Roxie Reed Trovato

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For Roxie Reed Trovato, collecting hardware from the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame has become almost a habit. Roxie already has two medallions that she earned by being a member of teams inducted into the Hall. First, she collected a medal along with her teammates on the 1998-1999 Fannin County High School girls basketball team. Then, last year she collected another medallion as a member of the 1996-1997 Lady Rebels. To complete the hat trick, Roxie has been elected as an individual member of the induction class of 2019. She will collect a plaque celebrating her membership at the FCSHOF induction on April 6, 2019.

The 1990s were halcyon days for the Fannin County High School Lady Rebels basketball teams. The 1992-1993 young ladies captures the Georgia State Class AA State Championship. As a follow-up, the four year period of competition from 1995 through 1999 saw the Lady Rebels post an impressive overall record of 103 victories and only nine defeats. During that period, the Fannin girls finished as state runners-up in 1997 and captured the Class AA State Championship in 1998-99. These teams performed like a talented symphony with all the necessary instruments and directing the teams from the point guard position was the gifted maestro, Roxie Reed Trovato.

On the basketball court, Roxie was the consummate defender and leader of the offense. She controlled the tempo and was a master of the no-look and behind the back passes. Her stylish play was not for show, however, as her passing skills resulted in many easy baskets for her teammates. She was the recipient of the team Playmaker Award as a sophomore and as a junior and, at the end of her senior season, she was honored as the All-Time career assist leader at Fannin County High School. During the State Championship season of 1998-99 she averaged more than 10 assists per game. She was selected as the Northwest Georgia Tip-Off Club Player of the month in February, 1999.

Roxie performed at her best under pressure and, in the 1999 State semi-final game against Dodge County she scored 13 points, dished out nine assists and, according to the News Observer ‘ran the offense flawlessly’. Her coach Johnny Farmer gushed “that’s the best I’ve seen her play in four years. It seemed like she ran faster than she ever had, hit her free throws and was determined not to give the ball up”.

In the lexicon of sport Roxie Reed Trovato epitomized the term ‘gamer’. She relished competition and had the ability to convert her passion into success in the arena or on the field. She started at shortstop for the Lady Rebels all four years that she competed. She was a leader on the field, timely hitter and outstanding fielder helping Fannin County High advance to the State Tournament three times during her career.

If her basketball and softball exploits were not enough, Roxie made the Fannin High tennis team as a freshman and was soon elevated to the Number One singles slot. She maintained that position throughout the three years that she competed and posted a 7-1 record in singles competition as a senior in 1999.

After graduating from high school in 1999, Roxie was awarded a basketball scholarship to attend Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Georgia. She was the starting point guard there for two seasons and was named as the team Best Offensive Player following her second year. She also participated in all intra-mural sports available to her. Her athleticism was noted by the soccer team coach who recruited her to play with his team during her sophomore year. She was good enough to earn a partial scholarship for this participation.

Roxie continued her basketball career at Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina. She played there for two seasons and, before completing her requirements for graduation, was invited to a WNBA combine in Orlando, Florida. She graded high enough there to be offered an opportunity to play with a WNBA satellite team overseas. She considered this possibility but decided to remain stateside and complete her college degree program.

She returned to Limestone and discovered that she had some athletic eligibility remaining. She was awarded a golf scholarship and graduated from Limestone with a degree in physical education/health science in 2003.

Roxie briefly considered entering the coaching profession but opted to begin raising a family. She married John Trovato and soon was the mother of two children, a son Chandler (who is now 10) and a daughter Riley (now 8). She and her family make their home in Cleveland, Tennessee where Roxie stays busy raising and supporting the education and activities of her two children.

In case you have not been keeping score at home, Roxie Reed Trovato competed in five (5) different sports during her high school and college days – basketball, softball, tennis, soccer and golf. She also played football for a youth team in early grade school, so if one includes that sport, Roxie participated in six sports between the ages of 8 and 21. She is truly a remarkable athlete and a 5-star recruit for the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame.

Tommy Jones

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 Tommy Jones has enjoyed an exceptional 30 plus year career as a participant in and a coach of the sports of track and field and cross country. His many accomplishments have earned him a spot in the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame class of 2019.

As a junior high youngster at East Fannin, Tommy did not have a great deal of size but he did compete in basketball and football, while running on his own or for the Fannin Recreation Department track team. He says that he decided to become a coach during this period, in large part due to his respect for Jeff Quinton, his coach at East Fannin.

Tommy’s first taste of glory came in 1986 when he won the age 15 and under mile run event at  Georgia Recreation and Parks Association track meet. Tommy was a freshman at Fannin County High School which had neither a cross country nor track and field program at the time. So Tommy ran for the Fannin Recreation Department track team and picked up his first big championship.

A couple of significant events occurred as Tommy entered Fannin County High School for his sophomore season in the autumn of 1986. First, the powers that be at Fannin County High School decided to sponsor the school’s first track and field team, providing Tommy with an opportunity to compete and develop his running skills. Second, he met Bill Franklin, a member of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame and a special education teacher in the Fannin School System at that time. Bill was the first outstanding distance runner in the county at West Fannin High School. He went on to earn a track and field scholarship at the University of Georgia where his coach was the legendary Olympic champion, Spec Towns.

Billy became aware of Tommy’s running skills and Tommy says that he received his first meaningful coaching guidance with Bill Franklin as his mentor. Prior to meeting Franklin, Jones says that his strategy was simply to run a mile ‘as fast as I could’. Bill Franklin provided a more structured scientific regimen to preparation and actual race competition that resulted in a gradual and consistent improvement in Tommy’s race times. Bill became a part-time assistant on the Rebel track and field squad during Tommy’s 10th and 11th grade seasons. A new coaching regime arrived in 1988 and Bill was not retained as an assistant, but Tommy Jones had learned a great deal about running from him during those two years.  

Tommy Jones also played basketball at Fannin High and was a starter during his last two seasons. His game improved and peaked during the last half of his senior season. He was named as the team’s outstanding player for that period by the Northwest Georgia Tip-Off Club.

In track and field, Tommy competed primarily in the mile and 800 meter run events. During his three years of competition in the 800 meter event, he finished third at the Region 8AA event twice and won the Region championship as a senior. In the mile run, he finished 2nd in the Region once and finished as high as 5th in the state meet. Fannin County High sponsored a Cross Country team for the first time in 1988-89 and Tommy finished 8th in the Region in that sport. He was named as the team MVP in Track and Field as a senior. He continues to hold school records in the 800 meters and mile run events.

After graduation from Fannin County High, Tommy Jones was awarded a Cross Country and Track and Field scholarship to Baptist College (now Charleston Southern University) in Charleston, South Carolina. He stayed there for two years and was named as captain of both the Cross Country and Track and Field teams during his second season. He was named as the Cross Country MVP as a sophomore. His accomplishments were many at Charleston but the highlights were winning the Southern Conference Championship and the South Carolina state championshi0p in the 3000 meters and being a member of the Southern Conference 4 x 400 Relay championship team.

Tommy loves the mountains of North Georgia and decided to transfer to North Georgia College as a junior. He also has strong ties to the school as both his father and grandfather studied there. So, in 1992, Tommy headed to Dahlonega where he was awarded the first Cross Country scholarship in the history of the school. North Georgia did not have a Track and Field team. He finished 11th in the Conference Cross Country meet and was named to the NAIA All-Conference team in 1992. He was elected team captain in 1993. He graduated from North Georgia with a degree in Physical Education in 1993.

