Milton, Wheeler battle in key boys game as well.
It's not a region game, so it won't count in any standings, but when
Wesleyan (Norcross) plays
Buford on Saturday, it could be the top girls game of the regular season in Georgia.
Buford is the two-time defending champion of Class AA while Wesleyan has won Class A each of the past two years and AA the year before that.
‘'Wesleyan is always the biggest game of the season,'' said Buford junior guard
Andraya Carter, who has committed to Tennessee. "They always used to blow us out. Then we beat them my freshman year. It was huge. It's nice off the court, but on the court, it's always this awful rivalry.''
It's not out of the question that these are Georgia's best girls teams this season. Wesleyan is 18-2, its losses to Norcross (58-57) and to Spring Valley (62-44), the undefetaed No. 1-ranked team in South Carolina.
Wesleyan's leading scorer is 6-foot senior
Grace Leah Baughn, averaging 14.3 points. She was Gwinnett County's volleyball player of the year last fall. Second in scoring is
Holli Wilkins, the daughter of former NBA player Gerald Wilkins, at 11.5 points per game.
Buford is 15-1, with its lone loss to Riverdale of Tennessee 42-38. Riverdale (21-0) is ranked No. 13 in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25.
Buford has two underclassmen who have committed to Tennessee in Carter and sophomore
Kaela Davis.
MILTON-WHEELER HEADS LIST OF TOP BOYS GAMESThe top boys game of the weekend in Georgia will be
Milton, ranked No. 6 in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25, playing at home Saturday against
Wheeler (Marietta), which is perhaps the state's most storied program over the past two decades. Wheeler (14-5) has won five state titles, including the Class AAAAA crown in 2009.
Milton (17-2) defeated Wheeler for only the second time in history – by one point in overtime in the region tournament – during Milton's state championship run last year.
‘'Wheeler is just Wheeler,'' Milton coach David Boyd said. "It's hard to explain to people who don't understand how good they've been for such a long time. It's a huge game for us.''
Wheeler is led by junior center
Charles Mitchell. "He's our MVP,'' Wheeler coach Doug Lipscomb said. "He's carried us at times.'' He's averaging more than 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Mitchell will go up against Milton's
Julian Royal, who has committed to Georgia Tech. Mitchell is the more powerful, physical player, while Royal is a faster, all-court player. Both are 6-8.
HILLGROVE'S NO. 1 RANKING FOLLOWED BY FIRST LOSSThe
Hillgrove (Powder Springs) girls team was ranked No. 1 in the state for the first time in its five-year history this week after a 13-0 start, replacing Norcross, which lost to North Gwinnett last week and also dropped out of the MaxPreps Xcellent 25.
It looks like the honor will be only temporary, though. Hillgrove, a metro Atlanta school in Powder Springs, lost to
Campbell (Smyrna) 67-61 on Tuesday.
The defeat wasn't shocking. Campbell (13-4) was ranked No. 5 in most polls, and now the Cobb County teams are tied for the Region 4-AAAAA lead at 6-1. Hillgrove's top players are Virginia tech-signee
Reka Hall and junior point guard
Selena Rodrigo, who has committed to UNC-Charlotte.
More trouble could be on the was as Hillgrove plays No. 3
North Cobb (Kennesaw) on Friday. Hillgrove coach Sheryl Fowler, who has more than 500 career victories, says her team had the right perspective on being No. 1.
‘'We're excited for the No. 1 ranking for the school because we're so young [opened in 2004], but we also know rankings are just a number,'' she said. "The rankings that count are at the end."
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AT 9-9, NORCROSS BOYS STILL REMAIN A CONTENDERThe best 9-9 basketball team in Georgia, if not the nation, is the
Norcross boys. The 2008 and 2009 Class AAAAA champions have had injuries, a tough schedule and close losses to blame for most of it.
Six of their losses are to state-ranked teams in Georgia, all by six points or less. Three losses are to out-of-state teams. This week, Norcross got a critical Region 7-AAAAA victory over Peachtree Ridge to pull within a game of first place.
E. Victor Nickerson scored 15 points and had 12 rebounds.
"This is a big confidence boost for us," he told the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Norcross has three seniors who have made college choices in Nickerson (Charlotte), forward
Alonzo Nelson-Ododa (Richmond) and guard
Josiah Moore (Nebraska), plus junior guard
Chris Bolden, who has committed to Miami.
BRIEFLYNow that Hillgrove's girls have lost, the No. 1 ranking in AAAAA is a tough call. The
Norcross girls, the defending champions, had dropped out of the top spot (and the Maxpreps Xcellent 25) after a loss to surging North Gwinnett but came back with a nice win over Alabama power Hoover. Then there is the lone unbeaten team in AAAAA,
Brookwood (Snellville), which is led by Appalachian State signee Katie Mallow, a four-year starting guard. ...
Columbia (Decatur) boys coach Phil McCrary got his 500th career victory last week in a 55-40 victory over Jamesville of New York. McCary is 502-183 in 24 seasons and won state titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010, all at Columbia, which is 18-2 this season and ranked No. 1 in Class AAA. …
Another big Saturday game in Georgia pits
Whitefield Academy (Mableton), ranked No. 1 in Class A, against
Greenville, which is led by wing player
Kentavious Caldwell, who has committed to Georgia.
