The Prep Players Spotlight is a weekly feature of the Times Free Press that highlights five area high school athletes whose performances since the previous Thursday stood out.
Eli Evans, Boyd Buchanan
Staff file photo / Boyd Buchanan’s Eli Evans, right, helped lead his state-ranked basketball team to a district championship last week.Evans, a senior who also plays baseball and football, delivered the knockout punch for the basketball Buccaneers as they beat host Notre Dame to win the Division II-A East Region’s District 2 tournament title Friday. He scored 19 of his 22 points and made five of his six 3-pointers in the second half, and the performance that sent the Boyd Buchanan bench and fans into a frenzy included his first varsity dunk.
Ryleigh Hoover, Silverdale Baptist
Extra gym hours last summer have paid off this winter for the junior and the Lady Seahawks, who won the DII-A East District 2 girls’ basketball title by beating Notre Dame the same night Evans and the Bucs topped the Fighting Irish for the boys’ crown. In three games so far this postseason, Hoover has made 10 3-pointers to aid the scoring drive led by Laney Bone and Marlee Montgomery.
Cole Hunt, Dalton
The sophomore 106-pounder was one of Georgia’s most dominant wrestlers this season, going 45-0 with each victory by pin and winning his first state championship with relative ease. In the Class AAAAAA traditional tournament last week in Macon, he pinned each of his four opponents in the first period, totaling just three minutes and 53 seconds on the mat.
Griffin Jarrett, Chattooga
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Chattooga senior wrestler Griffin Jarrett, middle, poses atop the medal stand at the GHSA Class AA state traditional tournament Saturday in Macon after winning the 113-pound weight class to become the Indians’ first four-time individual state champion.The Indians completed a sweep of the GHSA Class AA wrestling state titles Saturday in Macon, where the duals champions added the traditional title by finishing 73 points ahead of the second-place team. Five Chattooga wrestlers finished first in their respective weight classes, with Jarrett winning at 113 pounds to reach 49 victories this season and become the program’s first four-time individual state champion.
Bailey Lee, Red Bank
Staff file photo by C.B. Schmelter / Red Bank’s Bailey Lee, right, scored 37 points on senior night last week as the Lady Lions beat Brainerd 92-34.The basketball Lady Lions found their on-court leader often on senior night, when the 6-foot-2 Lee scored a career-high 37 points in a 92-34 victory against Brainerd. She has helped Red Bank to District 6-AA’s No. 1 seed entering the postseason.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.