Last year the North Hall boys had what would be considered a solid team.

With Kyle Wiley, Will Chase and Tim Cox playing with the talent they have this year it’s safe to say that the 2006-2007 Trojans were decent.

Wiley led last year’s team in scoring, normally with upwards of 20 points, in close to every game with his ability to not only shoot the ball well, but get to the hole.

This year’s team doesn’t have a said leading scorer, rebounder, shooter or slasher yet they are undefeated in subregion play and just pulled off what could be called the impossible by beating the perennial powerhouse known as East Hall in Valhalla.

Or maybe it’s at Valhalla, I’ve never really known.

I digress, what could be considered the main weakness of the Trojans is also what makes this year’s team so great, they don’t have a go-to guy.

The Trojans beat those mighty Vikings on Friday night, not with luck, but resiliency. They, as a team, just kept chipping away until there was nothing left to chip, and now they sit atop Subregion 7A-AAA with a 4-0 subregion record.

Who would have thought it?

This time last year, the Flowery Branch boys were, to put it sweetly, struggling.

The Falcons, who are the No. 1 team in Subregion 7B-AAA with a 15-2 overall record and 4-0 subregion record, had, as of Jan. 21 of last year, won 3-of-16 games and would only win one more game the remainder of the season.

One must wonder how such a drastic turnaround happens, especially considering this is only the second year of the Todd Cottrell and company regime and the team is cooking with many of the same ingredients, if you catch my drift.

Here’s the other strange part, what could be considered a weakness of the Falcons is also what makes this year’s team so great, they don’t have a go-to guy.

Anyone noticing a pattern?

Some nights it’s junior Izaan Cross and his double-doubles leading the team, other nights it’s A.C. Bailey with his long arms. It’s been Josh Barrett, it’s been Brian Welchel, it’s been Daniel Tosta and almost every time, it’s been a win.

This time last year, who would have thought it?

In the whole scheme of things I know very little, but one thing that’s for sure in my world is that the Lady Bobcats of Gilmer were 0-10 in subregion play last year and are 4-0 this year.

The girls of Ellijay couldn’t buy a win against a Hall County, Lumpkin County or White County team last year but this year, Gilmer’s beating most by double digits.

The Lady Bobcats are even ranked in the state polls at No. 5.

From the way things went for them last year, who would have thought it?

As a side note, the Gainesville girls play host to Class AA No. 4-ranked Buford on Saturday. While this game has no bearing on standings, junior center Blanche Alverson and sophomore center Jaymee Carnes will be going head to head and that alone should be worth the price of admission.

Also, the Lady Vikings, at No. 3 in the subregion standings, have a chance this week to make some noise in the subregion rankings as they face the two teams positioned about them in the standings in Chestatee, No. 2 and Gilmer, No. 1.

Both the East Hall boys and Chestatee boys have a chance to take sole possession of the No. 2 spot in the 7A-AAA subregion rankings when the two teams face off Tuesday.

The winner sets themselves up nicely for a run at the No. 1 spot as both teams will face North Hall next week.