Gwinnett Daily Post

An event like Session III of the Peach State Basketball Battle of the Southeast seems tailor-made for Greater Atlanta Christian's year-old Long Forum.

Unfortunately, completion of the 2,700-seat multi-purpose facility wasn't yet complete when last year's event came to GAC, and the event served to send the old Bradford Gymnasium out in style.

However, with this year's event scheduled for Saturday, one of the Southeast's highest-profiled high school girls basketball showcase events will have a large stage to play out on.

"Last year, (the Long Forum) wasn't quite ready," GAC girls coach Cal Boyd said. "We had a boys (showcase) event back in December, and it went very well. So, this should be exciting."

This year's event will be somewhat streamlined from a year ago.

While there were five games last year, there will only be four on Saturday, but they will involve eight high-quality teams throughout the Southeast, including three of Gwinnett County's best.

"It's quality versus quantity," Boyd said. "We've got eight really good teams playing, and a lot of college coaches are supposed to be there (to scout). It should be a good day of hoops."

Two out-of-state teams tip things off at noon when Bishop McGuinness of Kernersville, N.C., (8-4 heading into Friday's play) takes on Central Florida Prep (18-7) of Gotha, Fla.

Wesleyan (11-3 and ranked No. 1 in Class A) then takes to the floor against J.L. Mann (7-2) of Greenville, S.C., at 1:40 p.m.

The 3:20 p.m. game features a battle of defending state champions as Class AA champ and No. 1 Buford (11-0) takes on Class AAAA champ Southwest DeKalb (9-3 and currently ranked No. 4).

The host Spartans (10-3, No. 6 in Class AA) then close out the day with a tough assignment against Gwinnett foe Parkview, 14-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class AAAAA.

It will be the end of a very tough week for GAC, which lost 50-43 to Buford in a Region 6-AA game Tuesday, faced No. 9 Lovett late Thursday in a make-up of a game postponed by last week's weather and will take on Cross Keys tonight before playing the Panthers.

"This is a good week for us," Boyd said earlier in the week. "We have three good tests. Hopefully, we're ready to go. It will be interesting to see how we respond."

In addition to the strong teams on display, several highly-ranked individuals will also be featured.

Among that group are Bishop McGuinness junior forward Megan Buckland and sophomore guard Sammi Goldsmith, Central Florida Prep senior guard Shawn Randall, J.L. Mann senior and Auburn signee Camile Glymph, Wesleyan's Erin Hall (Wake Forest), Buford sophomore sensation Andraya Carter, Clemson-bound Chancie Dunn and Florida signee Kayla Lewis of Southwest DeKalb, GAC's Chaney Means, who is headed to Western Kentucky, and Parkview's Lauren Coleman, a Florida State signee.