All posts by KyleSandy

GHSA, GHSA Basketball

Peach State Stops of the Week (1/8-1/13)

People always ask me, “What’s the best game in town this week?”

Peach State Stops of the Week will highlight some of the best basketball being played in Georgia for the current week. Whether it’s a tournament/showcase, a region rivalry, a Top 10 showdown, or a seldom heard sleeper, Peach State Stops of the Week will let you know what gym you need to get into

TUESDAY

No. 3 Sandy Creek at No. 9 Cartersville

Right now, it looks like Region 5-AAAA will boil down to No. 3 Sandy Creek (11-3) and No. 9 Cartersville (10-2). The two teams had a couple wars last year with the Patriots winning at home 86-80 and in the region tournament 60-53 while Cartersville won a wild game in Bartow County in overtime 94-88. While some faces have changed, especially on the Sandy Creek side, expect this long distance rivalry to continue. Kam Miller, Chris Porter and Jarred Godfrey will have their hands full trying to corral Furman-signee Jaylon Pugh. TJ Horton’s aggressiveness in the backcourt will test the Patriots as well. TJ Bickerstaff will have to be the difference maker for Sandy Creek. The 6-foot-7 junior wing has come on strong this season and will need to hunt his shot and crash the glass to take advantage of a smaller Hurricane lineup.

No. 8 Banks County at No. 4 Rabun County [G]

The Lady Leopards (13-3) and the defending Class AA state runner-up LadyCats (12-2) have blossomed into one of North Georgia’s most heated rivalries on the girls’ side. The two meet for the first time this season after Rabun County beat Banks County in the Region 8 championship 78-67 last year after splitting the regular season series. Banks County has challenged themselves early this year, playing three ranked teams twice apiece, going 4-2 against Hart County, West Hall and Madison County. Jaycie Bowen has led the attack from the paint along with Amber Williams while Maddie Thomas and Allison Smith provide matchup problems with their size on the perimeter. Rabun County already has a region loss in the form of an 82-53 defeat at Putnam County, but the emergence of junior guard Georgia Stockton has helped keep the Cats stay afloat without Brooke Henricks. Stockton has poured in the points averaging upwards of 25 per game while receiving help from Laken Stiles and Kaitlin Coleman. Expect an intense high-action game with Rabun County trying to set the tone with their press and challenge the Leopards’ ball handling.

FRIDAY

No. 2 Manchester at No. 1 Central-Talbotton

Coach Anzy Hardman has turned No. 2 Manchester (11-0) into a Class A-Public contender and now has a chance to take over the mantle as the team to beat if they can stop No. 1 Central-Talbotton (13-0) and its high-powered offense. Defensive pressure keyed by Jah’nile Hill, Kalil Brawner and Carlos Dixon will try to disrupt the powerful trio of Tayne Smith, ZyTavian Hill and Javares Copeland. Inside, the Blue Devils have physicality around the rim to deny any free runs from Hill or Smith in the form of 6-foot-4, 295-pound Jerquavion Mahone, a defensive tackle heading to Kentucky. While the Hawks have the size advantage on the perimeter, they will still have to chase around Hill, a lightning rod of energy that thrives in transition and creates offense from his pesky defense. It will be a sell-out crowd over in West Georgia with the potential for a break-neck pace.

SATURDAY

Creekview at No. 10 Etowah

When was the last time Cherokee County had two boys teams with one loss this late into the season? If someone knows, I’d love to hear the answer. The golden days of boys basketball have been fleeting, but there’s a glimmer of hope between Towne Lake and Owens Store Road. The Eagles (14-1) have hovered around the bottom of the Top 10 in Class AAAAAAA, a great honor after their trip to the Sweet 16 last season. Jaxon Etter has begun to garner D-1 interest with his play on the wing. The junior teams up with Tusculum-signee Adrian Cohen, 6-foot-7 senior Julian Baldwin, D-3 commit Carter Ingersoll and defensive specialist Nick Nagy, who has already clamped down the likes of Devin Vassell (Florida State) and KD Johnson. The Eagles have won 14-straight with their calling card being tough-nosed defense that allows just 44.8 points per game. Creekview (13-1) carries a 12-game winning streak in Class AAAAAA behind KJ Jenkins, the No. 4 senior point guard in the state. Jenkins has proven to be a human torch that can catch fire from deep. Ty Allen along with posts Paxton Nayman and James Wall have helped balance the offense while Barrett Patterson supports from the outside. Etowah will be Creekview’s toughest task since their 68-49 loss to Mt. Bethel Christian.

Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

TJ Horton sparks No. 10 Cartersville’s rally at LaGrange

Contributed by Rob Grubbs   (@RCGJr226070)

Sponsored by:   @sportalspace

No. 10 Cartersville 64, LaGrange 60

January 6, 2018 (LaGrange, GA): Region 5-AAAA is one of the most competitive regions in the state, two teams are in the current Top 10, with No. 3 Sandy Creek and No. 9 Cartersville while three others are very good; Cedartown, Troup County and LaGrange. It is also one of the most geographically diverse as well, as there are some serious road trips that accompany region play.  The Cartersville Hurricanes had one of the road adventures Saturday afternoon as they drove over 200 miles roundtrip to LaGrange to face the Grangers in their historic gym.

LaGrange (10-6) had gotten off to a slow start to the season, but Head Coach Mark Veal guided them to a five-game winning streak as they prepared to enter the trenches of region play. Cartersville (10-2) is led by senior, Furman-signee Jaylon Pugh and Head Coach Mike Tobin is putting together the pieces to make a serious run for the region crown. The Hurricanes defeated Central-Carrollton on Friday night, which meant his team would spend six of the next 28 hours on yellow buses. LaGrange lost on the road Friday night at Cedartown as well, so both teams came into the game a bit weary from the road. While the extra travel may have sapped some of their energy early, Cartersville overcame a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to get a huge road win and take an early lead in the region.

The Grangers knew that to stop Cartersville, you had to stop Pugh, so they played a box-and-one defense on him and tried to prevent him from getting the ball in open space, they were making things busy for him with relentless pressure. Their strategy was successful, as they held him scoreless in the first half. LaGrange jumped out to a 14-11 lead to end the first quarter, highlighted by a Bo Russell three and solid defense. Perignon Dyer picked up the scoring slack for the Hurricanes, he scored two three-pointers to keep things close.

Russell got help from his supporting cast in the second quarter, Daz Williams and Jordan Ogletree led a balanced attack for LaGrange while Cartersville got two more threes from Dyer to keep it at 34-29 at halftime.

When Russell hit a three-pointer to start the third quarter, it appeared that the Grangers were prepared to deliver the knockout blow and with 3:45 remaining in the third, Russell hit a smooth runner in the lane to put them up 16 points, but the Hurricanes were pesky and would not go away. Senior TJ Horton took it on himself to keep the game close and with 1:38 remaining, he scored on a nice drive to the basket and made a free throw to cut the lead to nine.

The anatomy of a comeback is always interesting to watch and then replay in your mind. In a game that LaGrange had controlled almost throughout, had led once by 16 and now led by nine with a quarter remaining, Earley Sanders committed an offensive foul that seemed to give the Hurricanes renewed energy.  Pugh broke free of the defense set to stop him and scored two baskets early and when Horton hit a three with 6:32 remaining, the Hurricanes were now only down by six. LaGrange called a timeout so Coach Veal could summon renewed energy that had faded in the start of the fourth, but Cartersville had already stolen the momentum.

After Russell hit one of two free throws, the Grangers had a three point lead and tried to ice the game by spreading out to a four corner set at the 2:50 mark. That strategy backfired as the Hurricanes would close the game out with a 12-5 run down the stretch, led by Horton and Pugh going to the free throw line repeatedly, they would go a combined 8-of-11 from the charity stripe as the clock joined the Hurricanes as the Grangers’ biggest enemy.  In the end, the Hurricanes outscored the Grangers 22-9 in the fourth quarter with Pugh contributing 11 of those down the stretch for the 64-60 final.

For the Hurricanes, it was quick turnaround, after a five-minute postgame meeting with Coach Tobin, the team grabbed seven boxes of pizza and scampered back to the buses for the two-hour ride home. Coach Tobin offered, “We had a tough stretch with these two games back-to-back on the road and their defense picked us apart early, but we played our game and caught some momentum in the fourth quarter. This was a huge road, region win for us. TJ picked us up tonight and carried us for that victory. We have another tough game on Tuesday as we get Sandy Creek, but it will be at home. We are looking forward to that.”

It will be a night that LaGrange will look back on as a missed opportunity. It is tough to lose a lead at home, especially when your star player, Russell, scores 27 points. They will try to get back on the winning page on Tuesday against their county rival Troup County, which is just ahead of them in fourth-place in the region. After the loss to Cartersville, it just became a must win for them.

