Here’s a look back at some of the top stories from the week in Class AAAAA basketball:
*Rolling along: The Brunswick girls and McIntosh boys, both ranked No. 2 this week, are the only remaining undefeated teams in Class AAAAA, and both continued to cruise in the first full week of the new year. Brunswick (17-0) got 19 points and seven rebounds from Jomaiya Garner in a 66-39 victory over Bradwell Institute on Friday, three days after the Pirates beat Richmond Hill 57-43. McIntosh had an even easier time beating Union Grove 77-29 and Woodland-Stockbridge 87-58 this week to improve to 15-0.
*Early leaders: The eighth-ranked Northside-Columbus boys team is establishing itself as the team to beat in 1-AAAAA. Matthew Richardson scored 22 points Friday in a 78-60 victory over Harris County as the Patriots improved to 10-2 overall and 2-0 in the region. Northside beat Shaw 66-46 on Tuesday in the region opener. The Patriots will face bigger tests in the next two weeks when they meet Carver-Columbus (Jan. 17) and LaGrange (Jan. 20), who appear to be the top challengers in the region.
*Race tightens: The Flowery Branch girls team suffered its first region loss of the season Friday when it was beaten by rival Gainesville 43-37 in an 8-AAAAA game. Sophomore Taylor Hawks scored 18 points to lead Gainesville, which is 5-2 in the region and tied for third place. Flowery Branch fell to 6-1 in the region, tied with Salem for first place. It was the second victory against Flowery Branch in less than two weeks for Gainesville, which also won 45-43 in the championship game of the Lanierland tournament on Dec. 30 in a game that didn't count in the region standings.
*Bouncing back: The No. 3-ranked Greenbrier girls rebounded from a 57-44 loss to No. 10 Cross Creek on Tuesday and beat Grovetown 63-61 on Friday to remain one game behind leader Cross Creek in rugged 2-AAAAA Division A. Morgan Taylor scored the winning basket with 18 seconds remaining and finished with 10 points. Destiny Marshall led the Wolfpack with 23 points, and Jennifer McMahan added 15. Grovetown's Cydney Franklin led all scorers with 26 points. The teams meet again at Grovetown on Jan. 23.
About the Author
