The SEC Championship Game showdown between Auburn and South Carolina isn't the only big event in the Deep South this weekend.
High school hoops will demand some of the region's sporting attention as events in Georgia and Tennessee will make things challenging for nationally-ranked programs.
Weekend Watch
Head coach Steve Smith and Oak Hill Academy will look to go 7-0 against Melrose on Friday night.
Photo by Lonnie Webb
Before Melrose was humbled by rival
White Station (Memphis, Tenn.) last week, this was one of the season's marquee matchups. Oak Hill has done its part to build the anticipation for the Friday pairing, going 6-0 while averaging over 105 points per game. Both teams will travel to Benton, Ky., for the Marshall County Hoopfest the following night, where OHA faces
Quality Education Academy (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Melrose meets
Christian County (Hopkinsville, Ky.).
* No. 2 Milton (Ga.) vs. No. 12 Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.) – Nike Explosion (Marietta, Ga.)Georgia's defending AAAAA champion (Milton) meets the state's defending AAAA champion Saturday night at Wheeler High School as part of the Nike Explosion. Both teams are undefeated and have been impressive early on, winning four of their combined five games by 20 points or more.
* No. 9 North Central (Indianapolis, Ind.) vs. Lawrence Central (Indianapolis, Ind.)Head coach J.R. Shelt's Lawrence Central squad played
Lawrence North tough last week and will look to slow down North Central on Saturday. North Central, Indiana's defending 4A state champions, is fresh off a blowout win over Kentucky signee
Marquis Teague and
Pike.
* No. 22 Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) vs. White Station (Memphis, Tenn.), Ridgeway (Memphis, Tenn.) – Youth Athletic Foundation Classic (Memphis, Tenn.)Findlay Prep's swing through Memphis begins tonight against White Station, which beat aforementioned Melrose only to lose to No. 21
Memphis Central in the final of the Martin Luther King Jr. Classic tournament. Friday night, Findlay takes on another Memphis power in Ridgeway before closing out the Youth Athletic Foundation Classic on Saturday night against
La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.).
* No. 23 Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Fla.) vs. Central Park Christian (Birmingham, Ala.) – Battle of the Best (Nashville, Tenn.)Both of these programs head to the Music City surrounded by more questions than answers. Is Arlington Country Day the real deal after mowing down
United Faith Christian Academy (Charlotte, N.C.) and
Norcross (Ga.) last weekend? Why doesn't Central Park Christian – a team loaded with Division I prospects that reportedly had a 100-game win streak snapped last season – get more attention?
