Sports
Boys update: No more unbeatens in Class AA
The mighty have fallen in Class AA. Of the nine top-10 teams in action over the past seven days, eight picked up at least one loss. It’s probably not time for any of these teams to panic; the only thing I think we can truly glean from these results is that (1) there is likely no runaway favorite to win state, (2) there’s a good handful of teams that could be in contention, (3) we won’t get a clearer picture of who those teams are until we see how they handle the grind of region play over the next month or so.
Let’s recap what happened over the last week for the teams in the top 10 and take a look at a couple of others lurking just outside the rankings who could make an appearance soon.
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1. Pace Academy (9-2)
The Knights lost their opener in the Westminster Holiday Classic to Class AAAAA North Atlanta, 70-57, but bounced back with blowout wins over Benedictine (85-39) and Paideia (65-31).
Next: at Mount Vernon Presbyterian, Saturday
2. Vidalia (11-1)
Defeated Southeast Bulloch (66-61) and Jefferson County (73-50) on back-to-back nights after Christmas before taking their first loss of the season, falling to Class A Portal, 68-59, on Monday. It was a good week for Portal. In addition to their win over the Indians, they also knocked off No. 5 Bryan County.
Next: at Jeff Davis, Jan. 6
3. Greater Atlanta Christian (7-5)
Lost to Class AAAAAA Parkview, briefly dropping the defending state champs to .500 on the season before consecutive wins over Greenbrier (85-43) and Decatur (59-45) on Monday and Tuesday in the Walnut Grove holiday tournament. The latter victory was No. 750 in the acclaimed career of Spartans coach Eddie Martin.
Next: at Wesleyan, Jan. 6
4. Holy Innocents’ (11-2)
The Golden Bears have advanced to the championship game in the Sandestin Beach Basketball Blowout with wins over Buckhorn (Ky.), 60-41, Paxton (Fla.), 64-37, and Maclay (Fla.).
Next: They'll be facing Wesley Christian (Ky.) in the tournament finals tonight (Wednesday). A big region 6-AA game at Pace Academy then looms on Jan. 6
5. Bryan County (10-2)
The Redskins have absorbed their first two losses of the season in the past week, falling 82-78 to Class A Portal and 80-72 to Richmond Hill, the No. 9 team in Class AAAAA. In between, they picked up a 77-36 win over Metter.
Next: at Benedictine, Saturday
6. Seminole County (10-2)
The Indians went 2-1 in the Thomasville Holiday Hoopfest, taking wins over Northeast-Macon (69-60) and West Gadsden, Fla. (59-52), before falling Bainbridge, the No. 8 team in Class AAAA, 65-64.
Next: vs. Miller County, Jan. 6
7. Thomasville (10-2)
The host Bulldogs won all three of their games in the Holiday Hoopfest, defeating West Gadsden (Fla.), 56-51, Berrien, 74-45, and Northeast-Macon, 70-52.
Next: vs. Thomas County Central, Saturday
8. Model (10-1)
The Blue Devils lost to Class AAAAAA Collins Hill, 73-59, in the Pickens Holiday Classic opener, before closing out its tourney run with wins over Woodstock (59-55) and Pickens (58-40).
Next: vs. Southwest Atlanta Christian, Friday
9. Harlem (12-1)
The Bulldogs are in the midst of a lengthy holiday break. They’ll return to action Jan. 6 at Swainsboro for what should be an intriguing Region 3-AA showdown.
10. Early County (4-5)*
*results incomplete
The Bobcats lost in the first round of the Ronalda Pierce Hoopfest, 85-75, to Americus-Sumter. I’m waiting to hear back on the results from their other games.
Next: vs. Berrien, Friday
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Outside the top 10:
Crawford County (7-3): Prior to last week’s 88-82 loss to unbeaten Greenville (No. 8 Class A), the Eagles’ only losses had come in a pair of defeats to unbeaten Peach County (No. 10 Class AAA) by a combined total of three points.The Eagles are led by 6-foot-4 junior William Jarrell, a second-team All-State pick last season.
Dade County (10-4): The Wolverines lost to Class AAAAAA North Paulding (69-64) and AAAA Heritage (55-41) in the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe Classic just before Christmas, but have already showed they could be a significant factor in the Region 7-AA race. Dade County has already split a pair of games with Darlington, and played No. 8 Model tight earlier this month.
Coosa (7-2): Another 7-AA team off to a nice start, the Eagles have won four straight since falling in back-to-back games to Darlington and Model in mid-December.
