(no subject)
Gwinnett Daily Post
Norcross community fired up by Blue Devil hoops
By Will Hammock
Staff Writer
will.hammock@gwinnettdailypost.com
Norcross’ loyal group of basketball fans impacted not one game, but two, during last Saturday’s state basketball tournament at Georgia Tech.
Prior to rooting on their Blue Devils in a 74-68 Class AAAAA quarterfinal win over Kennesaw Mountain, the Norcross fans aided the Collins Hill girls team in its comeback win over Marietta. As Collins Hill began to rally, the Blue Devil contingent began chants of “Let’s Go Eagles” to spur on its fellow Gwinnett school.
Collins Hill’s rooting section for the girls game wasn’t nearly as large, so the Norcross faithful chimed in to make a noticeable difference in the arena’s noise level. The top-ranked Eagles completed the comeback, beating No. 2 Marietta 50-46.
Norcross athletic director Mike Emery got a handful of e-mails from Collins Hill teachers, administrators and fans on Monday, thanking his school’s student body for its support.
“Those kids in the (Norcross) front row saw the Collins Hill cheerleaders and the ‘Pink Ladies’ (a small group of Collins Hill employees who wear bright pink shirts to each game) doing they best they could (to cheer),” Emery said. “I think our kids realized that there was another Gwinnett team in the state tournament fighting for its life and decided to start cheering for them.”
Most other nights this season the Norcross crowd has rooted solely for its program, which features the second-ranked boys team in AAAAA. The Blue Devils play Stephenson on Thursday in the Final Four, where they hope to rely on another strong crowd at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.
“(Our crowd) is definitely something that helps a lot,” Norcross boys coach Eddie Martin said. “Our kids feel like someone’s got their back when we have crowds like that. Our student body section as well as our faculty section and our community section, definitely serves as our sixth man.”
At the heart of the Norcross crowd is the Blue Crew, a school spirit group that features more than 400 students and over 100 staff members. The group turns out in force for Blue Devil games, whether it’s a Tuesday night game or a state playoff matchup.
Many of the fans sport T-shirts with a “Martin’s Maniacs” logo on the front, which features a caricature drawing (by a Norcross student) of the face of the Norcross head coach. The Blue Crew has sold “Martin’s Maniacs” T-shirts since the coach’s first season at Norcross in 2002-03.
“It’s weird (to see your face on shirts),” Martin said. “They wanted to do it as a fund-raiser and to build support for the program so I agreed to it. I can’t say I enjoy seeing my picture, but it’s part of what we do.”
Norcross’ recent success under Martin has invigorated a program that was struggling in the mid 1990s. Dave Corder began the Blue Devils’ rise to prosperity, getting the team to the state tournament, and Martin has built on it, taking the program to new heights.
The 30-0 team is two wins away from a state title, a feat that would certainly bring loads of cheers from a partisan Norcross crowd at the arena. The noise would be louder if the Norcross and Collins Hill fans join forces, since the two are playing back-to-back games on Thursday at 7 and 8:30 p.m.
“I hope (the Collins Hill girls fans) cheer for us,” Emery said. “I know our kids will be there at 7 for their game and I hope they’ll stick around for our game.”