Bottom Line: Scott ends career on high note

Lakeside High School basketball star Matt Scott had quite a career on the hardwood.

Scott is the only county player ever to surpass 2,000 career points, and he was a three-time, first-team All-County performer. Also, he finally ended the grueling recruiting process by deciding to attend Georgia Southern University on a basketball scholarship next fall.

Just when it seemed it couldn't get much better, Scott garnered one more honor: He poured in a team-high 17 points to capture the MVP Award at the Fifth Annual CSRA All-Star Game. Thanks to Scott and Statesboro's Ronnell Wooten (15 points), Team Georgia was able to take care of Team South Carolina 99-87.

Scott scored 8 of his 17 in the decisive fourth quarter. He was the only Columbia County player who participated in the boy's high school game. The middle school game was loaded with county prospects. Here's a recap:

Middle school girls:

Alex Cassagnol (Riverside): Played well, but did not score. Her Gold Team lost 55-33.

Taylor Jones (Evans): Played well as a backup guard for the victorious Blue Team.

Mira Wattar (Lakeside), Kelsey Donnelly (Evans): Were selected, but could not participate.

Middle school boys:

Jonathon Nicely (Evans): Nicely scored 2 points and had five rebounds as his Red Team won 72-62.

Andy Gray (Riverside): One of the most surprising players during the event. Gray had 5 points and three assists for the winning Red Team.

Kevin Millward (Evans): Was impressive with his strength as he scored 6 points and grabbed five rebounds. His Black Team lost 72-62.

Jared Ackerman (Lakeside): Chipped in 2 points in a losing cause for the Black Team.

Deronte Williams (Evans): Williams scored 2 points, but was also praised by the coaches for his great attitude. He also played for the Black Team.

The event was extremely successful. There were more than 2,000 people in attendance for the boy's high school game. Team Georgia also won the girl's game 75-60 over South Carolina. Harlem's Sharday Taylor was scoreless for Team Georgia.

Did alcohol played a role in Shanks' release?

Most baseball fans were shocked to hear that former Greenbrier star James Shanks was recently released by the Kansas City Royals. After all, he seemed to be just a hot 2004 start away from being in the big leagues.

So when the Royals cut him loose three weeks ago, people began speculating that Shanks must be in some type of trouble. I heard all sorts of talk about why Shanks was released.

Unfortunately,it appears that at least one of those possibilities has merit.

According to a source close to the situation, the Royals think Shanks has an alcohol problem. According to this person, the team asked Shanks to get help for what they deemed to be a serious problem. Shanks, however, said he needed no help because he had no problem, so the Royals decided to sever ties with the outfielder.

At first, Shanks' agent said his client would be with a new team in no time, but the alcohol risk may have hurt considerably. As most baseball prospects continue to chase their dreams of playing in the majors, Shanks is still waiting on another opportunity.

The question is, will that chance ever come?

Hopefully, the Royals made a huge mistake. If Shanks does have a drinking problem, his friends and family need to step in quickly, because his window of opportunity is getting smaller every day.