Georgia Northwestern heads into their season-opener Saturday with three NJCAA All-Region second-teamers set to hit the Rossville Athletic Complex (R.A.C.) hardwood. Captains Hunter Ivester (Trion, GA) and Richard Olsen (Calhoun, GA), as well as Tavish Reynolds (Calhoun, GA) earned the honors this week.
Hines Academy (NC) will tip things off with the Bobcats at 4 p.m. at The R.A.C. in a non-region showcase. Bobcats Head Coach David Stephenson’s squad comes into the 2013-14 season picked to finish third in NJCAA Region XVII. Stephenson is now in his seventh season at the helm of Georgia Northwestern’s basketball program.
Alongside the sophomores Ivester, Olsen, and Reynolds, Cody Cochran (Flintstone, GA) returns after seeing his freshman campaign get cut short after a leg injury in an early season road game in Nashville, Tennessee in November 2012. The 6-foot-6 forward has completed his rehab and has two full years of eligibility remaining on the JUCO level.
“We lost our four and five men last year in Alex Miller (Calhoun, GA) and Bud Todd (Trion, GA) and that hurt us in size and experience,” said Stephenson. “However, we feel like we have a lot of young guys coming up that will be able to fill those holes by committee, so to speak. We have a rotation of four to five guys who will beat the boards down low for us. Some are better rebounders, some are quicker, and it will all depend on the situation in regards to who is on the floor.”
The Bobcats open things with a high school showcase titled the Bobcat Blowout. Tennessee Valley high schools will scrimmage beginning at 11 a.m. at The R.A.C. Cleveland Christian, Rhea County Academy, Apostolic Christian (TN), and Tennessee Christian will scrimmage in running clock periods leading up to the college game at 4 p.m. Georgia Northwestern’s Cats Cheer program will be performing between games.