Tommy’s goal was to enter the coaching profession after college, but no opportunities in the North Georgia area were available immediately after his graduation. It took a while but he landed a job with the Gilmer County school system in 1999. Since that time he has held a number of teaching and coaching positions. He is currently the head coach of the Gilmer County High School Cross Country team, coach of the Clear Creek Middle School Track and Field team and teaches five class each day at Gilmer High.

Tommy continues to compete and has run hundreds of road races including the Peachtree Road Race more than ten times. His victories are too numerous to list but some include the Morganton Point Hill Run 5K eight times, Ellijay Run for the Son 5K ten times, the Sorghum Festival 5K in Blairsville and the Hot Biscuit 5K in Jasper. His proudest achievement was qualifying for and running in the Boston Marathon in 2014, the year after the bombing incident at that prestigious event.

Tommy and his wife Shelynda make their home in Ellijay, Georgia. They have three children, Tori age 21, Nick age 16 and Belle age 8.

Travis Guthrie

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In recognition of his contributions as an early and lifetime supporter of the athletic programs in Fannin County schools, Travis Guthrie has been elected as a member of the 2019 class of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame.

Mr. Guthrie was born in Fannin County, Georgia on May 6, 1914. He was the second of four children born to Oscar and Bertha Ammons Guthrie. He attended schools in Mineral Bluff and Morganton and graduated from Fannin County High School in Morganton in 1932. He was a starting guard for the Fannin County High School basketball team.

Following his high school graduation, Travis attended Young Harris College and graduated with a two-year degree in 1934. While at Young Harris he was a starter for the varsity basketball team and played intramural football.

Travis Guthrie began a 35 year career in the education system of Fannin County in the autumn of 1934 when he was appointed to the position of principal at Epworth Elementary School. He continued his career as a teacher, coach and principal at Mineral Bluff Junior High School, Fannin County High School in Morganton and Epworth High School and Elementary School until August, 1945. He was the coach of the boys basketball team at Mineral Bluff Junior High School that won the first official basketball tournament in the history of the county in early 1936 over the high school teams of Morganton, Blue Ridge and Epworth. His 1941-42 girls team at Fannin County High School in Morganton lost only one regular season and captured the championships in the Fannin County Tournament, the Bi-State Tournament and the Northern Division of the 9th District Tournament.

Travis married Lucy Carlton, a Ducktown, Tennessee native, in 1940. Following their marriage, both Travis and Lucy continued their teaching careers in Fannin County. Travis continued his personal education and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Piedmont College in 1940.

In August, 1945, Travis was appointed Fannin County School Superintendent to complete the term of his father Oscar, who died in office on August 13, 1945. He was elected County School Superintendent in 1948 in a county-wide election. After he completed his first term, the county changed the selection process from an election to appointment by the County Board of Education. Travis was reappointed County School Superintendent for four more terms and served in that capacity until his retirement in December, 1968, having served the county for 23 years. Throughout his career as School Superintendent, Travis was ably supported by his wife, Lucy, who served as his Administrative Assistant.

When Travis assumed the Superintendent position, there were 42 schools, many of the one or two room variety, in Fannin County. During his career, he was the overseer of a constant program of expansion of facilities and consolidation of units and, upon his retirement, the number of schools had been reduced to eleven, two high schools, eight elementary schools and one school for African American students.

The consolidation and modernization of education in Fannin County during Mr. Guthrie’s career as Superintendent had a lasting impact on athletics in the county. The first competitive football teams in Fannin County were established at East and West Fannin High Schools as a result of the consolidation program of 1955-56. These programs required facilities, equipment and personnel and Travis Guthrie was the architect of the efforts to implement these endeavors.

Among the major achievements in the arenas of athletics that were accomplished under Mr. Guthrie aegis were the construction of the spectator bleachers and lighting at the West Fannin field and a major $921,000 construction project in 1958-59. The project resulted in the addition of modern physical education buildings at East and West Fannin High Schools that included a gymnasium, class rooms. band rooms and dressing rooms. The project also included the construction of elementary school buildings at Dial and Mineral Bluff and physical education buildings/gymnasiums at Caldwell Elementary, Blue Ridge Elementary and Mobile Elementary Schools.

Travis Guthrie served Fannin County as School Superintendent during a period of unprecedented challenges for educators and academic administrators in America. He was required to anticipate the needs of future years in order for the School Board to plan accordingly, plan for the consolidation of certain schools into larger units, face a teacher shortage in highly qualified personnel, plan extra-curricular activities, expand curricula to meet changing needs and direct a steady rise in scholastic standards to meet increasing requirements of colleges and universities, while cooperating with the School Board, students, parents and faculty members as the administrative head of the school system.  He met and conquered these challenges in exemplary fashion.

Travis Guthrie completed his last term as School Superintendent in December, 1968. He and Lucy continued to work the next 18 months at the request of the new Superintendent and Board of Education to ensure a smooth transition. In retirement, Travis and Lucy Guthrie continued their support of athletic programs attending football and basketball games and other school and church activities.

Travis Guthrie passed away on July 27, 1989. Despite his myriad of professional accomplishments, perhaps his greatest legacy, and that of Lucy Guthrie, is the offspring that they produced for the next generation. Travis and Lucy had four sons, Leon, Carlton, Robert and Jerry. All of these men enjoyed outstanding athletic careers. Leon, Carlton and Robert are individual members of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame and Jerry was a member of the 1963-64 West Fannin basketball team that will be inducted in the class of 2019.

News from Glenn Patterson

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Hello everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know about our meeting this past Monday. We drew for the gun raffle and Carolyn Manners from McCaysville won. We also elected new officers with Mike Harper becoming new President, T.J. Thompson VP , Jerry Daves Secretary, and Don Clement remaining as our Treasurer. We know all of these individuals will do a great job and appreciate their service to the FCSHOF. These officers will all begin there duties effective immediately. Calendar updates ; It was decided not to have a HOF meeting in December but we will have one next month on Monday November 5th at 6 pm. Epworth Community Club. Our banquet next year will be on Saturday April 6th, 2019 at 4 pm. ,while our Freddy Cook Golf Tournament will be on Saturday June 8th, 2019 at Whitepath. Finally we decided to have Ron Beavers to work on a “Circle of Honor” plaque for past board member service recognition. Thanks for all you do. I’ve truly enjoyed being your president the past 5 years! Take care.
 
Glenn Patterson
 

Scholarships

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In 2015 the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame began a program of awarding scholarships to senior Fannin County High School scholar-athletes for the continuation of their studies at the college level. Each year an equal number of scholarships are awarded to female and male students. The number and amount of the scholarships may vary each year, depending upon the availability of funds. Since the FCSHOF is a non-profit organization and depends on the generosity of the public toward our fund-raising events, the amount available for scholarships is directly proportionate to the giving levels of our supporters. Since 2015, a total of $12,000 has been distributed to qualified students as follows: 2015 – Molly Chandler and Dusty Dyer; 2016 – Colton Carpenter and Ashley Rhodes; 2017 – Kelli Cox, Parker Brown, Haylee Franklin and Lucus Walden and 2018 – Payton Holt, Cody Jacobs, Shayna Bowyer and Lillyanna Ballew. A plaque honoring the scholarship winners is on display in the upper level of the Fannin County Recreation Center. Anyone wishing to participate in the scholarship program may send contributions to: FCSHOF, P.O. Box 775, McCaysville GA 30555.

