Archive for the ‘Basketball’ Category

Here are this week’s rankings with some comments in each classification. For the first time since early January, there are no changes at No. 1.

BOYS

*Class AAAAA: Count Marietta as the surprise team this season. The Blue Devils beat Wheeler on Friday. They also have a win over surging North Cobb, which shot to No. 5 this week after beating Harrison. North Gwinnett beat Norcross for a second time on Friday, knocking the defending champs out of the rankings. … Tift County dropped four spots after losing to Valdosta (20-5) in what some might call a meaningless game, as Tift had clinched the No. 1 seed in that region.

*Class AAAA: Only one Top 10 team lost last week, and that was Douglas County to Villa Rica. … The best region tournaments are probably Region 6 (No. 2 Miller Grove, No.. 3 Southwest DeKalb, plus Marist, Chamblee and Tucker), Region 3 (No. 1 Fayette County and No. 8 Alcovy) and Region 4 (Jonesboro and Lovejoy).

*Class AAA: Four ranked teams from last week lost in …

Continue reading HS basketball rankings: No. 1 teams hold their spots as region tourneys get underway »

It’s time for one of our biggest events of the year — the AJC Slam Dunk Contest.  The field of 10 consists of star-studded talent: Shaq Goodwin is ranked among the nation’s top 15 overall college prospects and has been invited to play in the McDonald’s all-star game, while Shaq Johnson may be the most prolific dunker in state history. Here’s the field:

• Jaron Blossomgame, Chattahoochee HS (Clemson signee)
• Chris Bolden, North Gwinnett HS (Georgia Tech signee)
• Rufus Brown, Charles Drew HS
• Christian Browder, East Paulding HS
• Carlos Burse, Alpharetta HS
• Shaq Goodwin, Southwest DeKalb HS (Memphis signee)
• Chris Horton, Columbia HS
• Shaq Johnson, Milton HS (Auburn signee)
• Adonai Rogers, Berkmar HS
• Dauson Womack, North Cobb Christian School

IMPORTANT: To vote in the contest, click on this link.

Here are the details of the 2012 AJC Slam Dunk Contest: (1) You can vote once per hour, (2) voting ends at MIDNIGHT on Friday, Feb. 19, and (3) you need to click on this link to both see the …

Continue reading Round one of AJC Slam Dunk Contest »

The Washington County boys saw their perfect regular season fall by the wayside Friday night, losing 43-40 to Hancock Central in a non-region contest, leaving no unbeaten boys teams in AAA. The Golden Hawks (22-1) will enter the 3-AAA tournament as a top seed this week, and they’re one of nine teams in the classification to win 20 games in the regular season.

Lordy, lordy, he scored 40: Mary Persons’ Brannen Greene dropped 40 points on Rutland-Macon Friday night.

Boys 20-win club: Eagle’s Landing (23-2) got 21 points from Desmond Ringer to close the regular season with a win over Spalding Friday. Drew goes into the Region 4-AAA tournament at 21-5 after a loss to Stockbridge, which got 37 points from Trevin Joseph. Grady (21-3) put four players in double figures to beat Washington. No. 1 Columbia (23-1) throttled Cedar Grove Friday. Carrollton was 22-3 before its regular-season finale against Central-Carrollton Friday. Allatoona closed the regular-season with a 12-game winning …

Continue reading AAA basketball: Regular-season finale unkind to Washington Co. boys »

Here’s a look at where the Class AAAA regions stand as the regular season comes to a close and the region tournaments begin:

*1-AAAA: Warner Robins’ girls team rallied to beat Houston County 50-48 on Friday to claim the No. 1 seed from Division A for the region tournament, which begins Monday at Northside-Columbus. Kenyona Armstrong and Diamond Hudson hit key 3-pointers in the final two minutes, according to the Macon Telegraph. Warner Robins finished tied for first place with Northside-Warner Robins and split the two regular-season meetings, but the Demons earned the No. 1 seed because of a better winning percentage against Class AAAA teams.

*3-AAAA: Griffin’s boys team, the No. 6 seed from Division A, rallied from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Upson-Lee (No. 3 seed from Division B) 43-41 on Friday to advance to the quarterfinals of the region tournament. Other first-round boys winners were Whitewater, Woodland-Stockbridge and Jones County, which will face …

Continue reading AAAA basketball blog: Warner Robins girls, Chamblee boys secure No. 1 seeds »

The East Hall boys and girls will both be the top seeded teams in the Region 8-AA North tournament. The boys completed a perfect 10-0 league schedule by beating Union County 76-48, while the girls finished 9-1 with a 57-42 victory.

The No. 9-ranked boys (19-6) were led by J.C. Hampton with 14 points, with Chris Orr and Brian Edwards each scoring 11.

The girls (22-3) got 20 points from Morgan Jackson and 18 from Jasmine Jenkins and avenged its earlier loss to Union.

The Vikings will host the first two rounds of the tournament, with the final two rounds moving to Hart County.

No. 1 Jordan sews up Region 5

The No. 1-ranked Jordan boys earned the No. 1 seed in Region 5 by beating Carver Columbus 58-56. The Red Jackets came back from a 33-27 halftime deficit to win the game and finish 10-0 in the league.

