Mitchell earns GIAA Class AAA Player of the Year honors and other Southland athletes bring home hardware

Published 8:43 pm Monday, March 20, 2023

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AMERICUS – Several Southland Academy student-athletes will be honored at the school’s athletic assembly for winter sports on Wednesday morning, March 22, at 11 a.m. Highlighting the occasion will be senior guard Riley Mitchell, who was recently named the GIAA Class AAA Player of the Year. Mitchell led the Lady Raiders to a 23-5 record and a berth in the 2023 GIAA Class AAA state semifinals.

Mitchell reached the 1,000th point milestone of her career earlier this year and was also named as an All-State and All-Region performer.

Mitchell’s teammates also earned honors and accolades for their performances. Seniors Morgan Weaver, Julia Caroline Bailey and junior Mary Beth Easterlin each earned All-Region honors and Weaver was named to the All-State team for her performance during the 2022-23 season.

Southland Academy senior guard Cedric Smith (#10) earned All-State and All-Region honors for his performance for the Raiders this season.
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As far as the Southland boys are concerned, several Raiders have earned All-Region and All-State honors and will be recognized at the assembly. Seniors Cedric Smith, Carlos Tyson, Luke Exley and junior Perry Usher each earned All-Region honors, while Smith earned All-State accolades. Junior guard Banks Simmons also earned All-Region Honorable Mention honors for his performance. All of these players helped lead the Raiders to a 21-5 record in the 2022-23 season.