Gwinnett Daily Post

ACWORTH -- A day after losing her mother to a battle with cancer, Alesha Mann led Archer's girls basketball team to a 42-19 win over South Paulding in the Lake City Classic on Wednesday.

Sandra Mann was the vice president for the basketball and softball booster clubs and died after a battle with breast cancer on Tuesday. Her daughter Alesha scored seven points, had four steals and three rebounds in Wednesday's win.

Kayla Rogers led all scorers with 11 points, while Madison Newby added eight points, four steals and three assists. Marissa Jordan had seven rebounds. Archer (7-3 overall, 3-2 region) will play Drew today in the semifinals of the tournament.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

North Gwinnett 72, Forest Park 50

ATLANTA -- The North Gwinnett girls rolled into the Green Division finals of the JumpOffPlus.com Holiday Invitational at Holy Innocents', defeating Forest Park 72-50 on Wednesday.

Peyton Whitted led the Bulldogs (8-1) with 19 points and Lexie Brown scored 18 along with a game-high 12 assists. Ariel Johnson also scored 14 for North, which plays Thomasville Prep (N.C.) in today's championship game.

Parkview 71, Spartanburg (S.C.) 34

ROEBUCK, S.C. -- A total of 15 Parkview girls scored Wednesday as they opened the Upward Classic with a 71-34 rout of Spartanburg (S.C.).

Erika Joseph led the victors with 13 points, Makenna Pouengue scored 11 and Tatiana Wayne had 10 points. The Panthers (11-0) advance to play fellow unbeaten Mauldin (S.C.) today. Mauldin is 10-0.

Peachtree Ridge 49, Hiawassee Dam 31

CHEROKEE, N.C. -- Peachtree Ridge defeated Hiawassee Dam 49-31 Wednesday to reach the girls semifinals of the Holidays on the Hardwood Tournament in Cherokee, N.C.

The Lions (4-4) got 14 points from Jada Triplett, 11 points from Gabby Cole and seven points and 10 rebounds from Taylor Cobb.

Mill Creek 59, Tift County 46

TIFTON -- Nadiya Miller scored 19 points Wednesday as the Mill Creek girls defeated Tift County 59-46 in the McDonald's Invitational.

Jasmine Carter added eight points and seven rebounds for the Hawks (8-3).

GAC 55, Alcovy 47

ATLANTA -- The Greater Atlanta Christian girls, ranked fourth in Class AA, handed Class AAAA No. 5 Alcovy its first loss, 55-47, Wednesday in the White Division semifinals of the JumpOffPlus.com Holiday Invitational at Holy Innocents'.

Sydni Means had 17 points and Brianna Cummings scored 14 for the Spartans (8-4), who face the Memphis (Tenn.) East-Holy Innocents' winner in today's White Division championship game at 12:30 p.m. Alcovy falls to 9-1 on the season.

Riverdale (Tenn.) 65, Buford 51

ATLANTA -- The Buford girls lost in the Red Division semifinals of the JumpOffPlus.com Holiday Invitational on Wednesday, falling 65-51 to Riverdale (Tenn.) at Holy Innocents'.

Kaela Davis led the Wolves (7-4) with 22 points and Kristina Nelson added 12 points.

Hebron 56, Cross (S.C.) 12

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Taryn Higgins had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday, powering the Hebron Christian girls to a 56-12 rout of Cross (S.C.) in the Bojangles Carolina Invitational.

The Lions (9-5) also got 12 points and seven steals from Ashleigh Stanley, eight points, five steals and four assists from Amber Skidgel and six points and eight rebounds from Jozie Lewis.

Hebron plays Northeast Richland (S.C.) today in its next tourney game.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Mill Creek 47, Tift County 44

TIFTON -- In a matchup of ranked boys teams in Class AAAAA, No. 4 Mill Creek defeated No. 6 Tift County 47-44 in the McDonald's Invitational to remain unbeaten on the season.

Paul Evans was Mill Creek's lone double-figure scorer with 11 points. Jalen Bracey added nine points and Daniel Braschler scored eight.