Rob’s Takeaways

  1. Russell is an electric scorer from LaGrange, the guard moves well with or without the ball, has a good outside shot and can drive to the basket as well.
  2. Dyer scored 15 points for the Hurricanes – all on three pointers, making five and all of them were in big spots with his team behind. There is something to be said about the difficulty of making big outside shots when behind, there is so much more pressure involved and less margin of error.
  3. Pugh showed great discipline, he realized the defense was set up to stop him, he didn’t try to force anything, he allowed Horton and Dyer to focus on scoring and then seized the moment in the fourth by scoring eight in their run at the end, including 4-of-4 from the line.
  4. The LaGrange gym is classic, you can hear the echoes of past games there. There is talk of a new auditorium being built off campus by the city, so she may not be around much longer – great place to watch.
  5. Cartersville got to the free throw line 25 times, Horton had 18 of those alone, while LaGrange got there only 10 times. That is not quite the ratio you would expect from the home team, but it reflects how Horton was constantly driving to the basket.
  6. The decision to go four corners completely took LaGrange out of their offensive mindset, they became tentative and stopped looking to score, which cost them in the end.

Top Performers

LaGrange
Bo Russell – 27 points, 6 rebounds
Jordan Ogletree – 12 points, 6 rebounds
Daz Williams – 12 points, 5 assists

Cartersville
TJ Horton – 25 points, 5 assists
Perignon Dyer – 15 points (5 threes), 4 assists
Jaylon Pugh – 13 points, 6 assists

GHSA, Girls Basketball, Girls Rankings

Week 8 Girls Rankings

Class AAAAAAA

  1. Westlake (13-1)
  2. Collins Hill (14-2)
  3. Norcross (14-3)
  4. Newton (13-2)
  5. Cherokee (13-2)
  6. North Forsyth (14-2)
  7. South Gwinnett (14-1)
  8. Colquitt County (14-3)
  9. North Cobb (13-2)
  10. McEachern (7-5)

Class AAAAAA

  1. Harrison (13-3)
  2. Lovejoy (15-1)
  3. Winder-Barrow (11-3)
  4. Alpharetta (13-1)
  5. Sequoyah (12-2)
  6. Forest Park (13-2)
  7. Northview (11-4)
  8. Lanier (13-3)
  9. Creekview (9-5)
  10. Stephenson (10-5)

Class AAAAA

  1. Buford (11-2)
  2. Dutchtown (14-2)
  3. Flowery Branch (13-4)
  4. Harris County (13-2)
  5. Bainbridge (16-2)
  6. Villa Rica (12-0)
  7. Arabia Mountain (13-1)
  8. Ware County (11-2)
  9. Carrollton (11-4)
  10. Fayette County (10-4)

Class AAAA

  1. Carver-Columbus (16-1)
  2. Henry County (15-0)
  3. Spalding (12-2)
  4. Luella (13-3)
  5. Northwest Whitfield (13-2)
  6. Baldwin (14-1)
  7. Madison County (10-5)
  8. Marist (12-2)
  9. Americus-Sumter (13-1)
  10. Jefferson (11-4)

Class AAA

  1. Greater Atlanta Christian (11-3)
  2. Beach (13-1)
  3. Johnson-Savannah (9-3)
  4. Franklin County (16-0)
  5. Central-Macon (12-2)
  6. Lovett (12-4)
  7. Hart County (11-4)
  8. Peach County (11-4)
  9. Tattnall County (12-4)
  10. Haralson County (11-1)

Class AA

  1. Laney (14-0)
  2. Dodge County (12-1)
  3. Putnam County (12-1)
  4. Rabun County (12-2)
  5. Swainsboro (11-2)
  6. Josey (15-1)
  7. Model (11-3)
  8. Banks County (13-3)
  9. Washington County (10-3)
  10. Metter (11-3)

Class A-Private

  1. Holy Innocents’ (14-1)
  2. Wesleyan (12-2)
  3. St. Francis (9-3)
  4. Our Lady of Mercy (13-1)
  5. Calvary Day (14-1)
  6. Stratford Academy (11-2)
  7. Prince Avenue Christian (12-1)
  8. Landmark Christian (7-7)
  9. Christian Heritage (12-3)
  10. Athens Academy (12-2)

Class A-Public

  1. Telfair County (14-1)
  2. Greenville (13-1)
  3. Pelham (12-1)
  4. Wheeler County (10-2)
  5. Macon County (10-2)
  6. Terrell County (10-2)
  7. Georgia Military College (12-0)
  8. Wilcox County (9-4)
  9. Marion County (13-2)
  10. Bowdon (11-3)

 

Yet again, there is no movement in Class AAAAAAA, but No. 10 McEachern is on the verge of dropping out if they suffer an in-state loss. Their saving grace with their 7-5 record is that three losses have come in national tournaments. The Lady Indians’ listed results keep changing on MaxPreps, making it even harder to follow. A team that has been easy to track however has been No. 1 Westlake. The Lady Lions steam-rolled Wheeler 68-43 and Eagle’s Landing 78-51. No. 4 Newton beat rival Rockdale County 70-44 on the road. No. 8 Colquitt County has won 8-straight since their 55-46 loss to Westlake. The Lady Packers went into Camden County and earned a 51-42 win followed by a 55-34 thumping of Tift County.

