owl Nation,” KSU President Pamela Whitten said. “He shares the University’s passion for building student-athletes into the leaders of tomorrow through an outstanding academic experience, and his confidence will undoubtedly translate to success on the court.”
 
Abdur-Rahim comes to Kennesaw State after a year-long stint at Georgia under head coach Tom Crean. Throughout his career, he has helped develop two NBA draft picks in Robert Williams III from Texas A&M and Isaiah Canaan out of Murray State.
 
“This is a job I’ve always had my eye on,” said Head Coach Abdur-Rahim. “When this position came open, I felt like the timing was perfect from a family, location, and opportunity standpoint. I felt that being a first time Head Coach, Kennesaw State provided a unique opportunity to build something special and something that could be built to sustain over time. It’s a growing university, an amazing campus, great facilities, close knit community, and then with the recruiting base that we have in Metro-Atlanta and the surrounding areas, this is a place that has all the ingredients to be successful. I feel blessed and fortunate to be the head coach at KSU and I’m excited to get to work with our guys and help them grow as men.”
 
Prior to UGA, he spent four years as an assistant at Texas A&M (2014-18), helping lead the Aggies to three NCAA Tournament bids, including two Sweet 16 appearances in 2016 and 2018. He helped orchestrate three 20-win seasons while at TAMU, helping the Aggies to a school record 28 wins in 2016. Texas A&M won a share of the SEC Regular Season Title during that record season, the first for the program in 30 years.
 
Before moving to College Station, Abdur-Rahim served at the College of Charleston as an assistant from 2012-13 before being promoted to associate head coach for the 2013-14 campaign. The Cougars recorded an overall record of 38-29 during his two seasons, earning a 2013 CBI bid.
 
Abdur-Rahim also spent a year as Georgia Tech’s Director of Player Development after five seasons at Murray State. While earning his masters in organizational communication, he spent two years as a graduate assistant on the Racers’ staff before being promoted to an assistant coach from 2008-11. During Abdur-Rahim’s tenure at Murray State, the Racers compiled a 73-26 overall record, earning two OVC Regular Season Championships and a 2010 OVC Tournament title. The Racers reached the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, upsetting No. 4 seed Vanderbilt in the opening round before falling to eventual runner-up Butler.  
 
A graduate of Southeastern Louisiana, Abdur-Rahim was a three-time All-Southland Conference guard for the Lions, finishing his career ranked seventh in the career record books for points scored and second for three-pointers made and steals. As a freshman at Garden City (Kansas) Community College, he ranked No. 24 nationally in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game.
 
Married to Arianne Buchanan, he and his wife have two daughters, Laila and Lana. He is one of 13 children born to Deborah Hester and William Abdur-Rahim and one of six brothers to play college basketball, including his older brother Shareef who was a 13-year NBA veteran and is now the President of the NBA’s G-League.
 
“For over 20 years Amir and his family have been invested in preparing kids for the opportunity to play college basketball,” said Overton. “Utilizing his brother’s foundation, he has helped shape youth in Cobb County through camps and clinics with a mission of helping young kids in the area grow in the game of basketball and in life.”

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Mabry Park ribbon-cutting to be held on May 2

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Mabry Park ribbon-cutting

Finally, after many years of delays and planning, and further setbacks in finalizing the construction, Mabry Park has an opening date, and a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate it.

Both the Friends of Mabry Park and the Cobb Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department have announced the ribbon-cutting for Thursday, May 2, at 6:30 p.m.

The park is located at 4345-4063 Wesley Chapel Road, just below the intersection with Sandy Plains Road.

More than a decade in the making, Mabry Park joins East Cobb Park as a passive public park in the community.

Initially the plans were stalled due to the recession, and more recently, as the project was winding up, as wet weather pushed back the opening.

Construction began in early 2018 after county commissioners’ approval to spend nearly $3 million.

The 26.5 acres for Mabry Park was once part of the larger Mabry Farm in Northeast Cobb. The park will include walking trails, picnic areas, a community garden, playground areas and more on land that includes a large pond.

