McEachern’s girls, ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAAA, have won 12 straight games since Thanksgiving break and remain unbeaten in Georgia. They handled fourth-ranked Hillgrove, their cross-town Powder Springs and Region 4 rival, 69-43 on Friday and improved to 15-2 overall, 10-0.
Caliya Robinson, a 6-foot-3 junior, averaged 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine blocked shots in two victories last weekend in Brooklyn, one against New York’s top-ranked team (Nazareth). She scored only 10 against Hillgrove but contained Georgia-signed forward Mackenzie Ingram, who had 11 points.
“Caliya Robinson has been excited all week,’’ McEachern coach Phyllis Arthur said after the Hillgrove game. “I think it’s a good matchup between her and Mackenzie. I think Caliya did what she was supposed to do when she was in there, but then she got into foul trouble and had to come out, and I knew Mackenzie was going to go on a run. So we had to get her back in there because when Mackenzie goes on a run it’s hard to stop it.”
McEachern point guard Te’a Cooper scored 28 points and made four 3-pointers.
More highlights from Class AAAAA
Hillgrove’s boys are in the lead in Region 4 after victories this week over Marietta (64-45) and McEachern (17-2, 11-2). Hillgrove senior Kyle Castlin, a 6-3 forward who will play at Columbia, averages 21.9 points and 8.2 rebounds, but B.J. Brown scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half Tuesday against Marietta, and Keith Ray made four 3-pointers and scored 22 points and seven rebounds against McEachern.
West Forsyth sophomore Jenna Staiti, a 6-foot-5 center, scored 34 points and had 23 rebounds Friday in a 56-47 Region 6 girls victory over South Forsyth. Staiti is an AAU teammate of South’s best player, Sarah Myers, who scored 19 points. Both have committed to Maryland. South (19-3, 8-2) was coming off a 55-47 upset over fifth-ranked North Forsyth (19-2, 9-1). North had beaten South 72-35 in December. West Forsyth is 13-7, 6-4.
The Region 8 boys race got more interesting Friday after Shiloh (12-6, 9-3) beat Berkmar (15-5, 9-2) 51-50. Kareem Brewton scored 12 points, had five rebounds and made a game-sealing steal in the final seconds for Shiloh. Grayson (18-2, 9-2) has been the region’s real surprise. Second-year coach Geoffrey Pierce inherited a 5-21 team. Grayson has never made the state playoffs.
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