Friday, 08 February 2013 09:53

Written by D. Mark Mitchell - Sports Editor

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OHS Basketball

Opelika’s girls and boys basketball teams each have two regular season games left, tonight at Valley and Saturday in Montgomery against Carver.

Girls

The girls won the right to host the Area tournament with a 6-0 Area regular season record. The Lady Dawgs are 19-4 overall. The Area tournament will be held in Opelika on Feb. 8 and Feb.12. Auburn will play Central at 5:30 p.m. while Opelika will host Smiths Station at 7 p.m.

The two winners will play for the Area tournament championship on Feb.12, at 6 p.m.

The two winners of game one will advance to the 6A State tournament. The tournament champion will host the first round playoff game while the runner-up goes on the road.

Boys

The Opelika boys basketball team 16-7, 4-2 in Area, tied with Central and Smiths Station for the regular season Area championship.

The three teams wound up having to flip a coin to determine the tournament host and which teams finished second and third.

Central won the coin toss, and will host the Area tournament on Feb. 9.

Opelika will play Smiths Station at 5:30 p.m. while Central will host Auburn at 7 p.m. in the second game.

The two winners will play on Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. for the Area championship.

The champion will host a first round playoff game while the runner up will travel for their first round playoff game.

Both OHS and Smiths Station teams have had great seasons. It’s obvious that winning the coin toss and playing at home would have helped our boys. They would have played AHS, 7-17, 0-6 in the Area. Instead,they have to play Smiths Station at 22-4 overall, quite a difference.

Tune In

You can listen to every game starting with the Area tournament on 97.7 KICKER FM or www.kickerfm.com. We will broadcast both girls and boys games starting with the first girls Area tournament games on Feb. 8.

Head coaches Devin Booth and John Wadsworth have done outstanding jobs coaching their respective teams. Both should be commended for getting our teams in position to make the playoffs and go deep in the State tournament.

Wrestling

The OHS wrestling team participated in the “Mortimer Jordan Invitational” in Birmingham last weekend. The team finished seventh  with a total of 101.5 points.

Laccarris Patrick won first place in the 132-pound weight class with a 4-0 record.

Jamal Vaughn finished second in the 152-pound weight class. Vaughn lost the championship match in four overtimes. Tyler Carter finished fifth at 113 pounds and Angelo Farrow placed fifth in the 115-pound class.

The following student athletes participated: Marquise Banks, Ethan Knight, Eric Jackson, Mark Preston, Octavious Byrd and Dalton Scoggins.

The team has finished the regular season schedule and will prepare for the Sectional meet Feb. 8-9 in Prattville.

Indoor Track

Coach Jimmy Johnson took his track team to the “Last Chance Meet” in Birmingham last weekend. The OHS girls finished sixth while the boys placed 11th out of 89 teams in both groups.

The following is a list of athletes that scored points for the Bulldogs.

Jakayla Hand placed second in the long jump, seventh in the 60-meter dash and fifth in the triple jump; Kamala Thomas placed second in the high jump; Kala Spinks placed eighth in the high jump; B.J. Lockhart finished fifth in the high jump; Jaquavios Lockhart placed eighth in the high jump; Vontrell Hunter was second in the shot put; Stephen Roberts placed fifth in the long jump and Brandon Taylor was eighth in the long jump.

Baseball

OHS head baseball coach Scott Sullivan released the 2012-13 team roster. The following players made the team: Doss Arnold, Jesse Baker, Garrett Brown, Kent Bugg, Lawson Butz, Ryan Carlisle, Mathew Christian, Nick Fields, Kyle Gothard, Jackson Grigsby, Ken Harris, Chase Hegwood, Tommie Jackson, Kyle Fourtenberry, Chris Manley, Will McKee, David Miller, Harrison Morris, Bryant Norrell, Joey Payne, Stephen Roberts, Casey Senn, Cullen Senn, Cody Sides, Sawyer Stephens, Hunter Swindell, Justin Traylor, BJ White, Bennet Whitman, Winston Smith T., Gage Young and Blake Yountz.

