The No. 1 ranked McDonough boys have opened up an 11-1 start to the season and the Warhawks’ 3-0 record in Region 5 are the only Class 4A games that the team has played. Now that the Holiday Tournament is in the rearview, McDonough will enter the bulk of its region schedule and we will get a fantastic opportunity to see how it stacks up against its Class 4A counterparts—including No. 2 ranked Pace Academy.
Top-ranked McDonough and the No. 2 ranked Knights will meet for the first time this season on Friday, Jan. 20 at McDonough and will tipoff again at Pace Academy on Saturday, Jan. 28—the following weekend. Lovett also resides in Region 5 and has been a promising newcomer to the Class 4A field. The Lions defeated Buford in their season opener 58-55 and dropped a 68-58 contest to McDonough in their first meeting on Dec. 6. Buford is the lone loss 11-1 McDonough has taken this season. The next significant matchup to keep on the Class 4A radar will be this Friday as Lovett hosts Pace Academy for the first of two meetings between the private school powers.
Region 5 will be compelling and there are other surging programs to watch as 2023 rolls out. Among the teams that are making waves are Southwest DeKalb in Region 6. The Panthers are 9-1 with their only loss coming to Class Class 5A Eagle’s Landing (54-48). Since that loss, Southwest DeKalb has rattled off an eight-game winning streak and are 4-0 in region play. That hot start in region play includes a 45-38 win over Druid Hills, 49-35 win over Miller Grove, 83-21 win over Clarkston and 59-36 victory over host Westminster. Southwest DeKalb’s next series of tests will be a road trip to 8-3 Hapeville Charter on Friday, a home game against Stone Mountain on Saturday and a trip to Stephenson on Tuesday. Region 6 is on track to be a log-jam heading into the tournament with Druid Hills (2-3), Miller Grove (2-2), Hapeville Charter (3-2) and Stephenson (3-1) all on the trail of front runners Southwest DeKalb (4-0) and Holy Innocents’ (4-0). Additionally, Southwest DeKalb and Holy Innocents’ will face on Jan 16 before a Feb. 10 showdown in the regular season finale.
In Region 8, North Oconee (12-2) topped Madison County (12-2) 39-38 on Dec. 16 and the two teams will face again at North Oconee on Tuesday, Jan. 24 for another potential top 10 showdown. In Region 1, Bainbridge (12-1) will open its region slate on Friday against visiting Westover (9-4)—who has won six-straight and is yet to fall within the classification.
Region 4 will begin tonight with 7-2 Fayette County at 1-9 Starr’s Mill. Following that game, Fayette County will take on Whitewater, Riverdale, LaGrange, Trinity Christian and Troup—resulting in six region contests in a 10-day span. In Region 2, Baldwin is at the top of the standings with a 2-0 start and will travel to Griffin on Tuesday with a chance to maintain its place at the top of the standings. Griffin is 2-1 with its only region loss coming to Westside-Macon. As for the Seminoles, Westside-Macon visits Howard on Tuesday and will visit Baldwin this Friday.
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