Hello and welcome to the Class 1A Private coverage for the 2021-22 basketball season. I’ve primarily covered 2A over the years and will continue doing so, but this season I’m also filling in for 1A Private as well.
As the AJC high school sports team transitions from football to basketball coverage we’ll be following a holiday schedule, posting blogs on Dec. 28 and 31, and Jan. 4. From there, this space will be updated once a week.
Let’s take a look at the top holiday tournaments to watch:
Boys
The top-ranked Greenforest Christian Eagles will play in the “Playing for a Change” tournament hosted by Pace Academy Saturday-Tuesday. They’ll play 6A’s No. 6 Kell on Saturday, 2A’s No. 1 Pace Academy Monday and an opponent to be decided on Tuesday.
Unranked ELCA and Mount Vernon will also play each other in the tournament on Saturday.
“Playing for a Change” also includes 7A’s No. 4 Grayson and No. 6 McEachern, and 3A’s No. 2 Sandy Creek.
That’s only the beginning for the Eagles. From there, they’ll play in the Tournament of Champions at Wheeler, a 32-team, 16-game slate. Joining them will be No. 2 Galloway, ELCA, Holy Innocents’ and Mount Vernon.
The field includes 1A Public’s No. 7 Lanier, 3A’s No. 3 Salem and No. 6 Cross Creek, 4A’s No. 4 Fayette County and No. 10 Miller Grove, 6A’s No. 1 Buford, No. 2 Wheeler, No. 4 Shiloh and No. 6 Kell, and 7A’s No. 6 McEachern and No. 10 Archer.
The Tournament of Champions schedule can be found here.
Girls
Top-ranked Holy Innocents’, No. 3 Mount Paran and No. 5 Galloway will play in Brookwood’s 30th annual Deep South South Classic, an eight-team tournament played from Dec. 28-30.
In the first games, Holy Innocents’ starts with 7A’s No. 3 Tift County, Mount Paran plays No. 8 Cherokee and Gallaway plays 7A’s unranked Collins Hill.
Other participants include 7A’s No. 7 Brookwood and No. 8 Cherokee.
No. 4 St. Francis will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to play in the Beach Ball Classic, an eight-team tournament at John T. Rhodes Sports Center from Saturday to Tuesday. The Knights open with J.L. Mann (S.C.) on Saturday.
Peachtree Ridge and McEachern are the other Georgia teams participating, and they’ll be joined by teams from South Carolina, North Carolina and Washington, DC.
Check back on Dec. 28, when we take a look at the top teams and players on the boys’ side. Happy holidays!
About the Author
