With five starters to replace off a team that went to the Final Four a year ago, Southwest DeKalb coach Kathy Walton expected to have a few hiccups early in the season. But those have been solved and once again the Panthers have taken their place among the contenders in Class AAAAA.
Southwest DeKalb, which has won the Region 5 tournament the last four years, is 17-6 overall and 11-0 in the league. The Panthers finish the season with a non-region game against rival Stephenson on Tuesday and the regular-season finale against Araba Mountain on Friday.
“It’s been about what I expected,” Walton said. “We graduated five seniors, so it took a minute to jell and get used to each other and get game experience.”
Senior Jayla Kimbrough has been the team’s leading scorer this season and seniorNya Bostick has elevated her status to become one of the team’s leaders. Other top players have been juniors Pryia Thompson, Taylor Christmas and Adrieanna Brownlee.
Walton, completing her 18th season as head coach, said this year’s team is more athletic that last year’s team that went 24-7. Three more wins would make it Walton’s 14th team to win 20-plus games. Five of those teams won state championships, most recently in 2016.
Southwest DeKalb has been tested by some out-of-town competition. The Panthers went 2-2 against a stellar field in the CresCom Bank Classic in Myrtle Beach and went 1-2 in the Ballin’ Prep Invitational in Montgomery.
“We went out of town and got exposed,” Walton said. They also learned from playing against tougher competition. Since losing to Bishop Kenny of Jacksonville, Fla., in a one-day event at McEachern, the Panthers have not lost a game, reeling off six straight wins.
The final two games will be telling. Stephenson is a local rival and has gone head-to-head with SWD for girls basketball supremacy for years. Arabia Mountain is the No. 2 team in Region 5 and owes Southwest for an earlier 72-57 loss.
“These next two games will tell us a lot,” Walton said. “Both these teams will challenge us. We’ll see if we’ve gotten better or still have questions to answer. We kind of surprised Arabia Mountain the first time and I’m sure they want to turn the tables on us.”
In other key girls games on Tuesday:
Loganville at Buford: Loganville (18-5, 7-1) could tie Buford for the Region 8 lead with a win. Buford (22-1, 8-0) lost its first game of the season in a non-conference one-point thriller to Class A power Wesleyan over the weekend. Buford beat Loganville 49-42 on Jan. 10.
Woodland at Jones County, Tuesday: Woodland (16-6, 10-1) has used a balanced attack led by Sambresha Everett and Mya Geddis to win five straight. Jones County (21-3, 11-2) is led by guard Lu Woolfolk and shooting guard Jada Morgan. Woolfolk is a pesky defender who produces multiple steals to feed the Greyhounds' attack. Woodland won the first meeting 35-30.
Eagle's Landing at Woodland, Thursday: In a rare Thursday game, Eagle's Landing (15-8, 11-1) and Woodland could have a piece of first place on the line. Eagle's Landing, behind Jaleah Storr and Mariyah Fletcher, won the first meeting 45-34.
In boys games scheduled for Tuesday:
Warner Robins at Jonesboro: In an interesting non-region game, Warner Robins (18-3) travels to Jonesboro (14-7). Warner Robins is tied for first place in Region 1 and Jonesboro is tied for first in Region 3. Quinn Thomas leads Jonesboro with 16.1 points
Lithia Springs at Decatur: Decatur (16-8, 8-4) currently has a one-game lead over Lithia Springs (12-11, 7-5) for third place in Region 6. Lithia Springs won the first meeting 60-54 on Dec. 14.
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