Elizabeth Balogun had 14 points and nine rebounds and Tennessee commitment Jazmine Massengill scored 12 points as Hamilton Heights Christian Academy from Chattanooga edged St. Frances Academy from Baltimore 56-55 in overtime Friday in the girls' semifinals of the Dick's Sporting Goods national basketball tournament in New York. Hamilton Heights (29-1), the No. 2 seed, will face No. 1 Miami Christian Day for the championship at 10 this morning on ESPN2. La Lumiere from Indiana, which played in McCallie's tournament this season, is in the boys' final at noon against Montverde Academy from Florida. Freshman Angel Reese had 20 points and 24 rebounds for No. 3 seed St. Frances, including a putback at the buzzer that forced overtime after the Maryland school erased an 11-point deficit. But coach Keisha Hunt's Lady Hawks already have won two national titles this season and fought through to maintain a chance for another.
Baseball
- Cleveland State began its TSSAA home baseball series against second-place Walters State with a 9-4 win Friday, beginning with a three-run first inning that included John Hennen's RBI triple between scores on a wild pitch and an error. Hennen was 3-for-5 with a home run, Chase Fullington was 3-for-3 with two doubles, an RBI and a run, Jordan Ransom was 2-for-3 with two runs and John Sharpe drove in two for the Cougars (22-9, 7-6). Starting pitcher Hooper Mills allowed five hits and two earned runs in seven innings. Walters is 34-6, 11-2.
- Alex Kerr's grand slam capped a six-run seventh inning for Covenant College in a 9-4 USA South victory Friday against Huntingdon. Kerr was 2-for-2 with five RBIs after coming in to catch, and Forrest Hunter, Luke Harvey, Caleb Bloye and Christian Murray each had two hits and an RBI for the Scots (11-16, 4-9). Hunter scored twice. Taylor Fought and Joseph Calvert each was 3-for-5 for the Hawks (9-19, 6-7), Fought with a homer.
- Tennessee Wesleyan beat visiting Milligan 8-0 in the opener of their weekend Appalachian Athletic Conference series, leaving the NAIA's fifth-ranked Bulldogs 25-10 and 11-2 in the league.
- Scoring the last three runs of the game, Point University edged visiting Bryan 5-4 and now is 20-12 overall, 10-3 in the AAC. C.J. Owens singled in two runs in the opening at-bat for 19th-ranked Bryan (23-11, 8-5) and Kila Zuttermeister and Wade Weinburger each had an extra-base hit and a single and scored a run.
Softball
- The 12th-ranked Chattanooga State softball team improved to 27-5 and 17-1 in the TCCAA with five-inning 16-0 and 8-0 wins Friday at Southwest Tennessee. Kaleigh Wynne pitched a one-hitter with nine strikeouts and Abbey White followed with a two-hitter, and Jennah McElheney was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and four runs scored in the two games. Colbie Thomas and Alaeni Ray each was 3-for-3 in game one, Thomas with a triple, three RBIs and two runs and Ray with an RBI, and Madison Kurtz was 2-for-2 with three runs and two RBIs. Wynne was 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI in game two, when Tori Barnes was 1-for-1 with two runs.
- Tennessee Wesleyan's scheduled AAC softball doubleheader Friday against first-place Bryan was postponed by rain and reset for Monday in Athens.
Golf
- Mike Nance and his son Nash from Calhoun are in fourth place at 74 in Flight 2 after the first round Friday of the 2017 Georgia Four-Ball Tournament at Jekyll Island Golf Club. Tied for fifth at 75 are Ringgold's Luke Potts and Rock Spring's Norm Hodge III. Also on the Indian Mound course, the Dalton duo of Dwight Hefner and Duane McMullen are tied for second at 74 in Flight 3. Tied for eighth at 73 in the championship flight are Greg Brock from Rocky Face and Tony Patterson from Dalton, plus former Calhoun athlete Tre Lamb, while Rocky Face's Matt Oxford is at 74. Calhoun's Hal Lamb and Jeff Brown are sixth in Flight 1 at 73, one shot better than Dalton's Chris Tallent Sr. and Kyle Pettyjohn. LaFayette's John Starks is fourth at 74 in Flight 6.