Region 6-AAA Top Teams Meet, Lady Spartans Roll

There was a very big matchup in Region 6-AAA on Friday night as the Pickens Dragons travelled down to Gwinnett County to face off with Greater Atlanta Christian. The Lady Spartans were eventually able to wear down Pickens and won the game 55-37 with contributions from a lot of players. Some familiar faces did most of the damage for GAC, some new faces and names emerged for Pickens who is still in a tight race for the region.    Johnson did an excellent job running the show for GAC finding open teammates and running the offense, but when she needed to Johnson also was efficient and impressive putting the ball in the basket. She has great size for a guard and Johnson used her length well to create space for and then elevate over defenders to shoot. She took smaller defenders down in the paint and used her size advantage to score on them inside. Johnson, again, is efficient. No wasted dribbles or forced shots from Johnson and very few turnovers. She is a player drawing a lot of interest from college programs and she showed why on Friday night.     Jeckewicz was impressive for GAC once again shooting the ball from the perimeter where she scored from both outside and inside the three point line. This game she drove the ball to the basket more than I had seen before which will only help her and GAC as the season continues to roll on. She is bouncy with the ball and deceptively quick. If she can be a consistent, reliable threat for GAC in the postseason, then the middle opens up for her talented teammates to drive and operate in the post. This could give the Lady Spartans the chance to make another deep run in the GHSA playoffs coming up.     Newman is a very skilled offense player who has the ability to score on all three levels and physically looks like she can play in college now. She did a nice job using her strength in this game to rebound th ball and got at least one easy put back. Newman has the ball handling ability to create her own shot, but is also a threat from the perimeter in catch and shoot situations. Newman has a consistent midrange shot as well, making her very hard to defend.     Ludington was a real bright spot in the game for Pickens. She handled the ball well, showing some flash with crossovers and going behind her back. She got the ball where it needed to go for most part all game long. She was able to escape a lot of the trapping that GAC was using on defense, not only with her handle but good vision and strong passes. She was relentless pushing the ball when she had it on the fast break and was able to create some easy buckets for herself and teammates.     Stanley also played well for Pickens, especially on the road in a big region game. Stanley shot the ball well from deep while also helping Steinhauer and Luddington get through the pressure that GAC applied on defense. She is a strong kid who competed hard on the boards and defensively all night. Stanley has the ability to score more and help to free up Steinhauer from all the attention she gets from opposing defenses. Darbi has the chance to be another very good player for Pickens in the future.

There was a very big matchup in Region 6-AAA on Friday night as the Pickens Dragons travelled down to Gwinnett County to face off with Greater Atlanta Christian. The Lady Spartans were eventually able to wear down Pickens and won the game 55-37 with contributions from a lot of players. Some familiar faces did most of the damage for GAC, some new faces and names emerged for Pickens who is still in a tight race for the region.