That breeze that meandered through Evans on Tuesday afternoon wasn’t a random act of nature.

It was a result of the collective sigh of relief emanating from Lakeside High School.

It came after the Georgia High School Association posted the new region alignments for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.

Why must Lakeside be thrilled with the new alignment?

Because Marist is no longer a threat.

It has been quite some time since a freshman basketball player has garnered the attention a young point guard at Harlem High School is getting this season.

Sure, Matt Scott was solid at Lakeside, and a few years back Greenbrier started a trio of freshmen in Chad Waddell, Justin Cofer and Dejon Britton. And there have been other players in the county who were solid as ninth-graders.

However, to get to a freshman playing as well as Harlem freshman Reggie Reid, you have to go all the way back to 1995, when Evans freshman Fredie Williams was turning heads.

Twitter @ColumbiaCounty

After seven years as a professional kickboxer and more than 100 fights, Evans resident Stevie Dement knew his career was winding down.

The 41-year-old pro went out with a flourish.

Dement earned a bronze medal at the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations World Championships in Dublin last month. On a team jointly representing the United States and Puerto Rico, Dement said he was the oldest fighter at the four-day event and the only medalist from his team in the full contact division.

Twitter @JWilliamsCCNT

Those who have followed Mark Weidenaar’s athletic career at Lakeside High School know about the senior’s recent battle with a serious injury.

But what some don’t realize is that he didn’t just miss both his football and basketball seasons as a junior after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament; he missed his sophomore hoops season as well, with a crack in his spine.

Despite it all, Weidenaar showed Friday evening that it doesn’t take him long to get the kinks out.