Trevon Shaw, with some help from Bracey, played exceptional defense for the Hawks against Tift's Tadric Jackson, one of the nation's top guards.

Braschler, Kunle Akinmola and Daniel Loudermilk also had strong games on defense, holding Tift's Donnell Tuff, one of the state's top posts, scoreless in the second half.

The Hawks (11-0) play Dublin today at 2:30 p.m. and claim the round-robin tourney title with a victory.

Peachtree Ridge 68, Perry Central (Ky.) 60

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Davon Hill scored 19 points and Rawlings Okivi scored 17 Wednesday as Peachtree Ridge defeated Perry Central 68-60 to reach the finals of the Great Florida Shootout.

The Lions (5-5), who also got 12 points from Brandon Jack, face Lake Wales (Fla.) today in the tournament finals.

Berkmar 53, Ashley Ridge (S.C.) 37

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Berkmar boys opened the Piggly Wiggly Roundball Classic on Wednesday with a 53-37 win over Ashley Ridge (S.C.), advancing to a 5:30 p.m. semifinal today against Effingham County.

The Patriots (6-3) got 13 points from Adonai Rogers and 10 points and three assists from Yonel Brown. Tim Rowe contributed nine points, four blocks and 11 rebounds.

Duluth 51, Sequoyah 48

JASPER -- Zach Erwin scored 17 points and powered the Duluth boys to a 51-48 win over Sequoyah in the Pickens County Classic on Wednesday.

The Wildcats (3-9) also got 10 points from Savion Griffin-Bey and nine points from Mike Randle.

Eagle's Landing 58, Buford 48

DECATUR -- Buford (8-2) lost to Eagle's Landing 58-48 Wednesday night in the Converse Holiday Invitational at Columbia.

T.J. Shipes (14 points), Isaiah Williams (13 points) and Kyle Kellam (12 points) led the Wolves in scoring.

Lovett 64, Wesleyan 63 (OT)

ATLANTA -- Lovett edged the Wesleyan boys 64-63 in overtime Wednesday, sending the Wolves into the consolation bracket of the Westminster Holiday Classic.

Shane Smith scored 24 points to lead Wesleyan (5-5), while Will Clifton scored 17 and Drew Ritter had 15 points. The Wolves play again today at 4:30 p.m. against the Alpharetta-Jefferson loser.

Banks County 60, Hebron 49

COMMERCE -- Hebron Christian's boys lost to Banks County 60-49 Wednesday in the Wingslinger Shootout at East Jackson.

Dylan Schulte and Ryan Thomas scored 14 each for the Lions (3-8), who play Stephens County today at 11 a.m. in the tourney.

WRESTLING

GAC, Meadowcreek finish 1-2 in tourney

WINDER -- Greater Atlanta Christian won the George Thompson Memorial at Winder-Barrow on Wednesday, while Meadowcreek finished second and Mountain View was fourth.

GAC had three individual champions to score 167.5 points, Meadowcreek had 145.5 and Mountain View had 119. Winder-Barrow (111.5) was fifth and Apalachee (69) was ninth.

Zach Feuerbach won the 160-pound title for GAC, while teammates Caleb Bumpers (126) and Parker Embry (132) also won weight-class championships. The Spartans got runner-up finishes from Carter Klinebell (120) and Will Hemby (145).

Meadowcreek had four wrestlers finish in second place -- Rene Deluna (126), Ade Harden (138), O.G. Harden (170) and Ryan Moore (182). The Mustangs also got third-place efforts from Dante Bennett (120), Angelo Pineda (132), Emmet Doe (145) and Alex Steele (160).

Sterling Pyles gave Mountain View a championship at 145 pounds and teammate Calin Fistaeg was second at 132. The Bears also had five third-place finishers -- Adam Flatt (106), Kenny Cook (113), Octavian Jarda (182), Jamal Tull (195) and Tommy Coggins (285).

Winder-Barrow's Tristan Yaptengco won the 120-pound title and teammate Austin Stewart was third at 220. Apalachee's Matthew Moore was runner-up at 220.