The regular season is wrapping up and the seeding for the region tournaments that will occur later this month will be determined in the coming days. Today’s blog will focus on the current standings on the boys side of Class 4A. In Region 1, Monroe has already locked down the top seed with just two games left on its regular season schedule. The Golden Tornadoes sit at 8-0 in the region and will close out the slate with a road trip to Westover tonight and a home game versus Dougherty on Friday. Monroe’s 8-0 record in the region gives them a comfortable lead in the current standing with the next closest teams Bainbridge, Westover and Dougherty each sitting at 5-3 and Thomas County Central sitting at 1-7 above Cairo’s 0-8 mark.
Region 2 is the largest region in the classification with nine teams and it has been highly competitive so far. No. 1 ranked Spencer is currently at the top of the standings with a 4-0 region record, but the Greenwave still have games against Kendrick, Shaw, LaGrange and Carver-Columbus on the slate. Hardaway fell 62-58 to Spencer back on Jan. 22—showcasing the previously-mentioned competiveness of the region. The Hawks are 3-1 in region play and will close out their schedule against Shaw, Carver-Columbus, Jordan and LaGrange. LaGrange is 2-1 and recently fell 55-53 to Columbus—which is 3-2 following its back-to-back losses to Spencer and Hardaway. Shaw beat Carver, but fell 49-24 to LaGrange. These results suggest that there will be a major battle between Region 2′s top tier when it comes to locking down playoff berths later this month.
In the four-team Region 3, New Hampstead is at the top of the standings with a 3-0 record, while Islands, Benedictine and Jenkins all share a 1-2 record. New Hampstead is yet to lose within the classification this season and will have an opportunity to complete a clean sweep in the next week when the Phoenix square off with its trio of region counterparts one more time.
No. 2 ranked Baldwin is 11-0 overall with a 9-0 Region 4 record and will have a chance to close out a perfect regular season with just two games left. The Braves visit Spalding tonight and then will visit Perry on Monday for their regular season finale. Behind Baldwin in the standings is a log jam of teams will lead to an intriguing battle for playoff positioning. As things currently stand, Westside (7-3), Perry (4-3), West Laurens (4-5), Rutland (3-5) and Spalding (3-5) have all displayed their playoff potential.
In Region 5, Fayette County (9-1), Luella (9-2) and McDonough are still in the fight for the top seed heading into the region tournament. Fayette County will host Luella tonight in a highly-anticipated rematch of their 83-76 loss to the Lions back on Dec. 15.
Region 6 will likely see five teams competing for the four playoff slots with Miller Grove, Stephenson, Marist, Mays and Arabia Mountain all in the mix. Miller Grove is the current front-runner to finish the regular season at the top of the standings and will host winless Hapeville Charter Tuesday before closing out the slate against Mays this Friday. The Wolverines are 5-1 in region play and previously defeated Hapeville Charter 54-43 and Mays 62-44.
Cedartown will likely have an opportunity to clinch Region 7 on Friday when the Bulldogs host Heritage-Catoosa. Both schools currently have two losses in region play, but Cedartown has the benefit of its previous 56-53 victory over the Generals on Jan. 12 that would give them the tie-breaker advantage if it can complete the season sweep this week.
In Region 8, Cedar Shoals is positioned slightly above Jefferson in the standings and is in the driver’s seat to finish the season at the top of the standings. The Jaguars, however, will be closing out the season a week from Thursday at Madison County, which served them their only region defeat in a 49-46 thriller back on Jan. 5. Cedar Shoals (8-1) narrow 62-59 win over Jefferson last Friday gives them a slight edge over the Dragons, which are currently 8-2 in the region.
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