Coaches wish soccer final could be squeezed in before spring break

Spring break has brought the Region 3-AAAA soccer tournament to a temporary halt, leaving coaches whose teams made the tournament final to wonder how their players will respond after a week layoff.

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The championship games will not be held until April 15, nearly two weeks after the second round was completed.

"That's going to hurt us more than anything," said Lakeside girls coach Chris Newman, whose team beat Ware County 6-0 in the first round. "Your team's not playing for a whole week. It's unfortunate they hold it that late."

The popular consensus for the future seems to be to try and squeeze in the tournament final before the break.

Scheduling games during the break likely would cause an uproar from parents and players with vacation plans. Evans coach Brian Killips was without two of his players for Friday's second round because they were leaving on an international trip.

"There's positives and negatives," said Killips, whose team beat Ware County, 12-0, in the first round. "If you play (during spring break), you risk guys who have had plans months ago."

Not all sports suffer during spring break, however. Greenbrier will play Marist in baseball Monday at the University of Georgia. The time hasn't yet been announced.

Evans leads in track, loses without vault

Evans track coach Bill Madigan would like a pole vaulter.

Anyone will do, as long as he's willing to compete.

The Knights boys finished second to Greenbrier in the Columbia County Championships held April 2, despite mopping up the sprint events.

"We don't have any pole vaulters," Madigan said. "That's 20 points right there."

Knights sprinter Jonathan Finch won the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Finch's teammate, Perron Jones, finished second in both events.

Knights sprinters Trey Henderson and Garrett Green finished 1-2 in the 400-meter dash.

The Knights also won both the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x400.

"My guys are pretty pumped up," Madigan said.

Greenbrier runners, though, took two of the three distance events and placed second in the 3,200-meter. The Wolfpack also grabbed the top two spots in shot put, discus throw and pole vault.

"We win half the events and lose -- that's a killer," Madigan said.

Region basketball honorees named

Region 3-AAAA basketball coaches recently released their All Region team, a list they voted on and one that includes two members of each team in the subregion.

Their picks:

Corey Bynes -- ARC

Desmond Lofland -- ARC

Andy Gray -- Greenbrier

Horace Carney -- Greenbrier

Rosbie Mutcherson -- Lakeside

Jared Ackerman -- Lakeside

Rashad Lee -- Statesboro

Mario Jackson -- Statesboro

Jonathan Nicely -- Evans

Trey Henderson -- Evans

Player of the Year: Eric Ferguson -- Statesboro