Vinings Pair Wrestle for State Crowns; Lady Spartans Aim for Region Title

A pair of Lovett School wrestlers from Vinings will vie for a state championship Saturday at the GHSA Class AA state traditional championships at the Gwinnett Center.

Senior Hunter Rich (285-pound weight class) and junior Patrick Emerson (189) won their semifinal matches Friday night and will wrestle for state individual titles Saturday when the finals begin at 4 p.m. Two other Lion wrestlers from Vinings - Kyler Allen (103) and Jack Young (135) - lost their quarterfinal matches Friday afternoon.

The finals will be televised live on Georgia Public Broadcasting and five mats will stream live on the web here.

• The Lady Spartans also have a title on the line Saturday, as coach Randy McClure’s club will face Hillgrove for the Region 4-AAAAA championship at McEachern. Tip time between the second-seeded Lady Spartans (21-6) and the fourth-seeded Lady Hawks is set for 6 p.m.

Campbell, which lost to Milton in last year’s Region 6-AAAAA title game, split its two regular season meetings with Hillgrove this season with each team winning on its home court. The sixth-ranked Lady Spartans have won 14 of their last 16 games following Thursday’s 67-57 win over rival McEachern in which they forced 24 turnovers.

McClure’s two senior leaders led the way to victory as Air Force Academy signee Erica Norwood scored a career-high 30 points, while George Washington signee Chakecia Miller added 18.

• The Campbell boys also will be in action today in Powder Springs, but not playing for what they had hoped for. The 10^th-ranked and second-seeded Spartans were defeated 50-45 by host McEachern Friday night in the Region 4-AAAAA tournament semifinals.

Campbell, which hasn’t won a region crown since 2000, will face Hillgrove in today’s consolation game at 4 p.m.

The Spartans led by six at the break Friday night, but were limited to just three third-quarter points as the Indians (17-8) took control of the game defensively. Still, Campbell led 43-42 with 1:28 left in the game, but were outscored 8-2 from there to fall to 20-7 on the year.

Junior Matt Cotton led Campbell with 19 points, while senior Roderick Perkins added 10. Leading scorer Justin Seymour was held to just nine points.

The Indians, who won the Region 5-AAAAA title the previous two years, will face top-seeded Harrison tonight at 8 in the championship game.