From Gwinnett Daily Post (March 21, 2012)

The Gwinnett County Sports Hall of Fame's third class, headlined by two football stars, a Parkview trio and a successful basketball coach, was finalized this week by the Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation.

This year's most recognizable inductees, who will be honored during the Gwinnett Braves home game on May 5, are two accomplished NFL football players, Brookwood grad Jason Elam and South Gwinnett product David Greene. They will be joined by three people with Parkview ties -- longtime Panther coach and athletic director Karl Bostick, wrestler Scott Hage and multi-sport standout Susan Brandau --as well as current Wesleyan girls basketball coach Jan Azar.

The Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation is extremely excited about our third annual hall of fame celebration," said David Seago, who heads up the GCPS Foundation's Hall of Fame Selection Committee. "It will be a Saturday evening event this year (the first two were at Sunday G-Braves' games), which will give us the opportunity to make it a more festive environment and logistically easier for the honorees and fans.

We have a great class selected, which again represents some of the great talent we have had come through this county. The event not only gives us the opportunity to recognize those athletes, but also raise money to benefit the students of our great school system."

Elam had the longest NFL career of any Gwinnett product before retiring after the 2009 season. He kicked for 17 NFL seasons, the last two with the hometown Atlanta Falcons after 15 seasons with the Denver Broncos. He made 436 of 540 career field goals (80.7 percent) and tied an NFL record with a 63-yarder in 1998.

Greene spent four seasons in the NFL, but his greatest accomplishments came at the college level. The Georgia Bulldog great left college with the most career victories by any NCAA starting quarterback and threw for a SEC record 11,528 yards with 72 touchdown passes.

The Parkview inductees include Brandau, a multi-sport star in high school who played college basketball at Duke, and Hage, Georgia's first four-time state champion high school wrestler in the state's highest classification. Hage also was a three-time NCAA qualifier at West Virginia.

Bostick's success came as a coach and athletic director, overseeing the bulk of Parkview's Gwinnett-best 49 state championships. His own boys soccer and cross country teams won 11 of those titles.

Azar's championship run is still going at Wesleyan. Her girls basketball teams have won nine state championships in the past 11 seasons, including the last five in a row.

The Class of 2012 joins an already impressive hall of fame that began in 2010 with inaugural inductees Terry Harvey of Dacula, Matt Stinchcomb of Parkview, Cindy Brogdon of Greater Atlanta Christian, Ida Neal-Smith of Central Gwinnett and boxer Ezzard Charles, a Lawrenceville native.

The second class in 2011 featured current Greater Atlanta Christian basketball coach and Central grad Eddie Martin, Central's Ted Roof, Duluth's George Rogers, Norcross' Mary Ellen Blanchard Warta and Norcross' natives Ivey and Red Wingo, former major league baseball players.

The Gwinnett Tipoff Club held its annual year end banquet Sunday and Wesleyan was well represented.  Wesleyan was selected Team of the Year as they were the only Gwinnett County team to bring home a state championship this season.  Coach Azar was named Coach of the Year.  Holli Wilkins and Katie Frerking were selected to the All County team while Taylor Blackmon, Kaelyn Causwell, Jordan Frazier and Brittany Stevens were all named All County Honorable Mention.  Frerking was also honored as Wesleyan's scholar athlete.  Congratulations to all.  

Now that all of the state tournaments from across the country have been completed, ESPN released its final national rankings last week.  Wesleyan finished ranked No. 18 in the country upon winning its fifth straight state title and ninth overall.  This is the highest end-of-season national ranking that Wesleyan has achieved.  The Lady Wolves were ranked No. 35 in the final ESPN rankings in 2009 and No. 20 in the 2011 final national rankings.  The only other teams from Georgia ranked in the ESPN top 50 were McEachern, which finished ranked No. 2 in the country after completing an undefeated season (33-0) and winning the Class 5A championship, and Norcross.  Norcross (26-6) ended the season ranked No. 23 after losing in the semi-finals of the 5A state tournament to McEachern.  It's the second straight season Wesleyan has ended the season ranked higher nationally than their larger neighbor across the street.  Three of the Lady Wolves' four losses were to teams that finished ranked in the ESPN Top 50, Bolingbrook, IL (No. 4), Good Counsel, MD (No. 25) and Bob Jones, AL (No. 32).  All high schools in the United States are included for consideration in the national rankings regardless of what classification a school is assigned by the high school athletic association in the state in which it competes, whether it is a public school or a private school or if a school is elligible to compete for state championships in its respective state due to the school's standing regarding its athletes.  In short, these rankings are based on the opinions of representatives of ESPN and no school anywhere in the country is excluded from consideration.  Congratuations to the Lady Wolves for their highest ever season-ending national ranking!

The Georgia Sportswriters Association released its All State Team on Sunday and Wesleyan coach Jan Azar was voted Class A Coach of the Year.  Senior Holli Wilkins was selected to the First Team while junior Katie Frerking was selected to the Second Team and senior Jordan Frazier was selected Honorable Mention.  Morgan Batey of Pace Academy was named player of the year despite not being selected as her region's player of the year.  Her team lost in the first round of the state tournament.  Congrats to Holli, Katie, Jordan and Coach Azar.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution released its All State teams Sunday naming senior Holli Wilkins Class A Player of the Year.  Wilkins also was selected First Team All State.  Junior Katie Frerking was selected Second Team All State while senior Jordan Frazier was named All State Honorable Mention.  Coach Jan Azar was selected Class A Coach of the Year, her ninth time receiving the Coach of the Year award for her team's classification.  This is Wilkins' first selection to the First Team having been selected Second Team All State last season and Honorable mention in 2010 as a sophomore.  Frerking and Frazier are making their first appearances on the AJC All State team.  Wilkins becomes the third Wesleyan player to earn the classification state Player of the Year award.  Nikki Luckhurst earned this honor in 2002 and 2004 and Anne Marie Armstrong was selected in 2008 and 2009.  Congratulations to all for this well deserved recognition.

Seniors Holli Wilkins and Jordan Frazier, junior Katie Frerking and Coach Jan Azar were named to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's All Gwinnett County team as the AJC released its All County Teams of the Year on Sunday.  This is Wilkins' second AJC All Gwinnett mention as she was on the Second Team last season.  This is the first such honor for Frazier and Frerking.  Coach Azar was also honored as the AJC's Gwinnett County Coach of the Year in 2006.  Congratulations to all four.

Wesleyan seniors Holli Wilkins and Jordan Frazier and junior Katie Frerking were named All Gwinnett County by the Gwinnett Daily Post as the newspaper released its All County teams recently.  Wilkins was selected First Team All County, while Frerking was selected to the Second Team and Frazier was named Third Team All County for the second straight year.  It's the first such honor for Frerking while Wilkins was named Second Team All County last season.   Coach Jan Azar was voted Gwinnett County Coach of the Year by the Gwinnett Daily Post for the fifth time.  She was also recognized with this honor in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2010.  Congratulations to all three Lady Wolves and Coach Azar!

