High school basketball semifinals preview

By Michael Carvell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Championship week tips off for high school basketball teams Wednesday at both Gwinnett Arena and the Macon Centreplex.

Here are five things to know:

• There are six teams in the field trying to repeat as state champions: Four are girls teams: including Redan (Class AAAAA), Southwest DeKalb (AAAA), Buford (AA) and Wesleyan (A). Both Southwest and Wesleyan are aiming for three consecutive state championships. The two boys teams going for back-to-back titles are Miller Grove (AAAA) and Whitefield Academy (A).

• The Dutchtown girls are making their first appearance in the AAAA semifinals in their sixth season as a program. The Henry County team is guided by coach Angela Williams, a former Attack Apache helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. Guards Brittney (26.1 ppg) and Alyssa Strickland (9.8 ppg) are twins, and both have signed with Alabama A&M. Alyssa missed part of the season with a knee injury, but scored 19 points in the quarterfinals win over Glenn Hills.

• Talk about good basketball genes: Milton boys coach David Boyd and GAC girls coach Cal Boyd are brothers. Said David, "I've always felt that [Cal] was a better player and coach than I was." Meanwhile, David has a chance to win a state championship at four different high schools.

• The Northwest Whitfield girls haven't been this far in 20 years, when coach Margaret Stockburger was an assistant on the team that lost in the 1990 finals. The team has two All-State-caliber point guards in Baleigh Coley (signed with Columbus State) and Emily Trew (Shorter), while 6-foot-3 Christy Robinson (Samford) is a dominating presence in the post area.

• Norcross freshman Kaela Davis is the daughter of former NBA All-Star Antonio Davis. She is 6-2, and scored 24 points against Campbell in the AAAAA semifinals, including 13 in the fourth quarter.