First place will be at stake in two Class 6A boys basketball regions when the top two teams in those regions face off this weekend.
The headliner comes in Region 6, where No. 2 Kell travels to top-ranked Wheeler on Friday. Kell (12-4, 7-0) currently sits in first place, a game ahead of Wheeler (12-3, 6-1), which suffered its only region loss against third-place South Cobb, 81-74 on Dec. 11.
Both teams are led by a five-star guard. Kell’s Scoot Henderson is the No. 1 junior in Georgia, according to the 247Sports Composite, and has a reported 12 offers, including 10 from SEC and ACC schools. Wheeler’s Isaiah Collier is rated the No. 15 sophomore prospect nationally and has offers from Florida, Mississippi and Texas Tech.
Wheeler won the Class 7A championship last season before moving down during reclassification. Kell was a semifinalist in 5A before moving up. The teams will meet again in the regular-season finale at Kell on Feb. 12.
Elsewhere, Valdosta (12-2) and Lee County (6-10, 2-0) are the only remaining unbeaten teams in Region 1 play, and the winner of their game Saturday in Leesburg will take over first place in the four-team region. Neither team is among the top 10 in this week’s AJC rankings, but Valdosta is No. 9 in the most recent MaxPreps power ratings.
The most intriguing boys race is in Region 8, where four teams are undefeated or have just one loss in region play. Three of those teams – No. 6 Lanier (12-3, 4-0), No. 7 Shiloh (10-4, 3-1) and No. 9 Buford (12-2, 3-0) – are ranked in the top 10. The other team, unranked Dacula (7-7, 3-1), will try to keep pace when it hosts Lanier on Friday.
Here are the boys region standings going into the weekend (with region records, followed by overall records). Note that the records are taken from MaxPreps, the official record-keeper for the Georgia High School Association, and that some of those records may not have been fully updated.
Region 1
Lee County – 2-0 / 6-10
Valdosta – 1-0 / 12-2
Northside-Warner Robins – 1-1 / 7-3
Houston County – 0-3 / 3-7
Region 2
Richmond Hill – 5-0 / 13-0
Statesboro – 4-1 / 9-2
Brunswick – 3-2 / 11-2
Effingham County – 3-2 / 11-3
Glynn Academy – 3-3 / 9-5
South Effingham – 0-5 / 5-8
Bradwell Institute – 0-5 / 3-7
Region 3
Evans – 2-0 / 11-1
Heritage-Conyers – 2-0 / 9-5
Rockdale County – 2-1 / 8-4
Grovetown – 2-1 / 8-6
Alcovy – 0-3 / 7-7
Lakeside-Evans – 0-3 / 3-7
Region 4
Westlake – 5-0 / 8-2
North Atlanta – 6-1 / 14-2
Tucker – 3-1 / 8-4
Hughes – 2-3 / 8-5
Morrow – 1-5 / 4-10
Lakeside-DeKalb – 0-3 / 2-5
Lovejoy – 0-4 / 1-9
Region 5
Douglas County – 6-1 / 12-5
Paulding County – 4-1 / 10-6
South Paulding – 3-3 / 10-4
Dalton – 3-3 / 6-6
Rome – 2-3 / 7-5
Carrollton – 2-3 / 5-8
East Paulding – 1-4 / 5-7
Alexander – 0-3 / 1-10
Region 6
Kell – 7-0 / 12-4
Wheeler – 6-1 / 12-3
South Cobb – 6-2 / 8-8
Allatoona – 4-3 / 10-5
Pope – 4-3 / 10-6
Kennesaw Mountain – 3-4 / 6-7
Sprayberry – 1-6 / 6-9
Osborne – 1-6 / 3-8
Lassiter – 0-7 / 2-12
Region 7
Chattahoochee – 5-0 / 10-1
Centennial – 4-1 / 9-3
Creekview – 4-2 / 8-6
River Ridge – 3-2 / 10-6
Johns Creek – 3-2 / 6-7
Sequoyah – 2-4 / 9-8
Cambridge – 0-5 / 5-8
Riverwood – 0-5 / 5-8
Region 8
Lanier – 4-0 / 12-3
Buford – 3-0 / 12-2
Shiloh – 3-1 / 10-4
Dacula – 3-1 / 7-7
Winder-Barrow – 1-3 / 8-5
Habersham Central – 0-4 / 7-8
Central Gwinnett – 0-5 / 2-10
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