BACK 2 SCHOOL

so after an awesome 2 week vacation including a TORNADO at the beach.... yes we were in a tornado at the beach... we are now BACK in tally!!! and also BACK to work.. Matt started Monday and today is my FIRST day !!! it feels soooo good to be back teaching again oh how I have missed it... more updates and vacay pics to come!!!

MY NEW LOVE

I just got my new dyson in the mail yesterday and I couldn't stop vacuuming all night long... :) it is simply AMAZING!!!

everywhere....

everywhere you look in our house you see one of these.... I have been doing a lot of packing.... we move NEXT WEEKEND!!!! AHHHHHH we are so excited!!

NFC hires boys basketball coach- according to the Tallahassee Democrat....

Potential basketball players at North Florida Christian School can no longer hide. The incoming Dean of Students will also be the next Eagles boys basketball coach.

The school announced this week Matt Ruta will return to Florida to coach the team. Ruta has won 40 games coaching at Sherwood Christian Academy in Albany, Ga. the past two years.

More than 40 people applied for the position, but Ruta was the only candidate who was interviewed said NFC athletic director Mike Posey. The school attempted to hire Ruta following the 2009 season, but he decided to remain in Albany, where he took his Eagles to an appearance in the Class AA quarterfinals.

"We've had our girls team that has been strong over the years," Posey said. "We feel like we can compete in boys. We feel like we need to work at it. Like any sport, it takes a lot of commitment. I think Coach Ruta will do a good job. We're competing against some good teams in our district."

If NFC is to overtake Maclay and Jefferson County in District 4-2A this winter, Ruta said it will start with a summer conditioning program and the implementation of his system.

"I want to develop young men," Ruta said. "We're going to worry about character first and winning games second. But, I don't want to downplay the winning part. If you develop young men, and do it the right way, then you will win. The winning will follow the character development."

this is an old article... but forgot to post it SCA boys reach 3-AA title game

Sherwood's Wesley Pittman hit three 3s in the first half of Thursday's Region 3-AA semifinal against Valwood and finished with 13 points in the Eagles win

ALBANY — Sherwood Christian will get its shot at payback for last year’s loss in the GISA Region 3-AA championship to Tiftarea Academy.The top-seeded Eagles advanced to the region championship game Thursday at home with a convincing 75-51 win against No. 4 seed Valwood School. Sherwood and Tiftarea meet at 8:30 p.m. tonight at Darton College.Eagles coach Matt Ruta won’t need a pre-game speech, either. “They’re our rival,” Sherwood senior John Schramm said. “We’ll be ready.” To get to this point, the Eagles had to deal with Valwood’s Neo Banks again, while his 27-point performance against them earlier this season was still fresh on their minds.Banks scored half of Valwood’s points in the first two quarters, but couldn’t keep pace with Schramm and the 3-point marksmanship of Wesley Pittman. Sherwood (18-6) used a 14-2 run to close out the first half, and when Schramm and Pittman hit back-to-back 3s before the break, the Eagles found themselves up 39-28.“We had an 11-point lead at halftime and we pushed it (out),” said Pittman, who hit three 3s in the first half and finished with 13 points. “(Banks) is a heck of a player. He shocked us (in the last meeting). The second time we were more prepared for him.”After dropping 14 in the opening half, Banks finished with a game-high 23 points, but was the only Valiant in double figures.“We ran three, four guys at him,” Ruta said. “Derinique Daniel did a great job on him and we were able to hold him down a little in the second half.”Schramm led Sherwood with 22 points. His scrappy play, along with Pittman’s high-arching 3s that splashed through the net, kept Sherwood’s student section alive for most of the night.“We feed off the crowd’s energy a lot and I think that helps us, especially on the defensive end,” Pittman said. Sherwood now turns its attention to No. 2 seed Tiftarea (11-14), a team the Eagles have beaten twice already this season — albeit by close margins each time.“It’s been tight,” Rutta said of the previous games. “They got us last year in the region championship game, so I hope we come out with a little bit of energy.”

Region champs!