Wilkins, Frerking lead Wesleyan to big win in state championship game 

Wesleyan won its fifth straight state title, eighth in the last nine seasons and ninth over the last 11 seasons after posting a 68-44 shellacking of Southwest Atlanta Christian in the Class A state championship game at the Macon Coliseum Saturday afternoon.  For a while it was looking like someone was going to have to come up with an answer to a question posed by six year old Andrew Azar.  "What happens if nobody scores?".  After the opening tipoff, neither team could find the basket after each team had at least four offensive possessions leading to the question by the Wesleyan kindergartener.  Finally Katie Frerking came up with the answer as she hit a three-pointer from the corner to put Wesleyan up 3-0 at the 4:46 mark of the first quarter.  Southwest Atlanta Christian immediately answered on the other end.  Brittany Stevens put Wesleyan up 5-2 with a drive to the basket but Southwest Atlanta Christian again answered with a three-pointer tying the game at 5-5.   This would be the closest they would come to having a lead and the game would not be tied again as Wesleyan went on a 10-0 run to end the first quarter leading 15-5 at the end of the first quarter.  The Lady Wolves started the second quarter as they had ended the first, scoring while preventing Southwest Atlanta Christian from scoring.  At the 4:47 mark of the second quarter, Wesleyan led 27-6 completing a 22-1 run that spanned the first and second quarters.  This essentially put the game out of reach.  The No. 2 ranked Lady Warriors continued to play hard as they constructed a 9-4 run of their own cutting the lead to 31-15 after a three-point play by South Florida signee Shavontae Naylor with 1:40 left.  The No. 1 ranked Lady Wolves answered outscoring Southwest Atlanta Christian 6-4 to end the second quarter leading 37-19.  Wesleyan opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run taking a 44-21 lead.  The Lady Wolves outscored Southwest Atlanta Christian 14-12 in the third to take a 51-31 lead into the fourth.  Wesleyan also led by 20 points heading into the fourth quarter in its semi-final win over Taylor County.  In that game however, Taylor County went on a 10-0 run to start the fourth, closing to within 10 points of Wesleyan.  The Lady Wolves made sure that didn't happen again as they hit the gas to start the fourth.  Wesleyan outscored the Lady Warriors 16-4 taking a 67-35 lead with about three minutes to go in the game as they cleared the bench.   And when the buzzer sounded, only one team out of 70 or so in was left standing and for the fifth straight year it was Wesleyan.  Junior Katie Frerking came up absolutely huge in this game.  She scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, had six assists, four steals and two blocked shots.  It was truly an outstanding performance.  She got her team going when there appeared to be a lid on the basket early in the game, and never let up.  After a quiet first half, Wilkins caught fire in the second.  She finished her final game in a Wesleyan uniform scoring 19 points and snagging eight rebounds.  Jordan Frazier scored nine points, and had three assists, three steals and two rebounds.  Brittany Stevens finished with eight points and five assists while Kaelyn Causwell added six points, ten rebounds and six blocked shots.  Josh Belcher chipped in three points, three boards, two assists and two steals.  Missy Byrd finished her Wesleyan career with two points on a beautiful alley-oop pass from Stevens.  With the win, Wesleyan finishes the year with a record of 29-4 while Southwest Atlanta Christian falls to 29-4, ending its 22-game winning streak.  This was the last game in the careers of Wesleyan's four seniors Wilkins, Frazier, Causwell and Byrd who will attend Furman, Wofford, Georgia and Air Force respectively on basketball scholarships.  With its ninth state title, Wesleyan moves into at tie for second place on the all time list of state girls basketball championships.  Taylor County has the most with 10.  Wesleyan and Seminole County each have nine.  Hart County and Greater Atlanta Christian round out the top five with eight titles each.  No school has won so many championships over such a short period of time.  With its fifth consecutive state title, Wesleyan becomes only the third school in Georgia history to accomplish that feat.  Hart County holds the record for most consecutive girls basketball state championships with six as they won the Class AAA title in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994.  Taylor County won five straight while bouncing around three classifications.  They won titles in Class C, Class B and Class A in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1972.  Wesleyan's run of five straight began with the Class AA title in 2008 followed by Class A titles in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.  No team, boys or girls, comes close to matching Wesleyan's eight state championships in nine years.  Since first qualifying for the state tournament in its fourth season of varsity competition in 2001, Wesleyan has made it to the state championship game in 11 of 12 seasons.  The Lady Wolves won titles in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and now 2012 and were state runner up in 2001 and 2007.  The only season Wesleyan failed to reach the state championship game was 2003 when they lost in the quarterfinals.  Wesleyan runs its state tournament winning streak to 25 games and now has an overall record of 55-3 in the state tournament.  Wilkins, Frazier and Causwell join former teammate Grace Leah Baughn as the only players in Gwinnett County history to win four basketball state championships.  We will greatly miss our four seniors but look forward to keeping up with all of them at the collegiate level.  Congratulations to each and every player and coach for his or her contributions to this program and this accomplishment and for upholding Wesleyan's basketball traditions.

Wesleyan Lady Wolves - 2012 Class 1A State Champions

Photos by Gwinnett Daily Post and Jim Worthington

All Time Girls State Basketball Championships (winners of at least four)

1. Taylor County - 10
2. Wesleyan - 9
3. Seminole County - 9
4. Hart County - 8
5. Greater Atlanta Christian - 8
6. Berrien - 6
7. Cherokee - 6
8. Jeff Davis - 6
9. Collins Hill - 5
10. Northeast, Macon - 5
11. Brooks County - 4
12. Clinch County - 4
13. Dodge County - 4
14. Gainesville - 4
15. Glennville - 4
16. Lowndes - 4
17. Miller County - 4
18. Morrow - 4
19. Northside, Warner Robins - 4
20. Pickens - 4

Wesleyan season by season results

• 1997-1998 - 4-16
• 1998-1999 - 14-10
• 1999-2000 - 16-10
• 2000-2001 - 31-2 - State Runner Up
• 2001-2002 - 28-4 - State Champion
• 2002-2003 - 26-4 - Lost in Quarterfinals
• 2003-2004 - 28-5 - State Champion
• 2004-2005 - 31-2 - State Champion
• 2005-2006 - 30-3 - State Champion
• 2006-2007 - 26-8 - State Runner Up
• 2007-2008 - 30-3 - State Champion
• 2008-2009 - 29-4 - State Champion
• 2009-2010 - 28-4 - State Champion
• 2010-2011 - 31-2 - State Champion
• 2011-2012 - 29-4 - State Champion