The 2018 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Banquet

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The 2018 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Banquet will be held at the Fannin County High School Cafeteria on Saturday, April, 14. Activities will begin at 4:00 p.m. with a meet and greet session followed by the banquet at 4:30. Tickets are $15 for adults and children over the age of 12, $8 for children between 5 and 12; children under 5 may eat free. Tickets may be purchased by sending a check or money order payable to the FCSHOF at P.O. Box 775, McCaysville, GA 30555. The 2918 inductees are John Carter, Keith Dockery, Tim Jabaley, Leslie Jabaley Mann, Mandy Anderson, Stephanie Scearce and the 1996-97 Fannin County High School Girls Basketball Team. Hope to see you there

1996-97 Fannin County High School Girls Team

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 Johnny Farmer coached the Fannin County High School girls team from 1981-2007. During his time at the school, the Lady Rebels won a total of 509 games, won two state championships and finished as state runners-up on two occasions. The 1996-97 Fannin County High School girls team advanced to the Class AA championship game before losing to Thomasville. In recognition of their dramatic journey to the final game, the 1996-97 Fannin County Lady Rebels team has been chosen as the team selection in the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame induction class of 2018.

As the Fannin girls gathered for practice in the fall of 1996, the outlook for the coming season loomed as a big question mark. The previous year’s team had posted an all-time team best record of 28-1 and had advanced to the state tournament final 4 before tasting defeat for the first and only time. Five seniors from that team graduated including four starting players. The lone returnee, however, was the sensational Ashley Herendon who competed as a junior for the 1996-97 team. As the season unfolded, the starting lineup for the Lady Rebels generally included three sophomores and two juniors. Only one senior, Leigh Muse, was on hand to provide leadership for the young group.

From the get-go the 1996-97 season was a roller coaster ride for the Fannin girls and their supporters. Probably based more on past accomplishments more than current prospects, the Lady Rebels were ranked # 6 in the preseason poll published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The young ladies started strong winning their first 8 games including a heart-stopping 46-45 decision over the also unbeaten Pickens County team in a game played in Jasper. Ashley Herendon’s free throw with 13 seconds remaining provided the victory margin.

Another of the high points of the season occurred a few days later when the Lady Rebels defeated Stockbridge in the first round of the Taco Bell Christmas Tournament at Blue Ridge. The victory was the 300th career win for Coach Farmer. One of the low points of the season came the following night as the Lady Rebels lost their first game of the season, 46-47 to Murphy NC, a team that the Lady Rebels had defeated earlier in the season. The team rebounded and on the eve of the last regular season game on Friday, February 14, with a record of 18-3 were favored to win the regular season Region 7AA championship, needing only a victory over Forsyth Central the following evening to wrap up the crown.

Tragic news awaited the Lady Rebels and the entire student body at Fannin County High School, however, on Friday morning when word came that former Lady Rebel standout and a member of the 1995-96 team, Sabrina Gibson, had died in an automobile in Cleveland, Tennessee. After completing her eligibility at Fannin, Sabrina had continued her career at Cleveland State Community College. Suddenly basketball championships seemed insignificant as the young people of the school were forced to cope with the death of one of their own. The Lady Rebels proceeded with the final regular season game that evening in an atmosphere of grief tempered somewhat by the resiliency of youth in a time of crisis.

The Fannin girls defeated Forsyth Central and entered the Region 7AA tournament as the number one seed. They defeated White County in the semi-finals and then were blown out by Pickens County in their most lackluster performance of the year in the Region Championship game. Both the champion and runner up advanced to the State Tournament, however, so the Lady Rebels had some more hoops to play.

The real on-court drama began when the Lady Rebels squared off against East Hall in the first round game. Down by 17 points at one point in the third quarter, the Fannin girls stormed back, tied the game in regulation and won in overtime, 50-49, on a buzzer beating field goal by sophomore Stacy Parris. After the East Hall victory Stacy could have uttered the old vaudeville phrase “you ain’t seen nothing yet” because her post-season heroics were far from over. In the quarterfinal match against Dade County Stacy calmly sank a free throw with 15 seconds remaining to propel the Lady Rebels to another one-point victory, 41-40.

The trifecta of one-point victories came in the semi-final game against Hancock Central in another overtime thriller. With no time remaining on the clock, Stacy Parris again drilled a free throw to give the Fannin girls a 60-59 victory and a spot in the title game against powerful Thomasville. The magic finally ran out in that game and the Lady Rebels left Macon with a runner up trophy and an overall record of 23 victories and 5 defeats.

The 1996-97 Fannin County girls basketball team had many heroes. Junior Ashley Herendon and sophomore Stacy Parris were outstanding all season and both young ladies have been inducted into the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame. Point guard and queen of the behind the back dribble, Roxie Reed, was a rock in guiding the team. Post players Leah Nelson, Tina Grice and Jodie Thomas controlled the ‘paint’ and backboards like guards at Ft. Knox. Leigh Muse, the only senior on the team, provided leadership and lots of help at one of the wing positions. Strong supporting help came from back-up point guards Tara Dillinger and Amanda Newton, inside or ‘post’ players Kelly Queen, Cheri Shinpaugh, Carrie Dills and Cindy Williams along with ‘wings’ Kristy Galloway and Rachael Nicholson. Assisting Johnny Farmer with the coaching duties was Eddie Payne.

After the season, Ashley Herendon became the first basketball player in Fannin County High School history to be named first team All-State when she was so honored by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Seven of the sophomores on the team, Stacy Parris, Tina Grice, Leah Nelson, Roxie Reed, Cindy Williams, Amanda Newton and Rachael Nicholson would go on to be the heart of the 1998-99 team that won a State Championship. And, kudos should also go to Fannin High teacher and current assistant principal T.C. Dillard who was honored as the team’s Top Fan for her indefatigable support.

Tim Jabaley

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Between 1985 and 1993 Tim Jabaley played the game of football as an offensive lineman first at Fannin County High School and then at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His proficiency at that craft has been recognized by the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame voters who have elected him to the induction class of 2018. Tim also played in the defensive line at Fannin County but is best remembered for his performances on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage.

Generally offensive linemen slug it out with their opponents in the trenches and do not get a lot of publicity unless they miss a block that causes a hot-shot running back or quarterback to get clobbered by the opposing defense. Tim Jabaley, however, enjoyed a notable exception to that situation on the night of September 11, 1987. That evening, the Fannin Rebels met arch-rival Copper Basin in a football contest played in Blue Ridge. The Copper Basin Cougars were in the midst of their gridiron glory days and had defeated Fannin County in 6 of the 7 games that the rivals had played in a series that began in 1982. The teams met two times in 1982 and 1983 with Copper Basin winning each game.

The 1987 Copper Basin game saw the Rebels rush for 234 yards in a 29-14 victory. At 6’ 5”, 255 pounds, Tim Jabaley was a standout during the entire game. After reviewing and grading the game films, the Fannin County coaches fully realized the formidable force that Tim had been in the game and named him as the OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME. That’s right, an offensive tackle named as the outstanding offensive player in a big game. In an ironic twist, Rebel running back Brian Satterfield, arguably the best running back in Fannin County history and member of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame, was selected as the defensive player of the game in recognition of his 13 tackles and pass interception return for a touchdown.

Tim Jabaley played football, basketball and baseball as a youngster but his football career began in earnest when he played Little League football for a team coached by his father, Dr. R. T. Jabaley Sr. in the seventh grade. His father was an outstanding athlete in his own right and is also a member of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame. Then as an 8th grader, Tim played football at West Fannin Junior High School where his coach was yet another Hall of Fame member, Mike Ballew.

In his first season at Fannin County High, Tim played defensive tackle and was also a member of the wrestling team. He began to play both offense and defense as a sophomore and found his niche on the gridiron on the offensive side of the ball. On a team level, his high school career had dramatic ups and downs including an 0-10 record his freshman season followed by 6-4 and 7-3 records the next two seasons. Individually, his high school career reached a high water mark during his senior season of 1988. He was elected as team captain that season and was rewarded for his outstanding play by being named to the Atlanta Journal/Constitution Class AA All-State Honorable Mention team. He was recruited by numerous colleges and universities including the University of Georgia, Clemson, North Carolina State and UT Chattanooga. Tim and his family were treated to numerous on-campus visits and he has a stack of major college football game ticket stubs several inches thick as a reminder of his recruitment.

