Tuesday, February 12, 2008

On the road: 5-A region tournament


MABLETON -- Quantity over quality was the motto on Monday. Georgia Hoops was able to catch a quadruple header on Monday at Whitfield Academy. The top dog of the day was Greenforest Christian. But it wasn't easy.

Eagles hang on

After picking up a 66-47 win over Mt. Paran, Greenforest head coach Billy Anderson didn't have the look of a happy coach. You can't blame him. His team nearly gave a blowout away.

Up by nearly 20 points throughout the entire game, Mt. Paran cut the lead to eight points in the fourth quarter thanks to a number of three-pointers and easy buckets inside. Greenforest rallied back and claimed the 19-point win in the opening round of the 5-A region tournament but Anderson said the game was a huge wake-up call for his young team.

"This was a good lesson. We're going to watch a lot of tape [on Tuesday] I'll tell you that," Anderson said. "We can't stop defending. That's what we did [on Monday] and that can come back to haunt you."

Lucky enough Greenforest had a big enough lead built up that the Mt. Paran surge didn't amount to much. It did cause for concern though.

Greenforest sophomore guard Joe Chase (pictured) was the top performer of the day. The 5-11 combo guard scored 24 points and handed out four assists in the win. He scored 17 points in the first half.

Other notes from Whitefield: Greenforest Christian is a team to watch in Class A this year and next. The majority of the team is young and the majority of the young guys are key parts of the team's success.

The 5-A region is the deepest in single A. That being said, the state class A tournament should be a little down this year. As usual, the top two teams from this region should be Final Four contenders.

Eagles Landing Christian improved to 20-6 on the year with a 65-28 blowout over Galloway. It never was close and bordered on down right ugly. Mike Tankersley led the way with 18 points while Jonathan Riggins added 16 points.

Next stop: Fayette County High School for the 2-AAAA region tournament.