Weekly Notebook : December 1 - 7, 2008

While the Atlanta area has been hit by a cold spell the past week, the high school hoops action is definitely warming up across the Metro area. Here a few highlights and notes from across the Metro Area this past week:

McEachern Off to Hot Start

Coming into the season, McEachern did not receive as much pre-season hype as several of the other top teams in Class 5A (namely Wheeler and Norcross). However, the Indians are proving here in the early season that they are certainly the team to beat in Region 5-AAAAA and a legitimate contender for the Class 5A Title. McEachern has exceptional talent (at least five D1 prospects on roster), experience, athleticism, and size. Coach Mike Thompson's squad is 4-0 on the season and has easily defeated their opponent in 3 of the 4 wins. 2010 Standout guard Trae Golden (pictured above) has played very well thus far. He followed up a strong performance on Tuesday night vs. Kennesaw Mountain with a 28 point showing in Friday night's well earned 70-60 win versus Cherokee. Golden is currently open in his recruitment after backing away from the verbal commitment he had previously made to Ohio State at the beginning of his sophomore year.

New Beginnings

The beginning of this season has seen several programs (both established schools and new schools) getting off to surprisingly successful starts. Grayson High School in Gwinnett County is certainly one of the teams. Grayson has struggled badly on the hardwood the past few years. However, this year's squad is 5-1 and has already surpassed last year's win total for the entire season (3). First Year Head Coach Brian Anderson has done a fine job with his club and has received good production out of Seniors guards Justin Coogler and Ben Loudermilk....High Schools in their first year of existence typically struggle in their first couple of years of athletic competition. However, Allatoona High in Cobb County is looking to be anything but typical and they have seen some good early season success, winning 3 of their first 4 contests. Allatoona's Head Coach Markus Hood, who led Hiram High on a Cinderella run to the Class 5A State Final Four last season, is building a fundamentally sound and aggressive team at the new school. Allatoona swept both of their games played over the weekend. Point Guard Jack Wilson (6' 0, PG, 2010) scored 20 pts. in Friday's win over Paulding County and then had a 41 point explosion versus South Paulding on Saturday.

North Hall End's East Hall's Lanierland Tournament Dominance

North Hall High School pulled off a major upset in the opening round of the Annual Lanierland Tournament, knocking off East Hall 98-84. East Hall had previously dominated the Lanierland Tournament, winning the Championship the past six years and 13 of the last 14 years (yes....that is not a typo...13 of the past 14 years!). North Hall certainly is a team to watch out for this year in Class 3A. The Trojans, coached by Benji Wood, play with strong intensity and energy. North Hall Senior Guard Ethan Satterfield (6' 2, Point Guard, 2009) led the Trojans with 17 points in victory. Satterfield is one of the the state's top "sleeper" guards in the senior class. He is a speedy guard who can get to the rack, knock down the jumper, and distribute effectively. Fellow Senior Chase Syfan is also a player to watch on the North Hall squad. The Trojans will face West Hall in the Tournament Semi-Finals on Saturday night. As for East Hall, they have a young and inexperienced team and have experienced some uncharacteristic let downs in the early season. However, you can bet Joseph Dix, who is one of the best High School Coaches in the State, will have his kids back on track and ready to uphold the East Hall tradition of success very soon.

Other Notes:

Fayette County High School, who advanced to last year's Class 4A State Championship game, travelled to Peoria, Illinois last weekend to compete in the Trusted Choice Tournament of Champions. The Tigers went 1-2 during the event, which featured several Nationally ranked teams. However, Fayette Head Coach Andre Flynn was enthusiastic about the trip and felt it was a great experience for his guys to play such excellent competition and bond as a unit. 6' 7 Senior Noel Johnson (Southern Cal signee) was named to the All-Tournament Team as was promising 2011 prospect Malcom Brogdon. Noel Johnson (6' 7, Wing, 2009), who is one of the State's top overall players regardless of class, is a very talented and versatile player who can hurt opponents inside or out. Brogdon(6' 4, Wing, 2011) has had a terrific start to his sophomore campaign after enjoying a strong Fall on the camp circuit. The 6' 4 wing, who set a Tournament record of 17 rebounds while in Illinois, is establishing himself as one of the Peach State's Top Prospects in the Class of 2011 .....Cherokee High School's Michael Kvam (6' 3, CG, 2010)enjoyed a sterling week. He scored 25 points in Cherokee's exciting OT win over Marietta on Tuesday evening, including all of each of his team's 8 points in overtime. He followed up that performance with a another 25 point effort in a tough loss against McEachern on Friday. Kvam has good size for guard spot, can handle the rock, sees the floor well, and can shoot the ball extremely well from the 3. In other words, he has a very well rounded game and most importantly, is always working to improve. Kvam is a certainly a player to keep an eye on in the Class of 2010.

