Here are some of the top stories in Class AAAAA basketball:
*In control: The fourth-ranked Salem girls team opened up a two-game lead over Gainesville in 8-AAAAA with a 50-38 victory over the Red Elephants on Monday in a battle for first place in the region. Junior Ayanna Mitchell scored 14 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for Salem (12-2, 9-0), which has not allowed more than 41 points in any game during its current 10-game winning streak. It was the 10th double-double of the season for Mitchell, who is averaging 20.5 points, 13.4 rebounds, 4.1 steals, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks. This was a makeup for the game originally scheduled for last Tuesday that was postponed because of the cold weather.
*Milestone: Tynice Martin of Southwest DeKalb surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career with a 20-point performance against Greenwood (S.C.) in the Upward Classic in South Carolina over the holidays. The Panthers beat Greenwood, Parkview and host Dorman to win the tournament championship. Martin was a second-team all-state selection last year as a sophomore and led Southwest DeKalb to the Class AAAAA championship. She was averaging 15.8 points and 10.1 rebounds this season and had 1,058 career points heading into last weekend's games. Second-ranked Southwest DeKalb faces North Atlanta on Tuesday and Lakeside-DeKalb on Friday before meeting Class AAAAAA No. 8 Norcross at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Girls Night Out event at Brookwood.
*Rankings: The Warner Robins and Sprayberry boys teams and the Grovetown girls are the new teams in this week's Class AAAAA top 10s. No. 9 Warner Robins improved to 14-2 with a 65-58 victory over rival Northside on Saturday. No. 10 Sprayberry is 13-4 after beating Pope and North Springs last week. Apalachee and M.L. King's boys fell out of the top 10. The Grovetown girls (12-4) moved in at No. 10 after beating Lakeside-Evans and Greenbrier. The Warriors face a big game on Tuesday at home against Evans, the team Grovetown replaced in the rankings. Tucker, Effingham County and Stephenson remain the only three schools with their boys and girls teams in the top 10.
