Friday's Report: Houston County wins state, Mercer nipped, Henley, signings-Jones County, Bleckley County, Jasper County, Perry, West Laurens, GMC; Falcons, Braves, UGA; NBA, MLB, NFL, golf, NHL
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Georgia State 5, Old Dominion 4
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Signings
Two Jones County boys basketball standouts have signed letters of intent. Daethan Harris, son of boys head coach Buck Harris is headed to Voorhees, an NAIA program in Denmark, S.C. Jaylen Sanford has signed with Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Miss. that went 21-5 last season.
The Greyhounds’ Anna Grace Hinson has signed to run cross country at Middle Georgia State.
Multi-sport standout Eli Mullis of Bleckley County signed to play baseball at Andrew College after batting .408 and winning nine games with a 2.51 ERA, helping the Royals to the GHSA Class A/Division I semifinals.
Jasper County’s Jacarian Grier has signed to play football and basketball at Reinhardt.
Carter Horton of Perry has signed to continue his golf career at LaGrange.
Shorter is the next team for West Laurens’ Aren Flanders boys golfer.
Nate Gise won’t have to run far to keep running in college, the GMC Prep runner signing with GMC JC.
Around/About Central Georgia
BSB-Run in ninth lifts Samford over Mercer in big series opener
Henley, among many, off to sluggish PGA start
Russell Henley has a lot of quality company among those shooting over par in the first round of the PGA Championship in New York.
He’s also among the 30 players whose first round was suspended by darkness on Thursday, so he can start the second round in decent shape.
As it is, Henley’s 2-over round through 15 holes has him in a tie for 42nd, with top-50 players Davis Riley, Brian Harman, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, and ahead of Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, and Andrew Putnam, among others.
Eric Cole is 5 under through 14, and Bryson DeChambeau has the lead among those in the clubhouse at 4 under.
Henley’s final hole of the day was his lone par, trying to counter bogeys on 4, 7, and 10.
Around/About Georgia/Southeast
Falcons, others miffed about prime-time shutout?
‘You want to buy your kid a Bijan jersey’
A look at Atlanta’s rookie mini-camp
Smart stays humble, accepts luck and praises Saban
BSB-Georgia battles No. 5 LSU, falls in 12
BSB-Georgia Gwinnett College back in NAIA World Series
NBA/WNBA/Basketball
Denver goes up 2-0, thanks to late Laker stumbles & Murray’s big fourth
WNBA starts 27th season Friday
League rescinds Game 7 tech on Boston’s Brown, who called out ref
Notes from the NBA Combine week
Around the nation/world
Is ESPN going to be a pay-only streaming service soon?
Baseball/MLB/WBC
What’s pitch tipping, sign stealing? And when are they illegal?
Bird pays ultimate price in Gallen’s Randy Johnson impersonation
Cardinals belt seven homers, first time in 83 years
Keller proof that Pirates can have an ace
NFL/USFL/XFL/Football
No vote expected next week on Washington sale
Young embraces pre-draft mantra, Dalton in-name starter
College Football
Growing pains in Big 12 will be tough for UCF, Malzahn
Tennis
Djokovic loses again to Rune, at Italian; Swiatek injured
Nadal to miss French Open for the first time
Golf
DeChambeau leads the chilly PGA Championship
Dahmen ball hits fan, he buys fan’s beer for the day
Kim emerges muddy in failed attempt to retrieve ball
Auto Racing/NASCAR
Many would welcome NASCAR return to Rockingham
Hockey/NHL
Epic 4-OT, 120-save Game 1 goes to Florida, with :12.7 left in fourth
Boxing/UFC/MMA
Scoreboards