Teams hardly even take break for Christmas fun

Student-athletes in this area just don't quit.

Columbia County high schools wrapped up the fall semester just over a week before Christmas Day and won't return to class until a few days into the new year.

For many Columbia County athletes, the break was much shorter.

I love the idea of knocking off for half a month to eat, travel and accept gifts. After years of doing just that, however, I was forced to cram three weeks of Christmas hustle and bustle into three days.

I need a break from the break.

Needless to say, after returning to the daily grind of Columbia County sports, I found plenty of catching up to do. In this county, when the schools close, the gyms open.

The Greenbrier Lady Wolfpack were more than active the week before Christmas. The squad notched three games in three days, adding three more wins to their county-leading total. The girls will head into their tough Region 2-AAAA schedule with a 14-1 record.

The Evans Knights have led the way in the first half of the 2005-06 season on the boy's side of the court. Coach Kevin Kenny's boys boasted an 11-2 record and nine-game winning streak entering last week's Firehouse Subs Shoot Out. Their success with a road-heavy schedule in the first half of the season puts the Knights in prime position heading into region play.

The Lady Knights joined the Evans boys and Harlem's girls and boys teams in reaching the tournament championship in the Firehouse Subs Shoot Out.

In the private school sector, both Augusta Christian Schools and Augusta Preparatory Day School were busy during the break. The Cavaliers hit the road for the Highlander Holiday Classic at Heathwood Hall in Columbia. Point guard Michael Crosland netted 24 points in Augusta Prep's 48-31 win over Wardlaw Academy, and scored 13 points as the Cavaliers nearly knocked off host team Heathwood Hall in the tournament semifinals.

The Lady Lions of Augusta Christian picked up a memorable win during the break with a 48-24 victory over Union High School from Union, S.C. The win was the team's first against a public school and improved Augusta Christian to an 8-3 overall mark.

As the Christmas break ends, the season continues for all the county's basketball teams. Ready or not, January is here, which means basketball season will soon dominate the sports calendar.

January boasts 108 Columbia County basketball games. In The Columbia County News-Times sports department, that comes out to 108 games per sports writer.

Hold on, wrestlers, swimmers and a few junior varsity basketball players. I'll get to you eventually.