It is not easy when the number one and two teams in the state are in your region but that is what our local high school basketball teams face. Griffin and Carver, Columbus are the two top teams in AAAA in the state and they represent direct competition to East Coweta, Fayette County and McIntosh. If one can get by Griffin or Carver, the possibilities are endless.

East Coweta is led by junior point guard J.D. Stephens, who Coach John Thrower heralds as the team leader. "He can score and he gets the other players involved on the court, a true point guard." Other juniors that are integral to the Indians' success are Marcus Robinson, the athletic two guard,and Eric Harris. "Eric played a bit for us last year," said Coach Thrower. "He has a knack for ending up in the right place with the ball." The biggest strength for the Indians should be their depth of players inside. They have seven players all vying for time at the post position, including seniors Chris Caswall and Derrick Canty and juniors Zavier Darden and Kevin Zachery. The Indians have excellent athleticism on the perimeter and good quickness. They will open their season at home against Eagle's Landing Dec.1.

Coach Steve Hale is confident that the McIntosh Chiefs will have one of their strongest seasons this year,as he has seven seniors on the team. Michael Patrick is the leading scorer for the Chiefs and was one of the top players in the region last year. The other senior starters are Ryan Bobbitt, Brian Jones, Chris Massmann and Jim Hanchett. Hanchett, a transfer from Texas, may be the biggest surprise for McIntosh. "He is a tough player," said Coach Hale. The Chiefs are quicker and more athletic than they have been in the past and very deep. Juniors D.J. Dunlap and Nate Wesley, both football players for McIntosh, will see some playing time, as will Shawn Dunn, a 7'2 junior who has made sizable improvements in his game. For the Chiefs to succeed this year they will have to defeat all of those regional rivals, but Coach Hale thinks that is a possibility this year. "This is one of the better teams we've had," said Coach Hale. "It's a good all-around team, like one of the Sheppard teams." That is very high praise and only time will tell how accurate that statement is. The Chiefs open the regular season Dec. 1 at Sandy Creek.

Sandy Creek has a very young and inexperienced team this year but Coach Rick Francis seems positive that his team will gel. There are only two players that played a full year of varsity ball last year and the rest either have never played under Coach Francis or have never played high school basketball. The young players have talent though. Coach Francis is looking for big things from sophomores L.T. Lockett and Andre Green. "L.T. is a phenomenal player and we really expect some good things from Andre as well." The strength of the Patriots is aggressive defense and speed. "If we can click defensively, we'll be O.K.,"said Coach Francis. The Patriots will not over or underestimate any team this year. As far as the coach is concerned, everyone is a threat and potentially damaging. Sandy Creek will travel to Morrow High School today for a 4:30 p.m. game against Forest Park in the Arrowhead Clinic Thanksgiving tournament.

Starr's Mill may not have the size and strength of some of their opposition but they hope to make up for it with constant motion on offense and constant pressure on defense. The Panthers have eight juniors and three sophomores, which means eleven players that have been learning Coach Tim Miller's system for over a year. There is some tough competition in the region from Riverdale, Morrow, Mt. Zion and North Clayton. "Riverdale is heads above everybody else," said Coach Miller. "It seems like some of the best teams in the state are all in our region." The boys nabbed their first varsity win over the weekend against South Forsyth in the South Forsyth Thanksgiving Tournament. They won by a score of 66-47. The Panthers are hungry for more wins and anxiously await their season opener against Salem Dec. 1 at Starr's Mill after the girls game.

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