By Brandon Park
Staff Writer

For the first time in the tournament’s eight year history, Morgan County captured, not one, but two titles in their own tournament, the SweetSouth Classic.

Both the Morgan County High School Bulldogs and Lady Dogs finished the Classic with 3-0 records,  en-route to winning their division’s championship game.

“Overall, this was another great year for our tournament,” Bulldogs Head Coach and tournament organizer Charlemagne Gibbons said. “I would like to give special thanks to our Tip-Off Club members for really making this a great event. Again this year we had a great field of teams and we had good crowd support for the three days of tournament action. With this being our eighth year, this has grown to be the largest tournament field in the state of Georgia and with the continued community support this can grow into a national tournament.”

Play began on December 29, with 32 total teams taking the floor of three different gyms.
The Bulldogs, playing in the Ross division, tipped their tournament off with a 64-37 victory over Taliaferro. The Lady Dogs began play in the Thomas divsion with a 70-30 victory over Taliaferro.
In second round action, the Dogs secured a spot in their championship game with a hard faught 63-57 victory over former AA rival Putnam County.

The Lady Dogs, once again playing on the familiar surface of the classic gym, secured a  spot in their division’s championship game with a 52-47 victory over North Oconee.
With the stage set, championship action was underway for both the girls and the boys of Morgan County.

The Lady Dogs took to the floor of the new gym first, and won convincingly over Decatur by a score of 64-48 to capture their first SweetSouth title.

The Dogs followed suit, and handed a 64-38 defeat to Luella high school to capture their first SweetSouth Classic title.

Rashaun Franklin was named tournament MVP for the Dogs. Brian Green and deAngelo Elder were named to the all-tournament team.

Kiasa Tiller was named tournament MVP for the Lady Dogs. Sharda Massey and Andrea Benford were named to the all-tournament team.

Both the Dogs and Lady Dogs were scheduled to play in the Hoops in Overdrive at Kennesaw State last Saturday.

Both teams will travel to Hart County this Friday for the first of three consecutive region games.

To view a larger image of the above layout please click HERE

Printed in the January 8, 2008 edition.