Archive for the ‘2ABlog’ Category

Talk about momentum.

If there’s jet propulsion for Class AA basketball teams entering next week’s region tournaments, it’s coming off an undefeated regular season.

Cases in point: The No. 2 Laney and No. 3 Kendrick girls, who Friday put the finishing touches on unbeaten regular seasons with victories over Dublin, 69-48, and Temple, 98-25, respectively.

Obviously, the Wildcats (24-0) and Cherokees (25-0) have the upper hand in their Region 3-AA and 5-AA tournaments, respectively.

Laney’s win has it on course toward potentially a fifth consecutive Final Four appearance and Kendrick’s perhaps toward a state championship to back its lone one in 2008.

Both Laney and Kendrick had pretty easy times of it Friday. Khadijah Cave and Simone Smith scored 18 and Destiny Brewton 16 as the Wildcats led Dublin 22-12 after a quarter and never looked back. The Cherokees were so dominant they finished 8-0 in region by an average of 52 points.

Here are other highlights from Friday:

Jonathan Mason …

Continue reading Laney, Kendrick girls get it done »

Of Class AA’s ranked basketball teams, two are on the cusp of a noteworthy feat as the regular season concludes this week: the girls from No. 2 Laney and No. 3 Kendrick are both one game from completing unbeaten regular seasons.

Perfect regular seasons or winning a regular-season region titles mean little in basketball, since all teams typically compete in region tournaments, and technically, all have potential to emerge state champion from there, despite regular-season record.

Some regions reward regular-season region and subregion winners with byes into their tournament semifinals, and consequently, guarantees into the state playoffs. But if nothing else, unbeaten regular seasons are reasons to strut.

So, let’s brag on the Region 3-AA Wildcats and 5-AA Cherokees — ranked behind No. 1 Wesleyan (20-4) and ahead of No. 4 Calhoun (21-1) — and examine how they’ve run the table so far:

– Laney (23-0): As the Wildcats prepare to play at Dublin at 6 p.m. Friday, they’ve nearly …

Continue reading Laney, Kendrick girls streaking »

When Dublin boys basketball players began this season 5-0, fans undoubtedly harkened back to 2006 and ‘09, when the team won Class AA championships with dominating seasons.

This time, though, to even their own surprise, the Fighting Irish are ranked No. 7 and winners of Region 3-AA Division A, despite being undersized, an unprolific 18-6, and having graduated eight players, including all five starters.

“This whole season has been amazing to me,” Irish coach Paul Williams said. “It’s been our hard-work, no-quit attitude.”

After an initial loss to Bleckley County, Dublin hasn’t exactly run the table. The Irish have won only three consecutive games three times, and they began this week with the third-most losses of any ranked team.

Williams’ players have developed a workman attitude characteristic of undersized guys. Saquawn Floyd and Terrell Hines are the tallest starters at 6-foot-3 and 6-1, respectively, and reserve Jalen Wells is 6-4. Otherwise, everybody’s 5-10 and under. In …

Continue reading Dublin’s undersized boys defying odds »

Action’s approaching fever pitch as Class AA teams near the final week of basketball’s regular season. Many region tournament seedings are set, while others aren’t certain until this week.

Here’s a sampling of Friday’s action:

Wesleyan girls get solid team effort

The five-time defending champions further showed they’ve recovered from a loss to Southwest Atlanta Christian by winning a seventh straight, 80-20 against Hapeville Charter in Region 6-AA. Thirteen Wolves scored, including Kendra Talley and Lauren Frerking, who netted 10 and nine, respectively.

GAC boys streaking, girls reviving

Greater Atlanta Christian’s No. 2 boys ran their season-long win streak to 10 by doubling up Westminster 69-34 in 6-AA, thanks to Troy Morrison’s 17 points. The No. 6 Spartan girls, who had lost four of their last five, beat the Wildcats 48-17 with Brianna Cummings’ and Sydni Means’ 14.

Diamond McGirt approaches century mark

The senior guard came within 12 points of 1,000 in her career with 17 …

Continue reading Action fierce as regular season winds down »

Vidalia boys basketball players have come close to winning state, but haven’t taken home that grand prize.

Recently, there’ve been the runner-up seasons of 2012 and 1982, and the quarterfinal year of ‘92.

Increasingly, though, it seems this season might bring more.

The Indians (21-1) have caught attention by leading Region 2-AA Division A at 4-0. They’re ranked No. 3, which no doubt has them on everyone’s radar.

A win Friday at Jeff Davis will be their 12th straight since a lone loss to Dodge County, and importantly, ideal propulsion entering the following week’s region tournament for four state playoff berths. After the game against Jeff Davis come subregion ones with Bacon County and Toombs County to conclude the regular season.

A win over Jeff Davis would be Vidalia’s sixth consecutive and further cement it as a favorite in the region tournament. The Indians beat the Yellow Jackets 76-52 on Jan. 4, the second of Vidalia’s 11 straight wins.