Across from the site on Wesley Chapel Road, a subdivision is going up that also was part of the farmstead. Last February, a home built on the farm in 1915 was razed by the developer, who agreed to pay a mitigation fee to be used for historic preservation efforts in Cobb.

We’ll post more details about the ribbon-cutting and other information about the park’s opening, when we get them.

 

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Registration is underway for Walton Volleyball summer volleyball camps

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Walton volleyball summer camps

Thanks to Melissa Watkins of the Walton Volleyball Booster Club for the following information about summer camps that will be starting in mid-May and continuing through the middle of July:

Attention middle school and elementary students. Do you want to get off the sidelines and into the game?  Get the chance to train with the top high school volleyball program in the state, led by 2017 national coach of the year, Suzanne Fitzgerald and her team. Grab a friend and sign up today to save your spot as space is limited.

Register at www.waltonvolleyball.com. Camps and clinics are based on age and skill level:

Volleyball Skill Development Clinics

  • May 11 and May 18, 9 AM – NOON
  • For: Boys 3rd-12th/Girls 3rd–8th
  • Location: Walton (The Pit) — $50;1590 Bill Murdock Road

Learn to Love Volleyball Camp

  • June 3-5, 4:30 – 9 PM
  • For: Boys and Girls, 1st-8th
  • Location: East Side Elementary — $150, 3850 Roswell Road

Middle School Volleyball Foundations Camp 

  • July 8 – 10, 9 AM to Noon
  • For: Boys and Girls 6th-8th Location: East Side Elementary — $150, 3850 Roswell Road

Middle School Volleyball Elite Camp 

  • July 15 – 17, 9 AM to 1 PM
  • For: Boys and Girls 6th-8th (Club Experience)
  • Locations: East Side Elementary — $165, 3850 Roswell Road

Contact waltonvbcamps@gmail.com for questions regarding camps or clinics.

 

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Former Wheeler hoops star to host ‘In the Layne’ all-star game

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Some of the best high school basketball players from Cobb and Atlanta will be gathering at Wheeler High School’s Wildcat Arena next Friday, March 15, in an event organized by ex-Wildcat great D.A. Layne.In the Layne

He got in touch with us earlier this week to let us know about what he’s calling “In the Layne,” which features top male and female seniors who will get a final sendoff for their prep careers.

Some of them play for East Cobb schools: Jaire Eastmond and Malachi Rhodes of Wheeler, C.J. Henderson of Kell, Justin Day of Sprayberry and Micah Paulk of Pope are on the East boys roster coached by Larry Thompson of Wheeler. D.J. Patrick of Sprayberry is on the West roster.

Layne, who played for Wheeler from 1994-98, also starred at the University of Georgia and played pro basketball abroad for several years.

The ticket and other event information is above. Check out the full rosters below.

In the Layne Boys Roster

In the Layne Girls Roster

 

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Boot Camp in the Park Fundraiser benefits East Side Baseball

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Submitted information:East Side Baseball

The East Side Broncos 12U baseball team is collecting gently worn, used and new shoes to raise money for a trip to Cooperstown, NY this summer. Clean out your closet and bring your shoes to East Cobb Park on Wednesday, February 27th from 8-10 a.m. We will have 2 SUVs open and ready to stuff with shoes!

Let’s get these boys to Cooperstown!!

There’s nothing to buy! All you have to do is clean out your closet of gently used shoes that you no longer wear.

For more information about this fundraiser and where the shoes go, visit funds2orgs.

 

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Lassiter and Kell wrestlers win state titles; Pope team finishes 2nd

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Three individual wrestlers from East Cobb schools are returning home as state champions this weekend, following completion of the Georgia High School Association traditional meet in Macon.Lassiter and Kell wrestlers

Two of them are from Lassiter High School, and even better news for the Trojans is they’re underclassmen.

Freshman David Panone won the Class 7A 120 weight class finals on Saturday, defeating Tyler Crew of eventual state champion Camden County by a 2-1 score.