After completing his senior season at Fannin County, Tim Jabaley was awarded a scholarship to play college football at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. His goal from the get-go was to become a medical doctor so he embarked on his college career pursuing a rigorous pre-med academic regimen in addition to the considerable time demands of playing football at a major school. Tim is a very intense and motivated individual and he managed to handle the academic and athletic demands in exemplary fashion.

Academically, Tim Jabaley completed his stay at UTC graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Biology in 1993. He won three varsity letters in football, starting for the Mocs at offensive tackle in 1991 and 1992. In 1990 the Chattanooga Quarterback Club named him as the Most Improved Player on the squad. In 1992 he received the Dayle May Award for having the highest overall grade point average of all athletes at UTC.

During his career at UTC, Tim competed against powerhouses such as Alabama, Clemson, Boise State and Marshall. He played at historic Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, Death Valley in Clemson, South Carolina and on the famous blue field at Boise State in Idaho. He says that Alabama defensive ends Eric Curry and John Copeland were his toughest individual opponents. The opening game of the 1992 season against Boise State in faraway Idaho stands out as his biggest thrill in college. The Mocs upset the Broncos 35-20 in that memorable contest.

After graduating from UTC, Tim Jabaley headed for the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis and then on to Birmingham, Alabama to serve his internship and residency. He then found his way home to Fannin County where he opened his Internal Medicine practice in McCaysville in 2003. He remains in his local practice today in his hometown where lots of people refer to him as ‘Doc’. Tim says that his love of the area and its people and his family will keep him in Fannin County until he retires. He has two teen-age children, Timothy and Olivia. Timothy plays basketball and Olivia plays volleyball and is a cheerleader. His mother Kay continues to make her home in McCaysville. Tim’s father, Ron Jabaley, passed away in November, 2013.

Dr. Ronald Timothy Jabaley Jr. joins his younger sister Leslie as a member of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Both join their father, the late Dr. Ronald Timothy Jabaley Sr., who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.

Stephanie Scearce

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2018 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame inductee Stephanie Scearce began her competitive basketball career as a second grader and did not hang up her sneakers until a knee injury permanently sidelined her just before her senior season at Kennesaw State University. It was her third serious knee injury in a career full of a lot of euphoric highs and a few devastating lows.

Stephanie enjoyed her first taste of glory as a member of the Georgia Class C Parks and Recreation Department State Championship 9 and 10 year old team in 1997. She was tall and talented and full of both trepidation and enthusiasm when she reported to Coach Johnny Farmer to begin her career at Fannin County High School in the late fall of 2000. She won a starting job as a low post (inside) player beginning with her very first game as a freshman. 

Coach Farmer says that Stephanie was one of the hardest working players that he coached. And he adds that her hard work was focused. She was continually working at improving specific parts of her game — working on a new offensive move, ball handling skills, free throw shooting, boxing out for rebound position and other disciplines — with no wasted energy. She always reported for practice immediately after her final class and worked hard until it was time to go home. She also devoted countless hours to a weightlifting regimen to improve her strength. As a low post player she generally battled the biggest and strongest player for the opposition and strength was a necessity to effectively compete.

Stephanie set a number of goals, both individual and team, for her basketball career and by the time she finished her sophomore season at Fannin High she was well on her way to accomplishing those goals. On an individual level, her goal of being a first-team All-State selection was realized when the Atlanta Tip-Off Club and Atlanta Journal and Constitution named her to the GHSA Class AAA All-State First Team of the Year. She was also selected as the Lady Rebels Best Offensive Player. Dozens of letters from college recruiters arrived at the Scearce house and Stephanie was considered as a top Division 1 College prospect. She had developed a strong relationship with the coaching staff at SEC power Auburn, however, and was making preliminary plans to spend her college days at the ‘loveliest village on the plains’ in Auburn, Alabama.

One of Stephanie’s team goals was to win a State Championship and the 2001-2002 team came very close, advancing to the state semi-finals before losing. After the season, Coach Farmer says that he had high hopes that the returning squad for the 2002-2003 season would have a very realistic shot at bringing home a third State Championship to Blue Ridge. The team would be led by junior Stephanie Scearce and two other members of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame, junior Alden Acker and senior Mandy Anderson.

The 2002-2003 season had barely begun when the unthinkable happened. As Stephanie was driving to the basket in a Christmas Tournament game at Towns County she felt a ‘pop’ in her right knee. The injury was diagnosed as a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear and Stephanie was done for the season. She had surgery a short while later.

The injury was so serious that several of the teams that had been recruiting Stephanie, including Auburn, backed away. She went through an intensive rehabilitation program, however, and came back for her senior season in 2003-2004 at or near 100% of her physical skills prior to the injury. Despite the injury she remained on the recruiting lists of numerous colleges. Her senior season would become one to remember in Fannin County High School basketball history.

After a sluggish start, the 2003-2004 Fannin girls developed into a force to be reckoned with, finished with an overall record of 25-8 and advanced all the way to the Class AAA State Championship game before losing to arch-rival Gainesville. Stephanie averaged 17.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and was named as the Lady Rebels Most Valuable Player. The Georgia sports writers named her to the Class AAA All-State second team in recognition of her great season. Even missing most of her junior season and the first few games of her senior season, Stephanie Scearce scored 1,375 points during her career at Fannin County High School making her the third leading career scorer in school history. She was only 28 points shy of reaching the #1 spot. She was second in school history in career rebounds with 799. She graduated with honors and was ranked 26 academically in the 2004 graduating class. She was a member of the National Honor Society for three years.

Stephanie decided to continue her basketball career at Kennesaw State University, a school that was in the midst of moving up from Division II to Division I status for athletic competition. She had an auspicious debut with the Owls, scoring 18 points and gathering 13 rebounds in her first game against Southern Polytechnic. She went on to have a solid freshman year playing in all 30 games and finishing the year averaging 9 points and 6 rebounds per game. She had an individual game high of 24 points in a game against West Georgia.

Prior to the beginning of her sophomore season of 2005-2006, Stephanie found her career derailed again when she suffered another ACL tear, this time in her left knee. Another period of rehabilitation followed and she was healthy and ready to go when her junior season began in the fall of 2006. She was a major contributor to the Owls that season averaging 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. She led the team in rebounds with a total of 192. The injury demon appeared again before her senior season and she decided not to go through another round of rehabilitation and prepare for life without basketball.

Stephanie Scearce graduated from Kennesaw State University with a B.S. in Communications in 2008. An exceptionally bright, well-spoken young lady she landed a job as Executive Director with the Fannin County Development Authority in January of 2009 and remained in that position for nearly seven years. Her focus was in bringing new industry and jobs to Fannin County and in assisting existing businesses grow and develop. In October, 2015 she was offered and accepted a position as Northwest Georgia Project Manager with the Georgia Department of Economic Development. She makes her home in Woodstock, Georgia.

Throughout her career, Stephanie Scearce has been fortunate to have a strong support group led by her mother and father, Mike and Yevette Scearce. Mike is a banker and Yevette has been a 4th grade teacher at East Fannin Elementary School for more than 20 years. Stephanie gives Mike and Yevette much of the credit for her development as a basketball player, student and the sharp and sophisticated businesswoman that she is today

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Leslie Jabaley Mann

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2018 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame inductee Leslie Jabaley Mann came about her athletic prowess honestly. Athleticism is practically a tradition in the Jabaley family. Her father Ron excelled at football, baseball and wrestling during his playing days and was a 2015 inductee into the Hall of Fame. Her brother Tim will join her as an inductee in the class of 2018. Brother Chris was also an outstanding football player at Fannin County High School and is a top notch golfer.

