Two new varsity champions were crowned on Saturday in the Sand Rock Lady Wildcats and the Cherokee County Warriors. Both programs are no strangers to claiming county titles.
Since 1982, the Lady Wildcats have claimed four county titles. Saturday's 43-34 championship victory over Spring Garden was the first county title for the Sand Rock girls program since 2002.
Spring Garden has the most titles since that time with 12. The Lady Panthers had won the previous six girls county titles. They also won five in a row from 1984-1988, but Cherokee County holds the most consecutive titles record with seven (1991-97). Since 1982, the Lady Warriors have won nine county championships.
In boys county tournament action since 1959, the Cherokee County Warriors have won 28 county titles. With their 62-55 victory over Cedar Bluff on Saturday, the Warriors have won nine of the last 10.
Spring Garden's boys have the second-most county titles since 1959 with 12. Sand Rock has eight county titles in that time.
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Don’t tell the Sand Rock Lady Wildcats it's not about the uniforms.
Just minutes prior to their county championship game on Saturday against Spring Garden, head coach Lisa Bates saw the Lady Panthers in their maroon uniforms. Her team also brought its dark-colored jerseys.
Bates said she was under the impression the home team, which was Spring Garden, would wear white. It could have been a problem, but luckily Bates had her B-team's white uniforms in her car.
After a slight delay to the game and a quick change, the Lady Wildcats were ready for battle.
“It’s my mistake,” Bates said. “I just assumed the top seed wears white. They have in every tournament I’ve been in. We didn’t bring them, but I had the B-Team jerseys in there. They were clean, so thank goodness we didn’t have to go back to Sand Rock.”
Bates said she was worried the uniform mixup might mess with her team, but she said she used it to her advantage.
“I was preaching to our girls ‘We’re going to hit our shots today. Today’s the day we’re going to shoot well.’ That’s what I used with the jerseys. Those other ones, we haven’t been shooting it well, but I told them we’re going to shoot well in these. We used that. It got the girls focused, and they came out really intense and just played smart.”
Sand Rock went on an 8-0 run to begin the game and eventually claimed victory.
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Host school Cedar Bluff carried on the county tradition of presenting another fine county tournament, the second of which was played in the Gadsden State-Cherokee Arena.
Principal Bobby Mintz said there was a lot of work involved in making the tournament a success, including faculty, parents and boosters.
“There’s so many people that work so hard,” he said. “We were the host school this year, and it doesn’t matter who hosts it, it goes on at every school. All of the faculty and boosters helped worked the concession stand. It’s a community effort all the way around. It's a lot of hours from everybody in the community and our faculty as well.
“The folks who have come out the past few nights have got to see some really great ball games. (Friday), there was a double-overtime thriller (between Sand Rock and Cherokee County boys). Tonight (Saturday), we had an overtime game in the B-team boys game (Sand Rock-Cherokee County). Both our boys and girls varsity games went down to the last few minutes, so I think the fans got to see what they came out for. Our kids always put on a great tournament for our fans.”
The money earned will help fund the basketball programs, Mintz said.
“All of this money goes right back into every program here. That's what it’s for. When we have the tournaments, that money has to last those basketball programs for a five-year period. We’ve got to make sure we’re able to provide them with the best of equipment to work with.”
Mintz also said having the tournament in the Gadsden State-Cherokee Arena is “a wonderful place for a tournament.”
“It’s a wonderful place to see a ball game,” he said. “The Gadsden State people have been so generous to us in letting us use it. They’ve been so gracious to us. Everything we’ve needed, they’ve given us. If you haven’t been here to see it, you need to come see it. It’s super-nice.”
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Wednesday is a big day for two Cherokee County Warrior athletes.
Senior quarterback Coty Blanchard will be in Birmingham along with several other of the best athletes from the 2009 high school football season when the Mr. Football award is announced. The award, presented by the Alabama Sportswriters Association, is given annually to the top football player in the state. The banquet is at noon at The Birmingham News building.
Also on Wednesday, Warrior senior tennis player Haley Highfield will sign an athletic scholarship with Snead State. Her signing is at 2 p.m. at Cherokee County High School.
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