Upcoming: DeMatha will be Pebblebrook's third top-10 opponent nationally

Pebblebrook has victories over Mater Dei (ranked No. 7 in California), Damien (No. 9 in California), Lee (No. 1 in Alabama’s Class 6A) and Prestonwood Christian (No. 1 in Texas’ Class 5A private-school league). Pebblebrook also lost to Bartow (No. 3 in Florida’s Class 7A).

The demanding schedule began to come together in June. During the summer, Pebblebrook played at Tennessee Tech, UTC, Murray State, Georgia Southern, Florida and Alabama.

''In playing at these various events, you get a chance to showcase your team and network with various important people in the basketball world,'' Pebblebrook coach George Washington said. "These individuals reached out to our program about playing [national events]. We could not turned down the challenge. The three losses are to nationally ranked teams. Each loss has better prepared us for situational basketball.''

Pebblebrook has four outstanding players. Guard Ty Hudson (signed with Clemson) is averaging 19.1 points with 5.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists. Post Derek Ogbeide (Georgia) is averaging 13.7 points, 12.1 rebounds and 4.4 blocks. Forward Trhae Mitchell is averaging 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds.

Point guard Jared Harper, a junior, and the only non-senior among Pebblebrook’s top eight in minutes played, is the leading scorer. He averages 21.5 points and 8.2 assists.

''Our goal as a coaching staff is to have Pebblebrook mentioned in the conversations with Wheeler, Norcross, St. Francis, Miller Grove and GAC,'' Washington Said. "But they have one thing that we want more than anything - a state championship.''

The Pebblebrook-DeMatha game is one of seven at Norcross on Saturday.

Here is the schedule:

Hilton Invitational

Saturday at Norcross

11:30 a.m. - North Gwinnett vs Christ School (NC)

1:00 p.m. - Greater Atlanta Christian School vs Lee (AL)

2:30 p.m. - Jenkins vs Winston-Salem Prep (NC)

4:00 p.m. - Covenant Christian Academy vs Montrose Christian (MD)

5:30 p.m. - Norcross vs Madison Academy (AL)

7:00 p.m. - Pebblebrook vs DeMatha (MD)

8:30 p.m. - Jonesboro vs Spain Park (AL)

Several games this weekend will go a long way toward determining the regular-season region champions in Class AAAAAA.

-Alpharetta’s boys (16-4, 13-0) play at home Friday against second-place Lambert (17-3, 12-1) in a Region 6 game. Alpharetta won 76-71 in their first meeting Dec. 12. Lambert has won seven straight games. Alpharetta is ranked No. 9, but a loss to unranked Milton, the third-place team from Region 5, on Monday didn’t help Region 6’s reputation.

-The third-ranked Shiloh’s boys (17-0, 11-0) play at Dacula (13-5, 7-2) on Saturday in a game that could decide Region 8. Shiloh beat Dacula 63-56 at home on Dec. 5.

-The 10th-ranked Woodstock’s girls (18-0, 11-0) can just about lock up Region 5 with a victory Friday against Pope (17-2, 9-2). Woodstock won the first meeting 69-58, but Pope has won 10 straight games and is 9-0 on its home floor.

-Second-ranked Osborne and third-ranked McEachern play a rematch of their Jan. 3 girls game in which Osborne won 74-70. Osborne is 18-2 overall, 9-0 in Region 5. McEachern is 15-3, 8-1. As defending champion, McEachern was the preseason favorite in AAAAAA, but the season-ending injury to Caliya Robinson, a 6-3 post who has signed with Georgia, has been difficult to manage.

-Valdosta’s girls didn’t make the playoffs last season. Tift County was 13-17. They’re much improved in 2015 and playing for first place Friday in Region 1. Tift is 14-4, 3-0. Valdosta is 14-4, 4-0. The game is at Valdosta.

-Newton (14-6, 5-1) and Tucker (10-11, 4-1) are leading the girls race in Region 2. They play Friday. Newton’s top scorer is a freshman, Alexcia Chatman, averaging about 19 per game.