What Programs Have Been Impressive Thus Far Into the Season?
Atlanta, Georgia – The first half of the season in the peach state will be put to rest once this week is over. The final Holiday Tournaments are expected to be in these next few days and progams like East Coweta High School (Sharpsburg, Georgia), Morgan County High School (Madison, Georgia), and Fayette County High School (Fayetteville, Georgia) are just a few programs that have all been impressive so far this season and will look to continue their sucess as the season goes along. The three programs combine for only four loses on the season so far.
The East Coweta Indians are currently sitting at a 14-1 overall record and HC Royal Maxwell is in his fourth season with the progam. Already playing in a very tough region, region 2 class 7A, the Indians have faced some heat in the first half of the season and have good wins against teams like Fayette County, Heuytown (AL), Sandy Creek, and Village Christian (SC). Their lone lost was against region foe Pebblebrook High School where they fell 63-60 on the road. East Coweta’s three headed monster this year include 2019 PG Fermandez Jones, 2020 SG Christopher Youngblood, and 2020 F Brandon Stroud. Jones is the senior leader on this East Coweta roster this year and is averaging 21.0 points per game so far. He is a fill it up type guard who is able to score in bunches. Youngblood, who sits at 6-foot-5, has developed into a solid scorer for the Indians and is averaging 19.2 points per game. Brandon Stroud (pictured above) might be the most underrated prospect in the 2020 class in the state, the junior forward is averaging 16.2 points per game for the Indians. Besides their region matchups still to come against Pebblebrook once again, Westlake once again, Campbell twice, and Wheeler twice, the Indians next key game will be against Therrell High School on January 4th at East Coweta.
Morgan County High School is a familiar name here in the state of Georgia and your probably wondering why a progam like Morgan County is included in this article. Well let me tell you exactly why that is. The Bulldogs are currently 10-1 going into the Sweet South Classic Tournament (December 27-29th) and have some high quality wins so far. They have already defeated in state programs like Pebblebrook and St. Francis and have taken down some of the best out of state competition. The Bulldogs recently competed in the Palmetto Winter Classic in Columbia, South Carolina and where they defeated Blythewood (SC), Holly Springs (NC), and Ridge View (SC). Austin PEAY signee 2019 SG Alec Woodard has been their leading scorer this season at 19.7 points per game so far and two of Georgia’s top available senior guards in Tyrin Lawrence (18.7 points per game) and Stevin Greene (15.1 points per game) have also been playing extremely well this season and are a big reason why Morgan County is successful. Coach Sims and his squad made the class 3A final four last season and it would not be a surprise if they get beyond that point this year. Key games coming up for Morgan County will be their matchup with Duluth High School in the Sweet South Shootout on January 12th and their matchup with Newton on January 19th.
The Fayette County Tigers might be the most surprising program in the state of Georgia this season. The Tigers are currently 11-2 and will be playing in the Big South Shootout at Duluth High School before the year ends. Head Coach Andre Flynn and his staff have done a great job with this year’s squad and 2020 G JeKobe Coleman has been the leading scorer for this season’s squad averaging 17.0 points per game while shooting 44% from beyond the arc. They have good wins over Sandy Creek, Therell, and Southwest Dekalb so far this year and their two loses have came against Westlake and East Coweta. The Tigers have key games coming up against Mountain View in the Big South Shootout, a rivalry game against Sandy Creek on January 4th, and their matchup with Eagles Landing on January 21st could be very interesting. After only finishing last season with an overall 17-13 record, Fayette County will be looking to make a run in Georgia’s class 5A state playoffs.