Jeff Hart

Michael McDowell earned his first career pole position in his 467th career NASCAR Cup Series race during Saturday qualifying for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Flowery Branch opened the Houston County Invitational with a nail-biting 6-5 win over Mary Persons on Friday.

Upsets were the theme for the boys during the first round of the Georgia High School Association state playoffs for northeast Georgia teams. Three of the five teams still remaining took road wins, including Region 7-3A sweeping out Region 6-3A in the opening round.

True freshman Drew Burress dialed up his ACC-leading fifth double on the season in the seventh inning on a two-out bases-loaded missile to left center, clearing the bases and giving Georgia Tech baseball the lead in a 9-6 victory over Cornell on Friday night at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.

Home Sweet Home proved to be valuable for several northeast Georgia area girls basketball teams on Friday night.

Chestatee will be hobnobbing with the Elite 8 in Class 4A for a second consecutive season.

In the first-ever Hall/Whitfield County Showcase, the East Hall boys held on for a thrilling 2-1 win over Northwest Whitfield on Friday night at The Dungeon at Johnson High School.

Georgia made history by erupting for 10 runs in the first inning of an eventual 15-5 win over Northern Kentucky Friday at Foley Field that ended after seven innings due to the 10-run rule.

While Regions 8-7A, 8-6A, 8-5A, and 8-4A will hold some crucial region matchups on Friday on the pitch, none will be more interesting than the pair of games in the Hall/Whitfield County Showcase at The Dungeon.

Eight northeast Georgia area girls teams will try to keep their title hopes alive on Friday in the second round of the Georgia High School Association and quarterfinals of the GIAA playoffs.