The Indians come into the Jeff …

Continue reading This could be the Vidalia boys’ year »

Clifford Kerbo didn’t picture this, but he’ll take it.

For being completely new to Region 4-AA, over from 3-AA, Bleckley County’s boys basketball coach is somewhat surprised his team’s on a 16-game winning streak, 10-0 in region, ranked No. 4, and on the cusp of winning the regular-season region title by beating No. 10 Taylor County on the road tonight at 7:30.

Every region opponent has been a stranger, but the Royals have diagnosed each on the fly.

“The run has been nice, but you do kind of have to pinch yourself,” Kerbo said. “We have to keep looking at how we’re playing, how we’ve won and what we still have to do to get better. There’s no perfect team.”

Beating Taylor (14-6, 8-2) not only would secure the regular-season region crown for the Royals (19-2, 10-0). It also will guarantee them a third straight trip to the state playoffs with a berth in the region tournament semifinals at home in Cochran, where nobody can recall a region tournament ever being.

“There’s a lot …

Continue reading Bleckley boys on verge of winning region »

Icy weather kept many basketball games from playing late this week, but here are highlights from those who did:

Auburn signee Katie Frerking, whose 20-point average is the Wesleyan girls’ only in double figures, bucketed 18 in the No. 1-ranked Wolves’ 51-31 Region 6-AA shellacking of Lovett, the defending Class AA champion ranked until this week. Up a class after four consecutive Class A championships and five total, the Wolves (17-4, 5-0) now have beaten the previously ranked Lions twice and No. 4 Greater Atlanta Christian once, both in region… Said Taylor’s and Mario Beck’s 21 helped Bleckley County to its highest scoring first quarter this season, a 34-15 lead that became an 88-61 win over Crawford County in 4-AA… GAC’s girls arrested their three-game losing streak, their longest in more than nine seasons, by trouncing Hapeville Charter 58-20. Cici Buford scored 14, Sydney Means 10 and Brianna Cummings 13 for the Spartans’ third-widest margin of victory… No. 8 Dublin of …

Continue reading Hot play thaws »

When the Wesleyan and Buford girls basketball teams played previously this season, they packed Holy Innocents’ gym for what otherwise might have been a ho-hum, fifth-place holiday tournament game at 9:45 a.m., with many fans unaware on vacation.

But Saturday’s 5 p.m. rematch at Buford might be a frenzied atmosphere, at home in Gwinnett County and with the season reaching its crescendo.

“On a Saturday evening, who knows,” Wesleyan coach Jan Azar said. “(Buford) is a great atmosphere for girls basketball. It definitely will be an exciting game.”

If you make only one girls basketball game this season, this might be it. Wesleyan (16-4) is ranked No. 1 in Class AA and five-time defending state champion. Buford (14-3) is top-ranked in AAA and winner of state three of the last four years.

How close might it be? Consider this: Both teams are the Wolves.

“The place will be packed,” Azar said.

Last time, Wesleyan won 59-53 in a see-saw battle, its third straight over Buford and 25th in …

Continue reading Wolves vs. Wolves should pack ‘em in »

Earlier, Pelham’s boys basketball team could have crept up on opponents, cloaked in obscurity of being unranked.

This week, though, the Hornets broke into the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Class AA rankings at No. 10 and are on everyone’s radar.

“We have a target on our back now, so it’s a different mindset for us out there,” coach Laron Smith said. “We have to come ready to play every night. We can’t take a night off, or even one play off.”

The way Pelham has been playing, it was increasingly hard not to notice.

After an inauspicious 0-3 season start, which included a 78-72 loss to Seminole County, the Hornets went through a Jekyll-and-Hyde spell in which they won two, lost two, then won one and lost one. Back from the holidays Jan. 3, their record stood at a not-so-noticeable 3-6.

Then, something happened. Pelham (11-6) now has won eight straight, including its last two outings — an important Region 1-AA one against Brooks County (56-28) and a non-region one against Cairo …

Continue reading Pelham boys no longer under radar »

What distinguishes perennial powerhouses?

Bouncing back from a loss by dominating someone else in the next key matchup.

Case in point: Class AA’s fourth-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian girls basketball team, which after being edged by No. 1-ranked, five-time defending state champion Wesleyan 74-63 a week earlier, rebounded Friday to trounce tenth-ranked defending champion Lovett 63-32.

The win at home upped the Spartans to 16-2 and kept them astride of Wesleyan at 3-1 in Region 6-AA. It also staged a milestone, Brianna Cummings’ 1,000th career point, halting the game late in the first quarter for that acknowledgement.

Importantly, GAC seemed to have shaken off ill affects of losing to Wesleyan, which they trailed by eight after a quarter and 11 early in the third. By beating Lovett a second time this season, the Spartans remained on their trajectory toward potentially a ninth championship and first since 2007. Key was Cummings’ 17 points, CiCi Buford’s 14 and Sydni Means’ 11, …

Continue reading Brianna Cummings’ career effort leads GAC girls »

If Manchester boys can keep their winning pace, look out.