The Sherwood Christian boys basketball team wins its first GISA region championship in years, beating Tiftarea, 69-58, on Saturday night at Darton College.

ALBANY — Gary Holloway threw the ball toward the heavens.And when it fell back to earth, four years of frustration landed with it.Then came the dancing, the hugging, the shouting -- and the sheer joy that always accompanies the end of a long wait, always walking hand-and-hand with patience.All of that and more -- the game, the night and this magical season -- belonged to the Sherwood Christian Academy’s boys basketball team that tossed away all they had lost before and celebrated like there was no tomorrow after beating Tiftarea Academy 69-58 on Saturday night for their first Region 3-AA title in years.No one wanted to leave the Darton College court. The Sherwood kids just wanted to hold onto to this one. They had waited their entire careers to win this game.And as the clocked ticked down and Holloway threw the ball in the air, joy washed over the court. “I couldn’t believe it,’’ said Wesley Pittman, one of seven seniors who had suffered through the long days at Sherwood. “It feels so good. I never expected this to happen. I expected to have a disappointing career. Two years ago I never would have believed this would happen.’’Those seven know all about waiting. The Eagles won just seven games over a two-year stretch, before Matt Ruta showed up last year and turned the program around. Still, they hadn’t tasted a region title until Saturday.“When coach Ruta came everything changed,’’ Pittman said. “He taught us how to play real basketball.’’Well, the Eagles played real good basketball on Saturday.And none was better than Pittman, who was there every time SCA needed him. He poured in 25 of his 27 points during the first three quarters, including a 10-point third quarter that lifted SCA to a 52-43 edge. After that, Tiftarea was never closer than six points.“He can shoot it,’’ Ruta said of Pittman, who made five 3s, including a couple of long range bombs that seemed to take the heart out of Tiftarea. “He was on fire tonight.’’So was Sherwood at the beginning of the game. Pittman hit the first shot of the night -- a long 3 with a message at the end of it, and the Eagles made 11 of their first 14 shots to rip off a 22-9 lead. They were up 24-13 after eight minutes. Pittman had 10 of those points, and SCA never trailed.But Tiftarea (11-15) wouldn’t go away, thanks to Wes Carter, a point guard who did everything he could to ruin SCA’s night. Carter finished the night with 22 points, five rebounds a couple of steals and a blocked shot. He scored 15 points in the first half and when he tipped in a missed shot at the halftime buzzer, suddenly SCA’s lead was only 34-33. .Then came Pittman’s 10-point third quarter and a rush from the other Eagles. Holloway scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in the third, and finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Senior Brannan Anthony finished with eight points, hitting back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter to lift SCA to a 58-49 lead, before putting Tiftarea away with a slick assist to Patrick Stanford that gave SCA a 64-54 lead with 1:35 left in the game.“I was so happy when we won it, I didn’t even have words for it,’’ Anthony said. Pittman, Anthony, Holloway, and seniors John Schramm and Pete McSwain were named to the all-tournament team.SCA had to find a way to win it in the end, because Tiftarea beat SCA on the boards and had second and third shots all night. But the Panthers couldn’t find the bottom of the net, making only 11 of 36 shots in the second half. Pittman and Anthony made seven shots between them in the second half for SCA.“We were on fire to start the game’’ Ruta said. “But give Tiftarea all the credit. They battled back. But I was real proud of our kids for staying with it. We could have let the momentum let the game get away from us.’’SCA led 52-43 after three quarters then opened the fourth by making its first four shots. Ruta was asked what he told his kids before the fourth quarter.“I don’t remember,’’ he answered honestly.At that point it was hard to think. The celebration was growing on the court, and Ruta was in the middle of it -- just like he has been in the middle of the turnaround. His kids have won 39 games over the past two seasons, including a 19-6 record this year, and a 10-0 record in the Region 3-AA.But even in the midst of the jubilation, the SCA kids remembered — remembered just what it took to get here.“It was really frustrating,’’ Pittman said. “You had the mindset you were going to lose. Nobody came to the games, and everybody at school expected us to lose.’’But look at them now. They drew a large raucous crowd , including their own Sherwood Crazies — a student body section that whooped and screamed and held the Ruta-on-a-stick fans all night.“It feels great,’’ Pittman said. “We just want to keep the ride going -- to the Final Four and maybe beyond that.’’Why not?Just have a little patience...

