The Lovejoy girls basketball team won the first state championship in program history last season, and the Wildcats have shown no signs of slowing down this year.
Top-ranked Lovejoy improved to 11-2 this season with a 54-45 victory Wednesday over Bellwood-Antis (Pa.) in the first round of the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Wildcats will play Northwest Guilford (N.C.) in the quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Lovejoy is undefeated against Georgia opponents. Its two losses came against Texas teams DeSoto and Duncanville at the Thanksgiving Hoopfest at Duncanville on Nov. 23 and 24. Both Texas teams are ranked in the top 20 nationally.
The Wildcats are led by one of the state’s best backcourts. Junior Genesis Bryant was the Class AAAAAA player of the year last season. Fellow junior Anaya Boyd, who scored a game-high 20 points in the Wildcats’ 57-41 victory over Harrison in last year’s state final, was a second-team all-state selection.
Bryant had 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and no turnovers in the victory over Bellwood-Antis. Boyd scored nine points and had two assists, six steals and three blocks. Mariah Spain scored 15 points off the bench.
Lovejoy is 8-0 in Region 4, just ahead of second-ranked Forest Park and No. 3 Stephenson. The Wildcats beat both teams in back-to-back games earlier this month.
Here are some of Lovejoy’s top challengers in Class AAAAAA as the second half of the season approaches.
*Douglas County: The Tigers (8-3, 5-0) are in first place in Region 5 after handing New Manchester its first loss of the season last week. Clemson signee Amari Robinson, first-team all-state last year, averages 20.9 points. Douglas County will face North Clayton on Thursday in the Peach State Holiday Christmas Tournament, which includes state powers Southwest DeKalb and Westlake.
*Forest Park: The second-ranked Panthers' only loss came on Dec. 8 against Lovejoy, a 58-56 game in which they rallied from a big halftime deficit to force overtime. Forest Park is 12-1 overall and 6-1 in Region 4, a game and a half behind Lovejoy. The leaders are sophomore Sania Feagin (13.1 points, 10.8 rebounds), Alana Denson (11.5 points) and Destiny Thomas (6.8 points, 8.2 rebounds).
*Glynn Academy: The Red Terrors (9-1, 2-0) are in first place in Region 2 after a 44-39 victory Tuesday against Richmond Hill, which came into the game 10-1. Junior power forward/center Zoesha Smith is averaging 18.1 points and 12.6 rebounds, and La'Trinity Best is averaging 12.5 and 7.3. Glynn Academy hasn't advanced to the second round of the state tournament since 2008.
*Lanier: The Longhorns (9-1) suffered their only loss against strong Class AAAA team Flowery Branch on Dec. 8 but are 5-0 against AAAAAAA opponents, including a 45-30 win over Mountain View on Saturday. Mekala Fuller led the Longhorns with 15 points in that game. Lanier will face a strong challenge in Region 8 from Dacula, which is 9-2 and not far behind the Longhorns in the rankings.
*Northview: The fourth-ranked Titans improved to 10-2 with a 58-46 victory over Westwood (S.C.) on Wednesday in the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational. Ashlee Austin, a Rice signee and first-team all-state selection last season, had 20 points and eight rebounds. She averages 14.1 points and gets help from Asjah Innis (11.9), Maya Richards (10.2) and Markiema Lancaster (10.2).
*Stephenson: The Jaguars are a consensus top-10 team despite their 9-4 start because of the strength of their schedule. All four losses have come against ranked opponents, including Forest Park (43-28) and Lovejoy (45-40) in Region 4 play. Leading scorer Nikki Culbreath had 24 points in Stephenson's best win of the season, 55-53 against Class AAAAAAA power Norcross on Nov. 17.
*Valdosta: The Wildcats reached the quarterfinals last season for the first time since 2013 and are off to another hot start, winning nine of their first 10 games heading into the heart of region play. Nia Allen, a first-team all-Region 1 player last season, averages 13.4 points, 10 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 5.9 steals and 2.5 blocks. Junior Ja'Mya Johnson is the leading scorer with 13.9 points per game.
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