A W is a W and at this time of year it's survive and advance or lose and go home.  Wesleyan didn't earn any style points in its 55-40 win over No. 5 Taylor County in the semi-finals of the Class A state tournament at the Macon Coliseum Wednesday night.  Things started off well enough as the Lady Wolves built an early 13-2 lead and closed the first quarter on a 7-2 run to lead 20-4 at the end of the first quarter.  Wesleyan's front court duo of Jordan Frazier and Brittany Stevens both got flagged with two fouls apiece and had to sit the remainder of the first half on the bench.  This affected Wesleyan's abiltiy to pressure Taylor County's guards who were then able to get the ball to their two 6'0 post players.  Desptie this change of pace, Taylor only outscored Wesleyan 10-8 in the second quarter.  Wesleyan led by two touchdowns, 28-14, at the half.  Taylor County closed the gap to 12 at one point during the third quarter but Wesleyan outscored the Lady Vikings 20-14 in the period ending with a Josh Belcher three-pointer just before the buzzer to give Wesleyan a 48-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.  The Lady Wolves got sloppy in the early going of the fourth quarter turning the ball over on three consecutive posessions, all of which Taylor County capitalized.  With 6:05 left in the game, Taylor County finished a 10-0 run cutting the Wesleyan lead to 48-38.  Katie Frerking ended the Taylor County run with a drive to the hoop upping Wesleyan's advantage to 12 points.  At this point, Wesleyan did one of the things it does best and that's eat clock.  The Lady Wolves were successful in running off large chunks of time on several possessions.  After Taylor's 10-0 run, they only scored two points for the remaining six minutes of the game.  Wesleyan ended the game outscoring Taylor 7-2 down the stretch.  Taylor Blackmon led a balanced Wesleyan scoring attack as she put up 13 points, three steals and two rebounds.  Kaelyn Causwell had her best game since early in the season scoring 10 points while blocking four shots and grabbing three rebounds. Holli Wilkins put up 10 points and four steals.  Josh Belcher barely missed a double-double as she scored nine points and had a team high nine boards.  Frerking added six points and four rebounds while Frazier had a team leading six assists to go with her four points and four rebounds.  The win over Taylor County certainly wasn't the shooting clinic the Lady Wolves put on in their quarterfinal win over Darlington, but a 15-point win over a team entering the game with a record of 27-1 isn't too bad.  Sometimes you just have to win ugly.  With the win Wesleyan improves its record to 28-4 on the season and advances to its ninth straight state title game.  Taylor County ends its season with a 27-2 record.  Top ranked Wesleyan will take on second ranked Southwest Atlanta Christian in the state championship game.  This is the first meeting between the two since December 21, 2006, a 46-35 Wesleyan win.  Wesleyan holds a 4-0 record in the series.  Southwest Atlanta Christian posted a 68-39 win over Charlton County in its semi-final game.  Wesleyan and Southwest Atlanta Christian will play for the Class A state championship Saturday at 11:00 AM.  The game will be televised on GPTV.

Photos by Gwinnett Daily Post and Brian Morgan

St. Francis posted a 52-45 upset of Wesleyan in the championship game of the Region 5-A tournament Saturday night at Wesleyan.   The early stages of the game set the tone for Wesleyan as they were whistled for five fouls in the first two minutes of the game.  This seemed to have an effect on the pace of the game as well as Wesleyan's abiltiy to relax and play their usual style of play.  St. Francis took an 18-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.  St. Francis' lead grew to 14 at one stage in the second quarter before Wesleyan cut it to 12 at halftime.  St. Francis led 30-18 at the half.  Wesleyan outscored St. Francis 16-11 in the third quarter cutting the lead to seven.  Going into the fourth quarter St. Francis held a 41-34 lead.  Wesleyan twice cut the lead to three during the fourth quarter, the latest with 1:09 to go after two Holli Wilkins free throws reduced St. Francis' lead to 48-45.  Wesleyan got a steal at midcourt and had a chance to tie it but a Jordan Frazier three point attempt fell just short.  Wesleyan then had to foul to stop the clock and St. Francis made four free throws down the stretch to seal the win, its first ever win over Wesleyan in 13 tries.  Wilkins was the only Wesleyan player to score in double figures as she put up 23 points, seven rebounds and four steals.  Katie Frerking had six points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.  Josh Belcher scored five points and four assists while Brittany Stevens added four points and two assists.  St. Francis again was led Marietta transfer Keyona Hayes, Southwest Atlanta Christian transfer Nigia Greene and Fayette County transfer Candice Williams.  Wesleyan did not play their best game tonight for sure but a loss in the region tournament is hardly a recipe for disaster in the state tournament.   After all, Wesleyan posesses more state titles than region titles.  In 2004, 2005 and 2008, the Lady Wolves lost in the region tournament but ended the season with state championships.  The All Region 5-A Team was announced after the game and Wesleyan's Stevens and Katie Frerking were named to the All Region team.  Wilkins was named Region Co-Player of the Year along with Pace Academy's Morgan Batey.  Wesleyan is now 24-4 on the season, 11-1 vs. region opponents and will turn to its own history and prepare for the upcoming state tournament.  The Lady Wolves will face Paideia (20-8) on Friday night in the first round.  Tipoff is 7:00 PM at Wesleyan. 

Photos courtesy of Jim Worthington

Wesleyan wrapped up its regular season Friday night with a 73-21 win over Pinecrest at Wesleyan.  The Lady Wolves led 32-1 at the end of the first quarter and 55-7 at halftime.  Wesleyan then outscored Pinecrest 18-14 in the shortened 12 minute second half.  Holli Wilkins led the scoring as she had 12 points to go with six rebounds.  Missy Byrd scored 10 points and had five rebounds while Nikki McDonald added 10 points, seven rebounds and seven steals.   Kendra Talley tallied seven points while the Frerking sisters chipped in six points apiece.  Katie pulled down three rebounds while Lauren had two.  All 13 Wesleyan players scored in what was the final regular season game.  The Lady Wolves finish the season 22-3 and a perfect 9-0 vs. region opponents.  The will next face a yet to be named opponent in the first round of the region tournament on Tuesday night at Holy Innocents.  Opponent and gametime will be posted as soon as they're known.

Wesleyan Final Regular Season Records

Big time players come up big in big moments.  Holli Wilkins was just that and did just that Tuesday night as Wesleyan led wire to wire defeating No. 5 ranked St. Francis 62-50 on the road.  Missy Byrd got the Lady Wolves going early scoring the game's opening basket and four of Wesleyan's first six points.  Wilkins got going as well connecting on a three-pointer in addition to a couple of other field goals while scoring seven points in the quarter.  Wesleyan led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.  Wesleyan's effort on the boards was very evident in the second quarter as St. Francis was not getting second looks at the basket after misses on the offensive end.  The Lady Wolves outscored St. Francis 12-5 in the second quarter to taking a 25-15 lead into halftime.  Katie Frerking got hot in the second half connecting on a three in the third quarter while scoring five of Wesleyan's 16 third quarter points.  St. Francis briefly cut the lead to seven early in the fourth quarter but Wesleyan quickly pushed it back to double figures with scores on back to back offensive posessions.  That would be as close as St. Francis would get.  The teams battled to a 21-21 duel in the fourth.  For the second straight meeting with St. Francis, Wesleyan held the lead for the entire game.  The Lady Wolves' depth was again on display as eight players scored for Wesleyan compared to just four for St. Francis.  Wesleyan's bench scoring was again a major factor as it was in the meeting with Buford 10 days ago.  Wesleyan's bench outscored the St. Francis bench 16-0 tonight much as it did when it outscored the Buford bench 18-0 in their January 28th meeting.  Wilkins' contributions were huge as she scored 21 points and had 13 rebounds, 10 of which were on the defensive end.  She was unaffected by the physical play on the interior and was composed throughout like a true winner.  Katie Frerking had a second half surge scoring all 11 of her points in the second half.   She had a terrific all around game as she also grabbed six rebounds, had four blocked shots and three assists.  Brittany Stevens added seven points and five rebounds for Wesleyan while Josh Belcher also scored seven points while pulling down eight boards and dishing two assists.  Jordan Frazier chipped in five points and four assists while Kaelyn Causwell scored four points and had four boards.  Byrd finished with four points and six rebounds while Taylor Blackmon had three points and three assists.  The bulk of  St. Francis' scoring came from transfers Nigia Greene (Southwest Atlanta Christian), Candice Williams (Fayette County) and Miami singee Keyona Hayes (Marietta).  Greene led the Lady Knights' scoring effort with 21 points while Hayes scored nine and Williams put up seven.  With the win Wesleyan secures the No. 1 seed for the region tournament which will be held next week.  The Lady Wolves improve to 21-3 overall, 7-0 in region while St. Francis drops to 19-5, 6-2.  Wesleyan will wrap up the regular season Friday night at home against Pinecrest.  Tipoff is 6:30 PM.

