By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Local Roundup: Lady Gamecocks finish second in Region 3A-AA
Screven

    AUGUSTA — The Screven County Lady Gamecocks (21-2) cruised past Dodge County Thursday at the Fleming Tennis Complex to make it to the Region 3-AA championship, but fell to Bleckley County in the finals to clinch the No. 2 seed in the GHSA Class AA state playoffs.
    Sydnee Weaver (1-6, 6-4, 4-0[retired]) and Kelsey Forehand (6-3, 6-4) were winners against BCHS in the title match.
    The Lady Gamecocks defeated Dodge County 4-0 in the semifinals.
    Singles matches were won by Weaver (6-3, 6-4). Lovey Sheppard (6-1, 6-1), and Forehand (6-1, 6-0).
    Lauren Bazemore and Lauren Thomas won their doubles match 6-1, 6-1.
    The Lady Gamecocks will face the No. 3 seed out of Region 1-AA in the playoffs, in a match that has not been scheduled, but will be played in Sylvania before April 22.

Screven takes 3rd
    AUGUSTA — The Screven County Gamecocks earned the No. 3 seed in the GHSA Class AA state tennis playoffs, defeating Dodge County, 3-2, in the Region 3-AA boys tennis playoffs Thursday.
    Bleckley County, the Region 3-AA champions in both boys and girls tennis, beat SCHS 4-0 in the semifinals before the Gamecocks won in the consolation round.
    Against Bleckley, singles winners were Eli Woods (6-2, 6-5) and Chris Powell (3-6, 6-1, 7-5).
    Joe Thomas and Ryan Bazemore won their doubles match, 6-2, 6-3.
    The Gamecocks will play ion the road against the No. 2 seed out of Region 1-AA in a match to be played before April 22.

Charleston nets Eagles
    The Georgia Southern men’s tennis team (9-12, 2-7 Southern Conference) could not gather momentum in singles play, falling to Charleston (15-5, 9-1) 5-2.
    The loss marks the first time the Cougars have defeated the Eagles at Hanner Tennis Complex since 2007. Georgia Southern still leads the all-time series 27-15.
    Melian Puigventos and Matthijs Verdam earned Georgia Southern its wins in singles action. Melian Puigventos cruised through his match, winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 over Charleston’s Lukas Koncilla. The victory extends the sophomore’s consecutive winning streak to 14 at No. 1 singles and an overall record on the season to 20-1, both career highs.  
    While one streak continued, another ended, as Verdam broke Charleston’s Tom Delme’s 11-match winning streak in three sets at the No. 3 spot. Down a set, Verdam marched back to win 6-4, 6-3 in the final two sets to hand Delme his first defeat in league play. Delme is now 9-1 in conference action while Verdam’s victory moves him to 7-3 at the No. 3 seed. 
    Georgia Southern closes out the regular season at home Saturday against Chattanooga (7-14, 2-7) at noon.
    The Eagles will honor seniors Thomas Bekkers, Mark Paetz and Alex Yuille for their contributions to the program in a pre-match ceremony.

SCHS rolls on senior night
    SYLVANIA — Screven County scored seven runs in the first two innings to coast past Swainsboro 10-2 Thursday.
    The win put the Gamecocks (8-10, 6-1 Region 3A-AA) in a first-place tie with Southeast Bulloch in the subregion.
    The teams will play Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Brooklet, and the winner will determine the subregion champion.
    Both teams have already clinched a home series in the Region 3-AA tournament.
    Jonathan Long got the win for the Gamecocks over Swainsboro on senior night, pitching a complete game.
    He allowed one earned run on four hits with six strikeouts.
    Long also went 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs.
    Chandler Johnson (3-for-4) and Blake Evans (2-for-4) each drove in a run.
    Austin Peel homered, and Kameron Oliver finished 2-for-4.

Wright sets new school record
    SYLVANIA — The Screven County Gamecocks hosted a three-team track meet against Jenkins County and Tattnall County Thursday.
    Darius Wright set a Screven County, record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.44 seconds.
    He also won the 200.
    Brandon Malloy (pole vault) and Jarques Herron (high jump) were also first-place finishers for SCHS.
    For the Lady Gamecocks, first-place finishers were Kaala White (1600), Cas Austin (3200), Nancey Price (100- and 300-meter hurdles) and Bria Lonon (shot put).

SEB to host Region 3-A track meet
    BROOKLET — Southeast Bulloch High School is hosting the 2011 Region 3-A Track Meet on Tuesday, April 19 and Thursday, April 21.
    Field event finals will start at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday and running qualifying will begin 30 minutes after the field events are concluded. The running finals will be held on Thursday at 4 p.m.             Participating schools are Bryan County, Calvary Baptist Day School, Claxton, Jenkins County, Johnson County, Metter, Montgomery County, Portal, Savannah Christian, Savannah Country Day, Treutlen County, and Wheeler County.
    Bryan County is the defending girls champion and Jenkins County is the defending boys champion.
    Admission is $5. A full concession stand will be available.

Screven girls edge Bleckley
    COCHRAN — The Screven County Lady Gamecocks (11-3) got a pair of first-half goals and took down Bleckley County 2-1 Thursday on the road.
    Gentri Backton put the Gamecocks on the scoreboard with a goal at the 18:04 mark, and just under four minutes later, Kortney Gross tacked on another.
    Both goals were assisted by Rochelle Schuman.
    Keeper Jessica Markovcic recorded a pair of saves to seal the win.
    Screven closes out its regular season when it hosts Richmond Academy Tuesday.

GSU hoops banquet tickets for sale
    The Georgia Southern men's basketball team will host its 2010-11 end-of-season banquet Saturday, April 30, at the Bishop Field House starting at 6:30 p.m. The annual event will take a look back at the season and will be hosted by “The Voice of the Eagles” Chris Blair.
    Head coach Charlton Young and the coaching staff will review the 2010-11 highlights and present awards to the team. The Student-Athlete Award, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coaches Award will recognize individual players for their achievements.
    Tickets for the event are $20 each and the price for a table of eight guests is $130. For more information, or to reserve a ticket or a table for the banquet, please contact Erik Podell at (912) 478-1425 or erikpodell@gmail.com before April 22.

GSU 31st in Capital One Cup
    McLean, Va. — Georgia Southern currently ranks 31st in the men's standings for the Capital One Cup in the latest Capital One Financial Corporation standings released Wednesday.
    The Eagles are tied with Virginia with 16 points while Auburn leads the Men's standings with 70 points. The Capital One Cup, in its inaugural year, is a program rewarding NCAA Division I athletic programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men's and women's sports.

    If you have a score to report, please call the Statesboro Herald sports desk at (912) 489-9408.