Panone finished his very first season of varsity wrestling with a record of 51-3. His teammate, sophomore R.J. Weston, took home the 7A title at 138, defeating Ethan Willis of Hillgrove 4-0. For the season, Weston was 53-2.

The Trojans finished 11th in the 7A team standings with 59.5 points, and Walton was 12th with 53.5 points.

Thee Raiders wrestlers placed in Macon, including runners-up Cole Hixon at 195 and Jonathan Chesser at 220 and Caden Canzano, who finished 6th at 106.

Walton also had a wrestler place in the very-first girls GHSA competition. Sophomore Kiley Webb was 4th at 95 pounds. The girls events were individual-only.

For the Kell Longhorns, the state meet was bittersweet. Longtime head coach Steve Lattizori, who has been at the Northeast Cobb school since it opened, is retiring.

But he saw one last athlete win a state championship. Senior Andrew Parlato prevailed in the Class 6A 220 class, as he defeated Dimaggio Evan of Buford 7-3 in the finals.

Also for Kell, Joseph Fredeman was 5th at 132 and Jake Boyd was 4th at 138.

The Longhorns were 11th in the team standings. Their region rival Woodland of Cartersville won the state championship.

The Pope wrestling team was looking for its first state championship since 2014 and sent 11 wrestlers to Macon with a good chance.

The Greyhounds couldn’t catch up to Class 6A champion Valdosta, however, and finished second, with 141.5 points to 177.5 for Valdosta.

No Pope wrestlers won individual titles, but seven of them placed, finishing in the Top 6:

  • Joey Robinson, 4th at 106;
  • Max Druhot, 2nd at 120;
  • Alex Hearn, 2nd at 126;
  • Patrick Haskin at 132;
  • Troy Gable, 5th at 145;
  • Andrew Barner, 4th at 152;
  • Christopher Sheahan, 3rd at 195.

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Kell, Wheeler, Walker boys advance in state basketball tourney

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Three East Cobb boys teams—from Kell, Wheeler and The Walker School—will get to play on in the Georgia High School Association basketball tournament.Kell and Walton football teams

They all won their first-round games at home on Friday night.

For Kell, its 84-73 win over Lithia Springs was the first-ever for the Longhorns in state playoff games. As the No. 1 seed from their region, they get to stay at home next week for a second-round Class 5A game against Columbia or Cedar Shoals.

Wheeler pulled away from Hillgrove in the second half to crush their cross-Cobb rivals by an 85-55 score. The Wildcats would have been able to play host to an East Cobb showdown in the second round, but Walton fell 49-35 at Tift County, which will be the hosts as a higher seed next week in the Class 7A bracket.

The Walker School boys, playing in the Private Class A tourney, held off Aquinas 45-36. The Wolverines also have to hit the road next week in the second round, visiting Riverside Military Academy.

In the Class 6A boys playoffs, the season ended for both East Cobb teams. Sprayberry was playing at home but lost to Chattahoochee 78-65. Pope lost at South Cobb 82-71.

Both girls teams from East Cobb that made the state playoffs have been eliminated.  Pope lost to Creekview 50-43 in Class 6A, and The Walker School was defeated by Paideia 42-33.

Game times and dates haven’t been announced yet for the Kell, Wheeler and Walker games, nor for the Mt. Bethel Christian Academy boys’ game against Holy Innocents’ in the second round of the Private Class A tourney.

Admission is $7 and season passes are not accepted in the playoffs.

View the brackets here:

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New Wheeler football coach hired from Stockbridge school

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Wheeler High School has announced that Bryan Love is the new head football coach.

He comes from Woodland High School in Stockbridge, and was 3-7 in each of his two seasons there.Bryan Love, new Wheeler football coach

Before that, he was successful turning around Westlake High School in Atlanta, inheriting a team that was 0-10 and guiding the program to two region titles. Westlake is in the same region as Wheeler in Class 7A of the Georgia High School Association.

He also was head coach at Lamar County for one season, compiling a 6-5 record in 2016, before moving to Woodland.

Love, a former assistant coach at McEachern, is 36-30 as a head coach. He also was an assistant at Camden County in south Georgia, which won two state titles while he was there.