The Seventh Grade and Eighth Grade Wesleyan girls basketball teams each won their respective league championships over the weekend, each winning a hard fought close game.  The Seventh Grade Lady Wolves defeated St. Pius 26-25 Saturday morning in its league tournament championshp game at Wesleyan.  The Eighth Grade Lady Wolves topped Holy Innocents 44-41 in its league tournament championship game held at Pace Academy.  Both teams completed their seasons with records of 21-2.  Both team's accomplishments are a testament to the time, hard work and dedication that Wesleyan girls basketball players put in throughout the Program.  Success in Middle School breeds success in the future.  Congratulations to both teams on your championship seasons.

Wesleyan led start to finish as they beat Rockdale County 54-44 in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicates.  The Lady Wolves started off well enough taking a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.  The lead grew to as much as 14 in the second quarter.  A defensive lapse by Wesleyan in the closing seconds of the quarter allowed a Rockdale layup as time expired.  Wesleyan led 34-26 at the half.  Wesleyan outscored Class 4A Rockdale 13-10 in the third taking a 47-36 heading into the fourth quarter.  The fourth quarter was uneventful as Rockdale scored eight points during the period to Wesleyan's seven.  Holli Wilkins led Wesleyan in points and rebounds with 14 and seven respectively.  She also had four steals, two assists and a blocked shot.  Brittany Stevens scored 10 points to go with five steals, five rebounds and three assists.  Josh Belcher scored nine points and was 3-for-9 from the three-point line.  She also pulled down five boards and had two steals and two assists.  Taylor Blackmon added eight points for the Lady Wolves while Kaelyn Causwell scored six and had three rebounds.  Jordan Frazier chipped in five points, four assists and three boards. The Lady Wolves overcame a very physical game in which Rockdale County attempted 17 freethrows, connecting on 10.  Wesleyan did not attempt a single free throw the entire game.  The biggest positive from tonight's game was the Lady Wolves' three-point shooting.  Wesleyan shot 53% from behind the arc on 8-for-15 shooting.  Four players connected from the arc tonight.  Belcher sank three threes while Stevens went 2-for-2.  Blackmon also nailed two of her three three-point attempts while Frazier connected on her only three-point attempt.  Despite its uneven performance, Wesleyan won its 25th straight home game, a streak that is two years running.  The Lady Wolves improve to 19-3 with the win while Rockdale County falls to 17-5.  Wesleyan next faces Mt. Pisgah on the road in a region game Friday night at 6:00 PM at Mt. Pisgah.  Although it wasn't the last home game for Wesleyan's four seniors, Winter Sports Senior Night was held after the girls game.  All senior athletes and managers who participate in girls and boys basketball, girls and boys swimming, wrestling and cheerleading were honored.  Wesleyan's four senior players, Holli Wilkins, Jordan Frazier, Kaelyn Causwell and Missy Byrd, along with managers Davis Brooks and Kristen Davis, were all honored for their years of contributions to the Wesleyan girls basketball program.  We will miss all six of these individuals as they head off to college next year.  The four players have all received full basketball scholarships at the NCAA Division I level.  Wilkins will attend Furman while Frazier heads off to Wofford.  Causwell will attend Georgia and Byrd will fly off to the US Air Force Academy.  Congratulations and thank you to all six seniors.

Photos courtesy of Brian Morgan 

Members of Wesleyan's 7th Grade, 8th Grade, Junior Varsity and Varsity basketball teams enjoyed a trip to Athens Sunday afternoon to watch Georgia take on Tennessee in an SEC showdown between two nationally ranked teams.  They also enjoyed watching Wesleyan graduate Anne Marie Armstrong play for the Lady Dogs.  Armstrong currently leads Georgia in assists, rebounds, steals, blocked shots and is third in scoring.  Unfortunately, 21st ranked Georgia came up short against the 8th ranked Lady Vols but a good time was had by all.

