Last week’s winter storm wiped out most of the Class AAAAAA basketball schedule over the weekend and part of it on Tuesday.
Now, the return of warmer weather has brought the teams back to the heart of region play with less than a month to go before the start of the region tournaments.
Here are some of the top games involving Class AAAAAA basketball teams this weekend:
*Allatoona at South Cobb, Friday (boys): Allatoona was the Class AAAAA runner-up in 2015 and 2016 but has had an uncharacteristic 7-7 start this season. Still, the Buccaneers can move into a virtual tie for first place in 6-AAAAAA with a victory against sixth-ranked South Cobb (12-3 overall, 6-0 in region). The Eagles are 1.5 games ahead of Allatoona (7-7, 4-1).
*Pope at Cambridge, Friday (boys): Unranked Pope (13-2, 7-1) could have a chance to move into first place in 7-AAAAAA when it faces No. 7 Alpharetta (17-1, 8-1) on Tuesday, but first the Greyhounds will need to take care of business against Cambridge. The Bears (11-5, 6-2) are close behind the leaders but lost to both earlier this season, including 80-61 against Pope on Dec. 2.
*Cedar Shoals at Gainesville, Saturday (boys): After two postponements, top-ranked Gainesville finally opened its 8-AAAAAA schedule Tuesday with a 87-53 victory over Lanier and will continue region play Friday at Winder-Barrow. Then the Red Elephants (14-0, 1-0) will step out of classification to meet AAAAA No. 3 Cedar Shoals, which is 14-2 and has the classification's best record.
*Harrison at Buford, Saturday (girls): Class AAAAAA Harrison, 13-2 going into Thursday's game against Osborne, takes on AAAAA Buford in a battle of top-ranked teams. Harrison's two losses have come against Class AAAAAAA No. 1 Norcross (74-64) and Manasquan of New Jersey (68-61), both of which are in the top 20 of USA Today's national rankings. Buford is 13-0.
*Winder-Barrow vs. Holy Innocents', Saturday (girls): Third-ranked Winder-Barrow and No. 6 Grovetown will represent Class AAAAAA in the third annual Krossover Classic at Archer High School. Winder-Barrow will face Class A private No. 1 Holy Innocents' at 1 p.m., followed by Grovetown against Hoover (Ala.) at 2:30. Other games include Wesleyan vs. Center Point (Ala.) at 4, Class AAAAAAA No. 1 Norcross against Riverdale (Tenn.) at 5:30, and Archer against Woodland-Stockbridge at 7 p.m.
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