On the Mark
By D. Mark Mitchell
Opelika City School students return to school this week after being off for Christmas and New Year’s.
While school was closed, athletics were quiet as well.
The OHS Boys Basketball team (0-5) played its last game Dec. 17 at Handley. OHS lost its fifth in a row, 80-76.
The Bulldogs played AHS in Auburn Tuesday night (1-5).
The results were not available at press time.
First year head coach Emmanuel Brown has had a tough start to his first year as head coach. Brown is trying to get his team better despite only playing five games.
Hopefully, games scheduled in January will not be interrupted.
The Varsity Boys team hosts Pike Road Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Mainstreet gym.
OHS, Valley and Eufaula make up the three-game team area.
Opelika’s Area games: at Eufaula Jan. 12, at Valley Jan. 14, home against Eufaula Jan. 19 and home against Valley Jan. 29.
The winner of the regular season area title hosts the area tournament and earns a playoff game.
The top two teams advance to the 6A playoffs.
The OHS Girls team, 4-4 under Head Coach Devin Booth, has been able to play three more games as the boys.
The Lady Bulldogs played Auburn High Tuesday night (Jan 5) at the AHS gym prior to the boys.
(No results were available at press time)
The girls play the same area schedule as the boys.
OHS is trying to win the regular season title, earning them the right to host the tournament and ensuring a trip to the playoffs.
Coach Booth is trying to guide her team to the state finals for an unprecedented fourth time in as many seasons.
COVID and AHSAA
The next few weeks go a long way determining the fate of athletics in Alabama.
The Alabama Department of Health and the CDC are worried about the spread of COVID in students. If we see a statewide spread of the virus in high school students, you may see some new guidelines from the AHSAA.
Schools across Alabama are still learning to operate in the middle of a pandemic.
ON THE MARK
ON RADIO
If you enjoy keeping up with local sports and news, tune into FOX Sports the Game 910-1310 and listen to “On the Mark” presented by the Orthopaedic Clinic, 6-9 a.m. CST on weekdays.
Guest hosts include: Coach Dan Washburn, Coach Joe Wilson, Coach Doug Barfield, James Cooper (Western Sizzlin), Derek Lee (Director of OPS), Dr. Jeff Meyers (Senior Pastor First Baptist Opelika), Chris Wood (NFL stats), Terry Rosenthal (CEO Orthopaedic Clinic) and former Alabama Head Football Coach Gene Stallings.
You can keep up with local city governments too.
Lanett Mayor Kyle McCoy, Valley Mayor Leornard Riley, Auburn Mayor Ron Anders and Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller call “On the Mark” the morning after each City Council Meeting.
Join Jeff Sasser and me (D.Mark) on the radio at 910am–1310am, online at foxsportsthegame.com and on the IHeartRadio app.
Weekdays 6-9 a.m. CST.