Leslie was selected as the Most Athletic Senior girl in the Fannin County High School class of 1996. The caption next to her picture in the school yearbook indicates that she ‘is usually seen practicing some kind of sport’. Sports and family, with numerous crossovers between the two, have pretty much dominated Leslie’s life from her days at McCaysville Elementary School to the present. When asked how she spends her time these days, she is quick to point out that she and husband Joel Mann are committed to the development, in athletics and otherwise, of their two boys, Carter and Miles. Carter is an 8th grader at Fannin Middle School and plays football and baseball. Miles, a sophomore lineman at Fannin County High School, stands 6’ 6” and tips the scales at 290 pounds. If he continues to progress, he could be the next athlete in the Jabaley lineage to make his mark in athletics.

Leslie played basketball at Fannin County High School during the halcyon days from 1992 – 1996. As a freshman in 1992-93, she was a member of the first team in Fannin County sports history to win a state championship in any sport. As a senior in 1995-96, she was the leader of the team that finished with a record of 28-1, the best record in the history of the school. During her four years of competition, the Lady Rebels posted an impressive record of 98 victories and 13 defeats.

During her freshman season of 1992-93, Leslie played with both the junior varsity and varsity teams. She was the leading scorer and rebounder for the junior varsity and was valuable in a supporting role with the varsity. She was a varsity starter as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Leslie scored 1,187 points and pulled down 813 rebounds in her career with the Lady Rebels. She was named to the Atlanta Journal/Constitution All-State Honorable Mention team as a junior and to the second team as a senior. As a senior she was elected team captain and earned team Most Valuable Player award. She led her team in scoring as a junior and again as a senior. She was named to the Christmas Tournament All-Tournament team as a junior and as a senior. The North Georgia Tip-Off Club selected her as the team Player of the Year at the end of her junior season. She also found time to letter in softball all four years at Fannin.

Leslie was a formidable force as a low post (inside) player at Fannin County High School. She was a rugged rebounder and defender, and more than one opponent felt the sting of trying to run through one of her screens. She also earns high marks from coaches and astute observers for her deft shooting touch and her performance under pressure. She was an honor student and popular with her fellow students.

After graduating from Fannin County High School, Leslie signed a basketball scholarship with Cleveland State Community College in nearby Cleveland, Tennessee. At her signing ceremony, Cleveland State Coach Rusty Melvin said that “she is considered one of the top 25 players in Georgia and is definitely a Division I prospect. She was also an honor student in high school and we are very fortunate that she wants to play for us”. Leslie scored 20 points in her first game at Cleveland State and played there for one season.  During that season, she was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.

Leslie and Joel Mann currently make their home just outside of McCaysville, Georgia. Their neighbor is Leslie’s mother Kay and family activities play an important role in their lives. Leslie is an optician at Jabaley Eye Care in Blue Ridge where she works alongside her brother Dr. Chris Jabaley in the practice founded by their late father Dr. Ron Jabaley in 1968.

 

Mandy Anderson

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2018 Fannin County Sports Inductee Mandy Anderson scored more than 1,000 points during her basketball career at Fannin County High School between 1999 and her graduation in the spring of 2003. She then continued her basketball career at Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia where she scored 1,138 points in a four year career with the Lady Eagles making her the only basketball player in the history of Fannin County to score more than 1,000 points at both the high school and college level.
When Mandy began her basketball career at Fannin High in the autumn of 1999, the Lady Rebels were coming off a State Championship season. The 1998-99 State Champs were a senior-dominated team so Mandy entered the program at the beginning of a ‘rebuilding’ process. Mandy made the varsity squad as a freshman and went on to start for the Lady Rebels for her final three years at Blue Ridge. On a team level, her high school career crested in 2002 when her team reached the semi-finals of the Class AAA State Tournament.

At Fannin High, Mandy played softball and participated in track and field, in addition to her primary sport of basketball. She played third base and shortstop for the Lady Rebels softball team while starting all four years. Her teams won Region Softball Championships in 2002 and 2003. In track and field she found that she had a natural ability to throw the discus. With very little coaching, she learned the techniques for that event and won two Region Championships and was the runner up the other two years. She had a third and a fourth place finish in the discus in the state meet during her high school career.

Basketball, however was Mandy’s first love and primary sport. She was very, very good at the sport and decided fairly early on that basketball would likely be her ticket to earning a college degree. She worked hard and was rewarded by being named to the Atlanta Tip-Off Club Class AAA All-State second team as a junior and again as a senior. She was named as her team’s MVP as a senior. She never missed a day of school in 12 years and graduated with honors in the top 10% of the 2003 Fannin County High School graduating class.

Mandy was an undersized post player (inside player) in high school and the college recruiters did not beat a path to her door. Coach Johnny Farmer helped arrange a try-out at Reinhardt University and Mandy was offered a partial scholarship. Rookie Coach TJ Rosene brought in nine freshmen in the recruiting class of 2003 and dangled the carrot of a possible full scholarship to a select few ladies who could make the grade. He took the group along with a few other possible recruits to Hilton Head in the summer of 2003. The girls lived and practiced together for a week. Mandy knew that her college future depended upon her performance in this mini ‘boot camp’ and that she put forth the very best effort that she could manage during that week. She was rewarded when, at the end of the camp, Coach Rosene rewarded her with a full basketball scholarship.

Mandy played in 124 games at Reinhardt during her four year career. She saw a lot of playing time as a freshman and started her last three years. Her best season was in 2005-06 when she averaged 14.5 points per game for the Lady Eagles.

Mandy Anderson is an exceptionally bright young woman who has built a career from learning from every situation that has come her way in athletics. In high school, she says that she learned the meaning of intensity and will to win from mentor Johnny Farmer. She learned a great deal about the Xs and Os of the game from assistant Eddie Payne. She also credits Coach Payne for helping to instill much of her love for coaching. During her first two seasons at Reinhardt, she learned a great deal about advanced theories of the game including a working knowledge of the ‘Read and React’ Offense. After her second season at Reinhardt, however, she also learned that, basketball is a business. It was at that point that TJ Rosene, her coach, mentor and, in many respects, role model, moved from the women’s program to accept the position as head coach of the men’s team. For Resene, it was a sound move career-wise and he has gone on to great success as the head coach at NCAA Division 2 powerhouse Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia. Losing her head coach was difficult for Mandy, but she understood his reasons and learned from the experience.

Upon graduation from Reinhardt, armed with a Magna Cum Laude degree in Health and Physical Education, she began her career in teaching and coaching. She was soon offered an assistant coach position at Reinhardt and remained there for three years. She moved on to River Ridge High School for two seasons and then to Sequoyah High in Cherokee County where she was an assistant girls basketball coach for five seasons.

Mandy found that she preferred coaching at the high school level because there a coach was required to work with the material provided through the natural progression through the school system — or as Mandy phrases it “you play the hand that you are dealt”. At the college level, a coach was required to recruit players that hopefully would fit into his/her philosophy of the game. At the high school level, a coach worked with the players that came up through the school system and adapted a style of play to the talents of the players on hand. She remembers that Eddie Payne had voiced this philosophy during her days at Fannin County but did not fully grasp its meaning until she faced the same situation as a coach.