He succeeds Mike Collins, who left last month after nine seasons at Wheeler and is now the head coach at River Ridge High School in Cherokee County.

Love is the second new football coach named at an East Cobb school this year. Sean Thom was hired at Lassiter, following the resignation of Jep Irwin, also after nine years.

Collins and Irwin had been the dean of East Cobb football coaches.

The coaches at Walton, Sprayberry, Kell and Pope all completed their second seasons on the job in 2018.

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Walton softball parents petition school board for on-campus facility

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Parents involved with the Walton High School softball booster club asked Cobb Board of Education members Wednesday when the district will come up with a plan to bring games back on campus.Walton fastpitch, Walton softball parents

It’s been nearly four years since the fastpitch field and fieldhouse, along with tennis courts, were demolished to make way for a new classroom building.

In a public comment session at the board’s monthly meeting Wednesday night, parents said they wanted to see a “replacement plan” in two weeks.

Parent Mary Littwin said that when plans were made in 2014 for what was described as a temporary move, “we were told that in 2-3 years” there would be a new outline for an on-campus home for Walton fastpitch. “Here we are, five years later, and what we would like to know is when a replacement plan will be put into action.”

Board members and school district officials did not respond to their concerns. Parents previously have brought the issue to new Post 6 school board member Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters.

The original Walton softball facility, including a fieldhouse was built in 1995, with private funding and donations that parent Kelly Landroche said cost around $160,000.

Since 2015, the Walton softball team and boys and girls tennis teams, also displaced during the construction, have played home competitions at Terrell Mill Park.

John Holland, whose daughter is a rising 8th grader with the Walton fastpitch program, said softball equipment in storage there has been vandalized.

More than anything, the parents said, they want their daughters to enjoy an on-campus environment.

Chris Andriano has had two daughters play softball at Walton. His youngest, he said, is a senior who will be part of the first class who won’t play a game on campus.

“She feels cheated by that,” he said. “Please help us to get these facilities back on campus as soon as possible.”

Financing the construction of new softball and tennis facilities for Walton teams is included on the new Cobb Education SPLOST V project list.

The main problem is a lack of space. Walton is situated on 43 acres on Bill Murdock Road, and most of that space is already being utilized.

The new classroom building opened in August 2017 and a new gym and peforming arts facility is expected to open before the 2019-20 school year.

One possible scenario would be to build a new softball facility on an athletic practice field that is used by several Walton teams.

Losing that field, fastpitch booster club president Amy Hecklinger said, “would put Walton in a less than equitable” situation compared to other high schools in Cobb County.

Another booster club parent, Suzanne Crosswhite, suggested that acquisition of nearby available land would be “proper and equitable,” and that the land “is right across the street.”

 

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Sports update: East Cobb schools reach state basketball playoffs

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New Pope Gym

The Georgia High School Association state basketball playoff brackets have been released, and five East Cobb public schools will be competing starting this weekend.

Three of them will be playing at home—the Wheeler, Sprayberry and Kell boys.

The Wildcats will play host to Cobb rival Hillgrove in the 7A tournament, while the Yellow Jackets will face Chattahoochee in Class 6A.

Kell, ranked No. 8 in Class 5A, will be at home against Lithia Springs.

The Mt. Bethel Christian Academy boys, ranked No. 4 in Class A private schools, also will play in the GHSA tournament. They received a first-round bye and will play at home next week in the second round against Holy Innocents’ or Stratford Academy.

The Walker School boys also are competing in the Class A private tournament, and are ranked No. 6, and will play at home against Aquinas.

The Pope girls have a tall order in their opener, at No. 8 Creekview in Canton.

The Pope boys also have to go on the road to play a ranked opponent, as South Cobb is No. 3 in 6A.

