Basketball Recap: Barri Newman's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Greater Atlanta Christian over Pickens

Greater Atlanta Christian lost against Pickens on January 9th and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Tuesday. The Greater Atlanta Christian Spartans took a 56-48 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Pickens Dragons. While losing is never fun, the Spartans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 131st, while the Dragons are ranked 30th).

Greater Atlanta Christian's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Barri Newman, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds. The dominant performance gave Newman a new career-high in boards. Asia Johnson was another key player, putting up eight points and five rebounds.

Even though they lost, Greater Atlanta Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in four consecutive matches.

Greater Atlanta Christian has been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 11-10 record this season. As for Pickens, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 19-2.

When Greater Atlanta Christian and Pickens next hit the court, they'll be up against teams who recently just can't seem to lose. Greater Atlanta Christian will try to stop Dawson County's three-game winning streak when the meet at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Similarly, Pickens will face off against White County and their five-game winning streak at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.