Hamilton County winter prep sports will be allowed to resume their season on Monday, according to county athletic director Brad Jackson. Boys' and girls' basketball teams as well as wrestlers at high schools across Hamilton County had their seasons postponed on December 11 due to a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the county.
Based on the updated number of coronavirus cases, county school superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson and his leadership team determined high school sports could resume, but with a restriction on crowd size that surpasses the recent policy set by the TSSAA.
In late December, after Gov. Bill Lee issued Executive Order No. 70 - which limits the number of people allowed to gather in a group setting - the TSSAA announced new restrictions on who would be allowed to attend high school athletic events statewide.
The restrictions limit attendees for practices and games to players' parents or guardians and immediate household members, first responders, coaching and team personnel, school, game and facility administrators, athletic officials, media and athletic scouting personnel working in a professional capacity.
Hamilton County's policy goes beyond that by limiting the total number of people allowed to attend any athletic event not to exceed 150.
SOCCER
A dozen local girls' soccer standouts were named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association all-state team.
GPS led the way with five all-state selections. The Bruisers - who posted a 60-8 goal differential on their way to a Division II-AA state runner-up finish - were represented by senior goalkeeper Kaedra Thorstenson, senior defender Hunter McVay, senior midfielder Sydney Morris, senior forward Ashley Grant and sophomore forward Kennedy Ball.
Signal Mountain senior keeper Reilly Furr, defender Hailey Ward and forward Briley Lowry were named all-state as the Lady Eagles won their third straight Class A title.
East Hamilton senior keeper Darci Zeh and senior centerback Khylia Lamb were selected to the Class AA team after leading the Lady Hurricanes to a runner-up finish.
Silverdale Baptist senior forward Gracie Renegar and Baylor junior Aliya Cooper also received D-II all-state honors for their stellar play.
BOYS' BASKETBALL
* Christian Heritage 60, Boyd Buchanan 58: The Bucs went back and forth with Christian Heritage who improved to 9-2 overall this season with Monday night's road win. Boyd Buchanan received balanced scoring as five players scored at least nine points with Jacob Shockley and Ryan Lopez leading the way with 13 and 12, respectively.
* Northwest Whitfield 80, Gilmer 36: The Bruins improved to 7-3 with the noregion win as Ray Morrison and Will Anderson had 14 points each, with Payton Baker adding 12 on Tuesday.