Seated, from left, are Bobby Joe Bramblett, father Mallory Bramblett, and mother Sonia Bennett. Standing are Brett Bramblett, brother, Meredith Barnhill, Adairsville High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach, Jim Williams, Georgia Northwestern Head Women’s Basketball Coach, and Linda Greene, grandmother.
photo by Don Foley
As one Adairsville alum who left her mark on Lady Cats basketball gets set to ink with four-year Toccoa Falls, it’s Tiger Country that will once again provide Georgia Northwestern with another outside threat to help fill Emily Cole’s place on the NJCAA hardwood.
Standing at 5-foot-5, Adairsville grad Mallory Bramblett has committed to playing her first year at NJCAA Region XVII defending champion Georgia Northwestern. “She’s very unselfish and she is a great pass maker. The hustle and attitude we saw at an open workout recently was very eye-opening,” said Lady Cats Head Women’s Basketball Coach Jim Williams. “She’s a team player and she really knows the game.”
Cole, a Lady Cat captain and a former NJCAA All-Region shooting guard for Georgia Northwestern, will be signing a letter of intent to play in June to play for NCAA Division III Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa, Georgia this fall.
As for the latest signee, the Lady Tiger four-year starter will begin her pursuit of an Occupational Therapy Assistant degree this fall at Georgia Northwestern. “I’ve heard great things from Emily (Cole) about the program and I feel we will have a ton of fun and have a chance at going far,” said last year’s double digit scorer for Adairsville. “Emily had a lot of success there and I think this year’s group will have a real chance at that, too.”
First picking up the basketball at eight years old, Bramblett played ball with mostly boys early on. “It was physical, but I really learned a lot and liked that style of game,” said Bramblett. Rounding out the 2013 recruiting class for Georgia Northwestern are GHSA prep standouts 6-foot forward Caroline Long (Model) and 5-foot-10 Tiana Jones (Summerville).
Georgia Northwestern finished the 2012-13 season with a 15-10 mark. Williams was named the NJCAA’s Region XVII Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. The NJCAA Region XVII title was vacated in 2013 leaving the Lady Cats as the defending champs once again from their capture of the 2012 title; a season crown that came complete with a trip to the district level of the NJCAA National Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Bramblett will be learning from last year’s NJCAA Region XVII All-First Team starters Kiarra Parks and Alyssa Nichelson. Parks, a Cleveland, Tennessee native, dropped in 11 points a game last season as a freshman. In her first year removed from her prep play at Georgia’s Pepperell High School, Parks also pulled down four boards, dished out three assists, and stole two balls each outing. Nichelson, a Creekview High School (Canton, GA) alum, also added 11 points a pop on the season.
Tryouts and open workouts for the 2013-14 Lady Cats will be posted at BobcatsCountry.com. For more information on Bobcats and Lady Cats Athletics at Georgia Northwestern Technical College, visit BobcatsCountry.com, contact the Office of Sports Information at 706.764.3813, or e-mail to dfoley@gntc.edu.