Augusta Prep takes 3rd in Classic

When Augusta Prep's boys basketball team took the floor last weekend in its second round game of the 2007 Garden City Classic, everyone in the gym knew who to watch.

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Jim Hull, wearing No. 23, led the entire Georgia Independent Schools Association last season as a sophomore with a 26 points per game average. Those types of numbers earned Hull a little more attention at the three-day tournament.

"I was getting double-teamed, especially against Dominion," Hull said. "They had two guys all over me."

Hull still scored 33 points against Dominion Christian in the second round of the Garden City Classic on Friday, but the Cavaliers lost the game 71-54.

Augusta Prep rebounded on day three to take a 60-44 victory over Curtis Baptist for a third-place finish in the tournament. Hull was the leading scorer again, this time with 40 points.

"He came close to a record. The school record is 45," Augusta Prep boys basketball coach Mike Guthrie said. "He had 43 in a game last year."

Hull's stats weren't a surprise to anyone at the tournament. He led all scoring in the three-day event and was named to the all-tournament team.

It wasn't the only positive news for Augusta Prep.

"We're certainly not just a one-man team. He's got some help this year," Guthrie said. "John Paul Lynn is a freshman this year, and he's turned into another scoring option for us. Then we've got Josh Segura, who is the best offensive rebounder we've had at this school."

The result was a third-place finish in the tournament. After Hull walked off the court with his all-tournament trophy, the junior wanted to talk about the second-round loss more than his point total.

"I don't really think about the points when I'm out there," he said. "I would have rather had 10 that game and won instead of 33 and lost."

The 2-1 record over the weekend gave Augusta Prep a 6-2 overall mark for the season entering Tuesday's game against Augusta Christian.

The Cavaliers will be tested again this weekend when they hit the road for a pair of games in Macon. Augusta Prep will face Mount de Sales on Friday and Tattnall Square on Saturday.

"We do that trip every other year," Guthrie said. "It helps. We get to travel, and those are two excellent basketball programs."

Tournament Champs

Westminster's boys basketball team claimed the 2007 Garden City Classic title with a 53-49 win over Dominion Christian in the finals. The Wildcats trailed by seven points with 45 seconds left, but Westminster's Marcus Tebbs scored eight points in the final 42 seconds of the game to win. Tebbs was named tournament MVP after scoring a game-high 15 points.

Thomas Sumter won the girls basketball title with a 44-38 victory over Westminster in the championship game.

Lady Cavaliers

Augusta Prep's girls basketball team went 1-2 in the tournament and finished seventh out of eight teams. The Lady Cavaliers lost to eventual champs Thomas Sumter 48-18 in the first round, then fell to eventual third-place finisher Westminster Christian in the second round 71-52. Augusta Prep beat Fox Creek on Saturday 61-6 to take seventh place overall.

ACS reunion

Augusta Christian's boys and girls basketball teams did not participate in this year's Garden City Classic, but the school was still well-represented at the tournament. Three different Augusta Christian alumni served as head coaches for teams in the tournament including Dominion Christian girls basketball coach Nick Isaac, Curtis Baptist boys basketball coach Mark Halvorsen and Curtis Baptist girls basketball coach Bryan Wilson. Dominion Christian's boys basketball coach, Mike Gold, served as Augusta Christian's athletic director and boys basketball coach in the late 1990s.