Patrician, Sumter set for area action

By Staff
From staff reports
Feb, 7, 2002
Patrician Academy and Sumter Academy both face do-or-die situations this weekend, as they try to make next week's field for the Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) State Tournament.
The AISA West Regionals are being held at George C. Wallace Community College in Selma. The winners move on to Montgomery next week.
The Patrician girls take on Pickens in AA action at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, while the Patrician boys play at 6 p.m.
The Sumter girls take on Southern at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in Class AA play, while the Sumter boys take on Victory at noon. The winners of those four games will move on to the AISA Final Four.
Austin Bishop
Bay Springs boys tops
The Bay Springs Bulldogs clinched the top seed in next week's Division 7-2A Tournament at Bassfield with Friday's win at Taylorsville.
Bay Springs finished its single round-robin league play with a perfect 5-0 mark.
The Bay Springs girls went 4-1, losing only to Sumrall.
Enterprise also competes in 7-2A. The Enterprise girls went 2-3 against league foes, beating Seminary and Bassfield while losing to Bay Springs, Sumrall, and Taylorsville.
The Enterprise boys also had a 2-3 showing in the league, beating Seminary and Bassfield while losing to Bay Springs, Taylorsville, and Sumrall.
Marty Stamper
Adams new at South Jones
Danny Adams has been named the new head football coach at South Jones.
A native of Laurel and a 1971 graduate of Northeast Jones, Adams replaces Jack Thompson, who was at South Jones for 17 years.
Adams was head coach at Beat Four from 1975-79. From 1979-89, he was head coach at Northeast Jones with his teams going 61-42. He was 16-6 in two years at Greenville (Ala.) High School. In one season as head coach at East Mississippi Community College, Adams' Lions went 1-9 in 1992.
A one-year stint at Pike County (Ala.) High School in 1993 produced a 6-6 season. An 0-10 season followed at Muscle Shoals (Ala.) High School.
Adams returned to Mississippi, going 1-8 at Greene County in 1994. He returned to Alabama as an assistant for two years at Tuscaloosa Central with those teams going 25-2 and winning the Class 6A state championship in 1995.
After a year as defensive coordinator at Gautier in 1997, Adams went 30-6 in three years as head coach at Lawrence County with the 1999 Cougars winning the Class 4A state title.
He was at Worth County (Ga.) High School in 2001 where his team finished 4-6.
Adams' head coaching record is 144-89.
Marty Stamper
Wayne cheerleaders win title
The Wayne County High School cheerleaders placed first in the small varsity division of the Cheerleader of America's open championship in Birmingham, Ala., on Jan. 26.
Squads from Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Tennessee competed.
The squad had previously placed second in the MHSAA state competition at Holmes Community College at Goodman and won the Class 5A small squad academic award.
The Wayne cheerleaders are preparing to cheer for the Premier Cheer national title in New Orleans, Feb. 16-17.
Squad members are Betsy Bowen (alternate), Constance Everett, Ty Kittrell, Alicia McCann, Blaine Stevens, Jennifer Albritton, Julie Albritton, Rhonda Bishop, Ashley Houston, Bridget Miller, Amber Nicholson, and Gentry Stevens.
Marty Stamper
Three area teams ranked
The Wildcats of Sumter County High School are ranked No. 7 in the latest Class 4A public school poll by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
Sumter County is 19-4 on the season. The No. 1 ranked Class 4A school is Emma Sansom with a 23-2 record. There are six public school classifications in Alabama.
Southern Choctaw High School, which is 20-5, is ranked No. 6 in Class 2A. The top-ranked Class 2A squad is the 25-3 Mars Hill Bible team.
The Patrician Academy boys are ranked No. 9 among AISA teams. The top AISA boys team is 20-0 Tuscaloosa Academy.
Austin Bishop
OLA moves on to title game
The Crescents of Our Lady of Academy held off Mercy Cross 3-2 to win the Class 1A-2A-3A South State soccer championship Tuesday and advance to the state finals where they will seek to capture their third straight small school state championship.
OLA, 18-3-4, led 2-0 at halftime after using the wind to its advantage in the cold contest.
Marty Stamper
St. Stanislaus hires Wittman
St. Stanislaus has named Casey Wittman its new head football coach. Wittman replaces Dave Kenson, who resigned last month after leading the Rockachaws for five years. St. Stanislaus went 2-8 in 2001.
Wittman is a 1984 graduate of St. Stanislaus. He later played at Gulf Coast Community College.
He comes to SSC after a two-year stint as offensive coordinator at Pass Christian. This will be his first head coaching job.
Wittman was selected from 17 applicants.
Marty Stamper
Kivlan gets No. 100
St. Stanislaus boys' soccer coach Andy Kivlan got his 100th win in five seasons with the Rockachaws with Tuesday's 5-0 win over Laurel for the Class 4A South State championship.
The game was played in wind, rain, and sleet at Brother Phillip Memorial Stadium.
Up 5-0 16 minutes into the second half, Kivlan began pulling his starters, sending them to the locker room to change clothes.
The Rockachaws improved to 21-2-1, while Laurel wound up 13-5.
Marty Stamper
Natchez bound for SI
Natchez High School track star Janice Davis will soon be gracing the pages of Sports Illustrated. She was recently photographed for the magazine after being named Dyestat.com's Nike Athlete of the Week for the week of Jan. 17-24.
She will be profiled in the Faces in the Crowd in SI.
One of her goals is a berth in the 2004 Summer OIympics at Athens, Greece.
– Marty Stamper
Nettleton to retire Ferguson's 88
Nettleton High School plans to retire New York Jets defensive lineman Jason Ferguson's No. 88 during next week's Division 2-3A basketball tournament at Nettleton.
Ferguson was an all-state player at Nettleton and Itawamba Community College before going on to the University of Georgia.
– Marty Stamper