One of the hottest boys basketball teams in Class 6A is Tucker, which has ridden a seven-game winning streak to the top of the Region 4 standings and a spot in the top 10.
The Tigers will get a chance to solidify their spot in the rankings Tuesday night when they travel to North Atlanta, the team that Tucker replaced in the rankings and handed the Tigers their only loss in region play.
Tucker (13-4, 7-1) did not begin its season until Dec. 11 and didn’t get off to a great start when it lost to North Atlanta 53-43. North Atlanta was 5-2 at the time. However, the Tigers have since won seven consecutive region games and have the best winning percentage in region play (.875), sitting a half-game ahead of Westlake (10-3, 6-1).
North Atlanta has a lower winning percentage (.818), but at 9-2 has won more games than any team in the region. The Warriors fell back after a 55-50 loss to Westlake last week.
Tucker has four players averaging at least 10 points per game. Leading scorer David Giddens averages 17.8 points and had 23 in a 97-48 victory Monday against Lakeside-DeKalb. Other double-figure scorers are Christian Yeates (13.5), Tyler Pendergrass (11.4) and Raylan Barrion (10.3).
Tucker beat Westlake 59-58 last week but faces a rematch with the Lions on Feb. 3.
There was one girls team that broke into the top 10 this week, as River Ridge moved in at No. 10, replacing Brunswick. The Knights have won nine consecutive games since an 80-50 loss to Class 7A No. 7 Marietta on Dec. 19. They are 16-3 overall and 8-1 in Region 7, sitting in first place with a one-game lead over Sequoyah and a two-game lead over Cambridge and Johns Creek. River Ridge plays at home Tuesday against Riverwood and on the road Friday against Cambridge.
Milestones
*Boys: Kell’s Scoot Henderson set the school’s single-game points record when he scored 53 Friday in a 94-64 victory over Osborne. The 6-foot-3 point guard is the consensus No. 1 player in Georgia and No. 14 nationally among juniors. He has a reported 12 offers, primarily from SEC and ACC schools. He was the 5A player of the year last season. Kell is 14-5 (9-1 in Region 6) and ranked No. 2.
*Girls: Pope senior guard Cheyenne Holloman surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career when she scored 29 Saturday night in a 69-34 victory over Wheeler in a Region 6 game. Holloman was a first-team all-Cobb County and second-team all-state selection last season. Pope (13-7, 9-2) is in third place in the region heading into Tuesday’s game at No. 7 Kell (16-3, 9-1), the second-place team.
Top Tuesday games
*Boys: Top-ranked Wheeler has a chance to avenge its only Region 6 loss when it hosts South Cobb. Wheeler and second-ranked Kell are tied for first place, with 9-1 records in region play, and hold a half-game lead over third-place South Cobb, which is 9-2 in the region. South Cobb won 81-74 when the teams met in Austell on Dec. 11. Wheeler’s only losses since then have come against Class 7A No. 2 Grayson (60-59 on Dec. 21) and Class 7A No. 6 Berkmar (66-47 on Dec. 28). South Cobb plays at Kell on Feb. 2.
*Girls: Region 4 has three of the top five teams in the 6A rankings, and two of them will face off when No. 5 Hughes travels to No. 1 Westlake. This will be a rematch of the teams’ Jan. 15 game, which Westlake won 58-39 at Hughes. Westlake, which won the past three state championships in 7A before dropping in reclassification, has won 102 consecutive games played in Georgia. The Lions (12-0, 7-0) can all but wrap up the regular-season region title with a victory. Hughes (15-4, 6-2) lost to No. 4 Lovejoy 48-47 last week.
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