Ten Class 6A basketball teams are scheduled to take part in the J4 Sports MLK Holiday Classic this weekend at Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville.
Five Class 6A girls teams will be in action Saturday, including three ranked in the top 10. No. 1 Carrollton will play 4A No. 3 Luella at 11 a.m.; No. 3 Lovejoy will play Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.) at 12:45 p.m. in Gym 1; No. 9 Rockdale County will take on 5A No. 8 Griffin at 12:45 p.m. in Gym 2; Sprayberry faces Class 7A McEachern at 6 p.m. (Gym 1); and Douglas County meets Class 5A Lithia Springs at 6 p.m. (Gym 2).
The boys games, which include five teams from Class 6A, will be played Monday. Douglas County will face Woodland at 12:45 p.m., followed by No. 10 Tucker against Fayette County at 2:30. Class 6A teams South Cobb and No. 7 Westlake will play at 4:15, and No. 6 Alexander will face host Chapel Hill at 6.
The event at Chapel Hill is just one of several showcase invitationals being played on the holiday. Here’s a look at several of the big games involving Class 6A teams this weekend:
Boys
*Wheeler vs. St. Ignatius, Ohio (Saturday): Top-ranked Wheeler (10-3), which picked up an important 68-64 victory over Region 6 rival Kell on Thursday, will travel to Kettering, Ohio, for the Flyin’ to the Hoop tournament. St. Ignatius (6-3) is ranked by MaxPreps as the No. 7 in Ohio’s Division I and the No. 8 team in the state overall. Wheeler has won seven consecutive games since a 3-3 start.
*Osborne vs. Sandy Creek (Saturday): Osborne is 12-0 for the first time in school history heading into Friday night’s region game against Sprayberry, and the Cardinals will face Class 3A No. 1 Sandy Creek in the Georgia Hardwood Classic on Saturday at Mays. Osborne senior guard Zocko Littleton, an all-state candidate, is averaging 17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.5 steals.
Girls
*Statesboro at Brunswick (Friday): Sole possession of first place in Region 2 will be at stake when these top-10 teams get together for the first of two regular-season matchups. No. 6 Brunswick (14-0) is the only remaining unbeaten team in 6A. No. 10 Statesboro (14-1) suffered is only loss against Grovetown, 55-45 on Dec. 30. Both teams are 5-0 in region play, two games ahead of Bradwell Institute.
*Hoover, Ala. at Sequoyah (Saturday): No. 8 Sequoyah had won nine of 10 games heading into Friday night’s game against Johns Creek, but it will face its biggest challenge of the season against Hoover (18-2), ranked by MaxPreps as the No. 1 team in Alabama and the No. 21 team nationally. Hoover is led by McDonald’s All-American nominee Aniya Hubbard, a Florida Atlantic signee.
