Here’s a look back at some of the top stories from the week in Class AAAAA basketball:
*Race tightens: The third-ranked Gainesville boys team fell back to the pack a bit in 8-AAAAA, suffering its first region loss when it was upset Friday by Apalachee 87-83. Kamar Baldwin scored a game-high 37 points, including 23 in the fourth quarter to help the Wildcats overcome a 59-55 deficit heading into the final period, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. The loss drops Gainesville to 15-2 overall and 6-1 in the region. Apalachee, which has won seven consecutive games, and Cedar Shoals are 7-2 in the region, while Clarke Central and Heritage-Conyers have three region losses each.
*Week of upsets: Gainesville wasn't the only top-10 boys team to lose last week. Also getting knocked off on Friday were No. 7 Effingham County (55-44 against Glynn Academy) and No. 9 Southwest DeKalb (72-70 against Stephenson). On Tuesday, No. 8 Richmond Hill (65-46 against Liberty County) and No. 10 Northside-Warner Robins (56-42 against Perry) were upset. Eight of the top 10 teams also had games late Saturday.
*Change at the top?: The top-ranked Stephenson girls team suffered its first loss in 6-AAAAA and just its second loss to a Georgia team this season when it fell 62-58 to No. 10 Southwest DeKalb on Friday. Stephenson (16-3, 9-1), which won 59-58 when the teams met on Dec. 5, fell into a virtual first-place tie with the Panthers (14-6, 8-1) atop their subregion. Stephenson will face another tough test on Tuesday when it hosts ninth-ranked Mays (15-2, 6-0), the leader of the other 6-AAAAA subregion. No. 2-ranked Brunswick could be poised to take over the No. 1 spot in the rankings, although the Pirates played No. 5 South Effingham on Saturday.
*Taking charge: The Columbus girls (13-3, 6-0) have established themselves as the team to beat in 1-AAAAA. The Blue Devils retained first place in the region with a surprisingly easy 53-32 victory Friday over Northside-Columbus (10-4, 4-1). Tatyana Wyatt, who came into the week averaging 20 points per game, finished with a game-high 21 to lead Columbus. Northside handed Columbus its only regular-season loss of the 2013-14 season, when the Blue Devils finished as the state runner-up in Class AAAA before moving up in the reclassification process.
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