GHC players sweep weekly honors
♦ Trevin Wade and Sasha Shishkina lead their teams to big conference wins last week.
More Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association honors piled up for Georgia Highlands basketball after the men’s and women’s squads picked up conference wins against East Georgia State College.
Trevin Wade and Sasha Shishkina led their teams to wins Saturday with the Chargers (16-4, 7-0 GCAA) winning 81-71 and the Lady Chargers hanging on for a 75-64 win in overtime, earning both players GCAA Player of the Week honors.
The award was the second of the season for Wade and is the fourth in the past five weeks for the Chargers. Cahiem Brown and Langston Wilson have also earned the weekly honor this season.
For the Lady Chargers (12-8, 8-2), Shishkina is the second player to earn the weekly award, joining Ja’lyn Reese, who was honored earlier in the season.
Shishkina scored 23 points, grabbed four rebounds and had two steals in the win against East Georgia State. She scored 14 of her points in the fourth quarter, helping the Lady Chargers rally from an eight-point deficit as they headed into the final period of regulation.
In addition to Saturday’s win, Wade also helped lead his team to a 81-76 road win against Gordon State.
Wade averaged 22.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists over the two conference wins.
The win for the Chargers pushes their streak to 13 games and keeps them in the top spot of the GCAA standings — one game ahead of Al
bany Tech and Central Georgia Tech, which are both 6-1 in conference play.
The Lady Chargers have now won three straight games and maintain their second-place spot in the conference standings behind South Georgia Tech, which is 11-0 in the conference.
The Chargers and Lady Chargers will next host conference foe Central Georgia Tech on Wednesday. The Lady Chargers will then play their final home-conference game Saturday against Andrew College, while the Chargers visit the Tigers for a conference contest.
Berry coach reaches milestone
Berry College’s men’s basketball team had extra reason to celebrate this past Friday’s win as head coach Mitch Cole won his 100th career win with a victory against his former team.
The Vikings topped host Birmingham-southern 77-70 in a Southern Athletic Association contest.
Prior to coming to Berry (14-6, 5-4 SAA), Cole took over the Panthers’ program in 2006, leading the team’s transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division I. In his final season with the Panthers, he led the team to a 23-4 overall record and a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship, finishing the 2010-11 season with a 14-2 conference record.
Against the Panthers, Caleb Haynes led all scorers with 22 points, Austin Brooks followed with 12 points, Drew Jones had 11 points, and Micah Johnson followed with 10 points.
The Vikings followed up the win with 75-71 loss to Millsaps on the road Sunday. Johnson led the Vikings with 22 points, Haynes scored 16, and D.J. Estes scored 10 off the bench.
After winning three straight games, the Berry women (1010, 4-5) faltered this past week, dropping two conference games. Berry fell to Birmingham-southern 57-41 on Friday and Millsaps 51-36 on Sunday.
Madeline Sandman led in both games, scoring nine points against the Lady Panthers and 14 points against the Lady Majors. Jana Morning added nine points against Millsaps.
The Berry teams continue their road stint with games against Rhodes on Friday and Hendrix on Saturday. The teams then finish out the regular season with three games at home.
Shorter teams fall in road contests
Shorter returns to the Winthrop-king Centre this week after a pair of Gulf South Conference road losses for the Hawks and Lady Hawks.
On Thursday, the Hawks fell to Christian Brothers 92-85, while the Lady Hawks were stopped 96-72. Saturday, the Hawks (3-16, 0-11 GSC) fell to Union 97-64, and the women’s team was defeated 97-49.
Jay Shropshire scored 16 points to lead the Hawks against Christian Brothers, Frenki Lilaj scored 15 points, Ja’cori Wilson scored 12, and Ricky Knight Jr., Keeving Etienne and Kelan Walker each scored 10. Lilaj and Walker led Shorter against Union with 19 points and 16 points, respectively.
Jasmine Gaines had a big night for the Lady Hawks (1-15, 1-10) against Christian Brothers scoring 26 points and pulling down nine boards. Christian Bolden followed with 18 points.
Gaines and Bolden scored 12 points and 11 points, respectively, against Union, and Mekala Fuller led with 14 points.
The Shorter teams will be back in action Thursday at home with rematches against Christian Brothers. On Saturday, the teams will host Union for Alumni Weekend.