Here’s the first-round rundown:

Class 7A Boys

  • Hillgrove (10-13) at Wheeler (17-11), 7:30 p.m. Friday
  • Walton (15-13) at Tift County (18-8), 7:30 p.m. Friday

Class 6A Boys

  • Chattahoochee (22-6) at Sprayberry (23-4), 7 p.m. Friday
  • Pope (15-12) at South Cobb (19-6), 6:30 p.m. Friday

Class 6A Girls

  • Pope (22-6) at Creekview (22-5), 6 p.m. Friday

Class 5A Boys

  • Lithia Springs (17-9) at Kell (23-5), 7 p.m. Friday

Class A Private Boys

  • Stratford/Holy Innocents’ at Mt. Bethel Christian (22-7), Feb. 20-21
  • Aquinas (10-15) at Walker (19-8), 7:30 p.m. Friday

Class A Private Girls

  • Walker (13-12) at Paideia (20-5), 5:30 p.m. Friday

The Wheeler and Walton boys could meet in the second round if they both win this weekend. They didn’t play each other during the regular season.

The state playoff game would be played at Wheeler since the Wildcats are the higher seed.

Wheeler is ranked No. 8 in Class 7A while Sprayberry, No. 4 in 6A, faces a ranked team in No. 8 Chattahoochee.

Second-round games will take place Feb. 20-21 and quarterfinals are slated for Feb. 26-27 on the floors of highest-seeded teams.

Semifinal games in 6A will be at Carrollton, and in 7A the games will be played at Buford on March 2.

Should any East Cobb teams reach the GSHA “Final Four,” games in 5A, 6A and 7A will be played in Macon on March 9. The Class A private school finals are in Macon on March 6.

Admission is $7 and season passes are not accepted in the playoffs.

View the brackets here:

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East Cobb swimmers fare well in state championships

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No East Cobb teams won titles at the Georgia High School Association state meet over the weekend at Georgia Tech, but several individuals and and relay squad can call themselves state champions. GHSA logo, Walton and Pope volleyball, East Cobb swimmers

Among them is Mady Bragg of Pope, who won Class 6A titles in the 200-yard freestyle race with a time of 1:51.15, and in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.68.

The Lady Greyhounds were 8th in the team standings in Class 6A.

The Walton girls 200-yard freestyle relay team took the Class 7A crown. Elizabeth Isakson, Anna Heistenberg, Abby Belinski and Jasmin Hoffman completed the event in a time of 1:36.39.

The Lady Raiders were 4th in the team standings. That was the best team finish for an East Cobb team. The Lassiter girls were 9th in Class 7A.

Faith Newton of Sprayberry was 4th in the girls 1-meter diving event in Class 5A, and Walton’s Mary Simon was 6th in the Class 7A diving competition.

On the boys side, there were no individual winners from East Cobb, but Laston Weddington of Pope turned in a strong performance in several events, including finishing second in the Class 7A 100-yard breastroke. He also joined Lawson Weddington, Will Devine and Mitchell Hunt on the 200-yard medley relay team that finished 2nd in 6A.

The Greyhounds also were 4th in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with Laston Weddington, Hunt, Cameron Butler and Gabe Lacasella racing.

In Class 7A, the Lassiter boys 400-yard freestyle relay team finished fourth: Alex Bartik, Justin Yap, Brendan Hausdorf and Zach Franklin.

Franklin was third in the 100-yard backstroke race. The Trojans boys and girls teams both finished 3rd in the Class 7A 400-yard freestyle relay.

Check more results here.

 

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Pope wins region wrestling crown; Walton, Lassiter finish behind Cherokee

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The Pope wrestling team repeated as Region 7 champions on Saturday and had 11 wrestlers qualify individually for the Georgia Class 6A sectional meet next weekend.

The Greyhounds tallied 211 points to 176.5 for runner-up Cambridge. Seven Pope wrestlers also won their weight classes: Jacob Robinson (106), Derek Robinson (113), Max Druhot (120), Alex Hearn (126), Troy Gable (145), Andrew Barner (152) and Chris Sheahan (195)Pope wins region wrestling crown

Walton also advanced 11 wrestlers to the Class 7A sectionals after finishing second to Cherokee in the Region 7 meet.

The Raiders had 155 points, and four wrestlers claimed individual titles, including Caden Canzano at 106, Nate Hardy at 132, Cole Hixon at 195 and Jonathan Chesser at 220.

