Fans packed the gym at Athens High School Thursday night to give first-year boys basketball coach Stace Tedford a warm welcome during the Golden Eagles home opener.
However, Columbia put a damper on the coach's debut as they handed Athens a 69-60 loss.
The Eagles led 13-7 after one quarter of play, but a 7-0 run by Athens at the beginning of the second period put the Golden Eagles up 15-14 with 4:34 to play before the half. It took several lead changes, but Columbia regained the lead with just seconds left to take a 25-24 advantage into the locker room.
A layup by Athens' Gavin Stanley put the Golden Eagles up 26-25 in the opening minutes of the second half, but Columbia took the lead for good on jump shot by Tevin Simon.
The largest lead of the game came midway through the final period of play as the Eagles pulled away to a 17 point margin, but Athens slowly narrowed the score to 62-52 after a 6-0 run that started with Julius Jones sinking both shots from the charity stripe. Back-to-back layups by Jones and Tracy Twitty with less than a minute remaining made it 65-58 but wouldn't be enough as Columbia pulled away for the win.
Neil Malone led the Golden Eagles (0-1) with 14 points. Twitty contributed with 10, followed by Thomas Townsand with nine. Jones tossed in seven points for Athens.
Girls
Athens 59, Columbia 15
The Lady Golden Eagles cruised to their third win of the season after leading 33-2 at the half.
Destany McLin paced Athens (3-1) with 12 points and five rebounds while Destiny Bailey had nine points. Ashley Jackson and Lecresha Horton contributed with eight points a piece. Elizabeth Ming recorded six rebounds.
Both teams host Huntsville tonight.
Sports
Athens boys fall to Columbia in home opener; Lady Eagles get win
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Elkmont cruises into area championship
Hayden Huseth poured in 18 points as Elkmont cruised to 59-35 victory over Danville Friday. The win puts Elkmont in the sub-state round of the Class 3A playoffs and in the Area 15 championship game Monday at 7 p.m.
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Lucas Black wins Pro-Am Celebrity Challenge
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Armstrong says he's happy investigation over
The stress, the waiting, the whispers about whether he doped during his stellar cycling career, all of it ended when — after nearly two years — federal prosecutors closed an investigation of him last week without bringing any charges.
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South Alabama topples Arkansas State 74-57
Mychal Ammons scored a career-high 25 points to lead South Alabama to a 74-57 win over Arkansas State Thursday night in Sun Belt Conference play.
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Right at home
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Sports Ledger Feb. 10, 2012
Sports Ledger is a daily list of upcoming sporting events scheduled throughout Limestone County.
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Right at home
When East Limestone plays Lee in the Class 5A Area 15 Tournament tonight, the Indians face an uphill task against the No. 2 team in the state. Despite being up against a handful of future college basketball players, East has something Lee does not in Jordan Gandy.
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Univ. of ND will use Fighting Sioux nickname
The University of North Dakota resumed using its contentious Fighting Sioux nickname Wednesday even though it triggered NCAA sanctions, leaving some fans weary of the seven-year fight over a moniker that critics believe is demeaning.
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Looking forward...
Soccer season cannot get here fast enough for Ramon Jurado. The Athens junior lost his home during the deadly string of tornadoes that scarred Alabama last April. Like others effected by the storms, Jurado remembers every detail of that ill-fated spring day.
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Green leads Alabama past Auburn 68-50
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Shorthanded Alabama still managed to make a little history against rival Auburn.
JaMychal Green scored 19 points, Trevor Releford added 15 and the Crimson Tide raced to a 68-50 win on Tuesday night.
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