Sports Archive

Autumn Boutwell was 8 years old when she started playing basketball. She played other sports in the past, like T-ball, soccer and cheerleading, but having a basketball in her hands was a feeling like no other.

Jay’s girls and boys basketball teams are both in the top half of the latest FSHAA regional rankings while Milton’s boys and girls basketball teams are also in the top eight this week.

The latest FHSAA regional soccer rankings are out and Pace and Milton both sit outside the top eight in Region 1-6A.

Brady Godwin knows how tough it can be to transition from one sport to the next. Fresh off an extended football season, he and his teammates that were on the gridiron for the Royals needed time to get their basketball legs underneath them.


It appears they have that under control now as the Royals are on a roll, pushing their win streak to five games with a 57-26 road win over L.E.A.D. Academy last Monday night.

Thirty-two minutes of intensity, energy, big shots, excitement, all-out effort and physical play highlighted a girls basketball rivalry between Jay and Pace that never disappoints.


Forget about the Rural and 6A distinction that the Royals and Patriots are, respectively. It doesn’t matter. This game  Monday night in a raucous gym in Pace was a battle between two teams fighting for a big win, playing as if a trophy was on the line.

Trent Moye got to his senior year of high school at Central and started feeling like maybe college hoops was a possibility.


Four years later, the former Jaguar no doubt made the right decision as he’s become a standout player for the University of Mobile Rams.

Bree Stankard will soon be back on the track, competing in that sport one final time at Pace.


For now, she’s on the soccer field for the Patriots, and she notes playing two sports that involve a lot of running has proven beneficial.

Two Pace athletes signed letters of intent on Wednesday in the school’s media center.


Alyssa Clark is taking her running talents to Bushnell, an NAIA school in Oregon, while Lana Gonzales is headed to NCAA Division III Huntingdon to continue her softball career.

Pace grad Jayden Heavener is already earning recognition, and her first season of college softball at LSU hasn’t even started yet.


Heavener has been named one of the best 100 players in the country by Softball America.

Talking about the record of Pace’s girls soccer team on paper doesn’t tell the whole story.


Yes, the Patriots have just three wins in 12 games, but their schedule has been grueling to say the least, with no shortage of area powerhouses on it.