Photos courtesy of Jim Worthington

Wesleyan won the battle of Lady Wolves for the second straight year posting a 60-49 win over Buford Saturday night in a standing room only Yancey Gymnasium on the Wesleyan campus.  Class 1A No. 1 ranked Wesleyan started the game in the right fashion similar to the hot start they got off to in last year's meeting.  Holli Wilkins canned a three pointer from the corner to give Wesleyan an early 3-0 lead.  The lead quickly increased to 8-2 despite Kaleyn Causwell being whistled for her second foul at the 6:52 mark of the first quarter.  If Wesleyan was going to beat Buford, a team that features three players listed at 6'4, one who's 6'3 and another at 6'2, they were going to have to do it without the 6'4 Causwell who had to sit all but 1:08 of the entire first half.  Still, Wesleyan held Buford, ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, to only two field goals in the first quarter taking a 13-5 lead at the end of one compliments of a deep three pointer by Josh Belcher.  The teams traded blows in the second quarter as Buford's 6'3 Mackenzie Darrah got hot scoring six points in the period.  Buford outscored Wesleyan 14-12 in the second quarter as Wesleyan took a 25-19 lead into halftime.  Wesleyan went into a attack mode in the third quarter as Wilkins scored six points in the period to equal the quarter output of Kaela Davis who also scored six points for Buford in the period.  With time running down, Taylor Blackmon hit a three pointer off the glass just before the buzzer to give Wesleyan a 41-30 lead going into the fourth quarter.  With Wesleyan holding a nine-point lead, Katie Frerking, who injured her ankle in the previous evening's game against Providence, drew what would be the fifth foul on Davis, relegating her to the bench with 6:53 to play in the game.  This was significant as Davis, a Tennessee committment, was Buford's leading scorer, a gamble Buford took by keeping Davis in the game with four fouls up to that point.  Brittany Stevens nailed a three pointer shortly thereafter and the lead was up to 13 at 46-33.  Buford went on a 7-1 run to cut the lead to 47-40 on a three point play by Tennessee signee Andraya Carter.  Wesleyan broke Buford's press on two subsequent posessions after defensive stops and the lead grew back to 11 at 51-40 courtesy of back to back Wilkins drives to the basket.  The teams exchanged baskets down the stretch and Buford would get no closer as the three time defending 2A state champions went down to the three time defending 1A as well as 2008 2A state champion Wesleyan.  The biggest difference in this game was team depth as Wesleyan's was on full display.  Wesleyan's bench outscored Buford's 18-0 as only four Buford players scored compared to nine for Wesleyan led by Wilkins game high 22 points and five rebounds.  She was also a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.  Taylor Blackmon scored eight points for Wesleyan while Jordan Frazier also scored eight points while leading the team in rebounds with seven.  Not bad for a 5'4 guard.  She also had four steals and two assists and was herself, a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line in what was her finest all around performance since the team returned from the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix.  Missy Byrd scored seven points and had two rebounds and two steals in a game where she scrapped and clawed and was a defensive pest to the larger Buford squad.  Stevens ended the game with five points and a game high three assists.  Frerking's presence was huge in a game where it seemed doubtful she'd even play.  While scoring two points, she also had an assist, a steal, a blocked shot and three rebounds, Her presence was known especially on the defensive end.  After injuring her ankle the previous night, it seemed unlikely she'd play tonight but she she was determined and gutted it out.  She's a true competitor.  Wilkins contibutions cannot be denied as she had to battle a very physical and much larger interior and without the assistance of the taller Causwell who played less than four minutes in the game as a whistle would blow within seconds of her appearance on the court.  She took it like a champion though and never lost her composure which is admirable.  Also coming up big for Wesleyan were CaraMia Tsirigos and Nikki McDonald.  Tsirigos hit a long three pointer in the third quarter from the top of the arc that pushed Wesleyan's lead back to double digits and iginted the crowd.  She also had three boards and a steal and played great defense the entire night.  McDonald did a nice job guarding Davis.  She also chipped in two points and four big rebounds, three on the offensive end.  Belcher finished the game with three points  and two steals.  The 6'2 Davis led Buford in scoring with 17 points.  Darrah added 13 for Buford while Carter scored 11 and Kristina Nelson, a 6'4 transfer from Greater Atlanta Christian, scored eight.  Wesleyan was a solid 77% from the free throw line tonight as the team shot 24-for-31.  Buford also had a solid night from the line shooting 83% on 20-for-24 shooting.  Interestingly, Buford never held a lead in this game as Wesleyan led wire to wire.  After Wesleyan's initial six-point cushion at the start of the game, the closest Buford would get is when they briefly cut the lead to seven early in the fourth quarter.  Wesleyan now holds a 24-7 edge in the series with Buford which dates to 1998.  Buford won the first five games in the series, Wesleyan won the next 22.  Buford broke a nine year losing streak in 2009 and won again in 2010 in overtime.  Wesleyan took the 2011 game at Buford and has now won two straight with tonight's win.  It was a great atmosphere for basketball as the gym was packed and the Wesleyan contingent all dressed in black that contributed to a successful "blackout".   Wesleyan has now won 24 straight home games and improves to 18-3 on the year while Buford falls to 14-7.  Wesleyan will next face Class 4A Rockdale County (17-4) in a non-region game on Tuesday.  Tipoff is 6:00 PM at Wesleyan.

Photos courtesy of Brian Morgan and Jim Worthington

Wesleyan coasted to an 80-8 win over PInecrest Tuesday night at Pinecrest.   Everyone saw playing time in this one and the Lady Wolves only pressed for the first four minutes of the game.  Wesleyan held a 34-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and led 53-5 at halftime.  The second half consisted of two six minute quarters in which Wesleyan outscored PInecrest 27-3.  Holli Wilkins led Wesleyan's effort with 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals.  Kendra Talley scored 11 points and had three assists, two steals and two rebounds.  Nikki McDonald added 10 points and five boards while Jordan Frazier put up eight points and had five steals and two assists.  Caramia Tsirigos chipped in seven points while grabbing five boards.  Wesleyan is now 16-3 overall, 5-0 in region action.  Up next, a second meeting with Providence.  Wesleyan won the first meetintg 66-23 on January 10th at Providence.  Tipoff is 7:00 PM Friday at Wesleyan.

Wesleyan took one on the chin tonight in a heartbreaking 49-46 loss to USA Today No. 10 ranked Bob Jones of Madison, Alabama.  It was a tight, low scoring game throughout.  For the second straight night, Brittany Stevens was called for two fouls early and had to ride the bench for most of the first half.  Kaelyn Causwell also picked up two early fouls and Katie Frerking tweaked her knee early and iced it for most of the first half.  At one point the foul differential was 7-1 in Bob Jones' favor.  All of these things contributed to having to play half-court basketball as opposed to the pressing up tempo style preferred by Wesleyan.  Bob Jones led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter.  The second quarter totals were almost identical to the first quarter.   Bob Jones led by three at halftime 28-25 outscoring Wesleyan, ranked No. 18 in the nation by ESPN, 14-13 in the second period.   Bob Jones went into an intentional stall midway through the third quarter while clinging to a 33-31 lead using an unconventional tactic which kept the game low scoring and slow paced.  Despite this tactic, Wesleyan won the third quarter, narrowly outscoring Bob Jones 16-15 in the period.  Bob Jones led 43-41 heading into the fourth quarter.  Wesleyan endured another quarter of cat and mouse in the fourth quarter but finally was able to press which seemed to rattle the visitors from Alabama causing several turnovers.  Then came the drama.   Bob Jones led 45-44 with a little over a minute left and were in their stall when a half court trap by Wesleyan caused a travel violation by Bob Jones.  The Lady Wolves worked the clock down to 25 seconds and Coach Azar called a time out.  Out of the time out, they ran the play that was drawn to perfection as Holli Wilkins faked her defender and converted a layup to put Wesleyan up 46-45 with 10 seconds to play.  Bob Jones quickly inbounded the ball and one of their guards raced down the court weaving through the Wesleyan defense and hit a layup of her own with 6.6 seconds left to take a 47-46 lead.  Coach Azar called a time out and set up a fullcourt inbounds play.  Wilkins launched the ball downcourt.  Taylor Blackmon was the intended receiver but the pass was intercepted by Bob Jones.  Wesleyan was forced to foul and Bob Jones sank the subsequent free throws.   Down 49-46 with 1.2 seconds left, Wesleyan called another time out to set up another full court launch but the attempt fell short and Bob Jones escaped with the narrow win. The good news is that Frerking returned in the second half and seemed at full strength not favoring her knee at all.  The Lady Wolves can use this game as an educational tool as this group really hadn't played in a game like this with the late game situations that occurred.  They'll learn from it and move on.  Nothing to hang your head about in a 3-point loss to the No. 10 team in the nation.  Wilkins again led the scoring for Wesleyan as she put up 19 points and also led the team with seven rebounds.  Blackmon was the only other Wesleyan player to score in double figures as she scored 10 points while dishing two assists.  Stevens added six points and two assists while Jordan Frazier scored five points and had three steals.  Wesleyan falls to 15-3 on the year while Bob Jones improves to 24-2.  The Lady Wolves return to their region schedule on Tuesday as the travel up 141 to play Pinecrest.  Tipoff is 6:00 PM.

