DeKalb Schools Basketball Holiday Tournaments Set

A state playoff type of atmosphere is expected on Friday night as DeKalb County’s four state champions from 2012 clash in a pair highly anticipated high school basketball games.

The Class AAAA state champions Miller Grove Lady Wolverines (6-2) host the Class AAA state champions Columbia Lady Eagles (5-1) at 5:30 p.m. Columbia has won two of the last three Class AAA girls’ state titles and enters at 5-1 after suffering their first loss of the season last Saturday against Buford. The Lady Eagles do have a win over Hoover (AL), a Class AAAAAA school.

Miller Grove has a pair of close losses to St. Francis (45-44) and Stephenson (43-40), but has won four consecutive including a tough 52-46 region tussle with 2012 Class AAAA runner-up Southwest DeKalb. The Lady Wolverines won the school’s first ever girls’ state championship with a victory over Southwest DeKalb in the Class AAAA finals in March.

Senior shooting guard Miah Spencer (19.5 ppg) leads the Lady Eagles while senior forward Klarissa Weaver (10.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg) leads Miller Grove.

The boys’ game pits Class AAAA state champion Miller Grove against Class AAA state champ Columbia at 7:30 p.m. as the two top teams in state championships meet in the regular season for the first since Miller Grove pulled out a 66-64 win in December of 2010.

Class AAAAA No. 1 ranked Miller Grove became the first DeKalb County program to win four consecutive state titles with its 2012 championship. The Wolverines are 9-1 on the season heading into Tuesday’s Region 6-AAAA game with North Atlanta and are coming off a 64-62 win against Class AAAAAA No. 1 ranked Norcross last Saturday. The lone loss was a 63-62 battle with Class AAAAAA McEachern to open the season.

Class AAAA Columbia enters the matchup with a 7-1 record following their 63-44 win over Class AAAAAA Peachtree Ridge on Saturday. The Eagles’ lone loss was a tough 64-62 decision to Class AAAAAA North Gwinnett earlier this season. Columbia won a pair of games in the Atlanta-Memphis Showdown defeating Memphis East 78-65 and Germantown (TN) 52-45.

Point guard Keith Pinckney (13 ppg) and forward Earl Bryant (15 ppg) lead the Wolverines while Columbia is led by three-time Class AAA All-State point guard Tahj Shamsid-Deen (18 ppg).

DeKalb teams will be participating in several holiday tournaments traveling to California, Washington D.C., South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and tournaments closer to home in Georgia.

DEKALB BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Dec. 18
Arabia Mountain at Lakeside
Clarkston at McNair
Druid Hills at Tri-Cities
Dunwoody at M.L.King Jr.
Tucker at SW DeKalb
Mays at Stephenson

Friday, Dec. 21
Columbia at Miller Grove, 5:30/7 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 22
DeKalb Holiday Tournament Finals at Arabia Mountain
Consolation Games
10 a.m. (G), 11:30 a.m. (B), 1 p.m. (G), 2:30 p.m. (B), 4 p.m. (G) and
5:30 p.m. (B)
Finals at 7 p.m. (girls) and 8:30 p.m. (boys)

Holiday Tournaments
Dec. 26-29
Nike Boys’ Invitational at Columbia High School
(Chamblee, Columbia, Tucker)
National Title IX Tournament in Washington D.C. (26-29)
(Columbia girls, SW DeKalb girls)
Gainesville Christmas Classic at Gainesville, GA (27-29)
(Dunwoody boys)
Arby’s Classic at Briston, TN (26-31)
(M.L. King Jr. boys)
Lake City Christmas Classic at Lake City (27-29)
(M.L. King Jr. girls)
Max Preps Tournament at Palm Springs, CA (26-30)
(Miller Grove boys)
Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament at Fairfield Central (27-29)
(Miller Grove girls)
Thomasville Holiday Hoops Festival, Thomasville (27-29)
(Redan boys, girls)
Hoops in Overdrive Tournament Dec. 29
(Arabia Mountain boys)
USBA Carolina Invitational at Charleston, SC (27-29)
(Stephenson girls)
Daytona Beach Classic at Daytona Beach, FL (27-30)
(Stephenson boys)
Colquitt County Shootout at Colquitt Co. (26-30)
(Stone Mountain boys)

Jan. 3-5
Peach State Classic at Westlake
(Chamblee girls, M.L. King Jr. boys, SW DeKalb girls, Stephenson boys,
Tucker girls)

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Mark Brock is the Information Officer/Statistician/Web Manager for DeKalb County Schools Athletics