Now they're even.

In one of the most hyped high

school basketball games in Georgia in many years, the War Eagles of Landmark

Christian avenged a December loss with a 73-71 win Friday night over Southwest

Atlanta Christian before a crowd of more than 5,000 at Georgia Tech.

It was no surprise who finished

as the top scorers for each team. Landmark's Randolph Morris and

SACA's Dwight Howard poured in 25 points apiece, with Howard pulling

down 15 rebounds to Morris' 11. The matchup between the two big men

(Morris is listed at 7 feet, Howard at 6-11) drew a crowd that included

a number of NBA scouts and college coaches.

But the big story in this game

was Landmark's stunning comeback from a 15-point deficit at the end

of the third quarter. Morris gave his team the lead with about a minute

to play, a few seconds after Howard fouled out, and the War Eagles, who

scored 33 points in the final period, held on for the win.

SACA held on to the top spot

in this week's state Class A poll, with Landmark at No. 2, followed

games starting next week could prove very interesting.

In other local boys action,

the Sandy Creek Patriots may not know until Sunday afternoon when they

will play when they host the Region 4-AAAA playoffs starting Monday. After

a 58-54 loss to North Clayton and a 60-57 win over Woodward, the Patriots

were 13-3 in region play going into last night's home game against

Douglas County.

A win in that game and another

victory Friday against Northgate could put Sandy Creek in a three-way

tie for first place with Douglas County and Lithia Springs - all

with three losses apiece and all with 1-1 records against each other.

Coach Maurice Triche said this week that he did not know for certain what

tiebreaker methods would be used in such a situation.

Fayette County swept McIntosh

in varsity action Friday night. The Tigers defeated the Chiefs 71-39 while

t he Lady Tigers took home a 62-47 victory over the Lady Chiefs. Fayette's

boys were led in scoring by Steve McNease with 20 points and Sheldon Harris

led the team in rebounding with 11.

"Fayette played a good

defensive game," said Tigers coach Andre Flynn.

The Starr's Mill Panthers

defeated Mundy's Mill 64-53 Jan. 27, as Caleb Graham,

who finished with 26 points,

got the Panthers going early with 8 first-quarter points to help the home

team grab an 18-8 lead. Mundy's Mill took a brief lead in the third

period, but Starr's Mill regrouped and led by as many as 15 in the

fourth. Mike Mock scored 14 points, Mark Harris added 9 and Vinnie LeDonne

8.

The Panthers lost a 40-34 game

to Carver Friday night. Mike Mock

led the Panthers with 23 points,

more than two-thirds of his team's total.

Starr's Mill opened up

a 5-0 lead to start the game, but Carver came back and led 13-8 after

one quarter. Mock scored all 10 of his team's points in the second

to go with his four points in the first period. The third quarter was

a snooze, as Starr's Mill outscored Carver 5-3 to cut the lead to

six. The Panthers closed to within two late in the game, but Carver hung

on with good foul shooting.

The Lady Panthers downed Mundy's

Mill 53-34 Jan. 27, behind 13 points and six assists from Ashley Marine

and 13 points and six rebounds from Jenny Norman. The team shot 21 of

45 from the floor and had 12 steals in the game.

The big quarter for Starr's

Mill was the second, where the team was 6 of 7 from the field, 3 of 4

from the free throw line and forced six turnovers while

holding Mundy's Mill to

only one basket.

Friday night saw the Lady Panthers

fall 58-50 to a tough Carver team that only has one loss the entire season.

Marine scored 17, pulled down 12 rebounds and had three steals. Angela

Garza scored 10 off the bench.

Starr's Mill was 8-15

going into this week's games against East Coweta and McIntosh. Carver

was scheduled to play Riverdale last night, with the top seed in the region

tournanment likely on the line.

McIntosh split its varsity

games Saturday against Lithia Springs on a night when a power surge knocked

out the scoreboard and some of the lights in the McIntosh gym in the early

going. Lady Chiefs coach Steve Kidd credited his team's increased

defensive intensity for its 57-51 win.

The Lady Chiefs sprang to an

early lead and, according to the announcer, led 19-10 when the timekeeper's

stopwatch said the first quarter was over. When the scoreboard lights

came on just before the half, the home town fans must have felt they were

waking from a dream, because Lithia Springs' Lady Lions had cut the

lead to 28-24.

But in the third quarter, McIntosh

again put up 19 points and held the visitors to 10. Kristen McKillop led

the rally for McIntosh, scoring 12 of her game-high 22 points in the period.

Just as they did at Lithia

Springs two weeks ago, the Lady Chiefs shot poorly from the free throw

line. As a team, they hit only 17 of 34 free throws. But McKillop and

senior Christa Mann hit clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the

win. McKillop hit 6 of 8 and Christa Mann 7 of 11 from the line. Haynes

Kleimeyer rebounded well in addition to scoring 15 points for McIntosh.

Nekia Hicks had 21 for Lithia Springs, including a pair of late 3-pointers

that narrowed the final margin.

In the boys' game, Lithia

Springs pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 61-38. McIntosh had kept

the game close through three quarters, trailing 36-30 with eight minutes

to go. Jason Williams led McIntosh with 11 points. Eleven players scored

for Lithia Springs, led by Anthony Hodge with 13.

The Lady Bobcats of Our Lady

of Mercy have had a rough ride since the Christmas break, but still had

a 12-9 record going into the regular season's final three games.

"Injuries have been a

small factor but we are all healthy now and still can't quite seem

to hit our stride," said coach Clay Cushman. "Hopefully we will

finish strong and make a statement about where we are as a program."

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