Tuesday's News 'n Notes: Southwest mourns player death; WACO's Gray goes for gold; Dudley Little League; Braves; Olympics/Biles decision; NFL, more

July 28, 2021 Central Georgia Sports Report

Tuesday's Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.

Southwest mourns death of player Ivory

The first practice of 2021 for Southwest was a tragic one, with the death of Patriot Joshua Ivory Jr. afterward.

The 15-year-old collapsed around 6 p.m., was taken to Atrium Health Navicent, and died Monday night.

Southwest principal A. Bernard Young sent out a release Tuesday morning with news of the tragedy. A crisis team was made available at the school.

An autopsy will be performed to determine the official cause of death. Officials Tuesday declined to label it heat related.

Monday was the start of preseason workouts, and was the first conditioning day, part of a five-day acclimation period. Practice and band practices were canceled Tuesday. Howard canceled practice on Tuesday in response, and will resume Wednesday afternoon.

The district and GHSA will look into procedures and protocols involved in Ivory’s death, although indications are that Southwest coaches and officials took more than minimum precautions.

Alumni Update

Scoreboard
Little League
Southeast Region Softball
Georgia 3, South Carolina 0
Georgia got all it needed with one in the fourth, thanks to a nine-strikeout, two-walk one-hitter from Cheyann Phillips. Dudley got the shutout despite 15 strikeouts from South Carolina’s Annie Ruth Eliason.

Virginia 2, Georgia 0
The game was stopped because of weather and will be resumed at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the top of the fourth.

Pro
MLB
Atlanta 12, NY Mets 5

Gray, USA play for gold Wednesday morning

Allisha Gray and the USA had to sweat it out.

The Washington County grad scored six points, sharing scoring honors with Kelsey Plum, as the U.S. nipped France 18-16 in a 3x3 women’s semifinal game in Tokyo.

The gold medal game is at 8:55 a.m., both Eastern Standard Time.

America had an 11-7 lead, but France came back and tied it with 1:07 left.

Gray made one of two at the line with 34 seconds left, and got an offensive rebound that led to Kelsey Plum shooting two with five seconds left. She made one, and France’s wild heave at the buzzer had no chance.

The Americans won their first six straight games, and then lost 20-18 to Japan on Tuesday. The U.S. opened the Olympics with a 17-10 win over France.

Games are 10 minutes long, with a 12-second shot clock, and shots count as one and two instead of two and three points.

Around/About Central Georgia

Mercer’s Cronic talks some football

Around/About Georgia/Southeast

Riley rocks as Braves maul Mets

Braves notes

Olympics

Biles explains – at length – her decision

‘At the end of the day, we’re human, too’

Raisman praises Biles’ bravery

Column: Biles didn’t ‘quit’ on her team