UTC senior Zaccheus Mason is a Lou Henson All-American and a finalist for the 2014 Lou Henson Award as the top mid-major player in NCAA Division I basketball. The 30-man list includes players from Harvard, Mercer, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky and Stephen F. Austin, among others. Mason was a first-team All-Southern Conference player and the league's defensive player of the year, averaging 2.9 blocked shots along with 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds a game.
• Covenant College junior Colton McGriff was named to the Georgia Basketball Coaches Association all-state second team for NCAA Division III schools. He averaged 15.4 points, with 35 in one game, and 7.2 rebounds a game this past season.
• Silverdale Baptist Academy senior Sloane Woodard signed scholarship papers Friday to continue her basketball career in town at Tennessee Temple University. The District 5-A player of the year and all-region guard averaged 12.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.0 steals and 3.3 assists per game for the 26-4 Lady Seahawks. "Sloane did well for basketball, but she did so much better for the team," SBA coach Tim Thompson said. "She was our leader, and when things were tough, she was the one in the huddle who said, 'We can do this.'" Softball coach Tim Couch praised her "fierce tenacity as a competitor" and pointed out that she has been a "great leader" also for his team "and for the school." Said Temple coach Kenrick Liburd: "We are beyond excited to have Sloane coming to us. We know we're getting a great leader - a strong, Christian leader - and a great player, and she has a wonderful motor and great energy and a really, really high ceiling." Woodard also drew interest from Brenau, Bryan and Cleveland State but really liked Liburd and TTU assistant Monique Blanding. "They made a very good first impression on me, and I knew in my heart that thre was something there for me," she said. "I know this is where the Lord has called me - to Tennessee Temple - and I'm super excited to be going there."
• Micah Mabe pitched a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts as Covenant won 5-2 in the opener of its USA South baseball series at LaGrange, moved up to Thursday evening because of Friday's expected rain. David Lockwood's two-run double in the top of the first inning got the Scots (14-6, 10-3) off to a good start, and Perry Rigby scored two runs. The teams will try to play a doubleheader today.
• After winning 6-3 in nine innings and 5-3 Wednesday at Union College, Bryan College won 13-4 and lost 6-5 at Point University in an AAC softball doubleheader moved to Thursday from Friday. Becca Zimmerman was 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs and Katie Vaughn was 2-for-3 with a triple, a double, three RBIs and three runs in the win for Bryan (17-16, 6-2), while Katelyn Bowen was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Heidi Daniel also had two RBIs and Heather Daniel, Taylor Yates and Mariam Wood each had two hits in support of pitcher Kaitie Sims. In the loss, Yates had two RBIs, Heather Daniel scored twice and Zimmerman, Jill Davis and Heidi Daniel had two hits apiece. Amber Anderson had five RBIs with two hits for Point (11-19, 5-9) in its win. The Daniels had three hits apiece and combined for five RBIs in the first win at Union, and Heidi was 3-for-4 and Vaughn was 3-for-3 in the second, when Bowen hit a two-run homer in the three-run seventh inning.
• Chattanooga State's home baseball game Friday against Roane State was moved to Sunday at 1 p.m., as was Cleveland State's game at Southwest Tennessee. Both pairs of TCCAA teams hope to play doubleheaders as scheduled today. The four-game Chattanooga State softball series at Southwest was moved to Sunday and Monday.
Track & Field
• Lee University's Jessica Childers was the National Christian College national women's track and field athlete of the week for her seventh-place 2:20 800-meter run at the Emory Invitational last Saturday. That time ranks sixth in the NCCAA outdoor season.