By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics Glynn Academy has a new head boys basketball coach. Jessan Gray, who has coached previously in Glynn County, has been hired to take over the Red Terrors program. He assumes the position left vacant when former head coach Terrance Haywood stepped down following the 2023-2024 season after leading Glynn to the regular-season title in Region 2-AAAAAA. Glynn County Schools executive director of athletics Steve Waters announced Gray’s hiring on Wednesday. “We are very excited to have Jessan come on board as the new head basketball coach at Glynn Academy,” Waters said. “I have followed Jessan’s career over the years, and the timing was just right to bring him back to Southeast Georgia. He has devoted his life to coaching the game of basketball, and he is not only a great basketball coach, but he is also a great mentor and leader.” Gray coached previously at Needwood Middle where he led the Warriors to a 21-10 record while working at the local middle school from 2015-2018. He actually found his way to Brunswick initially because his parents were working at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. While here, he also helped create Golden Isles Basketball, an AAU program which turned out several winning teams under his guidance. Gray also has coached coached successful AAU teams back in his native state of Iowa. He once played for one of the same teams he later coached back home. Since March 2022, he has been back in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he owns Iowa Basketball Academy. Gray has served as the operator and head trainer for the program while overseeing all aspects of the middle-school and high-school teams at the academy. He is excited about returning to coastal Georgia to coach high school hoops. “I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the men’s basketball program at Glynn Academy,” Gray said. “I look forward to working with the talented athletes and helping them achieve their full potential both on and off the court.” Gray played high school basketball in Iowa at Davenport Central, where he was a top-100 McDonald’s All-American nominee. He played one year of college basketball at Indiana University in 2003-04 under Mike Davis who replaced legendary coach Bobby Knight when he was dismissed by the Hoosiers. Gray played at Tyler Junior College as a sophomore and was rated the sixth-best power forward in the nation by Lindy’s magazine prior to the season. He would end up finishing his collegiate career at Iowa State, playing for the Cyclones his final two years. He won the Pete Taylor Hustle Award in 2006 while playing at Iowa State. Gray, who is 6-foot-10, went on to play professionally for 15 seasons in 26 different countries. He inherits a Glynn team that went 22-6 this past season while finishing 10-2 in the region with a starting lineup that usually featured three seniors and two juniors. ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics Glynn Academy dominated the All-Region Girls Soccer Team in Region 2-AAAAAA which was announced on Wednesday. The Lady Terrors, winners of the region, had the Region Co-Players of the Year in senior forward Capers Childs and junior goalkeeper Caroline Mackinnon. Childs has been the top five in scoring every year she played and this year scored 29 goals while also recording 15 assists. In 10 region starts, McKinnon was 9-1 in goal for Glynn. She had 30 saves on 36 shots and had a clean sheet in the game against Grovetown which secured the region crown for the Lady Terrors. She also had two penalty shootout wins with the Lady Terrors. Glynn also had several players make the All-Region squad including senior midfielder Eliza Meader, sophomore defender Abigail Parker, freshman defender Reynolds Robitz and freshman forward Charlie Young. GA head coach Tom Lemmon was also named the Region Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Terrors to the league title. ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics Glynn Academy had a strong presence on the All-Region Tennis Teams which were announced by Region 2-AAAAAA on Wednesday. For the GA boys, Cameron Gazaway was the Region Player of the Year while Glynn head coach Marcus Long was also named the Region Coach of the Year after leading the Red Terrors to the region championship. Also representing the Terrors on the First-Team were Graham Meetz at No. 2 singles, David Thompson at No. 3 and Andrew McKinnon and Cameron Schueneman at No. 1 doubles. Earning honorable-mention recognition was Glynn’s No. 2 doubles team of Aiden Halfhill and Jonah Eeten. Also on the girls side, Glynn’s top singles player, Ellie Luppino, made First-Team. Making Second-Team were Aubree Bisesi at No. 2 singles and Camille McDaniel and Morgan Rooks at No. 2 doubles. Honorable-mention picks for the Lady Terrors were Ansley Beck at No. 3 singles and Kat Cranz and Sara Elisabeth at No. 1 doubles. ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Glynn Academy boys soccer team will play a huge game Tuesday night at Glynn County Stadium. The Red Terrors are set to host Lassiter at 7 p.m. between the bricks in the quarterfinals of the Class AAAAAA state tournament. Lassiter is the defending state champion. Glynn advanced to the Elite Eight with a thrilling 5-4 victory at home last Friday over St. Pius X. The Terrors led 4-2 late in the game, only to see the visitors knock home two quick goals to tie the score with less than four minutes to play. Glynn made the game-winner, though, on a free kick from 25 yards away with 90 seconds remaining in regulation. The Terrors are making their third straight appearance in the Elite Eight as the league champion in Region 2-AAAAAA. Lassiter is the third seed from Region 7 which has its top three teams still playing in the quarterfinals. ...

By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics The Glynn Academy soccer teams are set for games in the Sweet 16 of their respective Class AAAAAA state tournaments this week. Meantime, the GA tennis teams saw their seasons come to a close Tuesday in the final 16 of their state tournaments. The Red Terrors, winners of Region 2-AAAAAA, fell to powerful Marist at their home courts while the Glynn girls, who finished second in the region this spring, fell to Dunwoody at home. The GA boys had beaten Forest Park 5-0 in the first round last week while the Lady Terrors had also rolled past Forest Park 5-0 in the opening round. On the soccer field, both Glynn teams will face off against St. Pius X in the second round. The Lady Terrors will play at 5 p.m. Thursday with the GA boys playing at 7 p.m. on Friday. Both contests are at Glynn County Stadium. Both teams won easily in the opening round with the Terrors rocking Rockdale County 7-0 and the Glynn girls parading past Mundy’s Mill 10-0. Both GA teams won region titles again this spring. The Terrors are led by Jonas Coyle who has set a new single-season scoring record for the GA program with 38 goals on the season. ...

The following is a capsule look at Brunswick High’s spring sports: Baseball: The Pirates are assured of winning their fourth straight Region 2-6A series this week with the closing game set for Friday at home against Effingham. Brunswick won the first two games against the Rebels earlier this week. BHS took one of three games against Evans in its second region series on the schedule last month and have won every other league series. Brunswick swept all three games from both Lakeside-Evans and Grovetown before winning two of three last week against South Effingham. Following Friday’s game against Effingham, the Pirates will close their region slate next week with three games against rival Glynn Academy. The Pirates will finish out their regular-season schedule the following week with a couple of non-region games. Going into tonight, the Pirates are tied with Glynn for second in the league standings. Evans leads the league with two losses while GA and BHS both have three region setbacks. Track and Field: The Brunswick teams hosted the Big Play Slay Invitational last Friday which brought 16 teams to the school for a super-sized meet. The competition was named after former BHS football and track standout Darius Slay, a current NFL star with the Philadelphia Eagles. The BHS boys placed second in their home meet. A highlight for the Pirates was the school-record performance by their 4x100 relay team which bested the previous best time set by the relay squad which once featured Slay. The Brunswick girls finished ninth overall. The Lady Pirates’ 4x800 relay team scored a third-place finish. Soccer: The Brunswick boys won their final two Region 2-6A contests last week on penalty kicks. The Pirates defeated both Effingham and Evans in shootouts. BHS closes out its season next week at home against Frederica Academy on Tuesday and Valdosta on Friday. The Brunswick girls also close their season next week against Frederica and Valdosta. ...