District 5-AAA soccer standings revised

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Because of an oversight, the standings in the District 5-AAA girls' soccer race have taken a slight turn.

On Sept. 10, Cleveland and McMinn County played a match that went into overtime. The match was scoreless in regulation, but McMinn's Shelby Wilson scored in the first 10-minute overtime period. Cleveland's McKenzie Harris had a tying goal in the second overtime period, and her Lady Raiders then won 4-3 on PKs.

The district bylaws state, however, that once a goal has been scored in overtime, the match is over, therefore handing the victory to the Lady Cherokees when Wilson scored.

"We played playoff rules instead of the rules in the bylaws," McMinn coach Brittany Hart said. "I guess we just forgot about it."

As a result, McMinn (7-1-2 overall) improves to 4-0 in the district, while Cleveland falls to 2-2. East Hamilton is 3-1 and Soddy-Daisy is 2-0 but has matches with East Hamilton and McMinn this week and with the Lady Raiders on Oct. 1.

Smith going to King

Soddy-Daisy senior forward Miranda Smith recently committed to continue her soccer career at King University, an NCAA Division II school in Bristol, Tenn. She was a first-team Best of Preps selection last season, totaling 23 goals and 20 assists in helping the Lady Trojans to the Class AAA state quarterfinals.

In eight matches this season, she has eight goals and two assists.

"I was happy for her when I found out about it, and we've been talking about what she needs to do to get ready for that level," Soddy-Daisy coach Moises Drumond said. "She has one of the hardest shots of any female I've ever coached, and she's able to use her speed to be effective and one of the most dangerous players in the area."

Chargers host CNU clinic

McMinn Central is hosting a Carson-Newman University baseball intrasquad session and clinic Saturday.

The NCAA Division II Eagles will practice from 10:45 till 11:45 and then scrimmage from noon until 2. A two-hour clinic will follow with CNU coach Tom Griffin, his assistants and Eagles players. Further information can be obtained from McMinn Central coach Travis Hart at 423-829-6854.

Panthers, Owls clinch

Races are heating up in most area volleyball districts with two weeks left in the TSSAA Division I season, but for Sale Creek and Ooltewah, their races are already won.

Sale Creek clinched at least a tie for the District 6-A regular-season championship when it defeated Lookout Valley last Thursday, but the Lady Panthers already own the top seeding for the district tournament. A Lookout Valley loss today, when it hosts Marion County, or a Sale Creek victory Thursday at home against Richard Hardy would give them the outright title.

Ooltewah is 9-0 with three District 5-AAA matches remaining, but the Lady Owls became regular-season champions Monday when Bradley Central edged Cleveland 3-2. The other six district teams now have at least four league losses.

"We've worked real hard on staying focused and serving aggressive," Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen said. "Everybody is good in our district and anybody can beat anybody. We've just been fortunate."

Sloan Sullivan has been the Lady Owls' anchor and Peigen said their other senior, Bethany Spange, has increased her level of play this year. Others the coach cited for improved play are junior Courtlyn Ison and sophomores Alex Biro and Hanna Matthews.

"It's been more of a team effort than anything," Peigen said. "The girls want to win. They play well together. They all get along. And we still want to go out undefeated."

Softball in stretch run

Georgia is entering the final two weeks of its prep softball regular season, and the top seed for one of the four area regions remains to be settled. Northwest Whitfield and Heritage will decide 7B-AAAA's regular-season champion Thursday when they meet for the second time.

Heritage (20-5, 7-1) rallied to topple the Lady Bruins (22-3, 6-1) at Heritage two weeks ago. The Generals are coming off an upset loss against LaFayette, while Northwest had to rally to beat the Lady Ramblers last week after losing 9-1 to Calhoun in a nonregion contest. The winner Thursday will need just one win in the region tournament (starting Oct. 5 in Dalton) to make the state playoffs.

Ringgold, Calhoun and Gordon Lee are undefeated in regions 5-AAA, 7-AA and 6-A, respectively, and have earned top tournament seeds barring major surprises.