After five years at Sequoyah, in the spring of 2017, Mandy Anderson found herself at a crossroads in her career. She was becoming increasingly involved in the sport of CrossFit, both as a participant and as an instructor, and found that the time requirements of that endeavor coupled with the time required to fulfill her coaching duties were almost too much to fit into a 24-hour day. Fortuitously, a contact from her Reinhardt days approached her with the opportunity to become a basketball official with the GHSA. She decided to pursue that course, resigned at Sequoyah and is presently working toward becoming a basketball official at the middle and high school level for the upcoming 2017-18 hoops season. It is a male-dominated profession, but Mandy has the knowledge, confidence and general aura of ‘don’t mess with me, I know what I’m doing’ to be a success at this new opportunity in her young life.

Mandy lives in Woodstock, Georgia but visits her parents and two younger sisters in Fannin County often. Her mother was her first coach when Mandy was 7 years old and her sisters, Tasha and Stephanie, followed in her footsteps as outstanding basketball players at Fannin County High School. In fact the two younger ‘Anderson sisters’ both were good enough to play college basketball, Tasha at Brenau in Gainesville and Stephanie at Cleveland State. Tasha is currently the girls basketball coach at Fannin County Middle School.

Barely past 30 years of age, Mandy Anderson has already experienced quite a journey in athletics. In many ways, however, her journey has just begun.

 

Keith Dockery

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In recognition of his outstanding football career at East Fannin High School from 1968-1972, Keith Dockery has been elected to the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame.
A native of Morganton, Keith and his family moved to the Tampa, Florida area after he finished the 4th grade. They moved back to Fannin County just in time for Keith to graduate from Morganton Elementary School. He had not participated in any type of competitive athletics until he entered East Fannin High School in the fall of 1968. Keith had developed physically into a strong, fast and generally athletic young man who decided to add football and basketball competition to his resume of activities. He made the starting football team as a lineman as a sophomore and also was a member of the JV basketball team that year. With a wink and a grin, Keith remembers that, following his sophomore season, his coaches “decided it would be better if I concentrated my efforts of football”.

Organized, competitive high school football had been introduced to the athletic programs of Fannin County schools after the county-wide school consolidation program of 1955. Prior to that time, the high schools in the county, Fannin County High in Morganton, Epworth High School, Blue Ridge High School and McCaysville High School, were deemed too small to compete in sanctioned football, plus the expenses associated with football programs were considered excessive. In the fall of 1955, these four high schools were consolidated into two new schools called East Fannin and West Fannin High Schools. A funny thing happened on the way to consolidation, however, when local decision makers decided to send the students who formerly attended Epworth, Blue Ridge and McCaysville High Schools to the new West Fannin High School. The new East Fannin High School simply provided a more modern building and physical plant to serve students who had formerly attended Fannin County High in Morganton. From the start, the enrollment figures at East Fannin hovered in the range of 200-275 students. In athletics, the obvious offshoot is that there were not a lot of able-bodied young men available to field a competitive football team.

When Keith Dockery took the field to begin football contests during the 1969, 1970 and 1971 seasons, he knew that it was highly unlikely that he would leave the field of battle before the final whistle. The East Fannin teams of those years generally had anywhere from 13 to possibly 19 players at any one time. Despite the numbers, however, Keith Dockery and a few teammates, including Randall and Ronnie Beavers, soon established a reputation for their gridiron skills. Keith generally played in the offensive line when the Wildcats were in possession of the football and linebacker when the opposing team had the ball. During his senior season, he had grown into an athletic body at 6’1”, 210 pounds. He excelled as both and blocker and as a defender.

For his performance during the 1970 season, his junior season, Keith Dockery was recognized by the Atlanta Journal/Constitution when the sportswriters named him to the Class C All-State Honorable Mention team. The next season, 1971, he was named as a first team selection on the All-State team. This accomplishment placed Keith in some rarefied company since only 4 football players during the entire existence of East and West Fannin High Schools, 1955 through 1976, were so honored. Keith Dockery joined Aldon Farmer and David Turner of East Fannin and Carlton Guthrie of West Fannin as first team selections during that period.

Keith also earned several team honors during his football career at East Fannin. He was a team co-captain as a junior in 1970 and was named as the team’s Most Valuable Lineman. As a senior in 1971, he was elected as team captain and as the Best Defensive Player on the team. His classmates recognized his abilities by named him as the Most Athletic Senior Boy in the 1971-72 class. He was also a student leader and was a member of the Key Club and Big E Club at East Fannin.
In June, 1972, shortly after his graduation from East Fannin High School, Keith Dockery signed on with the United States Army. He was as proficient at soldiering as he had been at pancaking a defensive end and he remained in the Army for sixteen years. He was a honor graduate from his Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Knox in November, 1972 and received a promotion from Private (E-2 rank) to Private First Class (E-3 rank) in recognition of that achievement. In 1978 he was named as the Soldier of the Year at Ft. Polk, Louisiana.

In June of 1979, Dockery applied to and was accepted to Rotary Wing Flight School at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. It was a decision that would shape his career for the remainder of his working life. He received his Aviator Wings in May, 1980, the day after completing the flight school program. He would devote the remainder of his time in the military to flying helicopters and teaching others as an Instructor Pilot.

After leaving the military in 1988, Keith spent some time travelling and reconnected with his high school sweetheart at East Fannin, Louise Gibbs. Louise, Homecoming Queen at East Fannin in 1971, and Keith were married in March, 1989.

The love of flying proved a strong lure for Keith Dockery and he accepted a position with Air Logistics in January of 1989. He remained with them as a Helicopter Pilot, Lead Pilot and finally as a Base Manager before retiring in 2013. He was named as the firm’s overall Employee of the Year in 1999.

Keith and Louise currently make their home in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Keith Dockery has led a life filled with accomplishments in athletics and in service to his country. The Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame is proud to welcome him as a member.

 

John Mercer Carter

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Men or women like John Mercer Carter only come along once or twice in a generation. Mr. Carter was a man of extraordinary character, vision and energy who devoted much of his 102 years on earth to education, athletics and public service in and around Fannin County. In recognition of his many accomplishments and contributions to athletics, both as a participant and as a coach and administrator, John Carter has been elected to the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2018.John was born in the community of Cobbs, North Carolina, close to the Georgia border in September, 1886. His father J.M. Carter was an educator and evangelist of some note who moved the family to Mineral Bluff and then to a farm near Morganton, Georgia before John reached the age of 10. J.M. Carter was one of the principals in the establishment of the North Georgia Baptist College in Morganton, a school that provided a quality education to students between grade one through two years of college. It was here that John Carter received his rudimentary education before moving on to the University of Georgia to complete the requirements to teach in schools at that time. He began his teaching career at a one room school in Hemp, Georgia in 1908.John Carter discovered the game of baseball around the turn of the century. In his book ‘Trails of the Past’, Carter tells of visits to his grandparents in Bellvue, North Carolina after his family had moved to Morganton. Another young man, Ty Cobb, who was two months younger than John, also visited his grandparents in the same community around that same time. The two boys played together as youngsters and, most likely faced each other in baseball games during the early years of the century. John had begun his career with the team from North Georgia Baptist College and Ty was often drafted to play with the semi-pro team in nearby Murphy, North Carolina while visiting in Bellevue. Cobb began his professional career when he signed with the Augusta, Georgia team in April, 1904, just as John Carter was completing his high school education.

Baseball was without question America’s National Pastime from the early years of the 20th century into the 1950s and John Carter played the game with a passion. He was generally a catcher and, due to his playing ability, grasp of the finer points of the game and natural leadership qualities, usually found himself in the role of coach or manager of the teams for which he played. He played for some of the better semi-professional teams of North Georgia, Western North Carolina and Southeastern Tennessee for more than 50 years. In addition to Cobb, John Carter competed with and against some of the finest athletes of the day during his career including Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, future New York Yankees pitcher Spud Chandler, Cy Grant of University of Georgia fame, Joe Jenkins, a teammate at Morganton and member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, as well as local legends such as Tiny Swafford, Harry McNally and the Tipton Brothers.

