The Maynard Jackson girls have established themselves as the model for Atlanta Public Schools. With another regular-season region championship in their pocket, the Jaguars are gearing up for what they hope will be a lengthy run in the playoffs.
As usual, Jackson (17-4, 12-0 6-AAAAA) has done it through defensive intensity and scrappiness. The Jaguars have given up 60 points only twice. They’ve held their last three opponents with 25 or fewer points.
“If you look at the way the game is played around the city, it’s easy to score,” coach Michelle Powell said. “The thing is, we’ve got to stop you if we want to win. That’s what we try to do.”
Jackson is a young team, with only two seniors. Powell has been able to successfully mesh them with young players and replace two all-city players who graduated.
“They’ve learned to play together,” she said. “They worked all summer to achieve their goal. They worked hard with the different cross-training we do. They’ve bought into the program and they’ve been committed.”
The team is led by sophomores Patsy Mosley (15.9 points, 3.8 assists) and Unique Miller (15.3 points, 11.5 rebounds) and freshman Xaviera Dyer, who came up from the middle school to average 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds.
SWD nails down another region title
Opponents shouldn’t ignore the Southwest DeKalb girls just because they have six losses. The Panthers just won another Region 5 championship by beating Arabia Mountain 63-58 on Monday and will be the top seed when the tournament begins next week at Columbia. Southwest had a 19-point lead in the third quarter and withstood an Arabia Mountain surge that closed the gap to three points with two minutes left. The Panthers put it away at the line.
The Panthers (18-6, 11-0) have lost only to larger schools, a couple of them from out of state. It’s the way that coach Kathy Walton has pushed her team to get better.
“We’re not trying to go undefeated. We’re trying to get better,” she said. “It’s been the formula that’s got their attention so we can figure out what we want to do.”
The focus at Southwest is on defense.
“We’ve won games because of our defense and we’ve lost because our defense didn’t step up,” Walton said. “The defense is the game. Every big game you’ve got to play defense.”
The Panthers have two senior starters in Raven Thurman and Lanee Edwards. Junior point guard Jayla Kimbrough has done well stepping in to run the club. Southwest has two sophomore post players, Adrieanna Brownlee and Taylor Christmas, a pair of 6-footers.
Southwest has a strong inside presence and can shoot it from the perimeter. The Panthers can go 10-deep.
On Monday night: The Fayette County boys outlasted Woodland 81-77 in overtime to nail down first place in Region 4. … The Southwest DeKalb boys earned at least a share of the Region 5 title by beating Arabia Mountain 82-45. The Panthers finish the season Friday against Columbia.
Tuesday's top games – Girls: In Region 1, Veterans (22-2) and Harris County (17-5) meet for the regular-season title in Hamilton. If Veterans wins, the Warhawks will be the top seed. If Harris County wins, the two will tie for the championship. … Boys: New Hampstead (13-7) travels to Wayne County (18-8) on Tuesday to determine first place in Region 2.
Rescheduled: DeKalb County moved quickly to put Tuesday's cancellations back on the books. The Lithonia at Miller Grove and Columbia at Chamblee will be Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
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