Here are some of the top stories to watch this weekend involving Class AAAAA basketball teams:
*Top billing: The first-place boys teams from each subregion in 6-AAAAA will meet for the only time in the regular season Saturday when No. 7 Tri-Cities travels to top-ranked Miller Grove. Tri-Cities was upset Monday by Heritage-Conyers 66-63 but bounced back with a 77-55 victory over Druid Hills the next night. The Bulldogs' other losses came against Lee (Ala.) and Class AAAAAA teams Pope and Westlake by a combined 14 points. Miller Grove, the six-time defending champion in the second-highest classification, has won seven consecutive games, including a 60-58 victory over Tucker last week in the Chick-Fil-A Classic championship game. Wolverines junior guard Alterique Gilbert was the tournament MVP.
*Still perfect: The only remaining undefeated boys team in Class AAAAA is second-ranked McIntosh, which improved to 14-0 overall and 7-0 in Region 4 with a 77-29 victory Tuesday over Union Grove. The Chiefs will put their winning streak on the line Friday as they continue region play at home against Woodland-Stockbridge (10-5). McIntosh is led by junior guard Jordan Lyons, who is averaging 23.4 points per game. McIntosh's top four scorers, and nine of its top 10, are juniors.
*Chance for a breakthrough: The Coffee girls team (10-3) was sitting just outside the top 10 of this week's rankings, but it will have a chance to improve its standings when it hosts No. 6 South Effingham (13-2) on Friday and travels to eighth-ranked Effingham County (12-4) on Saturday in Region 3-AAAAA crossover games. Coffee is in second place in the A subregion, a game and a half behind Brunswick. South Effingham and Effingham County are tied for first place in subregion B. Coffee's only losses this season have come against Brunswick (by eight points), Class AAAAAA Tift County and Class AAAA No. 6 Americus-Sumter.
*Subregion leader: The 10th-ranked Cross Creek girls team (14-2, 2-0) moved into first place in 2-AAAAA subregion A with a 57-44 victory over No. 3 Greenbrier (14-2, 1-1) on Tuesday, and the Razorbacks will look to maintain their lead Friday when they travel to Evans (10-5, 1-1). All six teams in the subregion have won at least 64 percent of their games this season. The other teams are Grovetown (10-3, 1-1), Lakeside-Evans (9-5, 1-1) and Richmond Academy (10-5, 0-2).
*Double success: Brunswick is the only school in Class AAAAA that has its boys and girls teams ranked in the top 10 this week. The Brunswick girls, ranked No. 2, are 15-0 this season and 40-4 since the start of the 2013-14 season. The sixth-ranked Pirates boys are 13-2 and have won five straight since a 53-45 loss to Class AAA No. 7 Savannah in the Savannah Christmas tournament. Brunswick will host Bradwell Institute on Friday and Wayne County on Tuesday.
About the Author
