Class AAA blog: Top girls, boys teams face crowded weekend schedule

Most teams have a few regular-season games remaining before their respective region tournaments begin the first week of February. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the weekend schedules for teams at the top of the classification:

Boys 

-- No. 1 Morgan County (20-2, 9-0) lost 50-42 to Langston Hughes Tuesday in the MLK Day DREAM Challenge at Grady High School. That means that the top-ranked Bulldogs will enter the weekend looking to smooth things over against Jackson County on Friday and No. 6 Hart County on Saturday.

-- No. 2 Greater Atlanta Christian (17-4, 9-0) has four games scheduled between now and the Region 7 tournament, including two this weekend. GAC will host Cherokee Bluff on Friday and Independence, a school from Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday. GAC beat Lumpkin County 72-43 Tuesday.

-- No. 3 Dawson County (18-4, 7-2) will play one game this weekend when it travels to Lumpkin County. Since losing 72-60 to GAC on Jan. 15 for its fourth loss of the season, Dawson has beaten Denmark 68-49 and North Hall 58-56.

-- No. 4 Cedar Grove (12-7, 7-2) will travel to Stone Mountain on Friday for a Region 5 game before hosting Brainerd from Chattanooga on Saturday as it looks to right the ship after losing 68-51 to St. Pius and 61-48 to Redan last week. Its 67-54 victory against Lovett on Tuesday helped get the Saints back on track.

-- No. 5 Pace Academy (15-7, 6-3) will play host to Westminster in a Region 5 game Friday after beating Towers 61-47 Tuesday.

-- No. 7 Johnson-Savannah (15-6, 13-0) hasn’t lost since Dec. 29 against Lithonia, which was the last of four consecutive losses in the Memorial Holiday Classic and the Tournament of Champions at Wheeler. Johnson righted the ship with a 74-68 victory against Windsor Forest, then went on a seven-game winning streak heading into Friday’s game at Groves.

-- No. 8 Windsor Forest (19-4, 12-2) will rest this weekend. The Knights last lost on Jan. 4 to Region 3 rival Johnson-Savannah, and they will get the chance Tuesday to avenge the loss.

-- No. 9 Monroe (15-6, 6-0) defeated Crisp County 76-51 on Tuesday. The Tornadoes will carry the momentum from the Crisp victory to Cook County on Friday.

-- No. 10 Central-Macon (16-5, 9-1) will face two road games this weekend, at Pike County on Friday and at Southwest-Macon on Saturday. Central-Macon defeated Rutland 74-64 Tuesday.

Boys rankings

Girls

-- Top-ranked Jefferson (19-2, 8-1) will play host to East Jackson on Friday. The Lady Dragons have won six consecutive games since losing to Boyd County of Kentucky on Dec. 29. On Tuesday, Jefferson defeated region rival and No. 2 Morgan County 68-55.

-- No. 2 Morgan County (16-5, 7-2) will face Jackson County on Friday hoping to rebound from a Tuesday loss to Jefferson. On Saturday, Morgan will travel to No. 5 Hart County (16-5, 7-2) for a big rematch. Morgan lost 77-63 to the Lady Bulldogs on Jan. 15.

-- The Savannah schools of No. 3 Johnson-Savannah (13-6, 10-1) and No. 2 Beach (19-4, 12-1) have busy weekends scheduled. Johnson will face Groves on Friday before hosting Class AAAAAA No. 3 Northview on Saturday. Beach will play at home against Region 3 rival Jenkins after defeating Islands 48-26 on Tuesday.

-- No. 5 Hart County (16-5, 7-2) will travel to Stephens County on Friday. Hart defeated Stephens 60-46 Dec. 21. The Bulldogs then will travel to Morgan County on Saturday for a rematch of the Jan. 15 game, which Hart won 77-63.

-- No. 6 Greater Atlanta Christian (11-10, 7-2), coming off a 61-57 loss to Lumpkin County on Tuesday, will play host to Cherokee Bluff on Friday before traveling to Holy Innocents’ on Saturday.

-- No. 7 Tattnall County (17-5, 7-0) will play host to Appling County on Friday in a Region 2 game before it hits the road for the final two games of the regular season. Tattnall County defeated Appling County 51-22 Jan. 8.

-- No. 8 Peach County (16-4, 9-0) will travel to Jackson on Friday for a Region 4 game. The Lady Trojans defeated Jackson 60-40 Jan. 3.

-- No. 9 Dawson County (15-7, 6-3) will travel to Lumpkin County for a Region 7 game Friday. Dawson County beat Lumpkin 58-55 Dec. 18. The Lady Tigers have won two games since losing to GAC, 53-41, on Jan. 15.

-- No. 10 Rutland (15-6, 6-3) is coming off a 50-46 loss to Central-Macon as it prepares for Friday's game against Kendrick at home. Rutland will travel to Peach County on Tuesday before hosting Westside-Macon to close its regular season on Feb. 1.

Girls rankings