Walnut Grove Basketball Teams Celebrate Different Teachers Against Flowery Branch Falcons

On Tuesday, January 20th, 2026, the Warriors faced off against Flowery Branch for Teacher Appreciation Night. 
by Peyton Satchwell, Ty Cameron, Elly Croft, and Drew Caraway

Teacher Appreciation Night
Before the game, teachers were honored for Teacher Appreciation Night at Walnut Grove High School. Each player on the roster was allowed to select a teacher to walk with.

Jordan McCollum, 11, chose and walked with Ms. Milligan because “she’s a great teacher and she's awesome and she helps a lot of people.”

Laurynn Roman, 10, chose Coach Fidd to walk with her last night. She chose him because “his dedication to teaching is really good.”

Boys (stats from MaxPreps)
The Walnut Grove Warrior boys lost a heartbreaker against the Flowery Branch Falcons at home, 64-66. The game went into overtime tied at 55-55.

The Falcons got off to a hot start, scoring 17 in the first quarter and limiting the Warriors to seven. However, the Warriors stormed back in the second and third quarters, scoring 19 in both. Unfortunately, the Warriors couldn’t pull through, turning the ball over in the closing seconds.

McCollum felt that the team's loss can be attributed to the fact that the team didn’t play much together and that the refs were making bad calls throughout the game. He said the refs “gave us a couple of phantom calls… we didn’t hit them or do anything, but they just gave us one.”

So far, he feels the season is going worse than the team expected. In order for the team to improve, McCollum stated, “We need to try to be more connected because we only have five games left, so we need to lock in.”

(photo by Harrison Smith)

Girls (stats from MaxPreps)
The Walnut Grove Warrior girls also lost in a heartbreaker, 30-26. In head-turning fashion, the Warriors had previously defeated Flowery Branch 30-26 on Dec. 9, 2025. Laurynn Roman felt “the main contributor was the communication, not being on the same page, and we were arguing. It was just bad in many ways.” 

She says, “I feel like the season’s going good, we just need to improve. We're on the second round of region play, so we just got to get it together.”

To finish the season strong, she says the team will be “going harder [in] practice and taking practice more seriously so we can contribute to the game.”

This game will be the last home game for both Warrior basketball teams until their game against Eastside on Jan. 30. Come out and support your Warriors!

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