Sports
Allatoona Basketball Teams Lead Strong Tourney
Sixteen teams will compete in the second Lake City Classic Basketball Tournament, which begins at 10 a.m. today.
Allatoona High School’s boys and girls basketball teams are each off to strong starts this season.
Both Buccaneers squads should vie for the championship when they host the three-day second annual Lake City Classic Basketball Tournament at Allatoona.
Today’s opening round games are:
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- Girls: Drew (6-2 overall record) vs. Chestatee (8-3), 10 a.m.
- Boys: Alexander (6-2) vs. South Cobb (7-2), 11:30 a.m.
- Girls: Archer (6-3) vs. South Paulding (1-7), 1 p.m.
- Boys: Mays (1-6) vs. Fairdale, KY. (5-5), 2:30 p.m.
- Girls: South Atlanta (2-6) vs. Lanier (5-6), 4 p.m.
- Boys: Carrollton (7-0) vs. Hillgrove (7-4), 5:30 p.m.
- Girls: North Paulding (5-5) vs. Allatoona (9-1), 7 p.m.
- Boys: North Paulding (4-6) vs. Allatoona (8-2), 8:30 p.m.
The tournament continues with games Thursday and Friday.
“I really think the (boys) tournament is really up for grabs, whoever gets hot and can string (together) three games in a row … and there’s any team that can do that,” fourth-year Allatoona boys coach Markus Hood said. “We think we have one of the best basketball tournaments around because of the teams we have here.”
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Hood said South Cobb and Hillgrove are two of the best teams around and that Douglas County’s Alexander is having a good year as well. He also noted that Fairdale hosts the 31st annual King of the Bluegrass Tournament in Louisville, KY.
“It’s one of the biggest high school basketball tournaments in the country,” Hood said.
Allatoona’s girls boast the best record entering the tournament in the eight-team girls field with a school-best 9-1 mark. The Buccaneers have won two straight after losing at the home court of state-ranked and then-unbeaten Lowndes County 43-36 in Valdosta Dec. 17.
“We were as pleased as we could be with a loss,” Allatoona’s fourth-year girls coach Michael Taylor said.
South Atlanta, Chestatee, Archer and Drew are the other teams in the girls bracket who will likely challenge to play in Friday’s 7 p.m. championship game.
“We’ve got a loaded little stash,” Taylor said of the field. “We definitely upped the ante from last year and got more competition this year.”
Acworth Patch plans to post tournament scores each day during the tournament.