Wesleyan had its largest offensive output in over six years as they beat Mt. Pisgah 98-25 in a region contest Tuesday night at Wesleyan.  The Lady Wolves led 32-2 at the end of the first quarter and 61-10 at halftime.  The 4th quarter was shortened to six minutes as Wesleyan outscored Mt. Pisgah 37-15 in the second half.  All 15 Wesleyan players scored in the game led by Holli Wilkins' 13 points and four rebounds.  Jordan Frazier had a double double scoring 11 points to go with 10 steals.  She also had four assists.  Katie Frerking had 10 points and four rebounds while Nikki McDonald scored nine points and had three steals.  Kendra Talley put up nine points, three steals and three assists while Josh Belcher scored eight points to go with three boards.  All players saw plenty of playing time with the starters only playing in the first half.  The 98 points is the most scored by a Wesleyan team since the 2005-2006 squad scored 101 against Banks County on December 6, 2005.  That game was played prior to the six-minute 4th quarter rule was input if a team has a lead of 30 or more going into the quarter.  Wesleyan improves to 14-2 overall, 3-0 in region action with the win.  Up next, the top ranked Lady Wolves will face No. 2 St. Francis (16-2) in the first meeting of the season between the two.  Tipoff is 6:00 PM Friday at Wesleyan.

Photos courtesey of Jim Worthington

Behind the strength of a strong first half,  Wesleyan defeated Oak Hill Academy from Mouth of Wilson, Virginia 60-50 Saturday night in the fifth of six games played as part of the Peach State Battle of the Southeast at Wesleyan.  Things started off positively enough for Wesleyan as the raced to an 8-0 lead before Oak Hill got its first points.  The Lady Wolves built upon that early lead stretching it to 20-11 at the end of the first quarter.  Wesleyan built a 12-point lead in the second quarter but with the score 30-18 Oak Hill went on a 8-2 run to pull within six at 32-26.  Wesleyan then finished the quarter on its own 7-0 run to take a 39-26 lead into halfimte courtesy of a Brittany Stevens three pointer at the buzzer.  Wesleyan simply went cold in the third quarter as Oak Hill scored the first nine points of the period to pull within four at 39-35 while the Lady Wolves could not find the basket.  Holli Wilkins broke the scoring drought at about the 3:00 mark of the third.  Oak Hill won the third quarter outscoring Weselyan 14-5 to pull within 44-40 entering the fourth quarter. The visiting Lady Warriors could not get the margin down any more than the four-point differential the rest of the game. The Lady Wolves did a nice job making their free throws down the stretch to help preserve the vicotory.  Wilkins led the Wesleyan scoring effort as she put up 15 points to go with her six rebounds and three steals.  Stevens had a strong all around game scoring 12 points while dishing six assists.  Taylor Blackmon scored eight points and had three rebounds while Katie Frerking also scored eight points and had four assists.  Jordan Frazier added seven points and five steals while Kaelyn Causwell chipped in four points and a game leading seven boards.  While not getting to the line that often, Wesleyan made the most of their free throw opportunities shooting 84% on 11 of 13 shooting from the line.  The Lady Wolves improve to 13-2 on the season with the win while handing Oak Hill only its second loss on the year as they drop to 21-2.  Wesleyan will next face Mt. PIsgah on Tuesday in a region contest.  Tipoff is 6:00 PM.

Photos courtesy of Brian Morgan

Wesleyan beat Providence for the 21st straight time Tuesday night posting a 66-23 victory over the host Stars.  The Lady Wolves continued their sluggish ways of late only posting 13 points in both the first and second quarters respectively.  Wesleyan led 13-5 at the end of the first quarter and 26-13 at halftime.  Whatever was said during the brief visit to the locker room worked as they seemed like a different team.  The defensive intensity which hadn't been up to usual Wesleyan standards over the past 2 1/2 games, returned with a vengeance in the third quarter.  The Lady Wolves played with much more of a sense of purpose while applying full court pressure.  The result was a quarter in which Wesleyan outscored Providence 22-1.  They went on to outscore the Lady Stars 18-9 in the shortened six-minute fourth quarter.  This second half performance appears to be the wake up call the team needed as they collectively seemed more themselves in the second half than they had since returning from Phoenix.  Holli Wilkins led the Wesleyan scoring effort posting 15 points to go with her three assists, three rebounds and three steals.  Katie Frerking scored 10 points and had five steals and four rebounds.  Taylor Blackmon added eight points, seven steals and six assists and a solid all around performance.  Josh Belcher had eight points and six rebounds while Kaelyn Causwell chipped in six points, four boards and two blocked shots.  Wesleyan improves to 12-2 overall with the win, 2-0 in region play.  They will next face Oak Hill Academy out of Virginia in the Peach State Battle of the Southeast.  Tipoff is 4:00 PM Saturday at Wesleyan.

The Lady Wolves hardly rang in the new year with a bang as they defeated St. Pius 44-34 in an ugly low scoring game Tuesday night at St. Pius.  It had been 12 days since Wesleyan last took the court in their final game of the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, a 61-48 win over Incarnate Word Academy from St. Louis.  The long layoff was evident in the sluggish play of Wesleyan as well as the success St. Pius had in slowing down the pace of the game.  The Golden Lions led 10-8 at the end of the first quarter as Wesleyan had trouble finding any offensive rhythm.  The Lady Wolves found a smidgen of offense in the second quarter as they outscored St. Pius 12-3 in the period to take a 20-13 lead at halftime.  St. Pius, ranked No. 2 in the state in Class AAA, won the third quarter 10-8 closing the gap to 30-25 heading into the fourth.  The Golden Lions trimmed the lead to 32-30 after a 7-2 run at about the five minute mark of the fourth quarter.  After spending most of the night looking for any offensive cohesion, the Lady Wolves decided to eat some clock by moving the ball around the perimeter looking for an open lane.  During this time, St. Pius committed numerous fouls on Wesleyan's offensive posessions trying to get Wesleyan to the line.  Class A top ranked Wesleyan got to the line but the strategy didn't pay off as they made their free throws down the stretech increasing the lead to 40-30.  Free throw accuracy was the only real bright spot tonight as the Lady Wolves were 80% from the free throw line going 24 for 30 for the game in a rare instance where they actually had more attempts than their opponent. Holli Wilkins was the only Wesleyan player who scored in double figures as she scored 16 points including going 9 for 10 from the line.  Taylor Blackmon scored seven points while Missy Byrd, Katie Frerking and Brittany Stevens each scored six.  Frerking led the team with eight rebounds while Byrd grabbed seven.  Wesleyan is now 10-2 on the year with the win while St. Pius drops to 10-2.  The Lady Wolves will next face Class A No. 6 ranked Pace Academy on Saturday in a rematch of last year's state championship game won 65-43 by Wesleyan.  Tipoff is 4:00 PM at Wesleyan.  Immediately following the game, members of former Wesleyan teams will be honored.  This season marks Wesleyan's 15th season of varsity competition.  Wesleyan's inaugural varsity team, the 1997-1998 Lady Wolves will be honored.  The 2001-2002 Lady Wolves squad that brought home the very first state championship will be honored as well.

