A strong argument was made for Region 7-AAA, which features all seven Hall County teams - Chestatee, East Hall, Flowery Branch, Gainesville, Johnson, North Hall and West Hall - plus White County, Gilmer, Fannin County and Pickens County.
And following the destruction Region 7-AAA inflicted on Region 6-AAA, winning seven of the eight first round games between the two regions, who's to argue, right?
After all, Region 6-AAA featured No. 1 Carrollton from the boys side plus two other top 12 teams in Villa Rica and LaGrange. The girls side featured No. 9 Cartersville and No. 12 Cass.
"I think this is the toughest region in the state top to bottom," Johnson boys coach Jeff Steele said after his team knocked off LaGrange in double overtime. "When you have to play East Hall, Gainesville and White County, plus North Hall and an improved Flowery Branch every game, it makes you better. I think we saw that this weekend."
The White County boys team was the only Region 7-AAA team not to advance, falling to Cartersville by just four points.
On the girls side, Gainesville is ranked No. 1 and is going for its third state title in four years. But Flowery Branch, Fannin County and Johnson - the last team to beat Gainesville - have each benefited from the heightened competition.
"I don't think there's any question this is the best," Flowery Branch girls coach Angela Middleton said. "Any of the other teams in this region that made state probably could have won any of the other regions."
Carrollton boys coach Tim Chriswell was convinced after his Trojans were knocked out by Gainesville.
"We thought we had a tough region but they play at a little higher level over here," Chriswell said. "That's probably due to East Hall and seeing a team like that every night. They would probably get my vote for the best region."
Can the argument be made for best region in the state in any classification, however?
Region 8-AAAAA, featuring the top two ranked boys teams in Norcross and South Gwinnett, and the top ranked girls team in Collins Hill, advanced all eight teams.
Region 5-A, which features the nation's top boys team in Southwest Atlanta Christian, swept the first round boys games but only one girls team advanced.
Region 7-AAA swept both state titles last year and Hall County has produced four state champions over the past three seasons between boys and girls with the East Hall boys and Gainesville girls winning two titles each. East Hall won one title in Class AA.
But in two head-to-head matchups this year, the East Hall boys lost to South Gwinnett while both Gainesville teams lost to Central Gwinnett, both in Region 8-AAAAA.
"We feel good about the basketball we play here," Gainesville girls coach Manson Hill said during the tournament. "I would put our region, and Hall County, up against anybody in the state."
http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/2/163252