Taking every day one day at a time, the Georgia High School Association basketball season is one more week closer to the playoffs, with minimal cancellations due to coronavirus or any other distractions last week.
A full slate of games is on tap for Friday, with several of our teams in the northeast Georgia area covered by AccessWDUN bringing high rankings. And, almost every region on both the girls and boys sides are seeing fierce competition as they jockey for position in the upcoming (hopefully) region tournaments.
For the girls, in the Kyle Sandy poll, Buford is 4th in Class 6A, Jefferson is still No. 1 in 4A, and Lumpkin County remains No. 1 in 3A despite an overtime loss to White County on Tuesday. Rabun County is No. 2 and Banks County No. 10 in 2A and Elbert County is No. 4 giving Region 8-2A three teams in the top 10.
For the girls in the MaxPreps poll, Buford remains No. 1 in 6A with Habersham Central moving up to 18th. Jefferson remains No. 1 in 4A and East Hall is now 15th. Lumpkin County is 7th in 3A and Rabun County remains No. 1 in 2A despite a loss to Jefferson on Tuesday. Banks County is 10th in 2A.
As for the boys, in the Kyle Sandy poll, Buford is 9th in 6A while Dawson County is 9th in 3A. Banks County is now 8th in 2A and Towns County is 4th in Class A Public.
For the boys in the MaxPreps poll, Buford is 7th in 6A and Jefferson is 13th in 4A. A surgeon Dawson County has climbed to 11th in 3A with White County 22nd and Cherokee Bluff 23rd. Banks County is 11th in 2A, Towns County is 6th in Class A Public, and a surprising Lakeview Academy is 18th in Class A Private.
There are some huge games on tap for Friday, with perhaps the most notable on the girls side is Jefferson traveling to North Oconee in a big Region 8-4A battle. In Region 8-2A, Rabun County travels to Elbert County with first place on the line. It will be the 8-2A opener for the Lady Wildcats.
On the boys side, Buford has a major showdown on the road against Shiloh in Region 6-A as both teams look to keep pace with Lanier atop the standings. Jefferson heads to North Oconee in a key showdown to stay in the top two in Region 8-4A and keep pace with Cedar Shoals.
(Check below for Friday night's schedule.)
AREA BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR Jan. 15
(Games listed by highest classification)
(Games begin at 7 p.m. with girls unless otherwise noted)
REGION 6-7A
Lambert at Gainesville* (94.5 FM The Lake)
REGION 8-6A
Buford at Shiloh*
Habersham Central at Winder-Barrow*
REGION 8-5A
Jackson County at Greenbrier, 5 p.m.*
Johnson at Clarke Central* -- canceled
REGION 8-4A
Cedar Shoals at Chestatee*
East Hall at Madison County*
Jefferson at North Oconee*
REGION 8-3A
Hart County at East Jackson*
REGION 7-3A
North Hall at Cherokee Bluff*
Dawson County at White County*
Flowery Branch at Lumpkin County, 6 p.m. (WDUN AM 550/FM 102.9)
West Hall at Gilmer*
REGION 8-2A
Rabun County at Elbert County*
Rabun Gap at Union County (girls only), 6 p.m.
REGION 8-A PUBLIC
Greene County at Commerce, 6 p.m.*
Lake Oconee Academy at Towns County, 6 p.m.*
REGION 2-3A GAPPS
Lanier Christian at Westminster Christian*
(* -- denotes region contest)
