The Woodward Academy girls basketball team was the Region 3-6A runner-up last season and reached the second round of the state tournament before finishing 22-8. Morrow went 0-14 in region play and was knocked out in the second round of the region tournament.
Less than 11 months later, sole possession of first place in the region will be at stake when they face off at Morrow Friday night. Morrow (12-0, 5-0) and fifth-ranked Woodward Academy (10-3, 4-0) and the only remaining unbeaten teams in region play and sit just ahead of third-place Rockdale County (9-5, 3-1).
This will be the first real test for Morrow, which has faced lightest schedule of any team in the top 50 of the Class 6A rankings, according to MaxPreps. Only three of the Mustangs’ victories have been closer than 13 points.
Morrow is led by sophomore guard Mikayla Dunston, a transfer from Forest Park who is averaging 20.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.6 steals.
Woodward Academy has five players scoring at least nine points per game, led by Kameron Herring (16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds), Kami Whitner (13.9 points, 3.5 rebounds) and Delaney Cooper (10.1 points, 7.9 rebounds). The War Eagles had won seven consecutive games until a 54-38 loss to Class A Division II No. 1 Greenforest in their last outing on Dec. 29.
The teams will meet again at Woodward Academy on Jan. 27.
Here’s a look at several of the big games involving Class 6A teams this weekend:
Girls
*St. Pius at Lakeside-DeKalb: St. Pius (6-7, 2-0) and Lakeside (9-3, 3-0) and two of the three remaining unbeaten teams in Region 4 play, and the winner will be no worse than tied for first place with No. 4 Marist (13-1, 2-0). Both will face Marist in the next 11 days. St. Pius was the region’s No. 3 playoff seed last year, and Lakeside was the No. 4 after losing to St. Pius in the region tournament.
*Veterans at Tift County (Friday): These were the top two teams in Region 1 last season, and they’re the region’s highest-ranked teams in the first week of 2024. No. 8 Veterans (9-4, 2-0) has the early lead in the region after beating Houston County and Northside-Warner Robins in December. No. 10 Tift County (9-3, 2-0) is playing its region opener. The teams meet again on Jan. 30 at Veterans.
Boys
*Glynn Academy at Lakeside-Evans (Saturday): These are the only two Region 2 teams that came into the new year with overall winning records. No. 9 Glynn Academy (12-2, 1-0) won the only region game that has been played so far, beating Brunswick 55-49 on Dec. 8. Lakeside (7-5, 0-0) was the region’s No. 3 playoff seed last year and is No. 14 in MaxPreps’ current Class 6A rankings.
*Lassiter at Walton (Saturday): Lassiter takes on Johns Creek in a Region 7-6A game Friday night before heading off to Class 7A No. 8 Walton on Saturday, aiming to avenge two earlier losses against its east Cobb County rival. Lassiter (11-4, 2-1) is tied with Sprayberry for second place in Region 7-6A, a game and a half behind eighth-ranked Pope (13-3, 4-0). Walton is 12-2.
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