GAINESVILLE — With the region races beginning to heat up around northeast Georgia, there are several key matchups on tap this weekend around the area and in every region on both the girls and boys sides.
(The standings for all the northeast Georgia area regions are below.)
None, however, may be bigger than when the Commerce and Lakeview Academy girls meet on Saturday in Commerce for the first of two showdowns for first place in Region 8-A. Both teams are red-hot with Lakeview working on a seven-game win streak while Commerce has won four straight.
The two teams will meet on Feb. 2 in Gainesville to close out the regular season and the Lady Tigers currently are ranked sixth in Class A Public.
In other girls action, in Region 7-AAA, everyone is still chasing No. 2 and undefeated Dawson County but No. 10 East Hall will get its second shot at the Lady Tigers on Friday traveling to Dawsonville. The Lady Vikings are just one game back and a win would pull them into a virtual tie. Dawson County beat East Hall in overtime in their first meeting last month at Valhalla.
In other key games in 7-AAA, West Hall will play host to Banks County in a battle for the fourth spot. Franklin County travels to Lumpkin County trying to end a two-game skid and remain in third place.
In Region 8-AAAA, Class AAAA No. 1 Buford is tied with North Hall and Chestatee atop the early standings at 2-0. The Lady Wolves will play host to North Hall on Friday while Chestatee travels to Madison County, which has lost six straight. Johnson will play host to White County as both teams look for their first region win of the season.
In Region 8-AAA, Jefferson is two games back of first-place and Class AAA No. 1 Morgan County and will travel to winless Oconee County on Friday to start a busy five games in an eight-day stretch, four of them on the road. The Lady Dragons are one-half game behind Hart County for second place and will travel to Hartwell on Tuesday.
In Region 8-AAAAA, Gainesville grabbed early control of the region with its win over No. 4 Flowery Branch last week. Both teams take on the bottom two teams on Friday with the Lady Red Elephants playing host to Apalachee while Flowery Branch travels to Discovery. Lanier, which is just one-game back of fourth place Winder-Barrow and Loganville, travels to Winder on Friday to take on the Lady Bulldoggs.
In Region 8-AA, Rabun County sits alone at the top with Union County just one-half game back. The Lady Wildcats travel to Washington-Wilkes while the Lady Panthers play host to Social Circle on Saturday.
In boys action:
In Region 8-AAAAA, three big games highlight Friday’s action. No. 4 Gainesville plays host to Apalachee looking to stay unbeaten while No. 5 Cedar Shoals travels to No. 7 Heritage-Conyers as both try to stay within striking distance of Gainesville. Cedar Shoals is just one-half game behind and Heritage is a full game behind the Red Elephants. Also, Flowery Branch travels to Discovery with the Falcons trying to climb their way back up the region standings.
In Region 8-AAAA, the big matchup has Buford playing host to North Hall in a battle of 2-0 teams in the region. The Trojans have caught fire winning six straight. Stephens County, which is also 2-0, will try to keep pace playing host to a talented Monroe Area team that is just one game back. White County, 1-0 in region play, travels to Johnson trying to stay unbeaten while Chestatee heads to Danielsville still looking for its first win of the season against a Madison County team that has lost three straight.
In Region 7-AAA, No. 10 Banks County is the only unbeaten team left in region play and has a very intriguing matchup on the road with a West Hall team that has improved each week under first-time coach Zac Swansey. The Spartans are just a game out of third place and face five straight road games after Friday. East Hall is just one-half game behind Banks County and travels to Dawson County against a Tigers team that played them close for three quarters in their first meeting. Lumpkin County has lost two straight for the first time all season and plays host to a talented Franklin County squad.
In Region 8-AAA, the big matchup has second place East Jackson traveling to No. 1 and defending Class AAA state champion Morgan County. The Eagles already are two games back of the Bulldogs but can make things interesting if they can pull the upset. The Eagles lost by just seven in Madison in their frist meeting. Jackson County is coming off a big win over Lumpkin County and will play host to Hart County. Jefferson travels to Oconee County in a battle for fifth place.
In Region 8-AA, the next two days will help shake things out a bit with Rabun County, Social Circle, Washington-Wilkes, and Riverside Military Academy all playing two region games over the weekend.
Social Circle plays host to Riverside on Friday and then heads to region leader Union County on Saturday. Riverside will play host to Washington-Wilkes on Saturday. Union County leads the region by 1 1/2-games over Riverside, Washington-Wilkes, and Greene County. Rabun County is one-half game behind those three teams. Rabun County travels to Washington-Wilkes on Friday and then plays host to Greene County on Saturday.
In Region 8-A action, Class A No. 6 Lakeview Academy and Hebron Academy are unbeaten and tied atop the standings. Those two will meet in Gainesville on Tuesday. Before that, both will have some work to do to meet undefeated. Hebron will play host to Towns County, which sits fifth just one-half game out of fourth, on Friday while Lakeview travels to Commerce on Saturday after playing host to Christ School on Friday in a non-region battle. Tallulah Falls is third but plays a pair of non-region contests over the weekend before jumping back into region play on Tuesday at home against Towns County.