 Carter states in his memoirs that he was offered several opportunities to pursue a professional baseball career. He was not inclined, however, to embark on a life of travel and professional uncertainty, preferring to remain with family and in his beloved teaching profession. Financially, a life in professional baseball during Carter’s playing days did not offer the huge benefits available to players today. In an era of fierce competition among strong local semi-professional teams, he was often recruited to play for teams in crucial games for the unheard of sums of $50-$100 per game. Added to his remuneration from his teaching jons, he felt that his financial condition was probably favorable to a life in professional baseball.

 Although he enjoyed an outstanding baseball career as a player, John Mercer Carter’s contributions as a coach, educator and administrator left a much more permanent on the landscape of athletics in and around Fannin County.

Beginning in the fall of 1908 Carter taught in the schools of Fannin County until the autumn of 1917, with two interruptions. During this period, he was a teacher and coach at North Georgia Baptist College for two years and also served as a teacher and coach at North Georgia College in Dahlonega for one year.

 In the fall of 1917, Carter was brought to Copperhill High School as a teacher and to modernize the athletic program at the school. At that time Copperhill High School served roughly equal numbers of students from Tennessee and from the nearby town of McCaysville, Georgia and its environs. The only other high school opportunities for students in Fannin County at the time were at the Epworth Seminary, a high school at Mineral Bluff (until 1925), the North Georgia Baptist College in Morganton (which became a public school in 1926) or the Mary Willingham School for Girls in Blue Ridge. All were a considerable distance from Copperhill/McCaysville and were difficult to reach considering the primitive transportation conditions at the time. So the logical alternative for local Georgia students was to pay a tuition fee and attend school at Copperhill High School.

 When Carter arrived at Copperhill, the school’s basketball teams played on an outdoor court and the school did not have a football program at all. Two of John Carter’s chief contributions at the school were the building of a modern basketball facility in 1923 and the establishment of a football program in the fall of 1925. After taking the position as coach and teacher (he later was elevated to the position of principal) he quickly recognized the need for a community club-type facility to provide for recreation, including competitive basketball, for the young men and women of the area. He organized a community club, including a facility for basketball competition, in an existing building shortly after his arrival. When local civic and business leaders recognized the positive impact of the endeavor, funds were raised from the citizenry and the Tennessee Copper Company to build a new facility that was called the Copperhill YMCA. The gymnasium at the Copperhill YMCA served as the venue for Copperhill and McCaysville High School and elementary school games until the 1950s.

 Establishing a football program was no small endeavor in but Carter, along with another visionary teacher at Copperhill, B. Fred German, accomplished that task in the fall of 1925. German coached the first football team and Carter continued to coach the basketball teams. He continued in that role until he left Copperhill at the close of the 1928-29 school year.

 The 1929-30 school year found John Carter as the head baseball and basketball coach at North Georgia College in Dahlonega.

 After a few years as coach and school principal in the Asheville, North Carolina area John Carter returned to Fannin County as the principal and coach at Fannin County High School in Morganton. The school had made the transition from North Georgia Baptist College to a public school in 1926 and much of the physical plant needed a major overhaul. The gymnasium, for example, also housed the Morganton Elementary School. Under the direction of John Carter the facilities were modernized and by the 1934-35 school year Fannin County High School boasted a gymnasium which according to Carter “would seat about 1800 people comfortably and was considered to be the best lighted gym between Atlanta and Knoxville”.

 Carter’s greatest coup at Fannin County High School was persuading the decision-making powers in Georgia District 9 athletic circles to hold the District tournament for the Western Division schools at Morganton in the early spring of 1935. In an upset of monumental proportions, the Fannin girls rose to the occasion and defeated Duluth, Hiawassee (Towns County) and perennial power Jasper (Pickens County) to win the Western Division championship. They then journeyed over to Clarkesville and defeated the Eastern Division champions to capture the overall Georgia District 9 girls basketball championship. Georgia did not hold a girls basketball state tournament at that time so the Fannin girls, under the leadership of John Carter, accomplished as much as was possible for them at the time.

 Following the 1934-35 school year John Mercer Carter had devoted most of his 50 years of service to education and athletics and his participation in athletics to Fannin County and its immediate environs. Opportunities came his way from the east in Buncombe County, North Carolina, however, so John Carter packed up his family and returned to Fairview High School near Asheville where he was hired as principal and coach. He devoted the next 23 years of his professional life to the Buncombe County School System as a teacher and coach until his retirement in 1958.

 John Mercer lived an additional 30 years after his retirement from teaching, coaching and playing the game of baseball. He remained in the Asheville, North Carolina area until his death in 1988. He stayed busy and found time to pen his memoirs ‘Trails of the Past’ in 1977. In the Introduction of this book an unnamed writer described the final 30 years of Carter’s life thusly: “Retirement for ‘Pop’ Carter was the start of new activities including farming, construction work and lecturing. Most importantly, he continues to teach each person he comes in contact with how to live better with themselves and with their fellow man”. A great tribute to a great man.

 

Class of 2018 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame

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The 2018 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Class was introduced August 9,2017 in a ceremony at the Fannin County Recreation Multi-Purpose facility on Tom Boyd Road. In this group photo the first four individuals on the left were there to represent Hall of Fame inductee John Mercer Carter. They are (left to right), Dot Carter, who is the surviving spouse of Carter’s son Larry, Dot’s grand daughter Heather, Heather’s son Nathan and Carter’s grandniece Glenda Wattenbarger, who makes her home in Epworth. The other three Carter descendants in attendance made the trip from Asheville, North Carolina to attend. Next is inductee Keith Dockery. To Keith’s right as you look at the picture are Roxie Reed and Leigh Muse, two members of the 1996-97 Fannin County High girls basketball team selected to the class. The next two inductees pictured are Tim Jabaley and Leslie Jabaley Mann. Next is Kelly Queen, a member of the 1996-97 team. Next in line are 2018 inductee Stephanie Scearce, Johnny Farmer (coach of the 96-97 team), inductee Mandy Anderson and Eddie Payne (assistant coach of the 96-97 team).

2018 Inductees

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The FCSHOF met in Blue Ridge today and counted the votes for the FCSHOF class of 2018. The six individual inductees are John Mercer Carter, Keith Dockery, Mandy Anderson, Leslie Jabaley Mann, Tim Jabaley and Stephanie Scearce. The team selected in the 1996-97 Fannin County High School girls basketball team.

1986 Fannin County High School Baseball Team

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With the possible exception of athletes who play football for the University of Alabama or women’s basketball at the University of Connecticut, being a part of an undefeated team at any level of competition is something very special. Few teams in the history of Fannin County have managed to run the gauntlet of an entire season of competition unscathed. The 1986 (1985-86 school year) Fannin County High School baseball team, however, managed to do just that. The lusty 18-0 regular season record posted by the 1986 has earned them a place in the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

The athletic program at Fannin High was in a period of transition during the 1985-86 school term. The average daily attendance at Fannin High was smack on the border between an AAA and an AA classification. The level of competition faced in the two classes is quite significant. Athletic teams at the school competed in the Class AAA division beginning with the 1978-79 year and remained at that level through the 1984-85 school term. It was an uphill struggle for the athletic teams at Fannin to be competitive at the AAA level. The football teams, for example, posted an overall record of 10-58-2 over the seven year period.

