How The “Week” Was Won: A Double Shot Of Things I Liked Over The Past 7 Days

<p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Underclass Standouts</span></strong></p> <p>The Lambert Holiday Classic last Friday had a bevy of good-looking sophomores on display, as well as Mountain View's sure to rise freshman backcourt combo of <strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">AJ Cheeks</span></strong> and <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Zay Wilson</strong></span> and 2023 Dacula forward <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Lamariyon Jordan</strong></span>. Archer's <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Christian Drummer</strong><span style="color: #000000;">,</span></span> St. Francis' <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Jordan Brown</strong></span> and <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Seth Hubbard</strong></span>, Peachtree Ridge's <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Jairus Griffin</strong></span> join perhaps the day's most impressive 2022 baller, North Gwinnett's <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>RJ Godfrey </strong><span style="color: #000000;">(pictured above)</span></span>. The 6-6 small forward didn't make it into my game recap from earlier this week, but only because his upper-class teammates dominated the stat sheet. But it was hard to miss Godfrey, who did get 7 points but was all over the floor high-rising, rebounding and defending. He's 14th on our 2022 list at the moment, with a ton of skill to ascend. As seen in my War Eagle Classic roundup, sophomore postman <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Malachi Townsend</strong></span> of Starr's Mill impressed for a team struggling record-wise, but he can help lead a quick turnaround going forward and could see himself finding his way onto our 2022 list soon. Not to be left out, other underclassmen I've seen sandwiched between the two major holidays that bear mentioning include Denmark's <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Robert Cowherd</strong></span>, Westlake's <strong><span style="color: #ff6600;">Dillon Hunter</span></strong>, Walton's <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Jonathan Awoleye</strong></span>, Tri-Cities <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Simeon Cottle</strong></span> and freshmen <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Isaiah Collier</strong></span> of Wheeler and <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Mason Etter</strong></span> of Etowah.</p> <p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">St. Francis</span></strong></p> <p>The defending Class A Private champs boast the cosmic talent of <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Dwon Odom</strong></span>, but will have to run another difficult postseason bracket for sure with perennial playoff threats Walker, Eagle's Landing, Mt. Pisgah Christian and Heritage among others all having strong seasons again. But everything's there in my view for them to repeat, if not just because of Odom's ability to simply take over and "out-athleticize" everyone else on the floor, but due to the wide range of contributions he can get from his outstanding supporting cast. They have effective size in the middle with <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Kai Simmons</strong></span>, size, hops and shooting off the wing with <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Jusaun Holt</strong></span>, critical dirty work and smarts from <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>Chase Ellis</strong></span>, and backcourt shooting from the above-mentioned fearless youngsters Brown and Hubbard. I'll be likely checking in on them again in a January 31 last-day of the regular season matchup and potential playoff preview at Walker.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>