Shiloh is the only remaining unbeaten boys basketball team in Class 6A after Osborne’s school-best 16-game winning streak to open the season came to an end Friday night.
Shiloh improved to 18-0 overall and 7-0 in Region 8-6A with victories over Buford (53-43), Winder-Barrow (63-44) and Meadowcreek (70-63) last week. The Generals also climbed to the No. 1 spot in the 6A rankings after previous No. 1 Wheeler, a two-time defending state champion, lost to Marshall of Virginia 91-88 in an MLK weekend tournament game.
The biggest victory of the week for Shiloh was its win over fourth-ranked Buford, which gave the Generals sole possession of first place in the region. Shiloh was led by Trevon Payton with 19 points, including three 3-pointers, and D.J. Leak, who scored 13 points. The Generals also held Buford to a season-low 43 points.
“We did a great job on the defensive end to set the tone,” Shiloh coach Kim Rivers told Stan Awtrey, who covered the game for the AJC. “To hold that team to 43 points was great for our guys. We did a good job and they still scored some key baskets to keep the game close.”
Shiloh has just one game this week, a region contest Friday at Central Gwinnett. The Generals defeated the Black Knights 59-29 in their first meeting on Jan. 7.
Shiloh has reached the state round of 16 the past three seasons and never won a state title. The Generals lost to eventual runner-up Kell 63-55 in the second round last season.
The only other unbeaten boys teams in the state are Class 3A No. 6 LaFayette (18-0) and two Class A Public schools, No. 2 Calhoun County (13-0) and No. 4 Social Circle (19-0).
Fifth-ranked Osborne was 16-0 until losing to Kell 78-69 Friday night. The Cardinals, now 17-1 overall and 9-1 in Region 6-6A, remain in a battle with Wheeler (14-4, 10-0) and Kell (11-7, 8-2) for top seeding in the region tournament.
Senior guard Zocko Littleton leads Osborne in scoring with 18.6 points per game. Senior forward Cristian Carroll averages 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocks, and senior forward Jon Carroll averages a team-high 8.8 rebounds to go along with 8.2 points and 2.2 blocks.
Osborne has games this week against Kennesaw Mountain (Friday) and Alexander (Saturday). The Cardinals will face Wheeler on Feb. 4 and Feb. 9 in games that likely will determine the region’s regular-season champion.
Osborne, an 8-14 team last season, is seeking its first trip to the state playoffs since 2017.
“These next few weeks are going to be tough,” Osborne coach DeMarques Lakes told Abbie White of the Marietta Daily Journal, “and it will be tough from here on out.”
On the girls’ side, fifth-ranked Brunswick remained the only unbeaten team in Class 6A. The Pirates improved to 17-0 overall and 7-0 in Region 2-6A by escaping with a 50-45 victory over rival Glynn Academy on Friday.
“I’m taking a sigh of relief – we just played so bad the first half of the game,” Brunswick girls head coach Maria Mangram told Derrick Davis of the Brunswick News after the game. “We were trying to play too fast. We were like the little toy that you wind up; we were so wound up and I guess nobody ever put us down. But they showed a lot of poise. They stuck together. They didn’t get uptight, or get frustrated or get mad.”
Brunswick has games scheduled this week against Effingham County (Tuesday), Bradwell Institute (Friday) and Lowndes (Saturday).
Carrollton was unbeaten as recently as two weeks ago, but the Trojans have hit a rough spot, losing four of their past seven games and dropping from No. 1 to No. 9 in the rankings. River Ridge, the current No. 1 team, is 19-1 and has won 12 consecutive games since its only loss, 63-58 against Class 7A No. 3 North Forsyth on Dec. 11.
The only other unbeaten girls team in any classification is Swainsboro (14-0), the No. 4 team in Class 2A.
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