With just two weekends left until Region Tournaments, the plots have thickened among many of the classification’s region foes. This weekend’s slate of games has a bevy of region matchups set to tip off, including several that stand apart as especially intriguing. Here’s a quick look at my top games to watch for this weekend.
On the boys side, Druid Hills at Salem and Chapel Hill at Sandy Creek are the two premier matchups to keep an eye on. Druid Hills has played seven Region 4-AAAA games since the start of the new year and has accumulated a 4-3 record in the same span. The Red Devils have been competitive in each of the games and this includes the program’s big 67-64 win over region front-runner Woodward Academy a week ago Friday. Salem is another competitive team out of Region 4-AAAA and boasts a 7-4 region record entering its contest with Druid Hills this Friday. The Seminoles were defeated 65-64 in their last outing against McDonough and have been consistently competitive like Druid Hills has proven to be this season. The two teams previously met back on Dec. 3 and Salem needed two overtime periods to score its 61-54 win over Druid Hills. Expect Friday’s rematch to once again be highly-competitive as the two region foes prepare for a wild battle for playoff positioning in the coming weeks.
Sandy Creek carries a 13-game winning streak into its trip to Chapel Hill this Friday. Chapel Hill on the other hand, has one 5-straight games after suffering a 77-68 loss to The Patriots on Jan. 7. That loss marks Chapel Hill’s only Region 5-AAAA loss this season and a win over Sandy Creek would put them right back in position to secure a top seed heading into the region tourney. Chapel Hill was down 49-42 at the half of its 11-point loss earlier this month, and will need to throttle the explosive Sandy Creek offense in the early half in order to outpace the Patriots. In the loss, Sandy Creek junior Jabiri Smith shot an exceptional 10-of-13 from the field (77 percent) and led the way with a game-high 27 points. Chapel Hill junior KJ Doucet scored 23 points off of 8-of-19 shooting, teammate Mike Bell poured in 20 points off of 8-of-12 shooting and Ju’Quan Williams netted 11 points in the defeat—giving Chapel Hill a trio of double-digit scorers. Sandy Creek, however, finished the game with Smith as one of the five Patriots to finish the game in double-figures (Destin Jenkins 15, Daryl Rice 12, Immanuel Alexander 12, Brian Branch 11). Having this many potential scorers on both teams is what is bound to make Friday’s clash between the Patriots and the Panthers a thrilling and high-quality basketball game.
On the girls side, Pickens at Northwest Whitfield is my top matchup to keep an eye on. Gilmer and Northwest Whitfield each enter the weekend with 9-1 records in Region 6-AAAA and Pickens is right behind the two teams at 8-2. These region standings are especially relevant to Pickens’ trip to Northwest Whitfield this Friday because Pickens topped Gilmer 70-66 in overtime this Tuesday and Gilmer will be playing Northwest Whitfield on Jan. 28 in its season finale after taking a trip to LaFayette tomorrow. Northwest Whitfield defeated Gilmer 49-38 back on Jan. 3. Pickens had fallen 94-67 to Gilmer when the teams met on Dec. 17 before this past Tuesday’s victory over the Bobcats avenged that loss. Pickens’ other region loss came in a 73-53 defeat to Northwest Whitfield and now the Lady Dragons can try and avenge that loss as well when the visit the Lady Bruins this Friday. Northwest Whitfield jumped to a 37-32 halftime lead over Pickens in the previous meeting and used an explosive 25-11 edge in the third quarter to make it a 62-43 game entering the final frame. Northwest Whitfield also made 12 three-pointers in that victory—which is something that Pickens will have to game plan to keep from happening again.
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