I want to use the blog occasionally to highlight some of Class AAAAAA's best players. Here are a couple - Chris Lewis of Milton and Faustine Aifuwa of Dacula. Both are among the top-10 seniors in the state. Aifuwa has had two 20-rebound games this week, including her 20-point, 23-rebound effort Wednesday against Central Gwinnett.
But first, Lewis ...
Milton's boys basketball team is 14-5 overall, but 15-2 with four-star recruit Chris Lewis in the lineup.
Credit: Todd Holcomb
Credit: Todd Holcomb
Lewis, who is committed to Harvard, returned from a back injury on Jan. 5 and scored 24 points with 12 rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots in a victory over Roswell. He’s averaging 13 points and nine rebounds but most surprisingly leads the team in assists at 5.7 per game – pretty unusual for a 6-foot-8 power forward.
Milton’s leading scorer is guard Alex O’Connell at 21.7 points per game. O’Connell has offers from Clemson, Auburn, Kansas State, UAB and several mid-majors. He also is being recruited by Stanford, which Kramer said won’t offer scholarships until all SAT/ACT scores are in.
‘’Alex is the only kid we have that doesn’t suffer at the offensive end when Chris is out,’’ Milton coach Matthew Kramer said. ‘’Everyone suffers at the defensive end. Chris just makes everyone on the team better.’’
Lewis is a son of former Georgia and New York Jets star linebacker Mo Lewis.
Now about Aifuwa, a 6-5 post player committed to LSU.
Credit: Todd Holcomb
Credit: Todd Holcomb
Aifuwa is having a record-season for Dacula. She’s averaging 15.0 points, 15.8 rebounds and 5.8 blocks.
She’s had eight double-doubles and three triple-doubles. She’s had five 20-plus rebound games and twice blocked 10 or more shots. She’s broken the school’s 34-year-old record for career rebounds. Dacula is 9-9 overall and 4-6 in Region 8, which features 2015 semifinalists Archer and Parkview.
Upcoming ...
This is probably the best weekend of Class AAAAAA girls games that we'll see this season until the region tournaments. Here are four to watch:
McEachern vs. West Forsyth, Saturday: McEachern, ranked No. 6, is the defending state champion and surging. No. 9 West Forsyth center Jenna Staiti, a 6-foot-5 post who recently had a 46-point game against South Forsyth, is the state’s No. 1 senior recruit. This game is the 1 p.m. opener of the Wesleyan Winter Showcase at Wesleyan in Norcross.
Archer at Parkview, Friday: No. 1-ranked Archer (17-3, 11-0) can close in on the No. 1 seed in Region 8-AAAAAA with a victory over No. 10 Parkview (13-6, 9-1). The 2015 semifinalists played three times last season, with Parkview winning them all, but Archer won 43-37 on Jan. 5 and is unbeaten against Georgia teams this year.
Collins Hill at Woodstock, Saturday: Woodstock has made the state tournament five straight seasons but never gone past the second round, thus the reason a team with an 18-2 overall record, 13-0 in Region 5-AAAAAA, is unranked. That likely would change if the Wolverines were to beat No. 5 Collins Hill (17-1, 9-1), a program that hasn’t even made the state playoffs since the Maya Moore led the program to its third straight state title in 2007.
Westlake at Douglas County, Friday: These are 3-AAAAAA’s best teams. Douglas County (18-1, 10-0) defeated Westlake (17-3, 9-1) 72-69 on Jan. 5. Douglas County freshman Amari Robinson had 15 points, 10 rebounds and two clutch free throws with 1.8 seconds left in that game.