That seems clear for the Blue Devils, who sit atop the Class AA rankings at 13-2, entering road games Friday against struggling Chattahoochee County and Heard County, who have only three wins combined.

Increasingly, as the postseason nears, the Devils appear destined for an 11th consecutive state playoff appearance, and potentially, a chance to avenge last season’s loss to Laney in the championship game.

Ranked No. 1, Manchester no doubt is entitled to have a swagger. But there’s also a degree of uncertainty for the perennial playoff contender since winning its lone state championship in 2007, then coming no closer than the second round twice and falling short in last year’s final.

Motivational might be still-raw memory of last year’s 67-53 championship loss to Laney, after the Devils (23-3) appeared to be world beaters by stunning two-time defending state champion Greater Atlanta Christian in the quarterfinals. …

Continue reading Manchester boys want revenge »

Friday night featured some big games, not the least of which was the Wesleyan girls’ long-awaited showdown at Greater Atlanta Christian. The Region 6-AA teams hadn’t met since 2008, and by most accounts, the Wolves’ 74-63 win over the Spartans was worth the wait.

Auburn commitment Katie Frerking led the five-time defending champion Wolves with 23 points, while Nikki McDonald added 22 and Brittany Stevens 13, as the Wolves retained the region lead. The Spartans got 17 from Cosette Mahre and 14 from Brianna Cummings and CiiCii Buford.

The Wolves (13-3, 2-0) led GAC (13-2, 1-1) by eight after a quarter and 11 early in the third, and 13-of-16 foul shooting down the stretch kept the Spartans at arms length.

“I think we were around the basket more in the second half,” Wolves coach Jan Azar said. “We went to the basket more.”

Here are other Friday highlights:

– Blake Willoughby’s basket with 38 seconds left and Rachel Dutton’s free throw with four to go lifted St. Vincent’s girls …

Continue reading Wesleyan girls continue setting 6-AA pace »

Here’s where rubber meets road for the Greater Atlanta Christian girls basketball team.

Class AA’s No. 2-ranked Spartans, no stranger to the top 10, are enjoying one of their winningest seasons at 13-1 and 1-0 in Region 6-AA following Tuesday’s 72-20 victory over Hapeville Charter. But today’s 6 p.m. region game against five-time defending champion Wesleyan (12-3, 1-0), ranked No. 1, is huge.

It’s not only for the region lead, but a chance for GAC to potentially take over the top spot in the rankings, as well as narrow the 9-5 record against the Wolves since 1994. Importantly, the 6 p.m. game at GAC is for bragging rights in Norcross, before the teams’ rematch Jan. 29 at Wesleyan.

“It’ll be a good middle-season marker of how we’re doing,” GAC coach Cal Boyd said. “It’s not do or die, but it’s an important game for a lot of reasons.”

Showdowns between the Spartans and Wolves are explosive whatever the sport, particularly basketball. The crowd at GAC’s Long Forum likely will be …

Continue reading Spartans, Wolves meet in showdown »

Laney girls basketball players continue to turn heads.

Most recently, they did Friday by clobbering an Augusta neighborhood rival six miles up the road, Glenn Hills, 70-29.

It not only tied the Wildcats’ third-highest scoring output this season, but kept them undefeated approaching tonight’s home game against Butler and vital Region 3-AA matchups against Harlem and Screven County next week. Coach Otis Smart’s girls had beaten Aiken (S.C.) 71-66 and Hephzibah 76-54 in the first two games of the season.

Laney jumped all over Glenn Hills from the outset, leading the Spartans 26-6 after a quarter and never looking back, according to the Augusta Chronicle. Khatigah Cave reportedly led the way with 27 points, while Simone Smith and Walentra Wright chipped in eight apiece.

Now 12-0, the Wildcats seem serious contenders to reach the state playoffs a 13th consecutive year and potentially a fifth straight semifinal or beyond the first week in March.

Here are more girls highlights from …

Continue reading Laney riding hot streak »

Up the road Friday night in Rome, there’s a basketball game perhaps worth the drive.

Model’s boys (7-4, 2-1) take on Pepperell (4-5, 1-1) in a rematch of their Rome News-Tribune Christmas Tournament game the Blue Devils won 60-53 two weeks ago. This 8:30 showdown could be another barn burner and boost the winner in the hunt behind region leader Dade County (9-1, 2-0).

Last time, Pepperell’s Darius Fugh scored 22 points and Kyle Henderson 11, but it was too little to stop Model, which got 23 from V.J. Saxton, 14 from Davey Fisher and 10 from Nakia Watkins. Model led by one after a quarter, by five at halftime and 10 after three, but Devils coach Jacob Travis would like not to need another four foul shots in the late moments to pull out the win.

“It was a one-possession game with just a couple minutes left,” he recalled. “(Pepperell) didn’t go away that night at all.”

Here are some other boys games to keep an eye on Friday:

– Greene County at Union County: The unbeaten Panthers …

Continue reading Blue Devils, Dragons set for rematch »