Class 4A Blog: Luella girls poised to contend amidst field of formidable newcomers

Tuesday’s blog broke down the five boys teams in Class 4A that remain undefeated inside the classification. Now, this breakdown will highlight the girls and look at the top 10 and region frontrunners as the bulk of the region slate is underway starting with the 14-2 Griffin Bears. Griffin entered this week as arguably the hottest team in Class 4A and was riding an 11-game win-streak until its recent 54-47 loss to Class 6A Hughes. The defeat was the first loss since Griffin’s 66-47 loss to Class 5A No. 1 ranked Kell on Nov. 26. The Bears are 5-0 in Region 2 and that includes a key 53-52 win over Baldwin on Jan. 3. Baldwin is right behind Griffin in the region standings with a 4-1 record and is 8-7 overall with one overtime loss and three one-possession losses and a four-point loss to Warner Robins in the season opener. Baldwin will host Griffin in a highly-anticipated rematch and top 10 showdown on Jan. 27 and the biggest development to keep track of will be if the Braves can buck the trend and close out a signature victory ahead of the region tournament.

Like Griffin, Westminster is a newcomer from Class 3A and is currently undefeated within the classification this season. The Wildcats’ 10-4 record includes losses to Galloway, Woodward Academy, Wesleyan and North Carolina’s Lake Norman. Within Class 4A and Region 6, Westminster is 7-0. The Wildcats’ most notable victory was their 55-51 triumph over—another Class 4A newcomer—Holy Innocents’ on Dec. 6 and the two region rivals will faceoff again a week from Friday on Jan. 20. Westminster’s last three region victories include sizeable margins over Stone Mountain (63-22), Stephenson (66-32) and Miller Grove (77-21). Holy Innocents’ has responded tremendously well to its loss to Westminster and has achieved a 6-1 mark in Region 6 to set up the pivotal rematch with the Wildcats next week. The Golden Bears’ last three region victories were even more massive than Westminster’s with an 87-18 win over Stone Mountain, a 90-10 win over Miller Grove and Tuesday’s 71-36 win over Druid Hills.

Last year’s state runner-up Luella has maintained a championship level this season with a 10-4 start and the Lions’ lone in-state loss came to Kell (63-46) on Dec. 16. The Lions improved to 7-0 in Region 5 this Tuesday with a 75-43 win over Pace Academy and will host 0-13 Mt. Zion this Friday—a team that they previously shutout 71-0 in last month’s incredible result. Lovett and Stockbridge are formidable region opponents that have also felt the Lions’ wrath with Lovett falling 78-28 and Stockbridge dropping a tighter 66-62 matchup on Dec. 9. Luella will face these same teams in back-to-back region home games to close out December with a Stockbridge on Jan. 27 and Lovett on Jan. 31. Stockbridge’s only other loss to a Class 4A team this season was Baldwin (50-43) on Dec. 19.