Photos courtesy of Brian Morgan

No. 11 Wesleyan battled hard for four quarters but Bolingbrook's eight Division I signees as well as its decided advantage at the free throw line led to Wesleyan's ultimate demise Wednesday afternoon in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix. The Lady Wolves went toe to toe with Bolingbrook for most of the first quarter before a late quarter surge upped the Lady Raider lead  16-10 heading into the second quarter.  Bolingbrook, ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and No. 6 by ESPN, had increased its lead to 30-20 with under a minute to go in the second quarter when Wesleyan scored on an offensive posession, got a steal and then a Brittany Stevens uncontested layup at the buzzer to pull within 30-24 at halftime. The teams battled to a 2-2 tie for the first six minutes of the third quarter but the much taller and bigger Lady Raiders used a late 7-2 run to take a 39-28 lead into the fourth quarter.  Wesleyan was outscored 19-15 in the fourth quarter.  Interestingly, Bolingbrook and Wesleyan each converted the same amount of field goals in the game, 14.  The difference in this game was the amount of trips to the free throw line the bigger Bolingbrook squad took.  The Lady Raiders converted 26 of 34 free throw attempts compared to Wesleyan's 13 for 20.  Connecticut signee Morgan Tuck had 17 attempts herself with 12 of her game high 20 points coming from the charity stripe. Holli Wilkins recorded a double double for Wesleyan scoring 15 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. Brittany Stevens added nine points and two assists while Jordan Frazier chipped in six points, two rebounds and two steals. This was a game of missed opportunities as Wesleyan failed to convert baskets and free throws at inopportune moments.  But credit Bolingbrook for the many Wesleyan shots that had to be altered simply due to the size of the defender.  No shame in losing to such a talented team.  Wesleyan is now 8-2 on the year and will next face either MacArthur from the Dallas area or Incarnate Word from St. Louis tomorrow at 1:30

The Nike Tournament of Champions brackets were recently released pitting ESPN No. 11 ranked Wesleyan against No. 13 ranked Good Counsel from Olney, Maryland.  See below for tournament brackets.  Keep up with action all throughout the tournament at this link.  http://www.niketournamentofchampions.com/events/detail.cfm?id=44

Lady Wolves break program's all time record for consecutive wins with 26th straight

Despite a sluggish effort, Wesleyan defeated Mill Creek 64-51 Saturday night in a battle of Gwinnett powers at Wesleyan.  The Lady Wolves' 10 day layoff was evident in their uneven play throughout the game.  Mill Creek began the game with a 2-0 lead due to a technical foul being issued during warm ups as the Wesleyan cheerleaders unknowingly were on the court too close to where Mill Creek was doing its pregame warm up.  Mill Creek, ranked No. 4 in Class AAAAA, then received the ball to open the game after the technical foul free throws were shot.  They scored on that possession and Wesleyan was in a 4-0 hole before then even touched the ball.  Brittany Stevens started the Wesleyan scoring with a three pointer and the Lady Wolves were off and running.  Wesleyan, ranked No. 1 in Class A, closed the first quarter on a 19-5 run to take a 19-9 lead at the end of one.  The Lady Wolves' lead increased to 30-11 midway through the second quarter before sloppy play paved the way for many Mill Creek trips to the free throw line.  Wesleyan couldn't get out of its own way and far too many fouls were committed by a variety of players allowing Mill Creek to close the gap to 34-22 at halftime.  The teams played evenly in the third quarter as Wesleyan's primary ball handlers Jordan Frazier and Stevens had to sit for much of the period due to foul trouble.  The teams played to at 10-10 tie in the third as Wesleyan led 44-32 at the beginning of the fourth.  Mill Creek got the lead to single digits for the first time since early in the first quarter courtesy of a 5-2 run to open the fourth.  Wesleyan's lead was 46-37 at this point.  That would be as close as Mill Creek would get however.  The poised and veteran Lady Wovles went back on the attack as Holli Wilkins had a series of drives to the basket and Wesleyan had some defensive stops to get its lead back up to 19 at 60-41.  The lead was 16 when Mill Creek hit a three at the buzzer to close the final margin to 64-51.  Wilkins was the catalyst in Wesleyan getting its inital breathing room in the first quarter as well as thwarting any ideas of a Mill Creek comeback in the fourth.  She led all scorers with a season high 25 points to go with six rebounds.  Frazier added 14 points, three assists, three rebounds and three steals in an outstanding all around game.  Katie Frerking had another solid performance as she scored 10 points to go with her four assists and four boards.  Taylor Blackmon also had a good night putting up eight points, four rebounds and two assists.  Stevens added five points, four boards and two assists.  With the win Wesleyan improves to 5-0.  This was Wesleyan's 26th straight win which breaks the team record of 25 set during the 2000-2001 season.  The streak spans the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons and dates back to a 58-57 last second loss to reigning AAAAA champion Norcross in the Cresent Bank Holiday Classic in Myrtle Beach, SC in December 2010.  Several Wesleyan teams had put together long winning streaks that had come close to the record of 25 that stood for 11 years.  The 2001-2002 Lady Wolves won 20 straight.  The 2004-2005 team missed tying the streak by one game as they strung togehter 24 straight wins.  The 2007-2008 team put together a 22-game winning streak.  And there was a 21-game winning streak that began in the 2009-2010 season and ended at the same Myrtle Beach tournament where the current streak began.  Wesleyan will next face North Hall on Tuesday night.  Tipoff is 6:00 PM at North Hall.

Wesleyan had its best performance of the young season Wednesday night as they dominated Lovett winning the inaugural Wesleyan Turkey Tipoff 59-32.  Lovett scored the game's first two points.  That would only lead they would enjoy however as Wesleyan rattled oft the next 11 points.  Lovett stopped the Lady Wolves 11-0 run with a three pointer which was immediately answered by back to back threes by Josh Belcher to increase Wesleyan's lead to 17-5.  Wesleyan led 19-5 at the end of the first quarter.  The three-point barrage continued as Jordan Frazier connected from behind the arc upping the Wesleyan lead to 22-5 over the No. 6 ranked team in Class AA.  Wesleyan, ranked No. 1 in Class A, opened the second quarter with a 14-2 run to increase its lead to 33-7 about halfway through the second quarter.  Then the Lady Wolves' offense went cold and Lovett went on a 10-2 run of its own closing the gap to18 with Wesleyan leading 35-17 at the half.  The Lady Lions opened the third quarter outscoring Wesleyan 10-6 chipping the Wesleyan lead to 14 points.  That would be as close as Lovett would get the rest of the night however.  Wesleyan called timeout with about 30 seconds left in the third quarter.  After the timeout the Lady Wolves did a nice job moving the ball around the perimeter running the clock down to three seconds when Belcher hit a short jumper.  The Lady Wolves led 45-28 heading into the fourth.  Katie Frerking opened the fourth quarter with three straight drives to the basket to increase the Wesleyan lead to 51-28.  Wesleyan would outscore Lovett 14-4 in the final period to post the final 59-32 result.  Frerking led all scorers with 15 points.  She also had six rebounds and three blocked shots.  Kaelyn Causwell had the most solid game of the short season as she scored 14 points, grabbed seven boards and had four blocked shots.  Most importantly, she stayed out of foul trouble which had plagued her in earlier games.  Holli Wilkins added 12 points and five steals while Belcher chipped in eight points.  Frazier had six points and four assists while Brittany Stevens contributed four assists and three steals.  Frerking and Frazier were named to the All Tournament Team while Wilkins earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors.  With the win, Wesleyan improves to 4-0 while Lovett falls to 4-1 on the season.  Wesleyan has the next ten days off before facing Class AAAAA No. 4 ranked Mill Creek.  The two will tipoff at 4:00 PM on Saturday, December 3 at Wesleyan.

