The Gainesville boys have Tuesday’s game against Walnut Grove (17-3, 7-1 Region 8-AAA South) circled on the calendar.
Earlier this season, the Red Elephants (13-7, 7-1) took their only subregion loss to the Warriors in Gainesville. Luckily for Gainesville, Walnut Grove slipped up against Monroe Area on Jan. 14, losing 59-51, meaning the winner of this week’s game will take sole possession of first in the South subregion.
After Tuesday, the Red Elephants only have three subregion games remaining (Johnson, Lanier and Monroe Area) before the Region 8-AAA tournament kicks off on Feb. 13.
Also, the East Hall girls (15-2, 4-0 Region 8A-AA) are in position to keep some distance for the subregion lead.
The Lady Vikings are right in the midst of a crucial point late in the regular season. After knocking off No. 1 Rabun County (16-3, 2-2) on Friday, East Hall hosts Union County (15-3, 2-1) on Tuesday in Gainesville.
After this week, East Hall still has another date with both Union County and Rabun County before the regular season is finished.
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING: Some of Hall County’s wrestling programs already made a name for themselves in the duals portion of the season. Now they’re ready to see if they can repeat the same in the traditional, or individual, portion of the season.
This week, Hall County’s schools will meet together beginning Friday for the two-day Hall County championships at Johnson.
Chestatee and North Hall both represented Region 8-AAA at the duals state meet earlier this month in Macon. North Hall is coming off a ninth place finish at the North Metro tournament last Saturday at Brookwood High in Lilburn.
The Hall County Championship kicks off the home stretch of the season. The following weekend is the region championships for respective schools around the area, followed by the state sectionals the next week.
The traditional state championships are Feb. 16-18 at the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Georgia (11-9) men’s basketball program has struggled of late, and it isn’t going to get any easier this week.
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs host No. 2 Kentucky (19-1) in Athens. The Wildcats are coming off a 77-71 win against Alabama on Friday.
Meanwhile, Georgia Tech (8-11) has struggled just as badly as losers in seven of its last eight. After a game against Miami on Tuesday, the Yellow Jackets face No. 8 North Carolina on Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C.