The Sandy Creek Patriots have

just completed an unusually long string of road games and seem to be in

pretty good shape at this point in the season, according to head coach

Maurice Triche.

After the Thanksgiving tournament

at Morrow High School, the Patriots played six region games in two weeks,

all but one of them on the road. After Saturday night's 84-70 win

over Chapel Hill in Douglas County, the team is 8-3 overall and 6-1 in

Region 4-AAAA.

The lone home game was Friday

night against Woodward, and the Patriots won 68-37. That came after a

59-54 win at North Clayton Dec. 9.

Aaron Caruthers continues to

lead the team in scoring, racking up some impressive numbers last week.

He poured in 26 against North Clayton, 18 against Woodward and 32 against

Chapel Hill.

Usimka Etim-Edet added 10 points

against North Clayton and 13 against Chapel Hill, while Charles Belton

had games of 10, 15 and 12 points for the week.

"We've been playing

well on the road," said Triche, whose team came back from a halftime

deficit against Chapel Hill. "We've been winning on the road,

even the close ones, and that's important."

Naturally, this lopsided scheduling

will turn in the Patriots' favor after the Christmas break. After

games at Douglas County and Northgate the first week of January, their

next six region games in a row will be at home.

The Fayette County Lady Tigers

had an excellent weekend, starting with a Friday win over Mundy's

Mill. Kristin Bunch scored 17 in the 65-52 victory, followed by Tiffany

Norris with 15 and Richea Harris with 14.

Saturday night produced an

upset, with the Lady Tigers pulling out a 61-58 win over Carver of Columbus

after falling behind by 14 in the first half. The team scored 42 of its

points after intermission.

Bunch turned in a 20-point

performance, and Courtney Morton scored 13, hitting 3 clutch free throws

in the final minutes. Richea Harris had 12 points, 7 assists and 9 rebounds.

Several things went right for

the Lady Tigers in the second half, according to head coach Teresa Ellison,

as shots were falling, the press was working and turnovers were way down.

"This was a giant step

for us. It shows that any team can win on any night," said Ellison.

"You can't just give up, and our girls stepped up to the challenge

and refused to lose. Hopefully this is a trend we can continue to build

and improve upon."

Earlier in the week, Carver

and McIntosh squared off in Peachtree City The Carver boys won 72-53 in

a game in which the two teams combined to hit 20 three-point field goals.

The game was close in the middle but belonged to Carver early and late.

The Tigers jumped out front

19-5 at the end of the first quarter. Carver continued firmly in control

until Chiefs junior Chris O'Brien ran off a string of four straight

3-pointers to close the gap 10 points. Marcus Chisholm added a pair of

driving lay ups and Cameron Wallis hit a free throw with only seconds

left in the half to cut the Carver lead to 30-25.

The Chiefettes, the McIntosh

state champion competitive dance team, kept the crowd fired up with a

flawless halftime performance.

Carver opened the second half

with a 13-5 run before Chisholm and O'Brien brought the Chiefs back

again with two short jumpers and a long three. But the Chiefs could get

no closer than six points before Carver took over first inside and then

outside to pull away.

Ten players scored for Carver,

led by Steve Robinson with 16. O'Brien finished with 18 for the Chiefs.

He had 6 of the Chiefs' 8 three-pointers. Carver improved to 4-0

for the season.

In the girls game, Carver's

Lady Tigers opened with a 20-point first quarter and cruised to an easy

win. The Lady Chiefs could get no closer than 11 points all night long.

McIntosh tried relentlessly to pound the ball inside to Haynes Kleimeyer,

who finished with 22 points. But Carver forced turnovers with its sticky

defense and controlled the boards. LeDella English scored 22 for the Lady

Tigers and Malaika Pickard added 16.

The Lady Bobcats of Our Lady

of Mercy took a 5-2 record into Friday's game against Landmark, with

Amy Fortener and Uzi Moh averaging double figures in points and rebounds.

The team opens play Friday in Woodward's Christmas tournament.

Starr's Mill lost to Riverdale

65-49 Friday night in boys action. The team is now 3-5 overall and 2-3

in region play.

With the Panthers ahead 16-9

early in the second period, leading scorer Mike Mock was injured diving

for a loose ball, after which the Raiders quickly went on a 7-0 run to

tie the game. The Panthers regrouped and took a 29-24 halftime lead, but

in the third quarter Riverdale broke open the tight game behind the play

of Brad Gaines, who hit 8 three-pointers on the night.

Caleb Graham led the Panthers

with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Landmark is the only local

school represented in this week's state coaches poll. The girls are

ranked 14 in Class A and the boys are fifth.

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