Sometime during the 1984-85 school term, the decision was made to drop from the AAA to the AA level. The powers that be decided that the 1985-86 teams, including the 1986 baseball team would not be eligible for any region crowns nor would they be allowed to participate in region tournaments during that year. The 1986 Fannin baseball team did not let that bother them, however, as they ran roughshod over every team on a schedule that included Copper Basin, Gilmer County, Pickens County, Fairmount, Rabun County, Towns County, Redbud, Lumpkin County and Union County. Most of those opponents were the same schools that had appeared on Fannin County schedules in the past.

The 1986 baseball team was characterized by sound fundamental baseball play, outstanding pitching and defense, timely hitting and a sizeable helping of good team chemistry. Brad Mitchell, the starting catcher, describes the team as “very businesslike — everyone knew their job and everyone did their job”. He continues recall that the team had a good understanding of the game and that demonstrative celebrations during competition were kept to a minimum. There was much cause for celebration during the season but Brad relates that the celebrations at away games were postponed until each player had taken their seats on the bus and after the bus had cleared the immediate area of competition. Then shortstop Kurt Warren, a slick fielder who also hit .367, would crank up his cassette player to maximum volume and play ‘Bad to the Bone’ by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. In homage to ZZ Top, another pop group of the era, the team began to refer to the 1986 season as their own version of the ‘Eliminator Tour’.

Yogi Berra is credited with saying that baseball is 50% hitting and 50% pitching — and the other half is defense. The 1986 Fannin pitching staff was led by starters righty Jeff Gray, who posted 10 victories, Chris Chastain with 5 wins and lefty Jimmy Nichols who was the winning pitcher in the remaining 3 games. Bullpen duty was primarily the responsibility of Rex Mashburn.

Defensively, the Rebels generally lined up with Howie Bruce at first base, Tim Lents at second, music aficionado Kurt Warren at short with Dennis McClure holding down the hot corner when Jeff Gray was pitching. Jeff moved over to third when he was not on the mound. Starting flycatchers were Shan Culpepper in left, Jeff Warrenfells in center and Sonny Mashburn in right. As previously reported, Brad Mitchell, who also quarterbacked the Rebel football team, was the starting catcher. Valuable backups were Joey Breeden at first, Dewayne Thomas at second, Richie Walker who saw a lot of action in the outfield, along with freshmen Cole Staton and Bryan Davis.     

Offensively the Rebels were a very balanced club boasting a team batting average of .311. Individual stats showed Sonny McFarland leading the team in hitting with a .407 average, followed closely by Jeff Gray at .382, Kurt Warren at .367, Tim Lents at .339, Jeff Warrenfells at .333 and Howie Bruce with an average of .328. The team also recorded an on base percentage of .519. Other notable offensive numbers that were school records at the time were runs scored in one season at 177, most hits at 173 and most runs scored in one inning at 11 in two different games. Jeff Gray led the team in RBIs with 25, home runs with 4, hits at 26 and 17 stolen bases. Kurt Warren led the team in runs scored with 21, Howie Bruce in doubles with 7 and Shan Culpepper and Kurt Warren led in sacrifices with 5 each.

On the defensive side, the team had 7 double plays. On the mound Jeff Gray posted an ERA of 1.29 with 72 strikeouts, Chris Chastain had an ERA of 1.58 and 62 strikeouts and Jimmy Nichols had 45 strikeouts and an unbelievable ERA of .80. Reliever Rex Mashburn struck out 7 enemy batters and had an ERA of 3.36.

The most common adjective that the players use to describe their group is ‘close-knit’. ‘Camaraderie’ is another word heard when the 1986 baseball Rebels look back on their great season.

In case you have been wondering, the Coach of the 1986 Fannin County Rebel Baseball team was David Lunsford.  Coach Lunsford gets good marks from contemporaries for his baseball knowledge and coaching methods.

The Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame is proud to tell anyone within hearing distance about the outstanding achievements of the 1986 Fannin County High Boys of Summer who did so much to make everyone in the County very proud of them and their record.

Chris Williams

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Mineral Bluff native Chris Williams donned a football uniform for the first time as a member the East Fannin Junior High School Wildcats in the fall of 1983. It was the first step in a 19-year journey during which the game of football would be an important part of his life, first as a player and then as a coach. His resume of outstanding gridiron accomplishments has earned him a place in the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame, class of 2017.

Chris describes his early days of football competition thusly: “Coaches Jack McHan, Robert Craig and Jeff Quinton took a big overweight kid with some skill and helped him develop and learn to love the game of football. This kid even became team captain his ninth grade year”. He also credits his Uncle Aldon Farmer, a charter member of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame, for encouraging him to continue to participate in athletics and try to make it to the next level.

The next level for Chris Williams came when he entered Fannin County High School. There, he played football and participated in track and field from 1985 through 1988. He was awarded three varsity letters in football and two in track and field. In track and field, he competed in both the shot put and discus events. He was a two time Region 8AA runner-up in the shot put competition and finished second in the Region in the discus throw at the 1988 Region track meet.

In football at Fannin County High, Chris played both offense and defense. He was named as the Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Union County in 1987 earning a grade of 91% for his blocking success in that game. He was singled out as the ‘Lineman of the Week’ on several occasions. Coach Marty Jackson said that Chris was “the best lineman yet to come out of Fannin County. He is a great athlete, a team leader who also leads by example. He came on real strong last season”.

At Fannin High, Chris played for teams that improved from an 0-10 record in 1985 to a mark of 7-3 in 1987. The latter was the best record that the Fannin Rebels had ever achieved.

After his high school senior season, Chris was awarded a football scholarship to attend the University of North Alabama, a perennial powerhouse in Division II college football. Teammate Brian Satterfield also received a scholarship from the Lions, and the two became the first athletes in Fannin County High School history to earn college grants for athletics.

Chris played four seasons at North Alabama, earning three varsity letters in the process. He played in the offensive line in 1989 and competed as a defensive lineman in 1990 and 1991. He was selected as game captain on several occasions as a junior and senior.

He stayed at North Alabama as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons after completing his playing eligibility. During those two years, Chris earned his Masters Degree and was a member of the coaching staff of the 1993 North Alabama team that won the Division II National Championship with an overall record of 14 wins and no losses.

Chris returned to Fannin County in August, 1994, where he began his high school coaching career. He was on the staff at Fannin for three seasons. The 1995 Rebels posted a school-best record of 12-1 and a final ranking of 7th in Class AA competition in the state of Georgia.

Chris went on to coach for four more seasons, at Forsyth Central High in 1997 and 1998 and then at Pickens County High in 1999 and 2000. During the summer of 1998, he was honored by being selected as assistant coach of the North team in the annual North vs South Georgia All-Star game played in Athens. He served as the offensive line coach and player liaison director. In addition to his football coaching duties, Chris was also the Head Wrestling Coach at Forsyth and Pickens County.

Chris describes his biggest thrill in athletics as just being one of the ‘Boys of Fall’. He says that he “enjoyed the competition and tough lessons that sports can teach you. I learned more from losing than I did winning but I enjoyed winning much better”.

Chris Williams currently resides in Blue Ridge with his wife Kristen. He is employed by the Gilmer County Education Department. He enjoys coaching his 10-year old son, Isaiah, in wrestling and watching 3-year old daughter Kensington dance. Isaiah is an up and coming young wrestler and has already won two state titles in his weight division.

He credits his parents, Rev. Larry and Beulah Williams, with being the biggest influences in his life. He also mentions the many coaches with whom he has played or worked, including North Alabama Head Coach Bobby Wallace, as being positive influences in his life and career. Finally, he credits his “second mom and dad, Dr. Ron and Kay Jabaley” and Dr. Tim Jabaley for their support and love “along the journey”.