Here are some of the top stories to watch this weekend involving Class AAAAA basketball teams:
*Road to perfection: The Mays girls team and the Miller Grove boys dispatched what is likely their toughest region competition on Tuesday and now turn their attention to finishing the regular season with undefeated records in rugged 6-AAAAA. The No. 9 Mays girls (16-2, 6-0) cruised past No. 2 Stephenson 64-46 Tuesday, and they return to region play Saturday at Banneker. None of the Raiders' remaining opponents (Banneker twice, Carver-Atlanta and Dunwoody) has a winning record. The No. 1 Miller Grove boys (19-3, 11-0) beat third-ranked M.L. King 61-55 on Tuesday. The Wolverines are off until Tuesday, when they meet No. 8 Southwest DeKalb, a team they beat 60-40 last week. Miller Grove finishes the regular season against Druid Hills and Stephenson.
*Showcase: The Hardaway and Kell girls will be the Class AAAAA teams participating in the Wesleyan Winter Basketball Showcase on Saturday. Hardaway will kick off the four-game event at 1 p.m. against Class AA No. 5 Darlington. Kell will face host Wesleyan, ranked No. 3 in AA, in the final game of the day at 5:30 p.m. In between, Class AAAAAA teams Hillgrove and West Forsyth will play at 2:30 p.m., and Mountain View (No. 7 in AAAAAA) will take on St. Pius (No. 1 in AAAA) at 4 p.m.
*Playing for seeding: Some of the top teams in 4-AAAAA will go head to head this weekend in games that will have an impact on seeding for the upcoming region tournament. The No. 6 Forest Park girls (17-4, 12-1) will host Drew (13-5, 9-2) on Friday in a rematch of a game Forest Park won 70-57 in December at Drew. Woodland-Stockbridge (15-4, 11-0), which beat Forest Park last week, will try to remain unbeaten in the region when it hosts Stockbridge (3-12, 1-7) on Friday and then faces Class AAAA No. 4 Mary Persons on Saturday. On the boys side, No. 2 McIntosh (19-0, 12-0) will try to remain unbeaten when it has region games Friday at Starr's Mill (6-11, 3-8) and Saturday at home against Drew (14-3, 10-1).
*On a tear: There's likely no hotter player in Class AAAAA than Apalachee's Kamar Baldwin. The junior guard is scoring 27.8 points per game for the season but has averaged 34.1 in his last seven games, including a season-high 46 in an 82-76 loss to Class AAAA No. 2 Johnson-Gainesville on Saturday. The task of trying to slow down Baldwin this weekend falls to Flowery Branch in an 8-AAAAA game on Friday and Jefferson on Saturday in a non-region game.
*Coming up: Here's the schedule for the boys and girls top 10s this weekend:
#1 Miller Grove – Off
#2 McIntosh – at Starr’s Mill (Friday), vs. Drew (Saturday)
#3 M.L. King – at Southwest DeKalb (Friday)
#4 Gainesville – at North Hall (Saturday)
#5 Brunswick – at Camden County (Friday), vs. Effingham County (Saturday)
#6 Allatoona – vs. Lithia Springs (Friday), vs. New Manchester (Saturday)
#7 Northside-Columbus – at Shaw (Friday), at Harris County (Saturday)
#8 Southwest DeKalb – at M.L. King (Friday)
#9 Effingham County – at Bradwell Institute (Friday), at Brunswick (Saturday)
#10 Northside-Warner Robins – vs. Warner Robins (Saturday)
#1 Brunswick – at Camden County (Friday), vs. Effingham County (Saturday)
#2 Stephenson – at Clarkston (Friday), at Campbell (Saturday)
#3 Sequoyah – at Cass (Friday), vs. Woodstock (Saturday)
#4 Effingham County – at Bradwell Institute (Friday), at Brunswick (Saturday)
#5 Cross Creek – vs. Evans (Friday)
#6 Forest Park – vs. Drew (Friday)
#7 South Effingham – vs. Statesboro (Friday), at Camden County (Saturday)
#8 Greenbrier – at Grovetown (Friday)
#9 Mays – at Banneker (Saturday)
#10 Southwest DeKalb – at M.L. King (Friday)
