Five Chattanooga-area players have been selected to the 2017 Tennessee Sports Writers Association all-state baseball team. The five are Rhea County outfielder Westin Ray in Class AAA, Chattanooga Christian shortstop John Rhodes and Grundy County outfielder/pitcher Blane Harris in AA, Boyd-Buchanan shortstop Cade Evans in Class A and McCallie outfielder/pitcher Corbin Brooksbank in Division II.
Golf
- Alex Cobb of Brentwood and Coleman Jones of Franklin shared the lead after two rounds of the 54th Tennessee Junior Amateur, and they had a four-stroke edge over four players chasing them entering today's final round at Cleveland Country Club. Cobb followed his opening 5-under-par 66 with a 71, while Jones went 68-69 to share the 36-hole advantage at 5 under. Among those tied for seventh at 2 over were Athens' Tanner Harris (71-73) and Niota's Cade Puryear (73-71), with Tullahoma's Jacob Uehlein (77-71) tied for 18th at 6 over and Chattanooga's Jake Levine (77-72) tied for 23rd.
- In the 54th Tennessee Girls' Junior Championship at Temple Hills Country Club in Franklin, Manchester's Ashley Gilliam heads into today's final round with a five-stroke advantage over Winchester's Malia Stovall with Kynadie Adams of Gallatin another stroke back. Gilliam opened with a 4-under-par 68, which Stovall bested by a stroke, but in the second round Gilliam's 66 was the only round in the 60s and Stovall shot a 72. Cleveland's Kara Carter (76-81) was tied for 20th at 12 over.
- Tori Owens of Chatsworth and Carson Roberts of Dalton will compete in the Georgia Top 60 Women's Classic on Friday and Saturday at The Savannah Golf Club. The field will play 18 holes each day.
Volleyball
- Andrea Hudson's 27th season as Lee University's volleyball coach will begin officially in Lincoln Memorial's Sept. 1-2 tournament that also includes Carson-Newman, King and Mars Hill, but the Lady Flames will host Berry, Emory and Carson-Newman in a day of exhibitions Aug. 26. After a Sept. 5 match at Trevecca Nazarene, Lee will host Emory on Sept. 11 and then play in the Atlanta school's tournament on Sept. 16. The Lady Flames will begin Gulf South Conference play at North Alabama, Christian Brothers and Union (Tenn.) on Sept. 19, 22 and 23, then host league foes Auburn-Montgomery, West Alabama and Mississippi College on Sept. 26, 29 and 30. Later home matches are Oct. 7 against Shorter, Oct. 10 against Emmanuel, Oct. 17 against Southern Wesleyan, Oct. 27 against Valdosta State, Oct. 28 against West Florida, Nov. 3 against West Georgia and Nov. 4 against Montevallo.
Basketball
- Recent Howard graduate Justin Smith has signed enrollment papers to play basketball for Georgia Northwestern Technical College in 2017-18. Smith played all the perimeter positions at times for the Hustlin' Tigers but likely will play point guard for the Bobcats, he and coach David Stephenson said in a GNTC release. "He's cat-like quick and he comes from a traditionally strong program at Howard," Stephenson said. "He's been coming to our open-gym workouts, and if we have a hole at point guard, he's someone that can step in and fill it really quick. Plus, I have a lot of respect for (Howard) Coach (Walter) McGary. Coach McGary speaks really highly of Justin, not just as a player but as a young man, too, so we're excited to get him." Praising Smith's "hard-working" dependability, Howard assistant James Talley added, "He's a good 3-point shooter and someone who attacks the basket pretty well. Plus, he has a lot of speed." Said Smith: "I like to get my teammates the ball. I love to give out assists, and with my energy and speed I can get past people. When I first started going to the (GNTC) workouts, there was just a natural click."