SENIOR NIGHT!!!

SCA BOYS 67, CITIZENS CHRISTIAN 51:
The Eagles closed out late with the win as Brannan Anthony led the way with 20 points, followed by Wesley Pittman (16), Gary Holloway (13) and John Schramm (10).Sherwood now is 17-6 and will play Tuesday’s Valwood-Windsor winner in the GISA Region 3-AA tourney at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at home. SCA coac Matt Ruta was pleased with Saturday’s win.“It was good,” Ruta said. “We lost a tough one Friday against Fullington. The kids did a good job bouncing back and showed a lot of heart and character. It was senior night so it was good to get them out on a high note and I was just pleased with everybody. We even led by 16 at one point.”

our coach is hotter than yours

Sherwood boys secure No. 1 region seed with win vs. SGA

ALBANY — There’s nothing like a little tune-up before the start of what Sherwood hopes is a deep run at state.
Alex Harrell and Gary Holloway scored 15 points each in the first half as the Eagles roared to a 45-25 lead at the intermission and finished the regular season unbeaten in region play to lock up the No. 1 seed with a 77-49 romp past Southwest Georgia Academy on Tuesday.
Harrell finished with 23 points and Holloway added 20 as the Eagles closed the regular season at 16-5 and 8-0 in GISA Region 3-AA play.
“That first half shows you how we are capable of playing if we put together a complete game,” SCA coach Matt Ruta said. “If we can play at that level of effort and intensity we can hang with anybody.”
With the region tournament set to begin next week at Sherwood, Ruta couldn’t have gotten a better effort from his team.
The Eagles kept that 20-point cushion for most of the second half before SGA, which fell to 9-13 and 3-4, narrowed the gap to 14 points, 57-43 with six minutes remaining. But Wesley Pittman, who finished with 17 points, canned three straight 3-pointers during a 16-2 run to spark SCA to 73-45 advantage with 3:10 remaining.
Ruta then pulled his entire five off the floor.
“I feel every game is an opportunity to get better and we got better (Tuesday night),” the coach said. “We built some confidence and we built some depth, which is exactly what we need headed into the region tournament.”
Danny Doster led SGA with 14 points and Parker Adams chipped in with 11.
The Region 3-AA tournament will be played at SCA beginning next Tuesday with a play-in game between Windsor and a team yet to be determined. Sherwood will play the winner of that game Thursday at 8:30 p.m. The region championship games will be played Friday at Darton College.

SHERWOOD BOYS 74, WINDSOR 26:

Sherwood jumped on Windsor early, scoring 61 points in the first half. Wesley Pittman and Brannan Anthony scored 17 points apiece for Sherwood. “We came out with a lot of defensive intensity,” Sherwood coach Matt Ruta said. “It’s been awhile since we played this well.” Sherwood’s next game is Friday against Valwood.

5-0 IN THE REGION!!!! Whoop Whoop

The Eagles have won 12 of their last 14 games after starting the year 1-2 and now sit on the verge of their first Region 3-AA championship in six years.

At 5-0 in Region 3-AA, it would take an awfully lot of bad things to happen for Sherwood not to win its first region championship since 2004.This after the Eagles survived Tiftarea, 63-58, on Friday night to seize control of 3-AA — with just three region games left to play before hosting the tournament in mid-February.“Big win,” said SCA coach Matt Ruta, whose team has won 12 of its last 14 games after starting the year 1-2. “We beat them by one earlier this year. It’s just a big, big win for this program.”The three remaining opponents for SCA — which was led Friday by Wesley Pittman and Gary Holloway’s 12 points each, followed by Brannan Anthony with 11 — the Eagles have already beaten.But Ruta’s not ready to crown his kids just yet.“Well, one of those (games) is against SGA (which we went to double overtime with) and another is with Valwood, who just got a transfer from Valdosta High who scored 25 the other night in a win against Tiftarea,” he said. “So nothing’s certain, but we like where we’re at for sure.”The SCA girls, meanwhile, were routed by Tiftarea (17-1, 4-0), 73-29, behind 15 points from star Courtney Albritton. Kaylee Dixon and Emilee Cook each scored six for SCA (7-9, 3-2).