Coach Sullivan will use these players on the junior varsity and varsity squads. Sullivan considers all the players on the roster as a team.

Football

OHS has released the 2013 football schedule (see below). We will have six home games including the season opener against Benjamin Russell. This will be the first game in Bulldog Stadium after renovations currently underway.

Recruiting News

OHS juniors JaKell Mitchell and Stephen Roberts continue to draw the attention of college coaches. In the last two weeks several division I college coaches have been by OHS to visit with Coach Blackmon and our players, including Auburn head coach Gus Malzohn, Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart (two visits) and other coaches from Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Duke, Tulane and more.

Stephen Roberts was offered a scholarship by Alabama last weekend at “The Elite Junior Camp” at the University of Alabama.

Welcome Jonathan Chandler

Opelika High School has hired former Opelika graduate Jonathan Chandler to teach physical education. Chandler played football and baseball at OHS.

Chandler received a scholarship and played varsity football at Troy. He has been a graduate assistant at Troy.

The P.E. job became available after former OHS head baseball coach Barry Hightower was hired at Jackson High School as head baseball coach.

Chandler played quarterback and guided the Bulldogs to the Final Four his senior year. Coach Brian Blackmon was pleased to hire a former Bulldog.

“We are excited to hire one of our own. Jonathan played for us and I was his position coach. Its great to have a former player on staff,” said Blackmon.

I am not sure what position Chandler will be coaching. He began last Monday at OHS.

Best wishes coach Hightower and welcome home Jonathan Chandler!

Friday, 25 January 2013 09:32

Written by D. Mark Mitchell - Sports Editor

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The varsity girls basketball team won the 2012-13 regular season Area championship with 6-0 record and improved to 18-3 overall after beating Auburn, Carver and Central in a span of four days. Head coach Devin Booth won her first Area championship after finishing second two years in a row since taking over the head coaching job just four years ago. Last year’s team (26-4) advanced to the final eight in the state and was three points away from playing in the Final Four. So it’s obvious that coach Booth has her teams playing at a high level on a consistent basis.

OHS vs Auburn

The Lady Bulldogs scored 14 straight points while holding AHS scoreless in the first quarter. That’s right ... OHS held rival Auburn to zero points in the first quarter.

The quick start put a damper on any hopes of the Lady Tigers that they could pull off the upset. Opelika won 54-33. Booth demands her girls play defense all over the court. “This will cause turnovers and keep us in every game even if we have a bad shooting night,” said Booth.

This was the 11th win over Auburn in the 12 games since Booth has been the head coach. The Lady Bulldogs led by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter while playing non-starters.

Tish Chatman led the team with 15 points while teammate Kendall Adams scored 11.

Coach Booth was pleased with the win and the steady play of her team.

“I was proud of our defensive intensity at the start of the game. When we play good defense it will allow us to score off turnovers,” said Booth after the game during the post game radio interview with me. “The crowd was great and I am proud of the students and fans for supporting the girls.”

OHS vs Carver

Less than 24 hours after beating arch-rival Auburn, the Lady Bulldogs hosted the number four-ranked Carver Wolverines. OHS beat CHS 59-50 in front of another packed house.

Junior Emma Garner hit three three-point shots in a row to give us an early nine point lead which Opelika never relinquished. The win was impressive for many reasons, one of which is the fact we had just beat our oldest and biggest rival, Auburn High, the night before, and the team didn’t experience the usual let-down after a win of this kind.

OHS vs Central

Opelika wrapped up the Area championship with an impressive 57-47 win over Central at the OHS Sports Arena.

“It feels good to go undefeated in the Area, especially in this Area because of all the good teams. I am pleased with our effort and I am proud of the girls,” said Coach Booth after the game.

Destiny Savage scored 18 points to lead OHS.