Area prep basketball standings as of Jan. 14...
GIRLS
Region 8-AAAAA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Gainesville..................7-0...........................11-3
Flowery Branch...........7-1..........................17-1
Winder-Barrow............6-2...........................13-2
Loganville....................6-2...........................10-6
Clarke Central.............6-3............................14-4
Lanier..........................5-3...........................7-11
Cedar Shoals...............3-6...........................5-14
Heritage, Conyers........2-6............................10-9
Salem...........................1-6............................1-12
Apalachee....................0-7............................3-12
Discovery.....................0-7............................0-17
Region 8-AAAA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Buford..........................2-0...........................13-3
Chestatee....................2-0............................8-10
North Hall.....................2-0............................10-7
North Oconee..............1-1............................12-4
White County...............0-1............................5-11
Stephens County.........0-1.............................5-12
Madison County...........0-1.............................4-10
Johnson.......................0-1.............................1-14
Monroe Area................0-2.............................7-9
Region 7-AAA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Dawson County.............6-0.........................17-0
East Hall........................5-1.........................14-4
Franklin County.............4-2..........................13-5
Banks County................2-3.........................10-7
West Hall.......................2-4...........................9-8
Lumpkin County.............1-5.........................5-13
Fannin County...............0-5..........................3-13
Region 8-AAA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Morgan County..............6-0.........................14-3
Hart County...................4-1.........................15-3
Jefferson.......................4-2..........................14-3
Jackson County............3-3............................9-9
Elbert County................2-3..........................5-11
East Jackson................1-5...........................8-9
Oconee County.............0-6..........................0-14
Region 8-AA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Rabun County..............3-0..........................14-3
Union County...............3-1..........................10-6
Greene County.............2-1..........................4-11
Washington-Wilkes......1-2............................5-8
Oglethorpe Co..............1-3..........................2-13
Social Circle.................0-3...........................7-8
Region 8-A
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Commerce...................6-0............................10-4
Lakeview Academy......6-0............................13-5
Athens Christian..........5-1..............................9-6
George Walton............3-3..............................6-8
Towns County..............2-3.............................3-10
Athens Academy..........2-3..............................6-8
Providence Christian....2-4.............................5-12
Tallulah Falls................2-5..............................8-6
Prince Avenue..............1-5.............................6-10
Hebron Christian...........0-5.............................1-14
BOYS
Region 8-AAAAA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Gainesville..................8-0..........................10-2
Cedar Shoals..............8-1..........................17-2
Heritage, Conyers.......7-1...........................15-3
Apalachee...................6-2...........................13-3
Salem..........................5-3...........................10-7
Discovery....................4-4...........................11-7
Clarke Central.............3-6...........................5-13
Flowery Branch...........2-6...........................11-7
Lanier..........................1-7...........................5-13
Winder-Barrow.............1-7...........................1-14
Loganville....................0-7...........................0-14
Region 8-AAAA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
North Hall....................2-0............................13-4
Stephens County.........2-0............................13-4
Buford.........................2-0.............................7-9
White County...............1-0...........................12-5
Monroe Area................1-1.............................9-7
Johnson......................1-1.............................5-12
Madison County...........0-2............................10-7
North Oconee..............0-2.............................3-13
Chestatee....................0-2.............................0-15
Region 7-AAA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Banks County.................5-0.........................15-2
East Hall.........................5-1.........................12-5
Lumpkin County.............4-2.........................13-5
West Hall........................3-3...........................9-8
Franklin County..............2-4.........................6-12
Dawson County...............1-5...........................8-9
Fannin County.................0-5...........................7-9
Region 8-AAA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Morgan County..............6-0.........................13-3
East Jackson.................4-2...........................9-7
Jackson County............3-3..........................10-8
Elbert County................3-3...........................7-9
Oconee County.............2-4...........................4-11
Jefferson........................2-5..........................5-11
Hart County...................1-4...........................5-13
Region 8-AA
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Union County...............4-1..........................9-8
Riverside Military..........2-2..........................6-7
Washington-Wilkes.......2-2..........................9-6
Rabun County..............2-2.........................6-10
Greene County.............2-2.........................5-10
Oglethorpe Co..............2-3.........................4-11
Social Circle.................1-3..........................7-9
Region 8-A
TEAM........................Region...................Overall
Lakeview Academy......5-0...........................13-3
Hebron Christian..........5-0...........................13-4
Tallulah Falls...............5-1.............................8-6
Prince Avenue.............4-2.............................9-4
Towns County..............3-2............................7-9
Athens Christian..........3-3.............................7-7
Providence Christian....2-4...........................4-13
George Walton............1-5............................2-12
Athens Academy.........0-5............................3-11
Commerce..................0-6............................0-13
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