Stephenson girls basketball coach Dennis Watkins picked up his 400th victory at the DeKalb County school Friday night when the Jaguars (12-4, 6-2) beat Dunwoody 62-30. Watkins, who is 400-118 in his 18th season at Stephenson, has led the Jaguars to three state titles and four runner-up finishes. Stephenson, Columbia and Southwest DeKalb are the only DeKalb County schools with three or more state championships.
Other DeKalb coaches to record milestone victories this season are Southwest DeKalb girls coach Kathy Walton (300), Tucker boys coach James Hartry (300) and Tucker girls coach Robin Potter (200).
Here are some of the other top stories from the week in Class AAAAA basketball:
*Top-ranked girls team falls: No. 1 Flowery Branch suffered its first loss of the season Friday night when it was knocked off by Hall County rival Gainesville 60-48. Taylor Hawks and Shikiya Brown combined for 47 points, according to the Gainesville Times, to lead the Red Elephants (10-3, 7-0), the only remaining 8-AAAAA team that has not lost in region play. Flowery Branch (16-1, 6-1) got 21 points from Julianne Sutton. The teams will meet again at Gainesville on Jan. 26.
*National recognition: Class AAAAA players Alterique Gilbert of Miller Grove and D’Marcus Simonds were among the 12 Georgia boys players nominated Wednesday for the prestigious McDonald’s All-American game, to be played March 30 at the United Center in Chicago. Gilbert, a Connecticut signee, is the leading scorer in DeKalb County and has guided the Wolverines to the No. 2 ranking in AAAAA. Simonds, a Georgia State signee, scored 22 points in third-ranked Gainesville’s 57-49 victory over Flowery Branch on Friday. McKenna Lawrence of Evans was one of 12 Georgia players nominated for the girls game.
*Carver-Columbus girls make statement: Carver-Columbus, which was the No. 4 seed from its region and lost in the first round of the state tournament last year, has established itself as perhaps the team to beat in 1-AAAAA this season. The Tigers (11-2, 1-0) got 16 points from Mya Miller on Tuesday in a 61-48 victory over third-ranked Columbus, handing the Blue Devils their first loss of the season and avenging a 67-61 loss in the Shaw Christmas Tournament two weeks ago. The Tigers’ next big test will come next weekend, when they host defending region tournament champion Northside-Columbus.
