Here are some of the top stories to watch this weekend involving Class AAAAA basketball teams:
*Seeking perfection: Jordan Lyons scored 31 points and Dishon Lowery had 19 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots on Tuesday as No. 2 McIntosh held off No. 10 Stockbridge 83-78 to remain the only undefeated boys team in Class AAAAA. The Chiefs (22-0, 15-0) can wrap up the top seed from 4-AAAAA Division A with one victory in its final three games, beginning on Friday against Forest Park (7-15, 5-10), which gave McIntosh its closest region game this season when it lost 57-54 at home on Dec. 5. Stockbridge (16-5, 11-3) remains in first place in Division B and can secure the top spot in the subregion Friday with a victory against Luella (10-11, 8-5).
*Logjam at the top: No. 8 LaGrange's 62-59 loss to Carver-Columbus on Tuesday has created what is essentially a four-way tie for first place in the 1-AAAAA boys standings. LaGrange, Carver, Northside-Columbus and Harris County have two losses each in region play, although LaGrange still holds a slight advantage because it has one more victory. The key games down the stretch that will help determine the final seeding will be Harris County at Carver (Saturday), Harris County at LaGrange (Tuesday), Northside at Carver (Tuesday) and LaGrange at Northside (Feb. 6). Columbus is in first place on the girls' side.
*Down to the wire: The Region 3-AAAAA Division A girls race has a three-way tie for first place after No. 10 Greenbrier's surprisingly lopsided 71-47 victory Tuesday over No. 7 Cross Creek. Those two teams and Grovetown are all 6-2 in subregion play with two games remaining, and each one is 2-2 against the other two. Unless Richmond Academy, Evans or Lakeside-Evans – the bottom three teams in the subregion – can pull off a big upset in the next week, the tie for first will remain. Keep an eye on Grovetown's game Tuesday at Evans because Grovetown won by just four points at home in the first meeting between the teams.
*Double threat: The school most likely to have both its boys and girls teams earn a No. 1 seed in the upcoming region tournaments is Brunswick. The top-ranked girls team and No. 6 boys team are undefeated in 3-AAAAA and sitting comfortably in first place with two games remaining. Brunswick closes out the regular season with home games against Ware County on Tuesday and Glynn Academy on Feb. 6. The other team with the best shot of capturing two No. 1 seeds is Gainesville in 8-AAAAA, where the boys are in first place, one game ahead of Cedar Shoals, and the girls are in third place, two games behind Flowery Branch.
*Coming up: Here's the schedule for the boys and girls top 10s this weekend:
#1 Miller Grove – vs. Druid Hills (Friday)
#2 McIntosh – vs. Forest Park (Friday)
#3 M.L. King – vs. Clarkston (Friday)
#4 Gainesville – at East Hall (Saturday)
#5 Brunswick – Off
#6 Allatoona – vs. Chapel Hill (Friday), vs. Paulding County (Saturday)
#7 Southwest DeKalb – Off
#8 LaGrange – at Shaw (Saturday)
#9 Apalachee – vs. Lanier (Friday), at Winder-Barrow (Saturday)
#10 Stockbridge – vs. Luella (Friday), vs. Union Grove (Saturday)
#1 Brunswick – Off
#2 Mays – vs. Banneker (Saturday)
#3 Effingham County – vs. Statesboro (Friday)
#4 Sequoyah – vs. Rome (Friday)
#5 Forest Park – at McIntosh (Friday), vs. Morrow (Saturday)
#6 Stephenson – at Dunwoody (Friday)
#7 Cross Creek – at Richmond Academy (Friday)
#8 South Effingham – Off
#9 Southwest DeKalb – Off
#10 Greenbrier – vs. Evans (Friday)