No. 1 Harrison holds firm atop Class AAAAAA with No. 2 Lovejoy and No. 3 Winder-Barrow scoring great wins, close behind. The Lady Hoyas beat No. 5 Sequoyah in Hickory Flat 60-51. Lovejoy sent shockwaves through the state with a wildly impressive 55-49 win over Class 5A No. 1 Buford at the Big South Shootout. The Lady Doggs edged their evenly matched rivals, Class 5A No. 3 Flowery Branch, 50-49 in Hall County, Olivia Nelson-Ododa with 29 points and the game-winning free throw. No. 4 Alpharetta made a statement in Region 7 with their 59-53 win over the bipolar No. 7 Northview Lady Titans. River Ridge (11-4) and Northside-Warner Robins (11-3) exit the Top 10 after the Knights lost 54-36 to newly ranked No. 9 Creekview while the Eagles dropped in overtime at Valdosta 54-52. No. 10 Stephenson reenters the poll with a 38-36 win at Grayson.

In Class AAAAA, No. 1 Buford still has the target on their back even after their loss to Lovejoy. No. 3 Flowery Branch finally slips a spot, giving way to No. 2 Dutchtown. Region 1 places No. 4 Harris County and No. 5 Bainbridge. The Lady Tigers drilled Warner Robins 64-33 while the Bearcats took out Veterans 61-38. No. 6 Villa Rica can officially say they are the team to beat in Region 7. The Wildcats knocked Rome (10-2) from the Top 10 with a 66-51 victory and now sit at 7-0 in the region, with No. 9 Carrollton in second-place at 5-1, their lone loss to Villa Rica. Replacing Rome is No. 10 Fayette County. The Lady Tigers beat McIntosh 55-37 and travel to Starr’s Mill (11-4) on Tuesday with first-place in Region 3 up for grabs.

There were no changes in Class AAAA.  No. 2 Henry County blasted Locust Grove 81-49. No. 3 Spalding dispatched of Southwest DeKalb 66-52. No. 6 Baldwin holds onto their spot in the middle of the rankings even after suffering their first loss of the season at the Big South Shootout to Class 3A No. 2 Beach, 66-47.  No. 7 Madison County grinded out a 60-55 win at St. Pius X. No. 8 Marist did the same, beating the Golden Lions 28-26.

Class AAA No. 2 Beach looked good at Duluth, beating Baldwin and taking care of Duluth 53-33 at the Big South Shootout. No. 4 Franklin County has quietly run their record up to 16-0. They beat Stephens County at Currahee Arena 67-23. The Lady Lions will see a major test on Friday as they travel to No. 7 Hart County. No. 5 Central-Macon beat Southwest-Macon 61-46 and sent the Patriots out of the Class 2A Top 10. No. 10 Haralson County sinks three spots after losing to Sonoraville 60-51.

Region 8-AA has been one of the best groupings in the classification this year with No. 3 Putnam County, No. 4 Rabun County and No. 8 Banks County. The top five teams in the region (Elbert County & Monticello included) have a combined 57-18 record. Putnam County drops one position this week after Elbert County defeated them 54-52. Banks County took care of Elbert County 49-38 at Elbert and now the Lady Leopards have a Region 8 championship rematch at Rabun County on Tuesday to further sort out the logjam atop of the standings. Region 2 has some talent as well with No. 5 Swainsboro and newly ranked No. 10 Metter, who replaces Southwest-Macon after the Patriots lost to Central-Macon and Westside-Macon. Swainsboro won at St. Vincent’s 59-46, the much-improved Saints dropping to 10-2 after a 12-16 season. Metter gets a chance to prove their worth as they visit Swainsboro on Tuesday for a crucial region bout.

The trusty Sandy’s Spiel Rankings survived a coin-flip game in Class A-Private as No. 1 Holy Innocents’ defeated their bitter rival No. 2 Wesleyan 48-34 at Wesleyan, leading to no changes in the poll this week. No. 5 Calvary Day earned a nice 60-49 win over Woodville-Tompkins while No. 7 Prince Avenue Christian dispatched of prestigious Region 8 foe Lakeview Academy 54-34 at Lakeview.