Weekly Notebook : Full Game Action Tips Off

The first official week of the 2008-09 Georgia high school basketball season in in the books. While a number of teams elected to take the extra week of practice and will not play their first games until the coming week (or even December in some cases); a large number of programs got the ball rolling with tournament games and non-region matchups.

Below are some of top performances, notables, and observations from Week 1 Action:

If the first game was any indication of the type of season Malcolm Jackson is going to have in 08-09, then it is going to be a terrific one. The 6’ 1 Senior Guard from Sandy Creek High School dropped 40 points in their opening win over Class AA #1 Greater Atlanta Christian at the Parkview Tip-Off Classic. Jackson shot the lights out , hitting six treys and going 12-14 from the charity stripe. Take into account his effort with that of teammate Emerson Williams’ 23 points and the duo combined for 63 points. That is a heck of a combo scoring wise at the high school level…..Miller Grove and GA Tech signee Mfon Udofia opened up what should be a stellar Senior campaign with 27 points in a 94-56 blowout win over East Coweta …Miller Grove and Sandy Creek will matchup in the Semi’s of the Parkview Tournament on Monday night….Two Gwinnett teams (Berkmar and Wesleyan) who were very strong last season but were expected to struggle somewhat this year both surprised with their play in week 1. Berkmar came out on knocked off a talented Peachtree Ridge team in OT and then turned around beat Kell to start 2-0. Seniors Nick Henry and Aamir Kelliehan stepped up with good play for Berkmar Coach Tommy McWorter. The Wesleyan School, who won the Class AA State Championship last year, only returns a couple of players who logged any significant court time in last season’s title run. However, that didn’t seem to bother the team much as they stepped onto Parkview’s home court and won a thriller 56-55 over the Class AAAAA opponent. 2010 Shooting Guard Griffin Schamp had a real nice game, capping off his 26 point performance by hitting the winning bucket in the game’s final seconds……Loganville is a Team to Watch in Class AAAA. They are strong fundamental squad led by Head Coach Joel Colley, have good depth, and very solid guard play. They pounded Tri-Cities in their opener at the Parkview Tournament. Senior Guard Tyler Gunnett (who led them with 18 pts.) is an intelligent, well rounded player with a good looking stroke….Loganville will face Wesleyan in the other Semi-Final of the Parkview Tourney…..Name to remember - Pebblebrook Freshman Damien Wilson. The Class of 2012 rookie scored 22 points in his first high school game for the Cobb County school (which was a 69-56 victory over Druid Hills)…..Terreco Stephens has gotten off to a very hot start for Therrell H.S.. He scored 42 points versus Cedar Grove in the opener and followed up that with a 28 point performance versus Towers H.S.. Both games were victories for Therrell….Milton H.S. might be young, but they have are very talented and showed a preview of the potential they have with a lopsided win over Brookwood at the Chestatee Tip-off Tournament. Milton Coach David Boyd, who has four State Titles under his belt, must be very excited about this group….. As for the State’s College Basketball action: Major props go out to the Mercer University program. What a week the Atlantic Sun Program had. First they upset SEC teams Alabama and Auburn on the road. Then they a lose a very closely contested OT game to GA Tech (which they had a chance to win in regulation’s final seconds). Mercer’s First Year Head Coach Bob Hoffman seems to really have the Bears on the right track and it should be interesting to see if they can keep up the strong play in A-Sun Conference Play. Former Wheeler standout James Florence stepped up huge for Mercer in the all three games, averaging 25 PPG in the stretch….Shorter College picked up a nice early season 77-61 win over Auburn University-Montgomery on Saturday evening. Auburn-Montgomery came into the game ranked #21 Nationally in NAIA…..After a opening OT win versus cross town rival Emory Univ. earlier in the week , Oglethorpe Univ. went up to Philadelphia, PA this weekend and won the Equinox Tip-off Classic. Phil Ponder's Oglethorpe team is now 3-0 on the young season.