BASKETBALL: Lady Jackets get tripped up by Bowdon on the road

Finishing the regular season last week with a 3-7 record, the Spartans missed the playoffs and finished fifth in a new region after reclassification moved teams around in Class 5A.

South Paulding had a few bright spots: a 45-21 win over Lithia Springs to break a 4-game season opening losing streak, a 21-15 win over Kennesaw Mountain and a 21-14 win to cap off the season over Alexander.

The only game the Spartans failed to get on the scoreboard was against a big shutout loss to Rome at home.

Albert McCoy finished his senior season as rushing leader for the Spartans, netting 135 carries for 982 yards and three touchdowns on the year. Junior Kade Wigginton had a 53-100 passing completions to attempt season for 900 yards, throwing for 11 touchdowns and losing four interceptions.

Connor Street also got a few opportunities under center as well in his senior season, going 10 of 19 for 234 yards and three touchdowns in his run on the year for the Spartans.

Matt Patchin grabbed the most passes as the leading receiver on the year, netting 29 catches on the year for 724 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Defense is where the Spartans need the biggest improvements heading into the 2025 season. They didn’t have any standouts on defense (based on numbers available at time of writing) and let teams score 312 points on them compared to the 185 points they scored.

South Paulding has hit a slump over the past two seasons, going 3-8 in the 2023 season. They had four winning seasons in a row making it to the playoffs three out of the four years and into second round games in two of them.