In Class A-Public, Turner County (9-4) was bounced from the poll with a 71-56 loss at No. 8 Wilcox County. No. 9 Marion County slips two spots after an upset loss to Manchester, 55-46. Things don’t get easier for the Eagles as they travel to No. 2 Greenville on Tuesday.  The same goes for Turner County, as they host No. 1 Telfair County on Tuesday. Debuting in the Top 10 is No. 10 Bowdon. Over in the predominately private Region 6, the Red Devils have been sneaky good, sitting at 11-3 after a 9-16 campaign. Bowdon has strong wins over Class 7A 9-6 Kennesaw Mountain (43-42), Class 2A 10-4 Rockmart (66-49), Class A-Private 8-3 Mt. Paran (51-44) and Class 4A 9-5 Central-Carroll (50-39). Their three losses have come against No. 2 Greenville 78-55, at rival Bremen 64-43 (who they beat 62-47 in the rematch) and to Class 5A No. 6 Villa Rica 61-46.

GHSA, GHSA Basketball, Rankings

Week 8 Boys Rankings

1 Comment

Class AAAAAAA

  1. McEachern (11-2)
  2. Norcross (14-2)
  3. Collins Hill (15-1)
  4. Pebblebrook (14-2)
  5. Mountain View (14-2)
  6. Newton (12-3)
  7. Wheeler (10-6)
  8. Grayson (11-3)
  9. Meadowcreek (12-3)
  10. Etowah (14-1)

Class AAAAAA

  1. Langston Hughes (13-3)
  2. Gainesville (9-6)
  3. Brunswick (15-1)
  4. Tri-Cities (13-3)
  5. Bradwell Institute (12-4)
  6. Jonesboro (10-5)
  7. Douglas County (11-4)
  8. Dacula (8-6)
  9. Cambridge (14-1)
  10. Lanier (12-4)

Class AAAAA

  1. Buford (12-2)
  2. Warner Robins (13-2)
  3. Miller Grove (10-6)
  4. Southwest DeKalb (12-5)
  5. Lithonia (14-4)
  6. Villa Rica (13-0)
  7. Maynard Jackson (15-1)
  8. Columbia (9-6)
  9. Stockbridge (11-4)
  10. Woodland-Stockbridge (11-4)

Class AAAA

  1. Upson-Lee (16-0)
  2. St. Pius X (13-2)
  3. Sandy Creek (11-3)
  4. Mary Persons (14-1)
  5. Americus-Sumter (13-1)
  6. Westover (10-4)
  7. Salem (12-4)
  8. Carver-Columbus (14-3)
  9. Cartersville (10-2)
  10. Baldwin (10-5)

Class AAA

  1. Morgan County (15-0)
  2. Jenkins (9-3)
  3. Johnson-Savannah (10-2)
  4. Cedar Grove (10-5)
  5. Greater Atlanta Christian (12-3)
  6. Westside-Macon (8-6)
  7. Central-Macon (10-3)
  8. Windsor Forest (10-5)
  9. Pierce County (10-3)
  10. Monroe Area (10-3)

Class AA

  1. Glenn Hills (14-0)
  2. Thomasville (14-2)
  3. Washington County (9-3)
  4. South Atlanta (12-2)
  5. Dublin (11-2)
  6. Elbert County (14-2)
  7. Laney (11-3)
  8. Swainsboro (10-3)
  9. Banks County (13-3)
  10. Therrell (9-7)

Class A-Private

  1. St. Francis (12-2)
  2. Aquinas (13-3)
  3. Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (13-2)
  4. Christian Heritage (14-0)
  5. Stratford Academy (8-4)
  6. Holy Innocents’ (9-6)
  7. Walker (10-3)
  8. Mt. Vernon Presbyterian (8-4)
  9. Lakeview Academy (8-5)
  10. Landmark Christian (10-4)

Class A-Public

  1. Central-Talbotton (13-0)
  2. Manchester (11-0)
  3. Lanier County (14-1)
  4. Woodville-Tompkins (14-2)
  5. Calhoun County (14-2)
  6. Montgomery County (10-3)
  7. Wilkinson County (10-4)
  8. Pelham (10-3)
  9. Macon County (10-2)
  10. Wilcox County (10-3)

 

No new teams crack the Top 10 in Class AAAAAAA. No. 1 McEachern dropped to DeMatha, MD 73-63 at the Cancer Research Classic while No. 7 Wheeler fell 75-62 to Webster Grove, MO. The Wildcats scored wins over Duluth (59-57) and Westlake (94-77) before making the trip to West Virginia. No. 4 Pebblebrook went 2-0 at the Prep Hoops Florida Sun Bash. No. 5 Mountain View is up a spot after beating Mt. Bethel Christian 67-53 and Clarke Central 53-42. No. 8 Grayson tumbles three spots after losing to Shiloh 62-58, before rebounding with a 51-43 win over Stephenson.