Opelika (18-3) will host the Area tournament which starts Feb. 4. Two Area teams will advance to the State Playoffs. Opelika will play the fourth seed in the first round of the Area tournament. The winner of the tournament will host a first round playoff game while the second place Area team will travel.

This Opelika team is special. They play hard every night and have a good chance to go a long way in the state tournament.

I have enjoyed watching this team come together and play great basketball. The sky is the limit.

OHS will host Lanett tonight at 5:30 p.m. and Lanier on Saturday night to wind up the regular season.

Boys’ Team

Coach John Wadsworth’s boys basketball team has won four straight games, Valley, Auburn, top-ranked Carver and Central. The wins improved their record to 15-7 overall and 4-2 in the Area.

The Bulldogs tied for first in the Area with Smiths Station and Central. The Red Devils have one more Area game, Friday, at Auburn.`

The Bulldogs defeated Auburn, 50-46, behind TJ Pressley’s 14 points and 11 rebounds and two block shots while teammate Trey Purter added 10 points and five rebounds.

The win over Auburn was the 10th in a row and 11th in 12 games for head Coach John Wadsworth in the local rivalry.

The following night OHS defeated defending 6A State champions and previously undefeated Carver of Montgomery, 57-53. The Dawgs stopped the Wolverines’ 38-game win streak. Opelika depended on TJ Pressley inside and Kenneth Keith on the outside. The two combined for 38 points.

“Wow, what a game. Carver is good, they are big and deep. When they substitute they send a player into the game who is as big as the player who comes out. I am proud for the kids,” said Coach Wadsworth after the game.

The Dawgs followed those two wins with a win over Central to insure a tie for first place in Area Five. Opelika started quickly at Central, scoring 14 straight points on their way to a 12-point win, 77-65.

Kenneth Keith hit three three-pointers in the first 1:30 in the game. This helped Opelika hit seven of 14 from outside the three-point line. TJ Pressley hit a game-high 24 points while Keith finished with 20 points.

Coach Wadsworth was pleased to finish first in the Area, “Huge win! We are getting better and playing good basketball right now. We are having fun and, when that happens, you play relaxed and good things happen”

The boys will host Lanett tonight at 7 p.m. at the Sports Arena on the OHS campus.

I encourage you to come watch the two OHS basketball teams play. You will enjoy watching the hustle, the defensive effort and the unselfish play by the kids.

Both teams have a chance to go a long way in the playoffs.

Wrestling

The OHS wrestling team participated in the Grissom Duals in Huntsville. The team finished 3-1, beating Buckhorn, East Limestone and Fort Payne.

The undefeated OHS wrestlers were Victor Nelms and Marquise Banks. Tyler Carter, Ivan Ramos, Mark Preston, Lacarriss Patrick, Zay Mitchell, Ethan Knight and Eric Jackson all finished with three wins each. Dalton Scoggins won the individual 132 lb. weight class.

The Dawgs will travel to the Mortimer Jordan Invitational this weekend.

Football Recruiting

Junior JaKell Mitchell continues to get offers from schools. Last week Duke offered Mitchell a scholarship. Tulane and Auburn both offered Mitchell over the weekend. I expect there will be  several more schools to offer him scholarships before he graduates.

Junior defensive back Stephen Roberts has been invited to the University of Alabama’s Elite Junior Camp this weekend. Roberts has the size and speed to play Division One football.

THEDAWGNETWORK

You can keep up with Opelika athletics on a daily basis by going to the official web site of Opelika athletics, www.thedawgnetwork.com.

The site is updated nightly. You can find scores, breaking news, schedules and other information pertaining to Opelika athletics.

On The Mark

You can also keep up with Opelika sports on a daily basis by listening to my radio show,”ON  THE MARK” every weekday morning from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on WTLM 1520 AM and on the web at www.kickerfm.com/sports then click “listen live” to On The Mark.

My partner, Jeff Sasser and I, will bring you up-to-date with the happenings at OHS and OMS as well as youth sports in Opelika.

We talk with the Opelika coaches and other Opelika sports figures throughout the week.