Best Region Tournaments to Watch

What I like to call "February Frenzy" is finally here. Below are some of the most competitive regions across the state with key players highlighted. <h3>Region 8-AAAAAAA</h3> The Favorites: No.1 Grayson, No. 2 Shiloh, No. 5 Archer Grayson has been the team to beat all year with their powerful core of <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/deivon-smith/">Deivon Smith</a> (Mississippi State), <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/caleb-murphy/">Caleb Murphy</a> (South Florida), <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/toneari-lane/">Toneari Lane</a> (Winthrop) and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/ian-schieffelin/">Ian Schieffelin</a>. The Rams are rightfully ranked in the Top 5 in the nation, but we all know if you can’t win a GHSA state title then the rest of the season goes up in smoke. To win their first championship in school history, the Rams will need to lock down the “easiest” path as possible to the title game by capturing the top seed out of Region 8. Shiloh lost 68-67 in their last meeting with the Rams and has been anchored by the backcourt of <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/zawdie-jackson/">Zawdie Jackson</a> and Caleb Golden with a big-time effort inside from blossoming 6-foot-6 junior <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jordan-mitchell/">Jordan Mitchell</a>. Archer is the team that nobody wants to play. They have played everyone tight and their four region losses have come by a combined 13 points, losing to Shiloh by 5 and 2 points while dropping to Grayson by 5 and 1. The Tigers are an unselfish group of seniors paced by the head of the snake, unsigned point guard <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/cj-hines/">CJ Hines</a>. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/areyon-johnson/">Areyon Johnson</a> is heading to Lander while <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/brent-smith/">Brent Smith</a> and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/justin-edmondson/">Justin Edmondson</a> are dynamic wings. Archer’s physical defense keeps them in every game. If there is a dark horse in the region, its Newton. The Rams have been up and down this season but have the outside shooting and quick guard play to scare teams. They handed Grayson their only loss of the season in an 84-80 overtime win, coming from behind and hitting 14 threes to stun the Rams. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/caleb-byrd/">Caleb Byrd</a> (Georgia Southern), <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/shawn-smith/">Shawn Smith</a> and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/tj-clark/">TJ Clark</a> compose a skilled set of scorers. <h3>Region 5-AAAAAA</h3> The Favorites: No. 5 Langston Hughes, No. 8 Tri-Cities, No. 9 New Manchester, No. 10 Alexander In what has traditionally been the strongest region in the state year in and year out since its conception, this year’s version of Region 5-6A is no different. Tri-Cities, the defending state champs, were rolling early in the season but have lost momentum at the wrong time losing three of their last five games. A mid-season suspension of <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/peyton-daniels/">Peyton Daniels</a> after an ejection marked the start of the swoon as the Bulldogs have gone 5-4 since the incident. I like Tri-Cities as the favorite to win the region still as long as they are healthy. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/demetrius-rives/">Demetrius Rives</a> is a rugged slasher and double-double threat while <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/julius-lymon/">Julius Lymon</a> brings a nice dimension inside. Peaking at the right time for a second season in a row, Langston Hughes has owned January the past two years with a combined 17-3 mark, going 10-1 this year with their lone loss coming on the final day of the month to a suddenly hot Douglas County team that climbed up the region standings with late wins over Tri-Cities (73-71) and Langston Hughes (58-52). Langston Hughes has been led by <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/pj-carter/">PJ Carter</a> (Campbell), <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/kasen-jennings/">Kasen Jennings</a> (Kennesaw State) and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/josh-butts/">Josh Butts</a> while Douglas County has ridden the emergence of 6-foot-5 junior <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jaylen-jackson/">Jaylen Jackson</a> (17.1 ppg). Keep and eye on New Manchester and Alexander. The Jaguars have finally put it all together posting their best season since 2015-16. Unsigned senior guard Dee Topps is a freakish athlete that averages 19.6 points while <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/trashawn-wilson/">Trashawn Wilson</a> is the definition of a late bloomer and sleeper, the 6-foot-5 senior pouring in 18.4 a game. The glue-guy versatility of Benjamin Raspberry rounds out the New Manchester attack. Alexander enters the tournament as the hottest team on paper, winning six-straight with a 64-57 win at Tri-Cities highlighting the stretch. The Cougars have size in 6-foot-7 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/bryce-robinson/">Bryce Robinson</a> (10.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.8 bpg), 6-foot-5 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/marvin-mcghee/">Marvin McGhee</a> (51 3PT) and 6-foot-4 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/xavier-thornton/">Xavier Thornton</a> (10.7 ppg). Alexander’s engine has been 6-foot-2 point guard <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jaylon-brown/">Jaylon Brown</a>, who has taken his game to the next level averaging 16.