No. 1 Langston Hughes helped send No. 7 Douglas County down three spots in Class AAAAAA after beating them 78-67, Landers Nolley ejected with 3:30 left in the third quarter. The Tigers saw a 24-point lead slip away the next day against Alexander, losing 80-78 in overtime. No. 2 Gainesville shoots up three spots and has officially found their groove, winning six-straight after their brutal 3-6 start. The Red Elephants took care of Class 5A No. 2 Warner Robins 94-81 at the Big South Classic and then blasted No. 8 Dacula 96-74. Gainesville has a chance to run the table the rest of the season. Their biggest test will come on January 20 at Class 5A No. 1 Buford. No. 3 Brunswick defeated Glynn Academy 57-45, knocking the Terrors (11-6) from the poll. Glynn Academy also lost in quadruple overtime to Richmond Hill 74-66. They are replaced by first-timer No. 10 Lanier. The Longhorns have a chance prove their mettle this Tuesday as they host Gainesville. The trio of Adrian Martin, Alex Walker and Sion James has helped first-year head coach Branden Mayweather guide the Longhorns to their best start in school history.

It looks like nobody is ready yet to grab ahold of Region 5-AAAAA from No. 3 Miller Grove. Just when you think the rest of the region has finally caught up with the Wolverines, the Purple Pedigree finds a way to win. Miller Grove beat No. 5 Lithonia 47-34 and No. 8 Columbia 56-50. Columbia is reeling after suffering an 81-75 loss at Chamblee and have now sunk five spots. Statesboro (12-3) and McIntosh (9-3) both exit the poll. Statesboro falls over five spots after a bad 67-51 loss at Tattnall County. McIntosh was run out of the gym by Class 4A No. 3 Sandy Creek 76-53 and followed up with a 53-50 loss to Morrow before beating Fayette County for the first time in a decade. A pair of Region 4 rivals enter the Top 10 in No. 9 Stockbridge and No. 10 Woodland-Stockbridge. The Tigers earned a 53-41 win over Sandy Creek at the Big South Shootout. Georgia State-signee Kavonte Ivery is averaging 19.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.9 steals and 1 block for Stockbridge. Woodland is coming off a 63-59 win over Union Grove.

Class AAAA is feeling much more stable than last year’s merry-go-round. No one drops from the rankings for another week, but that may change soon. No. 3 Sandy Creek has a massive Region 5 tilt at No. 9 Cartersville on Tuesday, and we all know what happened last time the Patriots trekked up north. The Hurricanes are coming off a strong 64-60 win at LaGrange. No. 7 Salem earned wins over Central Gwinnett (68-62) and Marietta (67-56). No. 10 Baldwin slides down three positions following their 81-74 loss at Class 3A No. 6 Westside-Macon.

In Class AAA, No. 1 Morgan County survived a scare from Hart County on the road. Missing Stevin Greene and Tyrin Lawrence, the Bulldogs rallied from down 36-25 at the half to beat Hart County 62-53. No. 4 Cedar Grove added another impressive win onto their resume, beating Class 5A No. 10 Woodland-Stockbridge 64-63 in overtime. Dawson County (12-4) departs from the Top 10. The Tigers had a great 94-91 overtime win against East Hall, but had no legs left in a disappointing 63-57 loss the following day to Forsyth Central. Into the rankings for the first time is No. 9 Pierce County.

Outside of No. 1 Glenn Hills, everything in Class AA has been thrown into the spin-cycle. Last week’s No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 teams all lost, leading to a wild new outlook. No. 3 Washington County shoots up seven spots after beating No. 5 Dublin 73-72, dropping the Irish two spots. No. 4 South Atlanta is also down two slots after a 71-67 loss to newly ranked No. 10 Therrell. The Panthers were ranked earlier this season and have had an up and down year. The main reason for their streakiness and modest 9-7 record? A brutal non-region schedule that has seemingly prepared them for the long run. Out of their seven losses, only one (at BEST Academy 49-48) has come against a Class AA school. Albeit a bad loss to BEST, expect Therrell to handle their business next time they see them. The Panthers have lost to Class 3A No. 1 Morgan County 84-78, Class 5A No. 3 Miller Grove 78-50, Class 6A No. 4 Tri-Cities 86-77, Class 7A Rockdale County 87-83, Class 6A Tucker 67-62 and Class 6A Heritage-Conyers 71-65. Sophomore guard Deandre Brown, freshman forward Robbie Armbrester and sophomore point guard Roman Son make up a strong core. Making way for Therrell is Jeff Davis (11-4). The Yellow Jackets fell to Long County 70-56. The biggest dropper this week is No. 9 Banks County, who had a miserable week. The Leopards are down five spots after losing to No. 6 Elbert County 61-50 and to North Hall 44-38. All of a sudden, the Blue Devils, winners of 13-straight, are in the driver’s seat in Region 8.

