Class AAAAAAA blog: News on Krossover Classic, East Coweta boys

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This is a big weekend for most of the top-10 girls teams in Class AAAAAAA.

Four are playing on Saturday in the Krossover Classic at Archer. Here’s the schedule for that event:

11 a.m. – No. 3 North Cobb vs. Wesleyan (No. 1 in Class A private)

12:30 p.m. – Etowah vs. Grayson

2 p.m. - No. 5 Norcross vs. Lebanon (Tenn.)

3:30 p.m. – No. 6 Cherokee vs. Holy Innocents’ (No. 3 in Class A private)

5 p.m. – No. 2 Collins Hill vs. Center Point (Ala.)

6:30 p.m. – Archer vs. Heritage-Conyers

But first, three other top-10 teams are playing on Friday night in games that will determine the lead in their regions. Here are those two games:

*No. 1 Westlake plays at No. 7 Pebblebrook in Region 2.

*No. 4 Grayson plays Rockdale County at home in Region 8.

Three top-10 girls teams had big victories on Tuesday by defeating the only other unbeaten team in the regions.

Those scores were:

*No. 6 Cherokee over Roswell 61-34 in Region 5.

*No. 2 Collins Hill over Duluth 78-36 in Region 6.

*No. 3 North Cobb over Hillgrove 46-44 in Region 3.

For a summary of each of the top-10 girls teams in the class, here's Tuesday's Class AAAAAAA basketball blog.

Things are less urgent among boys teams. Best game is probably No. 8 Norcross (11-7), 6-1) at Berkmar (14-4, 4-3) in Region 7.

There was one pivotal games played Tuesday, however.

No. 6 East Coweta upset No. 3 Wheeler 81-78 in Region 2. Fernandez Jones scored 26 points without missing a shot. He was 4-for-4 on 3-pointers and 14-for-14 on free throws.

East Coweta, coached by Royal Maxwell, is now 17-1 overall, 4-1 in the region, while Wheeler fell to 14-6, 4-2.

East Coweta has not made the state playoffs since 2005 or advanced since 1964. East Coweta missed last year’s tournament when Westlake scored on a 3-pointer from halfcourt at the buzzer in the region tournament.

Jones averages a team-leading 18.7 points. Brandon Stroud, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard and four-star recruit in the class of 2020, averages 17.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Christopher Youngblood averages 14.9 points and 8.1 rebounds.