Sherwood, SGA boys go into OT as Eagles pull out win to move into first place in region

DAMASCUS — You wouldn’t expect anything less than a thriller from the top two boys teams in GISA Region 2-AA.And that’s exactly what Sherwood and SGA delivered Tuesday night — needing overtime — in a showdown for first place in conference as the Eagles held on for a 55-47 win.“The fans certainly got their money’s worth (Tuesday night),” said SGA coach David Byrne, whose team fell to 6-9 overall and 2-2 in region after starting 2-0, while Sherwood moved to 4-0 in region and 12-4 overall.“We are happy to be No. 1 but we gotta get a lot better.” Sherwood head coach Matt Ruta said. “We survived (this time).”Wesley Pittman scored a team-high 12 points for Sherwood, while Pete McSwain added 11 in the win. SGA’s Parker Adams led all players with 14 points.

Catch up ... games last Friday and Saturday

Sherwood boys close strong, down Southland; Lady Raiders roll SCA girls Led by Wesley Pittman and Brannan Anthony, the Eagles earn a big road win Friday against Southland. Posted: 9:58 PM Jan 15, 2010 Reporter: Scott Chancey Email Address: scott.chancey@albanyherald.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sherwood boys beat Southland; Lady Raiders roll Sherwood's Brannan Anthony led the Eagles with 17 points on Friday night in a 55-39 drubbing of Southland in Americus. AMERICUS — One common denominator in the Sherwood Christian boys’ nine previous wins before Friday’s contest at Southland Academy was building double-digit leads. Another was nearly blowing them. That was not the case, however, against the GISA Class AAA Raiders as coach Matt Ruta’s Class AA Eagles went on a 17-3, second-half run for a 55-39 victory That’s the best we’ve closed a game by far,” Ruta said. “We had really focused on closing games out during the past couple of weeks.” Brannan Anthony led Sherwood (10-4) with 17 points, followed by Wesley Pittman and Gary Holloway with 10 each. Calling in from the road after previous close wins, Ruta often expressed frustration at his team’s lack of intensity near game’s end. Pittman also had experienced that frustration but did not show any after Friday’s win. Making two 3-pointers during Friday’s game, Pittman said the timing could not be better for Sherwood to build a lead and hold it since the region playoffs are a month away. “In the playoffs, all the teams are good so they are going to make a run at you,” Pittman said. “Hopefully, we can repeat this in the future.” Ruta, however, did become frustrated at times during the first half after Sherwood built a double-digit lead and had trouble adjusting to Southland’s slower pace. “We play best at a fast pace, and Southland did a really good job in slowing things down,” Ruta said. Sherwood began its game-changing run with defense when Anthony blocked a Rolie Hancock shot. Eagles teammate John Schramm then made a steal that resulted in a Pete McSwain layup and 31-24 lead. A strong move for a layup by Holloway kept the momentum from the third quarter as the Eagles’ defense created key turnovers, leading to a 46-27 lead in the fourth quarter. The Eagles, from there, never looked back. “Our defense was the key,” Anthony said. “It just came up big for us. We played hard on defense, especially in the second half, and had great energy all the way around.” Raiders coach Ernest Scott, on the other hand, is just trying to build on his team’s youth and inexperience. It struggled when Sherwood sped up the pace at game’s end. “They got a lot of transitional baskets and that came from unforced turnovers,” Scott said. “We didn’t get back enough in transition.” Southland (6-11) was led by Andres Chaparro with 15 points, followed by Jose Hernandez with 10.