Jeff Blanton scored 21 and Marcus Powell added 15 for Jordan. Jarvis Reese scored 22 for Carver.

The No. 1-ranked Jordan boys earned the No. 1 seed in Region 5 by beating Carver …

Continue reading AA basketball blog: East Hall boys, girls win subregion »

The Marietta-Wheeler boys basketball rivalry, the biggest in metro Atlanta a decade ago, is back on.

And Norcross’ boys and girls teams – both defending state champions – will be No. 2 seeds in their region tournament after being swept by North Gwinnett.

First, let’s talk Marietta, which upset the fifth-ranked Wildcats 81-74 on Friday at Wheeler to force a tie for first place in Region 5-AAAAA. The decision on which will be the No. 1 seed for the coming region tournament will be decided by a coin toss Sunday.

Marietta finished the regular season 20-5, the first 20-win season since 2007. Marietta was 23-37 in its first two seasons under Matt Lyons, who succeeded 700-game winner Charlie Hood, who had coached the Blue Devils since the 1970s. Lyons is a former West Georgia player who assisted at Carrollton for nine seasons.

But Marietta is the turnaround story of AAAAA this season. Against Wheeler, Marietta made six 3-pointers in the first quarter, including one by Damon …

Continue reading AAAAA basketball blog: Marietta upsets Wheeler, North Gwinnett sweeps Norcross, North Cobb beats Harrison »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

When Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy head coach Jackie Cowan added Class AAA Sandy Creek to the schedule twice this season, she was hoping for a couple of tough non-region battles for her Warriors.

While she didn’t get it in the first meeting, back in November, Friday night’s tussle was all SACA (22-3) could handle. But right on cue, on Senior Night, the Warriors’ four twelfth graders stepped up and led the way to a hard-fought 52-45 win.

“That was the idea, to get a solid non-region challenge. But when we played them early, we beat them by at least 20,” said Cowan, who was off by four points. SACA won the first contest 56-32. “But I told our players that they weren’t going to just come in here and lay down, and they didn’t.”

SACA, ranked No. 2 in Class A, led by just one at halftime, 23-22. Sophomore center Amy Griffin scored nine points in the first two periods, but she was neutralized by Sandy Creek sophomore guard Minnae Harris, who …

Continue reading Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy 52, Sandy Creek 45 (girls) »

In a game of big runs with the Region 5-AAA Division A title on the line, Grady got the last one.

Down by six early in the fourth quarter, Grady put up a 16-6 run then held off Washington for a 62-59 win at Washington Friday night.

Grady (21-3, 11-1 sub-region) finished the regular season with a 10-game winning streak and enters next week’s 5-AAA tournament as the top seed from Division A.

“It was a big win for us,” said Grady guard Tyrius Walker, who scored 16 points, one of four Grey Knights who scored in double figures. “We just wanted to come out and make a statement.”

Grady led the entire first half and for most of the third quarter, but a 13-0 Washington run gave the Bulldogs the lead. Walter Foster, who scored a game-high 27 points, opened the fourth with a three-point play and then a 3-pointer to put Washington up 48-42 before the game’s key sequence.

“We really responded,” said Grady coach Douglas Slade. “We’ve been playing like that all year. The first game against …

Continue reading Grady 62, Washington 59 »

Behind twin 1,000-point scorers McKenna and Mary Kate Rushton, the North Hall girls have rolled to the top seed in 8-AAA Division A, clinching with a win last Friday over Franklin County. Mary Kate scored 12 points in North Hall’s win Tuesday over Stephens County. Interesting coincidence: North Hall coach Kristi House has twin sons. If the Rushton twins have fans and foes doubting their vision (they reached 1,000 within a week of each other), so too might the Lady Trojans’ 17-7 record. Since a blowout loss to Wesleyan in early December, their other six losses have all been by 10 points or less, and just one came against a Class AAA team.

Gritty Grady: The Grady Grey Knights notched win No. 20 Tuesday by beating St. Pius 45-31, the 11th opponent in their 23 games they’ve held under 50 points. The 45 points was the second fewest scored by the Knights, who nonetheless won for their ninth straight game and set up a showdown with Washington Friday night with the top seed from …

Continue reading AAA basketball blog: Twins power North Hall »

Here’s a look at some of Tuesday’s big games and the impact they will have on the final regular-season standings:

Girls

*Region 1-AAAA: Warner Robins escaped with a 73-68 victory in overtime against Hardaway to remain in the hunt for a share of first place in Division A. Kenyona Armstrong scored 25 points to lead Warner Robins, which can finish in a tie for first place with Northside-Warner Robins if it wins at home against Houston County on Friday. Warner Robins and Northside split their two meetings this season.

*Region 4-AAAA: Forest Park completed a 20-5 season and clinched the regular-season championship and a berth in the state tournament with a 70-42 victory against North Clayton. Ashlee Cole scored 22 points to lead Forest Park, which went 17-1 in the region and is 52-3 in region play over the past three seasons. The Panthers finished one game ahead of Jonesboro, which handed them their only region loss.

