Morgan County boys, girls sweep Sweet South Classic

Holiday basketball tournaments littered the classification during the Christmas break, and Morgan County's girls (ranked fifth) and boys (ranked second) handled the competition in their own tournament.

Morgan County won both sides of the Sweet South Classic tournament. The boys defeated Greene County 91-56 to improve to 13-1. Tyrin Lawrence earned MVP honors, and Stevin Greene was an all-tournament selection. The girls defeated Lambert 70-32 and Veterans 69-54 to win the championship. Lou Reid was named the tournament MVP after averaging 20 points a game. Miranda Powell was named to the all-tournament team with a 16-point average.

In other tournaments:

-- Greater Atlanta Christian's boys lost to Newton 81-57 in the Tournament of Champions, but defeated Blanche Ely (Fla.) 62-52 and Bishop Snyder (Fla.) 65-45. The Spartans will play host to East Hall on Friday.

-- Cedar Grove's boys lost to defending Class AAAAA state champion Warner Robins 68-50 in the Lake City Classic. The Saints opened their Lake City bid with a 61-46 loss to Kell. Cedar Grove responded with a 54-45 victory against Etowah on Friday before losing to the Demons. Cedar Grove will face Lithonia on Friday before playing at home against Pace Academy in a Region 5 game on Jan. 8

-- On the girls side, top-ranked Beach is 14-3 after losing three consecutive games in the Big South Shootout in Duluth. Beach lost to Glynn Academy 49-46, Westlake, 60-46, and St. Francis 57-45. It's not the kind of momentum needed heading into a rematch with local-rival Johnson-Savannah on the road Jan. 8.

-- Since its 54-48 loss to Collins Hill on Dec. 21 in the War Lodge Invitational at Sequoyah, Morgan County's girls have won four straight, including a 78-30 victory against Cambridge, a 64-35 thrashing of Apalachee and back-to-back victories against Lambert and Veterans. Morgan is 11-3 and 4-0 in region play. Morgan will face Franklin County on Jan. 11.

-- Third-ranked Jefferson's girls are 13-2, but coming off a 74-33 loss to Boyd County (Ken.) on Saturday in the Pensacola Christmas Tournament. The Lady Dragons had victories against Navarre (Fla.) 68-32 and Fort Zumwalt West (Mo.) 60-57 in the first two games in Florida. Jefferson will host Hart County on Friday.