The seventh-ranked Stephenson boys basketball team concludes one of its most challenging weeks of the season when it hosts top-ranked Miller Grove in a Region 6-AAAAA game on Saturday.
The Jaguars (14-5) opened the week with a 41-39 loss to Class AAAAAA Marietta in the Hoops in Overdrive Classic at Centennial on Monday but rebounded with a 55-47 victory against No. 3 Tucker on Tuesday. Montez Sweat had 16 points and 13 rebounds in the victory against the Tigers. Stephenson plays at Lakeside-DeKalb on Friday before meeting the Wolverines.
Miller Grove and Stephenson are the subregion leaders in 6-AAAAA and will be meeting for the only time during the regular season. Miller Grove (15-5) plays Friday at No. 10 M.L. King.
Tucker, meanwhile, will look to break a three-game losing streak when it plays Friday at North Atlanta. The Tigers (15-4) lost to Miller Grove 70-60 on Friday, Hamilton (Tenn.) on Saturday on a half-court shot at the buzzer and Stephenson on Tuesday.
*Region domination: Northside-Columbus appears to be the most likely school in Class AAAAA to have its boys and girls teams win region titles. Both Patriots teams are 5-0 in 1-AAAAA and hold a two-game lead with five games remaining in the regular season. Northside will play two road region games this weekend, at Hardaway on Friday and at Thomas County Central on Saturday. Northside's boys reached the state semifinals last season, losing to eventual champion Miller Grove, and the girls team was knocked out by semifinalist Forest Park 40-38 in the first round.
*Battle for first: The No. 7 Drew and No. 6 Forest Park girls teams are tied for first place in 4-AAAAA subregion A after Drew's 45-32 victory over the Panthers on Tuesday, and they'll try to keep pace with each other Friday when they face subregion opponents. Drew (15-3, 10-1) hosts a Union Grove team that it beat 58-43 on the road on Jan. 7. Forest Park (14-7, 10-1) will play at Ola, which lost at Forest Park 43-20 on Jan. 9.
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