Lassiter was third in the same region meet with 128 points. R.J. Weston and Dave Panone won individual regional titles, and nine other Trojans qualified for sectionals.

Sprayberry was 4th in the Region 6 meet in Class 6A and qualified five wrestlers for sectionals.

Wheeler also qualified six wrestlers for the Class 7A sectionals.

In Region 7 of Class 5A, Kell finished second to Woodland.

 

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New Lassiter football coach coming from North Dakota college

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The new head football coach at Lassiter High School has Southern roots and Cobb County ties, but he’s coming back down from the frigid north.Sean Thom, Lassiter football coach

Sean Thom was announced Friday as the new man to lead the Trojans. For the last two years, he’s been the coach of Mayville State College in North Dakota, compiling a record of 2-18 in a rebuilding job.

He also has head coaching experience at Faulkner University, his alma mater in Alabama, where he was a three-time NAIA All-American.

In addition to his football exploits, Thom played baseball at North Dakota State University.

“I am honored and excited to lead the Lassiter football program,” Thom said in a release issued by the school. “My family and I are ready to become part of the Trojan Nation and build a program focused on creating exceptional student athletes and even better young men and future leaders.”

Thom’s high school coaching stops in Georgia include serving as defensive coordinator at Kennesaw Mountain, North Forsyth and Gilmer County. He was head coach at McCormick High School in South Carolina.

A native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Thom and his wife Samantha have a 4-year-old son named Gunnar.

Thom succeeds Jep Irwin, who resigned after nine seasons, including a 1-9 finish in 2018, and who is now coaching in Kentucky.

Related story

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Polar Bear Run registration continues through Friday

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Online registration has closed for Saturday’s Polar Bear Run at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, but you can sign up in-person through Friday at Big Peach Running Co. (1062 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite C).Polar Bear Run

Other Big Peach Running stores in Kennesaw (1625 Ridenour Boulevard, Suite 304) and Brookhaven (705 Town Boulevard, Suite Q340, Atlanta) also are handling registration.

It’s the 31st annual Polar Bear Run that benefits the church’s high school music mission trip programs, and is one of the first Peachtree Road Race qualifiers of the year.

Conditions ought to be suit the name of the event perfectly—Saturday’s early-morning lows could be below freezing, with sunny skies and highs in the high 40s later in the day.

Big Peach is where you can also pick up race packets from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, as well as on-site at the race starting at 6:30 a.m. Saturday.

Here are more details on the race courses, where to park and how to get a race t-shirt.

 

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Mabry Park completion approaching; delays caused by weather

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Mabry Park completion
Cobb Parks photo of Mabry Park taken right after Christmas.

Bad weather has prompted a delay in the completion of Mabry Park, which was initially slated to be done by early 2019.

There’s still not a specific date that has been announced for completion and opening. But at a Cobb Board of Commissioners work session Tuesday, Cobb Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affiairs director Jimmy Gisi said weather has been a major factor in the delay.

“If it would ever stop raining, we could get this thing done in a few weeks,” he said in outlining parks SPLOST projects.

Built on 26.5 acres of former Mabry family farmland on Wesley Chapel Road near Sandy Plains Road, Mabry Park got under construction last January. A 365-day contract with Integrated Construction and Nobility, Inc., of Whitesburg, Ga. was begun on Jan. 4, 2018.

However, the project reached the 361-day stage on Dec. 31. Cobb Parks estimates that 85 percent of the project is complete, including the entrance road from Wesley Chapel, picnic areas and the playground area. Completion of trails needs to be done, trees are continuing to be planted, and boardwalk deck work also is ongoing.

The playground construction took place during the fall, but steady rainfall at the end of last year has hampered efforts to complete work involving the rest of the park landscape.

On Monday the Friends of Mabry Park posted updated photos of the construction on its Facebook page.

The citizens organization has worked for years to create Mabry Park, whose build-out was delayed several years due to the recession.

The county spent $4.3 million to purchase the land in 2008 and a master plan was completed in 2011.

