The 2020 DCSD middle school basketball season is closing in on the halfway mark. Teams are already jockeying for a high seed in the championship tournament.

The 2020 DCSD middle school basketball season is closing in on the halfway mark. Teams are already jockeying for a high seed in the championship tournament.

Salem traveled to undefeated Miller Grove last Wednesday and came away with a sweep in Region 3 to move into first place in both boys’ and girls’ (three-way tie) action as the season closes in on the holiday break.

The Salem Lady Lions (3-2, 2-1) opened the night with a huge 56-18 win over the Lady Wolverines (4-1, 1-1) and is in a three-way tie with Freedom and Lithonia atop the standings with Miller Grove (4-1, 1-1) trailing by one game in the division win column.

The Freedom Lady Rams (5-1, 2-1) moved into a tie with Salem via a thrilling 33-32 win over Salem on Saturday night after dropping a tough 23-15 decision to Lithonia (4-2, 2-1) on Wednesday. Jasmine Adams hit for 16 points and Jamiya Jenkins added 14 in the win for Freedom.

Lithonia picked up a pair of wins in girls’ Region 3 action last week including the 23-15 win over Freedom to move into the first place tie. Alika Daugherty had 16 points in the win. The Lady Bulldogs also knocked off Region 3 foe Redan (1-4, 0-3) 43-39 behind Daughtery’s 21 points along with 10 more from Aniya Waller.

Region 4 Girls
Chapel Hill (6-0, 3-0) remains undefeated and atop the Region 4 girls’ standings following a region win over McNair (36-11) and a non-region victory against Stone Mountain (42-4).

Columbia (3-3, 2-1) picked up wins over Cedar Grove (0-5, 0-4) and Bethune (1-4, 1-1) to take over second place in the region. Jakiah Slaughter hit for 17 points and Emani Scott contributed 10 more to go with some great defensive play by Jatorria McCommons in the 31-17 win over Cedar Grove. Shaniya Lewis had 5 points and 6 rebounds to lead Cedar Grove while Heaven Jenkins collected 2 points and 8 rebounds.

The Lady Eagles followed up the win on Saturday by knocking off Bethune 38-18 on Saturday for their third consecutive victory. Slaughter was gain the high point person in the game with 18 points to go with 11 points from Lyric McIver and more great defensive play by Taylor Moss.

McNair (1-4, 1-1) picked up its first win of the season with a great team effort in the 31-21 victory over Cedar Grove. The team play overcame Cedar Grove’s Heaven Jenkins 15-point, 6-rebound night in the loss. JahNaesia Spiers had 6 steals for Cedar Grove.

Region 2 Girls
Champion (3-2, 3-1), the defending county champ, moved into first place in Region 2 with wins of 52-7 over Stone Mountain (0-6, 0-2) and 40-27 over Druid Hills (3-2, 1-1).

Druid Hills and Stephenson are both 1-1 and tied for second in region play at this point.

Region 1 Girls
Chamblee and Tucker are both 5-0 overall with Chamblee one game up in the region win column at 3-0 and Tucker at 2-0.

Chamblee improved to 3-0 in the region last week with wins over Sequoyah (44-0) and Peachtree (51-15). Tucker’s only game last week was Saturday’s 34-12 win over Henderson.

The two undefeated teams play games against Region 2 teams on Wednesday before colliding on Saturday at Chamblee.

Boys Recaps
Region 3
Salem (5-0, 3-0) knocked off previously undefeated Miller Grove (4-1, 1-1) 39-31 to take over the top spot in Region 3 boys’ play at Miller Grove last Wednesday. The Lions overcame a 15-point, 5-rebound performance by Miller Grove’s Marion Hopkins.

Salem also picked up a 63-47 win over Freedom (1-5, 0-3) as they marched to the top of the standings. Freedom got 14 points from Jamarcus Jenkins and 9 points and 10 rebounds from Abdul Hagi in the loss.

Lithonia (3-3, 2-1) moved into second place in the region with wins of 39-28 over Freedom and a nail-biting, 44-43 win over Redan (2-3, 1-2). Freedom’s Abdul Hagi had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double in the loss to Lithonia.

Region 4
The Columbia Eagles are flying high at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in Region 4 following wins over of 30-20 against Cedar Grove (2-3, 2-2) and 31-26 versus Bethune (2-3, 1-1).

Cedar Grove bounced back from its loss to Columbia with a 41-35 win over McNair (0-5, 0-2). Mario Millerson had 19 points to lead the Saints and Nate Lloyd added 11 in the win.

Region 2
The Champion Chargers (5-0, 4-0) lead Region 2 following wins of 56-37 over Stone Mountain (4-2, 1-1) and Druid Hills (4-1, 1-1) last week. The win over Druid Hills was keyed by a fourth quarter full court press to help the Chargers pull away.

Druid Hills also picked up a key region win by defeating Stephenson (1-3, 0-3) 41-18. The duo of Josiah Lawson (9 points, 14 rebounds) and Josiah Marsh (8 points, 8 rebounds) led the win.

Stone Mountain also earned a split on the week with a 57-52 win over Chapel Hill. Malik Hinton (21 points, 7 steals) and Jakhi Howard (15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks) were instrumental in the win for the Pirates.

Region 1
The Chamblee Bulldogs (3-2, 3-0) hold a one game lead in Region 1 action over Peachtree after wins of 51-16 over Sequoyah (0-4, 0-3) and 52-42 over second place Peachtree (3-2, 2-1). Sequoyah’s Christian Hull had 10 points and two assists in the loss.

Peachtree had a split on the week with a thriller 42-40 over Henderson.

Henderson (3-3, 2-2) sits just behind Peachtree in the standings after a 31-28 win over Tucker (1-4, 1-2). Chris Jackson chalked up 12 points and AJ Hollman added 10 in the win.