This season in Class AAAAA boys basketball, a Fulton County teams Milton, Westlake and Centennial and Cobb County’s Wheeler and Walton have drawn all the attention.
That doesn’t bother Norcross coach Jesse McMillan one bit.
“It’s fine with us,” McMillan said. “Gwinnett had our run a few years ago, when we had South Gwinnett and ourselves and some great teams at North Gwinnett and Collins Hill. So it goes in cycles. The Cobb and Fulton teams deserve all the accolades that they get. There’s no jealousy at all. We’ll just let them get all the media and the attention.”
Norcross, ranked fifth in state, has won three of the past four Class AAAAA championships. This week, the Blue Devils can show they remain a serious contender in home games against their top two challengers in Region 7-AAAAA and a formidable North Carolina opponent.
The Blue Devils [14-2 overall, 9-1 region] face Peachtree Ridge Tuesday and Mill Creek Friday, taking on teams with only two region losses each. Peachtree Ridge, in fact, beat Norcross 65-45 in December, handing the Blue Devils their most lopsided loss in years.
“It was early in the year and we were making a lot of mistakes in pressure situations," McMillan said. "We really used that ballgame to work on just that.”
On Saturday, Norcross hosts Quality Education Academy of Winston-Salem, N.C., in the Marriott Invitational. QEA features 6-foot-10 power forward Quincy Miller, one of the nation’s top-ranked juniors.
Here are some of the other top games this week:
• Central Gwinnett at South Gwinnett (boys), 7:30 p.m. Tuesday: Two of the top teams in 8-AAAAA battle to keep pace with Meadowcreek in the region race.
• Mill Creek at Norcross (girls), 6 p.m. Friday: No. 4 Mill Creek tries to avenge its only region loss against third-ranked Norcross.
• Mays at Lithia Springs (boys), 7:30 p.m. Friday: No. 10 Lithia Springs will try to pull into a tie with Mays atop the Region 5-AAAA Division B standings.
• Tucker at Marist (boys), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Tucker is ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA, but Marist is coming off an upset of Chamblee, which was No. 2 last week.
• Buford at Wesleyan (girls), 6 p.m., Saturday: The top-ranked team in Class AA travels to the No. 1 team in Class A.
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