If you thought Class 2A was crazy, the purge has officially begun in Class A-Private with a massive overhaul which includes four new teams in the Top 10. King’s Ridge Christian (10-4), Wesleyan (5-6), North Cobb Christian (10-5) and WD Mohammed (7-3) are all on the chopping block. King’s Ridge goes from No. 4 to unranked after losing 40-35 to debutant No. 7 Walker and to Fellowship Christian 50-48. The Walker Wolverines have won 7-of-8 with their only loss coming out-of-state. Led by a trio of sophomores, 6-foot-4 Burke Chebuhar averages 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds. Chandler Baker collects 13.3 points and 6 rebounds while the forgotten Cooper bother, Omar, averages 9.9 points and 5.4 assists to pace the offense. Wesleyan exits the Top 10 after beating returnee No. 8 Mt. Vernon Presbyterian 57-54, but dropping to streaking No. 6 Holy Innocents’ 50-47 and getting drilled by Woodward Academy 56-37. The Mustangs of Mt. Vernon climb back into the rankings thanks to a 56-36 win over WD Mohammed. The Caliphs also lost in double overtime to Galloway 69-66. Holy Innocents’ has finally turned their earlier close losses into close victories as the young team is learning how to win. The Golden Bears have won five in a row with wins over Marietta (68-66), Milton (77-71), at Lovett (77-60), at Wesleyan (50-47) and at Mt. Vernon (60-56). Freshman Garrison Powell is averaging 15.9 points per game. North Cobb Christian saw its fate sealed with a wild 100-99 quadruple overtime loss to No. 4 Christian Heritage. The Lions have put the rest of the state on notice that they are officially here to compete. Unsigned 6-foot-7 forward Christian Koneman, the No. 13 ranked big man in the GHSA, hung 38 points and 22 rebounds on the Eagles while teammate Sam Dindoffer tallied 29 points, 10 rebounds and 9 steals. No. 5 Stratford Academy rises five spots thanks to all the chaos in front of them while No. 9 Lakeview Academy remerges into the Top 10 following a 66-55 win over Prince Avenue Christian.

In Class A-Public, No. 1 Central-Talbotton handled Brookstone 69-48 and now hosts No. 2 Manchester this Friday. No. 3 Lanier County bashed Berrien 67-47 on the road and will visit No. 10 Wilcox County on Tuesday. No. 6 Montgomery County falls a spot after a 60-59 loss at Vidalia. No. 5 Calhoun County moves up two slots following a 66-52 win at No. 8 Pelham.

Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

No. 1 Langston Hughes holds off No. 4 Douglas County after losing Landers Nolley to ejection

Contributed by Rob Grubbs   (@RCGJr226070)

Sponsored by:   @sportalspace

No. 1 Langston Hughes 78, No. 4 Douglas County 67

On occasion, a big loss can do more good for a team than harm. Such was the case back on November 28, 2017 when the defending Class AAAAAA state champion Langston Hughes Panthers took the Douglas County Tigers to the woodshed in a 78-43 win on their home court in Fairburn. Since then, Douglas County has reeled of 10 consecutive wins, including the championship of the Tucker Christmas Shootout. Tiger Head Coach Hollis Bethea watched his team grow over the past month and the rematch with the Panthers on their court would be a good barometer of how far the No. 4 ranked team in AAAAAA had come.

Panther Head Coach Rory Welsh knows how to prepare his team for a championship run and has the hardware to prove it from last year’s championship. His team has only lost once since that late November blowout win over the Tigers. The fact the contest was a Region 5 game made it an even juicer matchup. In an evening that would see the Panthers (12-3) best player, Virginia Tech-signee Landers Nolley get ejected for bumping an official, Douglas County (11-3) seized the moment to tie the game only to see the Panthers steady themselves for a late 9-0 run that sealed the 78-67 win. It gave the Panthers a two-game lead over the Tigers in the region standings.

Langston Hughes opened the night in a tight man-to-man, in your face defense, but the Tigers would respond quickly. Guard Rickey Clark hit a jumper for the opening basket and forward Ernest Randle had a big blocked shot to jump out to an 8-5 lead. However, the one-time, brief UGA-commit Nolley scored his first points on a deep NBA distance three-pointer for the tie and then took over, hitting three more threes before the end of the first with the Panthers up 19-14.  Nolley also had a crowd shaking dunk in the first quarter when he stole an inbound pass on a full court press. Coach Welsh utilizes Nolley in the front of the press, his wingspan creates challenges for the offensive team and he got several steals as the game progressed.

