NOTEPAD: Mayhem struggle in sweep, Southwest boys bounce back after first loss

The Macon Mayhem were swept in a competitive series by the Peoria Rivermen at home last weekend, losing three games by a combined eight goals.

It was a key series for the Mayhem, who came into the game in eighth place among 10 SPHL teams but only a few points out of the league’s top five. The Rivermen, the defending SPHL champions, were in the upper portion of the standings.

Peoria proved it belonged in the three-game set, taking the first two contests in close fashion before running away with Sunday’s finale. The Riverman tallied 13 goals across the three games, including five in each of the last two matchups.

In the first matchup between the two teams since 2019, Macon kept things even for most of the contest. The Mayhem had the lead for part of the opening period but gave up three goals to Peoria en route to a 3-2 loss.

Saturday night’s Christmas-themed “Grinch Stole Hockey” game was nearly a storybook ending, as the Mayhem clawed their way back from a 3-1 deficit in the second period to tie it but gave up two more goals to eventually take the 5-3 loss.

Peoria completed the sweep in blowout fashion Sunday afternoon, taking home a 5-0 loss and ascending all the way to second place in the SPHL. The Mayhem dropped to ninth place, still sitting at 13 points on the season and only a game ahead of the Pensacola Ice Flyers.

Macon did manage to end the weekend on a high note to compensate for the losses, though — the team made a deal with those last-place Ice Flyers, snagging Hugo Koch in exchange for Thomas McGuire and Brendan Ronan.

Koch, originally hailing from Sweden, started his pro hockey career in the U.S. with Mississippi Sea Wolves of the FPHL last year and scored a whopping 67 points across 47 games. Koch has 3 points in 6 contests so far this year with Pensacola.

The Mayhem travel to Fayetteville for two games against the Marksmen Friday and Saturday before a home tilt with Pensacola rolls around Dec. 27.

Southwest boys take first loss, Northeast back in action soon

The team’s top preseason team sustained its first loss of the season last weekend, as the Southwest Patriots fell in an exciting matchup with region foe Dublin, 57-48.

The Fighting Irish defeated Southwest thanks to a variety of scorers in the home game, as Dublin got five or more points from five different players. AJ Johnson led the way for the Irish with 19, while Matravious Linder followed with 13.

Southwest junior C.J. Howard had a great game, leading both teams with 20 points while snagging four rebounds, but the Patriots couldn’t keep up. The first half doomed them, as Dublin went up 14-6 after one quarter and never looked back.

Southwest attempted a comeback in the fourth, outsourcing the Fighting Irish 15-10, but it wasn’t enough.

The Patriots dropped to No. 3 in the latest poll from Sandy’s Spiel. While it’s not the top spot, Southwest did not seem phased by the win — they had a strong 76-71 win over a ranked East Laurens squad the week before, then followed the Dublin loss with an impressive 61-53 victory over Houston County on the road that saw three different players score 14 points or more.

The Fighting Irish rode the victory to the No. 7 spot in the Sandy’s Spiel poll and the No. 8 spot in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s Class A-Division I rankings for Georgia, although Dublin did lose its following game against West Laurens.

As far as other Macon schools, Central broke its tough five-game skid — the losing streak started Nov. 27 with an overtime loss and kept going thanks to a difficult stretch against region foes including Dublin, East Laurens and Dodge County — with a win over Washington County to move to 3-5 on the year.

ACE’s promising start fizzled out after a loss to Washington County and a shocking 91-29 loss against East Laurens. Westside, a preseason favorite to compete at the 2A level, suffered its third loss of the season in a game against 5A Riverwood out of Sandy Springs. Howard continues to struggle in Region 4-3A, as the Huskies lost their third region game on the road against Harlem 66-39.

The Northeast Raiders will finally have a chance to get basketball season moving now that the school’s football team is finally finished. After playing only one game so far this year — a relatively unimportant local matchup with higher classification Westside — Northeast could jump right into region play as early as Wednesday night, after the paper goes to print.

Central girls stay hot, ACE approaches tough region on the rise

The Chargers’ girls team kept its momentum rolling last week, squeaking out a 34-30 win against Washington County thanks to a nice fourth quarter comeback.

Central moved to 8-2 on the year and settled back in at No. 2 in both the AJC and Sandy’s Spiel polls for A-Division I after slipping in recent rankings. The Chargers went into the fourth quarter against Washington County down 24-18, but outscored the Golden Hawks 16-6 to put the game away.

The ranked win is one of the better pieces on Central’s resume so far in what looks to be a stacked region. In addition to the Chargers and Washington County being ranked in both polls, Bleckley and Dodge have each appeared in rankings at least once in the last two weeks.

ACE is also looking to get in on the action as a stacked Region 2-A Division I schedule approaches. The Gryphon girls started the season 6-1, their only loss coming against those same ranked Golden Hawks in a Dec. 7 road game.

Though ACE has not hit the brunt of its schedule yet, its wins over East Laurens — a school that was ranked at one point this year — and Pike County last week were no walk in the park.

In the same region, the Southwest girls have struggle so far. Northeast’s schedule has been limited as a result of the boys team being unavailable. Westside and Rutland have both been relatively quiet in 2A, while the Howard girls are 4-3 so far with a 2-2 record in Region 4-3A.