Strength of Schedule the November Theme
Grovetown, Cross Creek, Westside, Augusta Christian and more open against the best teams they can find.
Malik Ferguson scored 26 points in Grovetown’s 79-73 win over Westside in the Ricky Moore Invitational.
When you read this, back-to-back class 3A state champion Cross Creek will have tipped off its regular season on the road against returning class 6A champ Grovetown (1-0). The Razorbacks will then return home Friday for a showdown with Westside (0-2), the class 2A title holder. Finally next Tuesday, Augusta Christian, the returning SCISA champion, will travel to Cross Creek to keep alive a November stretch in which last season’s championship and runner up playoff finishers seem to find each other at every turn.
Sixth year head coach Lawrence Kelly has led Cross Creek to three straight state championship games. The Razorbacks have won the last two. And as you can hear in this short interview last Friday at the Independent Hoops media day that coach Kelly considers a difficult schedule a necessary ingredient to building a championship program.
Around the Area
No. 17 Grovetown On the Road after Tuesday
After hosting Cross Creek Tuesday, Grovetown will play its next eleven games outside the area before returning home January 7 when region play will begin. The schedule for the Warriors, the No. 17 ranked team in the Preseason MaxPreps Top 25, looks like a misprint: McEachern (Saturday), Buford (next Tuesday), No. 24 Newton (next Friday) and No. 7 Wheeler (next Saturday). Buford is who Grovetown beat in the state championship game last season.
Westside, Thomson, Greenbrier, Laney in Thanksgiving Classic
Thanksgiving Weekend High School Games at Augusta University
The returning class 2A champion Westside (0-2) will visit Richmond Tuesday in the opener for the Musketeers. Westside dropped a pair of games last weekend. The first was to Grovetown Friday at home, a 79-73 decision in the Ricky Moore Invitational. The Patriots then promptly hit the road for a two-hour trip to Jones County for Saturday’s Hoopin’ in Middle Georgia set. The Patriots came up short 85-72 against returning class 5A state runner up Eagles Landing High School.
AuMauri Tillman scored 25 points in Saturday’s 85-72 loss to Eagles Landing High.
If the Patriots get into the win column at Richmond Tuesday, a date at fellow champion Cross Creek Friday and a November 26 (5:00 P.M.) meeting against Lakeside at Augusta University will be it for the month for Westside.
The games at Augusta University will be part of the long held Friday-Saturday 100 Black Men Thanksgiving Classic. Thomson will tip off its season against Greenbrier on the second day 7:00 P.M. The Bulldogs will join returning champion Westside and returning runner up Butler in the same class 2A region (4) after the Bulldogs made it to the semifinals in class 3A last year.
Also at the Thanksgiving Classic, Laney (0-1) will take on Gainesville (Friday at noon), which is coached by Augusta legend Chuck Graham, who starred as a player at Richmond Academy and Florida State.
Kylan Hill (Laney) scored 23 points in a 78-65 loss to Jones County in the Ricky Moore Invitational.
And Augusta Christian (2-0) will face New Hampstead, which is led by former Lakeside coach Jeff Williams, in the Friday round of the Thanksgiving Classic at 6:00 P.M. Augusta Christian topped returning class 2A runner up Butler 80-78 in Friday’s Ricky Moore Invitational.
Greenbrier opened its season in the Jones County event and fell to Veterans 66-60. The Wolfpack will visit Druid Hills Saturday. Druid Hills went 25-5 and made it to the class 5A quarterfinals last season.
Cam Parada (Greenbrier) scored 20 points in Saturday’s 66-60 overtime loss to Veterans at Jones County High.
The Season is Here
Harlem will host Lakeside Thursday in the opener for both teams. Pictured: Junior Lemar Edmond
Hephzibah will host Aquinas Tuesday, and Harlem will host Lakeside Thursday in the openers for those four teams. Glenn Hills and Evans will also be in action this weekend.
The South Carolina schools, meanwhile, will begin games no earlier than next week.