Sports
Week ahead: Collins Hill girls a state power again
By Todd Holcomb
Jan 19, 2016Collins Hills’ girls basketball team is 15-0, the only unbeaten squad in Class AAAAAA. This comes eight years after the program’s last playoff appearance, when future UConn All-American Maya Moore led the program to a third straight state championship.
The new Eagles’ week of reckoning is at hand. Collins Hill plays at No. 5 Norcross (14-4, 7-1) on Tuesday, Mountain View on Friday and at St. Francis, the No. 1 team in Class A, on Saturday. St. Francis is nationally ranked and regarded by many as Georgia’s best team in any classification.
Collins Hills’ reemergence comes under first-year coach Brian Harmon, whose freshman daughter, Bria, was a hero of Collins Hills’ victory over traditional power Norcross on Dec. 8. She hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left in overtime for the lead. Brian Harmon committed to Purdue last fall.
Here are more Georgia teams with big games ahead.
-Two-time defending Class A private-school boys champion St. Francis (13-5, 7-0) is home against No. 5 Whitfield Academy (11-7, 4-2) on Tuesday in a Region 6-A game. St. Francis’ Kobi Simmons, the consensus No. 1 senior recruit in Georgia, committed to Arizona last week. He averages 26.4 points per game. Whitfield is led by senior Brendon Myles (19.8 points per game, 11 rebounds) and point guard Isaiah Hart (19.2 points, 4.9 assists). St. Francis beat Whitefield Academy 60-55 on Dec. 4.
-No. 9 Pace Academy (7-8, 6-1) and No. 5 Greater Atlanta Christian (12-7, 7-1) have lost almost as many games between them as the rest of the boys Class AA top 10 combined, but those watching closely realize both Region 6-AA teams are legitimate state contenders with battle wounds suffered against strong schedules. GAC has a first-year coach, alumnus David Eaton, who replaced Eddie Martin, now at Buford. Garrett Covington, who scored 18 points in the 55-49 victory over Pace on Dec. 8, is probably GAC’s top player. Pace is led by Wendell Carter, the 6-10 center who is rated the No. 1 junior prospect nationally.
- The Eagle’s Landing Christian girls (10-4) entered the Class A top 10 this week for the first time this season and now face the toughest week of their regular season. ELCA takes on sixth-ranked Our Lady of Mercy at home on Tuesday, travels to Atlanta International on Friday, then meets fourth-ranked and undefeated Greenforest Christian on Saturday. Greenforest and ELCA are the only teams undefeated in Region 5-A play, and Our Lady of Mercy has one region loss.
- Morgan County’s girls team (16-3), which climbed to No. 1 in AAA this week, will face a challenge to its new status Saturday when it travels to AAAA No. 2 Buford (15-3). Morgan County moved up one spot in the rankings after the previous No. 1 team, Dawson County, suffered its first two losses of the season last week. Morgan County, which plays region games at home against Elbert County and Jackson County earlier in the week, beat Buford 53-46 when the teams met on Dec. 5.
Background for posters night basketball stadium in the spotlight