*Region 6-AAAA: Miller Grove maintained its slim lead in Division …

Continue reading AAAA basketball blog: Rockdale girls, Habersham boys among teams clinching No. 1 seeds »

The Greater Atlanta Christian boys won Round II of its series against Buford on Tuesday night. The game turned out to be another epic between the two Region 6-AA rivals.

On Tuesday it appeared that No. 2 GAC was ready to run away and hide. Focused and playing stellar defense, always a trademark under coach Eddie Martin, the Spartans led by as many as 20 points in the second half.

Somehow, No. 4 Buford reached down, found some inspiration and began a rather improbable comeback. With 30 seconds remaining in the game, the Wolves had clawed their way back to within three points.

That’s when GAC showed the heart of a champion. Delano Spencer, the team’s talented point guard, was perfect on six trips to the free throw line in the final 25.9 seconds. That enabled GAC to preserve its 74-70 win, sweep the season series and carry the momentum into the region tournament.

Spencer wound up with 20 points for the Spartans (19-5), with three teammates joining him in double figures: Colin …

Continue reading AA basketball blog: GAC boys clip Buford again »

It was a game that decided the No. 1 seed in Region 9-A, and it featured two of Class A’s marquee players. Give the edge to Whitefield Academy and all-state guard Kenny Gaines on Tuesday at Landmark Christian.

Gaines, who has signed with Georgia, scored 35 points and had 13 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots in Whitefield’s 81-64 victory.

”I think he’s the best player in Class A,” Whitefield coach Tyrone Johnson said of Gaines. “He has a ton of talent, but he plays so hard. Sometimes that doesn’t come with talent.”

Gaines also had five dunks, three on put backs and one on an alley-oop pass from Jordan Coar, who had a nice night of it himself. Coar had 12 points, 10 assists and four steals. Whitefield also got 14 points and seven rebounds from Eric Lockett.

Landmark’s Houston Kessler, the 6-foot-8 son of former Georgia player Chad Kessler, held up his end of the duel. He scored 32 and had 13 rebounds and five blocked shots.

But Whitefield (20-3, 12-0) clinched the …

Continue reading Whitefield Academy 81, Landmark Christian 64 »

Got rankings. Also some comments on each class on how the rankings were shuffled and other going-ons in each class.

One vent — Kinda crazy that Wheeler can stay in the top five with nine losses and losing to Langston Hughes, but there are only three teams playing like top-five teams right now. Milton, Shiloh, Westlake. And we’re not sure about two of those. Almost everybody has lost games to teams in lower classifications, or multiple games in their region.

Is Class AAAAA down this year, or just more spread out?

AAAAA-
The top three looks pretty good. Milton, Westlake and Shiloh each have good wins and no bad losses. Every other team in the state has multiple stains on their resume. … Random fact: Milton’s Shaquille Johnson had seven dunks in the first half against North Forsyth last week. … Berkmar lost to Archer last week, and Mill Creek lost to North Gwinnett. Berkmar and MC out. In their place are North Gwinnett and Norcross, the two that will play for first place on …

Continue reading HS basketball rankings: Down year in AAAAA, or just lots of good teams? »

The race for the top boys seed in Region 6-AAA enters the last week of the regular season with questions to be answered. Carrollton is 21-3 overall and 9-2 in region play, has one region game left, Feb. 10 against cross-town rival Central.

Troup (16-5, 8-2) had a chance to seize control of the top spot Friday night, but fell to Shaw, which got 24 points from Devonte Tolbert and gave itself a chance to slingshot into the No. 1 seed in the final week.

On the girls side, Carrollton (21-3, 10-1) has clinched the top spot after beating Columbus 62-56 Friday night behind 13 points each from Tasmine Boykin and Brooklyn Emery.

Home, sweet home: No surprise that No. 1 Columbia beat McNair Friday. The Eagles (21-1, 10-0 in sub-region play) had already beaten the Mustangs by 60 points earlier in the year. The big news, though, was that the Eagles extended their home winning streak to 76 games, Columbia assistant coach Clint McCrary, who noted that the Eagle seniors have not lost at …

Continue reading AAA basketball blog: Shootout in 6-AAA »

The No. 1-ranked Model girls completed their regular season with a 67-22 win over Rockmart. The victory enabled the Blue Devils to stretch their winning streak to 20 games and finish the Region 7-AA South schedule with a perfect 12-0 record. Model will take a 23-1 record into the postseason.

Model warmed up for the playoffs by forcing 37 turnovers and outrebounding Rockmart 54-27. Somewhat troubling was the Devils inability to make free throws (14-for-35), although that didn’t matter against Rockmart.

Model’s Timia Reynolds (21 points, 12 rebounds), Caroline Long (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Carla Clemmons (17 points, nine rebounds) led the Devils.

Model gets a first-round bye in the region tournament and is off until next Friday.

Albany boys take lead in Region 1

The No. 7 Albany boys took control of first place in Region 1-AA with Friday’s 56-48 win at No. 5 Thomasville. Tin Pierce led Albany with 27 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and Larry Sanford added 17. Tim …

Continue reading AA basketball blog: No. 1 Model improves to 23-1 »