The 10th-ranked Mountain View girls basketball team has won 12 of 13 games since starting the season 0-2, but the Bears will have a chance to earn their biggest victory of the season Tuesday when they play at No. 7 Norcross in a battle for first place in Region 7-AAAAAA.
Mountain View (12-3, 7-0) and Norcross (14-2, 6-0) are the only remaining unbeaten teams in region play. Norcross won both meetings last season and is 11-0 all-time against the Bears.
The Norcross game will be the first of three in what should be a big week for Mountain View. The Bears play Friday against Duluth, which handed them one of their three losses, and Saturday against 2013-14 Class AAAA runner-up Columbus in the Krossover Classic at Archer. Norcross also will take part in the event, meeting Shades Valley of Alabama.
Here are other top games Tuesday in Georgia high school basketball:
- Blessed Trinity at Cedar Grove (boys): The two schools that met for the 4-AAA football championship in November are now the leading contenders for the region title in basketball. No. 8 Blessed Trinity (14-2, 5-0 in subregion B) has won 11 consecutive games since a 3-2 start that included losses to AAAAAA Campbell and AAAAA Chapel Hill. The only losses for No. 4 Cedar Grove (11-2, 5-0 in subregion A) came against AAAAA No. 1 Miller Grove and Meridian (Miss.) in the Chick-fil-A Invitational last month.
- Columbia at Lithonia (boys): Lithonia had a losing record last year and lost both meetings with Columbia, but it has been a different story this season. The Bulldogs (14-1, 10-0) are ranked No. 3 in AAAA, have a two-game lead over St. Pius in Region 6-AAAA and beat No. 4 Columbia (12-4, 7-2) 58-54 in their first meeting in November. Lithonia's Tyheem Freeman and Columbia's Rodriguez Dennis are among the top-scoring juniors in DeKalb County.
- South Cobb at Hughes (boys): Neither team is ranked, but both have been hot lately as they try to keep pace with third-ranked Pebblebrook and No. 8 Douglas County in Region 3-AAAAAA. South Cobb had won six consecutive games until an 83-71 loss Friday to Campbell that dropped the Eagles to 11-6 overall and 2-4 in the region. Hughes (11-3, 4-2) has won six straight, including double-digit region victories last week against Campbell and Westlake.
- Veterans at Mary Persons (girls): No. 2 Veterans (16-0) and No. 7 Mary Persons (14-0) are the highest-ranked of the three remaining undefeated teams in AAAA and the winner of their game in Forsyth will take over sole possession of first place in Region 2-AAAA. Veterans has a deep and balanced team with only one player (junior wing Anna Nicholson, 10.4 points per game) scoring in double figures. Mary Persons is led by Mercer signee KeKe Calloway, a 5-foot-9 guard.
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