Not to be outdone, Tiger Jeremiah Smith got a steal himself and created excitement for the home crowd with a dunk on the other end to start the second quarter. Midway through the second, the Tigers were down by five but Langston Hughes slowly began to expand their lead. With the Tiger defense focusing on Nolley, Tyrel Morgan and Josh Butts contributed to a 17-8 Panther run to close out the half with them up 40-26.

At this point, Coach Bethea began to see answers to how much his team had grown. Down 14, the Tigers could have cashed this one in, but they came back scrappy. Malik Battle hit a three to serve notice this was not the same team that lost by 35.  The game changed suddenly at the 4-minute mark. The Panthers had their largest lead at 15 when Ernest Randle hit a three for Douglas County. After a foul, there were words exchanged between Nolley and a game official which seemed to irritate Nolley, who attempted to walk away but slightly bumped the official as he passed. He was immediately ejected and in the aftermath, Douglas County was awarded six free throws. In a cruel twist of fate, all the free shots were missed, each one to the delight of the visiting Langston Hughes crowd, which were making themselves heard.

After a star player exits, both sides need to recalibrate their game. For Douglas County, the Panther press was not as intimidating without Nolley in the front, so maneuvering the inbound pass was less difficult and that created easier scoring opportunities.  The Tigers jumped at the opportunity and went on to outscore the Panthers 23-11 in the next eight minutes to tie the game up at 62.  A moment that stood out in the Tiger resurgence was a real-man offensive rebound by Clark and the put- back, he seemed to just will himself to the rebound and score.

For the Panthers, the opposite was in effect, their offense revolved around Nolley scoring or distributing from a double team and Coach Welsh suddenly needed someone to step up.  It was almost as if the tie game issued Langston Hughes a wakeup call as Papa Samba led the Panthers on a 11-0 run that would put the game away. Clark finally broke the run for the Tigers with an offensive rebound and put-back, but the damage had been done.  Panther Armani Bolston would hit five consecutive free throws down the stretch for the final 78-67 margin.

Afterwards Coach Welsh was proud of the way his team responded to adversity. “We needed someone to step up and we have a bench full of selfless guys, the ejection caught us off guard, but I am proud of how we responded and how we put them away at the end. This team is full of players who sat and watched last year’s championship run and now they are getting their chance. They are taking advantage of it.” When asked where this year’s team is compared to last year’s team in early January, he said, “we are a better defensive team this year, these guys have been waiting a long time to prove themselves, and now they are.”

The Panthers will have to regroup quickly as they will be without Nolley for the next two games based on GHSA rules. It will provide them more opportunity to jell as a team and development supplemental scoring opportunities. In the long run, it may make them better, which should be a scary proposition for the teams in AAAAAA. Douglas County has improved from earlier in the year and the results prove that. Coach Bethea has stated that he believes they still haven’t played their best basketball yet. While winning the regular season region crown has probably passed, the next potential game between the two teams in the region tournament could be very interesting indeed.

Rob’s Takeaways

  1. Langston Hughes will have to prepare to be without Landers Nolley for the next two games against New Manchester and Alexander because of the ejection.
  2. With Nolley at the point of the Langston Hughes press in the backcourt, he causes in-bounding issues that forced several turnovers for easy baskets.
  3. Langston Hughes should get used to the drive from Fairburn over to Douglasville as they play games there three times in five days.
  4. The Douglas County Gym is a first-class facility, with upper and lower seating, there are great site lines all across the building.
  5. Being in the Douglas County gym reminded me of one of my favorite basketball players of all time – Anthony Barge. A.B. was a high school All-American for the Tigers and a complete basketball player. One night, against top ranked Campbell-Fairburn, he dropped 56 points without the benefit of a three-point shot in an upset victory. He played at South Alabama and eventually West Georgia where he was a Division 2 All-American. Barge was tragically killed in a traffic accident in 2010.
  6. Panther Head Coach Rory Welsh said his coaching mentor was former Lovejoy Head Coach, Rick Francis. Welsh was an assistant on his staff before taking the Langston Hughes opportunity. Welsh has attention to detail, he went and personally thanked each cheerleader after the game for their contribution to the win.
  7. Douglas County is waiting on the return of 6-foot-5 post player Mataio Soli, who is nicked up with a football related injury. His presence underneath will add to an already solid lineup.
  8. Nolley is looking to win this third championship in a row, as a sophomore he won an Illinois State Championship at Curie High School in Chicago, then his family moved back to Fairburn and he led the Panthers on their championship run last year.

Top Performers

Langston Hughes
Landers Nolley – 24 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists
Tyler Smith – 15 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists
Patrick Carter – 10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists

Douglas County
Rickey Clark – 17 points, 7 rebounds
Malik Battle – 16 points, 4 assists
Jeremiah Smith – 3 points, 10 rebounds