As we round the corner toward Christmas, holiday tournaments and next semester, the hoops season is about to hit top gear. With just a handful of region games under our belt, it’s already shaping up to be an interesting one.
Let’s get caught up on the girls game today…
MaxPreps.com Top 10
- Pelham (6-0, 2-0 Region 1-AA)
- Holy Innocents' (9-0, 3-0 Region 6-AA)
- Model (9-1, 4-0 Region 7-AA)
- Darlington (7-2, 4-0 Region 7-AA)
- Wesleyan (5-3, 2-0, Region 6-AA)
- Union County (4-3, 0-0 Region 8-AA)
- Jeff Davis (6-1, 3-0 Region 2-AA)
- McIntosh County Academy (5-2, 3-0 Region 2-AA)
- Putnam County (7-1, 2-0 Region 4-AA)
- Armuchee (5-2, 1-2 Region 7-AA)
A couple of quick observations: One third of the way through the season, these rankings are still pretty fluid, and it's important to remember that. Nonregion games over the holiday break could have a fairly significant impact on what we see going forward. … We've got a few teams from the same regions clustered closely together (No. 3 Model/No. 4 Darlington, No. 2 Holy Innocents'/No. 5 Wesleyan, No. 7 Jeff Davis/No. 8 McIntosh County Academy). Those should make for some interesting games in the regular season and beyond. … Pelham and Holy Innocents' are getting a ton of respect from MaxPreps: Pelham comes in at No. 2 in the overall state rankings, and Holy Innocents' is at No. 5. Model is next at No. 19.
Recent scores
Friday
Buford 54, Wesleyan 53
Darlington 61, Coosa 22
Dawson County 41, Union County 37
Holy Innocents’ 77, Lovett 43
Jeff Davis 54, Groves 27
McIntosh County Academy 59, Bacon County 30
Model 62, Armuchee 56
Pelham 81, Thomasville 46
Putnam County 36, Macon County 22
Saturday
Holy Innocents’ 70, Woodward Academy 57
McIntosh County Academy 74, Liberty County 68
Pelham 71, Early County 51
Pepperell 60, Model 47
Wesleyan 49, Gainesville 23
Union County 47, Hayesville (N.C.) 39
Monday
Model 60, Trion 32
- Top-ranked Pelham opened region play last week with a pair of dominant wins, defeating Thomasville 81-46 and Early County 71-51. For the season, the Lady Hornets are outscoring opponents by an average margin of 24 points and are one of the highest-score teams in the state, averaging 77 points per game. Arkansas commit Briunna Freeman, a 6-foot guard, leads the way with 26.4 points per game, but she's had plenty of help. Four other Lady Hornets are averaging at least 8 ppg: Destiny Thomas (10.8), Quadranique Franklin (10.0), Mahogany Randall (9.0), and Timbreanna Hudson (8.0).
- Wesleyan lost its third game of year Friday night, 54-53 to Buford, but it's probably not time to panic. The Lady Wolves' losses have come against Class AAAAAA Hillgrove, Mays (9-1, AAAAAA), and Buford (AAAA runner-up last year). Wesleyan had won five straight state championships going back to its days in Class A before falling to Kendrick in last year's finals, and all indications are that the Lady Wolves, who are currently playing without injured freshman point guard Amaya Register, will be in the thick of the pack when the postseason rolls around in a couple of months.
- Clearly, transitioning to Class AA isn't going to be a problem for Holy Innocents'. Lady Bears are 9-0, 3-0 and scored a dominant win over Lovett, 77-43, on Friday. Holy Innocents' was the Class A runner up last year, falling to Southwest Atlanta Christian in their only loss of the season. They've already avenged that loss with a 63-58 win over SWAC on Dec 2, and no other team has stayed within 12 points of the Lady Bears thus far.
This week’s games featuring top-10 teams
Tuesday
No. 4 Darlington vs. Cedartown
No. 7 Jeff Davis at Long County
No. 9 Putnam County at Crawford County
Wednesday
No. 3 Model vs. Pepperell
Friday
Greene County at No. 9 Putnam County
No. 2 Holy Innocents’ vs. Sparkman (Ala.)
No. 8 McIntosh County Academy at Vidalia
Seminole County at No. 1 Pelham
No. 6 Union County vs. Towns County
No. 5 Wesleyan at Woodward Academy
Saturday
Georgia Military College at No. 9 Putnam County
No. 2 Holy Innocents’ vs. Hughes
No. 7 Jeff Davis at Brantley County
Liberty County at No. 8 McIntosh County Academy
Oglethorpe County at No. 6 Union County
No. 1 Pelham at Cairo
No. 5 Wesleyan vs. Sparkman (Ala.)