SATURDAY SHERWOOD BOYS 50, WESTWOOD 25:
The Eagles had no trouble Saturday, beating Westwood for the second time this season. Though. SCA coach Matt Ruta wasn’t exactly pleased with the effort one night after what he called his team’s most complete game of the season in a win against Southland on the road. “I think we were tired,” said Ruta, whose record is now 11-4 overall. “We got up big by halftime and led by about 25 or 30 going into the fourth quarter. I guess we played OK.” John Schramm led SCA with 15 points, followed by Wesley Pittman with 10. Jake Kotter and Mason Jones each led Westwood with 6. If SCA can beat SGA on Tuesday in its region showdown, the Eagles will be alone in first place. SGA comes into the game 2-0 in region, while Sherwood is 3-0.

CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYNESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

SHERWOOD BOYS 61, TIFTAREA 60:
In a hard-fought game by both teams, Tiftarea missed two shots within the final 10 seconds, either of which would've beaten Sherwood as the Eagles improved to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in GISA Region 3-AA.Tiftarea saw the return of one of its star players, Wes Carter, who scored 13 points and missed one of those final shots that could've upset SCA. Sumner McWhorter led with way for Tift with 18 points.But it wasn't enough as the Eagles had three players break double figures.Brannan Anthony and Gary Holloway paced Sherwood with 16 points each, followed by Wesley Pittman's 14.The game, however, shoudn't have ever been as close as it was. Sherwood more than once had leads of 13 points or better and couldn't hang on."I told the guys afterward I wasn't real happy about this win because we continue to get big leads and fail to close it out," SCA coach Matt Ruta said. "Playing well for three quarters isn't gonna cut it." Tiftarea missed a running shot in the lane in the final seconds that would've put it ahead by one point, then both teams scrambled for a loose ball, prompting a jump ball. Tift got control of the ball and popped it out to Carter, who couldn't connect on the last-second miracle."We defended it well," Ruta said of the last shot. "It was a hard shot from a bad angle. It was one of those where (everyone in the gym) would've been impressed if he could've made it."

FAMILY PHOTOS

Here are the "backstage" photos from the family photoshoot we had... it was the first time everyone was in the same place at the same time!!! we had a blastttttttttttttttttt

THIRD PLACE IN TFA TOURNAMENT

We had an awesome time in orlando at the Christmas Tournament!!! the boys played AWESOME!!!... here are the Albany articles from the tournament


SCA BOYS 64, ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 56: The Eagles’ Wesley Pittman made seven 3-pointers, including two during a game-turning stretch, and finished with 23 points in an Orlando, Fla., tournament. “We came out strong,” Sherwood coach Matt Ruta said. “We led, 24-9, after the first quarter and we were up 20 in the third, but we kind of relaxed after that and they came back. After they got within six, Wesley made a couple of big 3-pointers and we held them off.” John Schramm scored 13 for the Eagles (5-2), followed by Brannan Anthony with 11 and Gary Holloway with 10. Sherwood plays an undetermined opponent at 6:15 p.m. today AMERICAN HERITAGE BOYS 66, SCA 50: A brief lapse in the second quarter proved costly for the Eagles in an Orlando, Fla., tournament. “We were winning the game, 23-20, about halfway through the second quarter and they went on something like a 13-0 run on us,” said Eagles coach Matt Ruta, whose team’s record is 5-3. “We played toe-to-toe with them the rest of the way, but we just couldn’t execute at times when it really counted.” Sherwood was led by Gary Holloway with 12 points, followed by Brannan Anthony with 10 and Wesley Pittman with nine. Sherwood plays East River for third place at 6:15 p.m. today in Orlando SCA BOYS 58, EAST RIVER 47: In an Orlando, Fla., tourney, the Eagles clinched third place and Wesley Pittman was named to the All-Tournament team. Pittman scored 19 Wednesday, followed by Brannan Anthony with 10 and Pete McSwain with nine. “We were up by 20 at one point, so we need to do a better job closing out games,” Sherwood coach Matt Ruta said. “Overall we played well, but I’d just like to see us cruise down the stretch next time.” Sherwood’s record is 6-3.