The Stephenson Middle School basketball teams are returning to defend their 2015 DCSD Middle School Basketball Championships titles after picking up semifinal victories at home on Wednesday night.
The Lady Jaguars improved to 15-1 with a 40-29 win over a Peachtree Lady Patriots (14-2) team that had suffered just one loss on the season.
Stephenson will face undefeated Champion (16-0), which defeated previously undefeated Salam (15-1) 27-19 on Wednesday at Cedar Grove, in the 3:30 championship game on Saturday at Cedar Grove.
Stephenson’s only loss of the season was a 43-30 defeat at the hands of Salem early in the regular season and the Lady Jaguars have won 11 in row since that December game.
Champion has rolled through the season undefeated and the big win over Salem puts them in the championship game for the first time since winning the title in 2013.
This will be Stephenson’s third consecutive championship game appearance having won the last two titles in 2014 and 2015.
The defending boys’ champions Jaguars return to the title game with a 16-0 record this season following its 71-62 victory over previously undefeated Chamblee (15-1) on Wednesday at Stephenson.
Miller Grove (11-4) gets a championship rematch with Stephenson following its 55-47 win over Champion (14-2) at Cedar Grove on Wednesday.
The title game set for 6:30 at Cedar Grove Middle will be the third meeting this season for the two Region 3 rivals. Stephenson won the two regular season games 62-44 (11/14) and 36-20 (12/12) to claim the region title.
Stephenson led from start to finish in last year’s title game on the way to defeating Miller Grove 44-35.
The girls’ third place game will pit Salem (15-1) against Peachtree (14-2) at 11:00 am at Cedar Grove Middle. Peachtree’s two losses have come at the hands of undefeated Champion (regular season) and finalist Stephenson (semifinals). Salem’s only loss was the semifinal defeat at the hands of Champion.
The boys’ third place game is set for 12:30 pm at Cedar Grove Middle with Chamblee (15-1) taking on Champion (14-2). Chamblee handed Champion its only regular season defeat, a 45-41 decision in November. Chamblee went undefeated in the regular season and rolled off 15 consecutive victories before falling to Stephenson in the semifinals.