Olivia Nelson-Ododa, the nation’s top-ranked junior, had 19 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots to lead the Winder-Barrow girls team to a 63-37 victory over Dreher (S.C.) Monday in its first game of the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational, which began Saturday and continues through Thursday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Chellia Watson led Winder-Barrow (6-3) with 22 points, and Latrice Perkins added 15 points and seven assists. The loss was the first of the season for Dreher (6-1). Winder-Barrow was the runner-up in Georgia’s second-highest classification last season.
The victory put Winder-Barrow on a collision course with Class A Wesleyan (8-0). The Wolves advanced with a 58-35 victory over Franklin County (Ky.), which suffered its first loss of the season. Connecticut signee Mikayla Coombs led the Wolves with 22 points.
Winder-Barrow and Wesleyan will play each other at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Class AAAAAAA Norcross also won its first game and will play again Tuesday at 11:15 a.m. The other Georgia team in the event, Harris County, lost in the first round.
Here is a small sampling of where some of the other top Class AAAAAA boys and girls teams will be playing over the holidays:
*Peach State Holiday Classic (boys and girls, Wednesday-Friday, Clayton State University): The girls teams from Tucker and Mundy's Mill will represent AAAAAA in this event, which includes eight boys teams and eight girls teams. Fayette County, North Clayton and Southwest DeKalb will send their boys and girls teams. Other participants include the Colquitt County, Jackson-Atlanta and Westlake girls and the Eagle's Landing, Morrow, Lithonia, South Atlanta and Therrell boys. Games begin at 10 a.m. each day.
*Lake City Classic (boys, Dec. 28-30, Allatoona High School): Class AAAAAA teams Alexander, Hughes and South Paulding join the host Buccaneers in the 16-team tournament, which will be split into two brackets of eight teams each. Hughes is ranked No. 3 and South Paulding is No. 4 in the most recent Score Atlanta rankings. Auburn and Hale County of Alabama and Central of Springfield, Mass., also will be in the field. Games begin at 10 a.m. each day, and the bracket championships will be at 7 and 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 30.
*Carolina Invitational (girls, Dec. 28-30, Goose Creek, S.C.): Northview's girls are thriving in their first season after moving down from the highest class, sitting at 10-1 heading into Thursday's game against South Forsyth. The Titans will be joined in South Carolina by Stephenson for the eight-team tournament at Goose Creek High School. Stephenson is scheduled to face Orangeburg-Wilkinson (S.C.) at 3 p.m. on Dec. 28, and Northview is set to face the host Gators at 6 p.m.
*Lanierland Classic (boys and girls, Dec. 28-30, North Hall and Gainesville high schools): The boys and girls from Flowery Branch will be the No. 1 seeds for this tournament that includes eight boys teams and eight girls teams from Hall County. Seedings were based on teams' finishes in last year's tournament. Gainesville's top-ranked boys will be the No. 8 seed. First-round games begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at North Hall, and the tournament moves to Gainesville on Thursday for the semifinals and beyond.
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