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.1 steals and has climbed up recruiting boards across the southeast. <h3>Region 7-AAAAAA</h3> The Favorites: No. 6 Chattahoochee, Pope Chattahoochee has the be the favorite to win the region but boy did they take a convoluted route to get there. The Cougars have won six-straight to surge into first-place but the region is still up for grabs as Pope and North Atlanta both spent time in the polls. Everybody has pretty much beaten everybody in this region. The Cougars lost early to Pope 67-61 but then drilled the Greyhounds 76-50. Chattahoochee then turned around and laid an egg at Centennial 89-85 to further complicate the picture but since that bad result, Chattahoochee hasn’t lost a game. Rice-signee <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/cam-sheffield/">Cam Sheffield</a> was named Region Player of the Year while <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/aj-white/">AJ White</a> poured in over 20 points per game and increased his assist numbers. Three-point specialist <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/franklin-bailey/">Franklin Bailey</a> is the third scoring option. Pope has a nice nucleus as well led by school-record holder in assists, 6-foot-1 junior <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/will-kolker/">Will Kolker</a>. 6-foot-6 athletic forward <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/ross-shepherd/">Ross Shepherd</a> is a matchup problem while Cam Bleshoy and Caden Jessop do the dirty work on both ends. The biggest surprise this season has been Cambridge. The Bears lost Kamar Robertson (Mercer) to graduation and star wing Matt Cleveland (Pace Academy) to transfer, but Cambridge hasn’t missed a beat posting a 17-8 record and Coach Chip Flemmer earning my non-existent vote for Coach of the Year. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/cole-bearden/">Cole Bearden</a> earned First Team All-Region honors while EJ Smith notched Second Team. Johns Creek can pose problems with their massive front court and guard play of Jordan Johnson while North Atlanta remains an enigma, but knows how to win close games going 8-3 in games decided by six points or less. <h3>Region 7-AAAAA </h3> The Favorites: No. 4 Kell, No. 8 Carrollton, No. 9 Hiram There is no shortage of individual talent in this region. Kell has been the team to beat behind Scoota Henderson, but they have been given a scare here and there and the loss of <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/najhae-colon/">Najhae Colon</a> to a wrist injury hurts their outside shooting. Jaylen Brown and Jamal Hill have been massive in his absence while Xavier Presley is still one of the toughest undersized posts in the state. Carrollton might have the toughest cover in the region believe it or not in <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/marcellious-lockett/">Marcellious Lockett</a>. The 6-foot-3 unsigned senior is a walking bucket as he torched Kell in a 96-86 loss with 39 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Lockett and former UNCW-signee 6-foot-6 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/melvin-edwards/">Melvin Edwards</a> make up the best one-two punch in the region. Finding consistent offense outside of the two can be hard at times as Lockett is the main playmaker. Hiram has built a talented stable of guards highlighted by <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/deandre-brown/">Deandre Brown</a>, Jayven Brown and Arshad Crepsac. All three are scorers with Deandre and Arshad lethal three-point shooters. They handed Kell their lone region loss of the season 75-60 but <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/scoot-henderson/">Scoot Henderson</a> did not play due to suspension. Outside of the big three, Villa Rica might be the best dark horse to choose from. They are well-coached and get balanced offense from Demarcus Blount, Jai Ackery and Phillip Zachary. Cass has a burgeoning star in 6-foot-6 sophomore <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/zaylan-chaney/">Zaylan Chaney</a> and a hyper-active junior guard in 5-foot-11 Braxton Benham. Paulding County is led by 6-foot-5 junior Kervens Yacinthe (21.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.9 apg) and 6-foot-1 senior <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/keon-sedgwick/">Keon Sedgwick</a> (17.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.7 apg, 5.1 spg), an elite on-ball defender with incredible lateral quickness. It never quite clicked for East Paulding but they have the region’s most dominant post player in 6-foot-6 <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/sean-rutledge/">Sean Rutledge</a> and a skilled scoring wing in <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/kristian-ford/">Kristian Ford</a>. <h3>Region 8-AAA</h3> The Favorites: No. 6 Hart County, No. 10 Franklin County, Jefferson Believe it or not, the unranked Jefferson Dragons hold the top-seed heading into the region tournament winning seven-straight after a sluggish 4-5 start to the season. 6-foot-8 Navy-signee <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jacob-radaker/">Jacob Radaker</a> is skilled on the low block while Kam Robinson is a lightning quick 5-foot-8 point guard. Twins Owen and Daniel Parker provide good effort on the perimeter and Malaki Starks is a chiseled athlete that can keep pace with anyone. Over their seven-game run, they got revenge against Franklin County (83-57) and Hart County (65-48). Hart County has the longest front court in 6-foot-7 freshman <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/tahj-johnson/">Tahj Johnson</a>, 6-foot-5 Quay Randolph and 6-foot-4 junior Shone Webb. Johnson is a future D-I player with the ability to score inside and out while Webb is a two-way player that projects to be an elite defender. Demetrius Glenn and JC Curry man the guard positions, but depth behind them could be an issue. The Bulldogs were swept by Franklin County 64-55, 57-56. Coach Jason Shaver is one of Georgia’s best and puts his Lions in places to succeed with his disciplined offensive sets. The Lions took a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight last year and will hope to not have to rely on the power rating system again this season. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/micah-roebuck/">Micah Roebuck</a> and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/titus-brown/">Titus Brown</a> run the offense and form the best backcourt in the region. Injuries and sickness hurt the Lions in mid-January, but when healthy they can execute to a T. The physicality and offensive production of 6-foot-3 sophomore Keylan Rutledge is Franklin County’s X-factor. Outside of the favorites, Monroe Area is a sleeper. They swept Franklin County and split with Jefferson. Scooby Partee, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/derrick-brown/">Derrick Brown</a> and Kendric Lyles do the heavy lifting.