Mabry Park’s annual operating cost will be $104,992; of that $72,122 will go for staff salaries and benefits, and $31,800 is estimated for yearly supplies and utilities. A one-time cost of $22,230 for equipment and maintenance tools will be funded after construction is complete.

Construction funding comes from the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST.

“We feel it’s going to be a super nice park for that part of the county,” Gisi said.

 

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East Cobb youth baseball and softball registration underway

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East Cobb youth baseball and softball registration

Several youth baseball and softball organizations in East Cobb are conducting registration now, and over the next couple weeks will have clinics and other events to get ready for the spring season.

On Friday, the East Marietta National Little League will hold its 3rd annual Baseball Bash at D-BAT (1666 Roswell Road) from 6-8 p.m., with games, pizza and a visit from former Chicago Cub Corey Patterson. You can sign up your kids on-site as well.

Registration continues at the East Marietta spring evaluations Feb. 2 at Sewell Park (2055 Lower Roswell Road). It’s not being billed as a tryout but a way to provide for competitive play at all levels; more at the EMNLL website;

On Saturday is the Sandy Plains Softball Fun Day, with walk-up registration, from 12-2 at the organzation’s fields at 2977 Gordy Parkway. Food, games, raffle prizes and other activities will take place; visit the SPSA website for more;

Not far way, Sandy Plains Baseball Instructional Clinics will take place at two locations on Saturady. The first is for ages 9-12 from 11-1 at Harrison Park (2653 Shallowford Road), and the other is from 2-3:30 for ages 5-8 at Sweat Mountain Park (4346 Steinhauer Road). The SPB website has more information and online registration.

Registration also is underway for East Side Baseball, which also has skills evals on Saturday, and Terrell Mill Softball.

 

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Pope and Walton wrestling teams competing in state duals championships

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The Pope and Walton wrestling teams are in Macon, competing in the Georgia High School Association duals wrestling meet through Saturday.

The event got underway on Thursday morning, and it features 16 teams in each classification who qualified last weekend at regional meets.Pope girls swimming team, Pope and Walton wrestling teams

Walton’s first-round opponent today in Class 7A is Camden County, while Pope will face Habersham Central in Class 6A. The only other Cobb County school competing is McEachern, also in Class 7A.

Duals is a team vs. team event, conducted in double-elimination fashion, and which began in Georgia in 2002.

Pope won the Class 5A state duals in 2013 and 2014, as well as the traditional state crown in Class 4A in 2011 and 2012.

Last weekend, the Greyhounds defeated Cambridge, another Class 6A powerhouse, by a 36-31 score for the 500th duals victory for coach Jim Haskins in the regional meet.

Walton is back in the state duals for the first time since 2007 after finishing second in its regional meet that was held at Walton.

However, the Raiders face a stiff challenge to start off.

Camden County has been dominant in recent years, as the two-time defending Class 7A duals and traditional state champion, and having won a state title in either discipline for the last four years.

The traditional regional and state wrestling meets will take place in February.

 

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Kell and Lassiter spring flag football registration underway

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Kell and Lassiter spring flag football registration

Thanks to Chris Hardwick, the program coordinator for the Kell and Lassiter spring flag football program, for the registration information below:

The program is Sundays from 4-6 PM. Perfect for kids playing in other sports or busy families.

Register at https://cfl.siplay.com/.

Select “Kell / Lassiter Spring Flag Football” from the session list. If you have any questions please message or email!

Details:

  • $45 Registration Fee (The best deal around for Youth Flag)
  • Sunday Evenings – 4-6 PM.
  • 12 Week Program with 7 Games. Starting 3/3/2019 and ending 5/19/2019
  • Games/practices will be on the same night. 1 hr. practice and then 1 hr. game time
  • Games/practices will be at Kell
  • Anyone can join and participate
  • T-shirt (Jersey) for all participants
  • T-shirt or gear for coaches/volunteers
  • Tiny-Tots to 6th Graders

Schedule, FAQ and Additional Info: https://mailchi.mp/2c275872653e/kellspringfootball

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