Wesleyan defeated Southwest Dekalb 68-38 Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Wesleyan Turkey Tipoff.  It was a sloppy effort overall but Wesleyan led wire to wire.  The Lady Wolves jumped out to an early double digit lead holding a 18-7 edge late in the first quarter.  Southwest Dekalb scored the last two points of the first quarter and the first six of the second quarter going on an 8-0 run to close the Wesleyan lead to18-15.  The Lady Wolves then went on a 13-0 run of their own as the lead ballooned to 31-15.  The teams traded baskets for the rest of the second quarter with Wesleyan taking a 37-19 lead into halftime.  Wesleyan scored the first nine points of the third quarter to stretch its lead to 46-19 essentially putting the game out of reach.  Powered by Katie Frerkints seven points in the period, Wesleyan took a 53-26 lead into the fourth quarter.  Welseyan outscored Southwest Dekalb 15-12 in the fourth quarter to reach the final 30-point margin.  Holli Wilkins led all scorers with 19 points while recording a double double.  She also had 12 rebounds and three steals.  Frerking had a great all around game recording a double double of her own scoring 10 points while grabbing 13 rebounds.  She also led the Lady Wolves with five assists and had two steals and two blocked shots.  Jordan Frazier added 15 points, five steals, three rebounds and two assists.  Josh Belcher had another three-point barrage as she nailed four from behind the arc scoring 12 points.  She also had three rebounds and two assists.  Kaelyn Causwell added five points, four boards and two blocked shots.  Despite the lopsided win over its Class AAAA opponent, this was by far Wesleyan's sloppiest performance.   The Lady Wolves committed 22 turnovers on the night.  They'll have to put forth a much cleaner effort in the tournament championship game tomorrow night against Lovett.  Lovett, ranked No. 6 in AA, defeated Hardaway, ranked No. 5 in AAAAA, 51-39 in its semifinal.  Wesleyan improves to 3-0 on the season with the victory.  Tipoff for the Turkey Tipoff championship is 5:30 PM tomorrow at Wesleyan.

When the Wesleyan gilrs get themselves going it's just fun to watch.  That's what Monday night's first round game of the Wesleyan Turkey Tipoff was, fun to watch.  The Lady Wolves took down Hardaway from Columbus, 94-32 on a night when five Wesleyan players scored in double figures.  Kaelyn Causwell started things off for Wesleyan as she scored the first five points of the game including a traditional three point play.  Early foul trouble limited her playing time however.  Hardaway kept it close as Wesleyan led 11-7 midway through the first quarter.  A 6-0 Wesleyan run prompted a timeout by the Golden Hawks.  Wesleyan then closed the quarter with six unanswered points to take a 23-7 lead at the end of the frist quarter.  The Lady Wolves' scoring output in the second quarter was identical to the first as they put up 23 points in the period while holding Hardaway to ten.  Wesleyan led 46-17 at the half.  Holli Wilkins heated up in the third quarter scoring ten points in the period as Wesleyan outscored the Golden Hawks 29-14 and led 75-31 going into the fourth.  The relentless pace at which Wesleyan plays finally took its toll as the Lady Wolves scored 19 points in the shortened, six-minute fourth quarter while allowing Hardaway just a single point.  Wilkins scored 15 points in the game while grabbing seven rebounds, five steals and two assists.  Josh Belcher also scored 15 points courtesy of five three-pointers.  She also had six boards, three steals and two assists.  Jordan Frazier added 13 points five steals and three assists while Brittany Stevens scored 12 points.  Katie Frerking barely missed a double double as she had 10 points and nine rebounds to go with three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.  Kendra Talley scored nine points off the bench while Causwell finished with seven points, four boards, and two blocked shots in limited playing time due to foul trouble.  Wesleyan improves to 2-0 on the year while Hardaway falls to 1-1.  Hardaway, out of Region 1-AAAA, is a solid team full of good athletes, good ball handlers and possesses speed and depth...and they lost by 62, which says more about this Wesleyan team and its potential rather than anything else.  Do not be surprised to see this Hardaway team in the AAAA state tournament.  Again, when this Wesleyan team get itself going, they're fun to watch.  Wesleyan will next face Southwest Dekalb, a two-point winner over Brookwood, in the semi-finals.  Tipoff is tomorrow night at 7:30.  

Holli Wilkins scored the 1000th point of her Wesleyan career late the fourth quarter of the Lady Wolves' 76-29 blow out of Spain Park from Birmingham, Alabama.  The game was one of four played at Berkmar High School Saturday as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer benefit.  The Lady Wolves started slowly as they had numerous looks at the basket but nothing would fall.  Finally Taylor Blackmon came off the bench and hit a baseline jumper and Wesleyan was off and running.  Kaelyn Causwell also came off the bench to score six first quarter points as Wesleyan led 24-5 at the end of one.  Jordan Frazier, Josh Belcher and CaraMia Tsirigos all nailed three pointers in the second quarter as the Lady Wovles increased their lead to 49-12 going into halftime.  After scoring three first half points, Wilkins got herself going in the second half scoring six points in the third and fourth quarters respectively including her momentous 1000th.  She finished with a game high 15 points along with eight rebounds.  Kaelyn Causwell is the only other Wesleyan player to score in double figures as she scored 10 points.  Brittany Stevens added seven points and seven assists.   Josh Belcher scored eight points while Tsirigos and Katie Frerking chipped in seven points apiece.  Blackmon finished with six points.  All 15 Wesleyan players saw action in this one which was never close.  Wilkins joins an elite group as she becomes the ninth Wesleyan girls player to reach the 1000 career point milestone.  The other members of Wesleyan's 1000-point club are Nikki Luckhurst ('04), Anne Marie Armstrong ('09), Jenny Hall ('02), Erin Hall ('10), Dana Birnie ('01), Carolyn Whitney ('06), Grace Leah Baughn ('11) and Sarah Moye ('05).  Congratulations to Holli on her achievement.  The Lady Wolves are 1-0 on the young season and will next face Hardaway from Columbus in the frist round of the Wesleyan Turkey Tipoff.  This is the first Thanksgiving tournament hosted by Wesleyan.  Tipoff is 7:30 PM Monday.

 Wesleyan Girls Basketball 1000 Point Club

1. Nikki Luckhurst - 2393
2. Anne Marie Armstrong - 2128
3. Jenny Hall - 1488
4. Erin Hall - 1482
5. Dana Birnie - 1366
6. Carolyn Whitney - 1322
7. Grace Leah Baughn - 1208
8. Sarah Moye - 1070
9. Holli Wilkins - 1001