Jayla Stone has joined a former East Ridge teammate in signing with the women's basketball program at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. Earlier this month, Kyanna Kendrick became the first Lady Pioneer to become a Lady Bobcat. Now Kendrick will have a familiar face and a versatile teammate alongside her as she starts her career on the college court. An all-region selection who also excelled in track and field, Stone is known as a quick guard who can handle the ball and score, averaging nearly 23 points as a senior and finishing with more than 1,800 points in her high school career. "She's a great young lady and an amazing basketball player," East Ridge coach LeBron Williams said in a GNTC release. "She's really been the bell cow for our offense." Lady Bobcats coach David Stephenson was eager to recruit scorers, and Stone's speed makes her hard to cover. "When I watched her play, she was like a little atom out there, bouncing all over the place," Stephenson said. Stone, who plans to study criminal justice, is eager to meet her new teammates and help motivate them, saying she will "bring a lot of spirit to the team."
Soccer
- The Chattanooga Football Club's busy stretch of home matches continues tonight against Inter Nashville FC. Kickoff at Finley Stadium is at 7:30 and comes after Thursday's 1-1 draw there with the New Orleans Jesters. CFC is 2-1-4 overall, 1-0-4 in the National Premier Soccer League's Southeast Division and in deep need of victories to gain points in the division standings. "Each game is a must-win for us at this point," CFC general manager Sean McDaniel said in a team release. "This is a very competitive league this year, and there are no easy matches." Inter Nashville FC is 3-0-4 in the division.
- Bryan College's women's soccer team will begin its 2017 season with a pair of games at the Freed-Hardeman Lions Cup in Henderson, Tenn., facing the University of Pikeville (Ky.) on Aug. 31 and the host program on Sept. 2. The 17-match schedule was released Friday. Bryan's next match is its home opener on Sept. 5 against NCAA Division II member Shorter University, and that will be followed three days later with another home match against an NCAA foe, Division III's Oglethorpe University. The Lady Lions' Appalachian Athletic Conference opener is Sept. 16 against St. Andrews, and their other scheduled home games also have AAC implications: Reinhardt (Sept. 19), Union College (Sept. 26), Bluefield (Sept. 30), Brenau (Oct. 7), Truett-McConnell (Oct. 17) and Cumberland University (Oct. 27). One notable road match is Oct. 4 at rival Tennessee Wesleyan, which beat Bryan 2-0 in the AAC tournament title game last season with a spot in the NAIA national tournament at stake. Bryan went 10-10-2 overall and 5-5 in conference play last season, Paul Babba's first as coach, for the most wins in the program's recorded history.
Fishing
- Michael Neal was ninth and fellow Dayton, Tenn., resident Andy Morgan 12th after two days of competition in the FLW Tour event on the Potomac River out of Marbury, Md. Neal's daily limit of five bass weighed in at 16 pounds, 3 ounces Friday after he caught five for 16-11 in Thursday's opening round, giving him a total of 32-14 for the tournament and sending him to the weekend as one of the top 20 pro anglers. That group includes Morgan after he hauled in 17 pounds even Friday for a two-day total of 32-7. Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., led at 36-4, 18 ounces ahead of Robert Behrle of Hoover, Ala. Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Ga., was unable to advance with a two-day total of 24-7. Morgan is 16th in the tour standings with 1,045 points and $76,100 in tournament winnings this year; Neal is 51st with 930 and $50,000.