Gwinnett Daily Post

NORCROSS -- Instead of a major test against a nationally ranked team, Greater Atlanta Christian got an easy victory Saturday.

Spartans coach Eddie Martin would have preferred the challenge of facing unbeaten Charlotte Olympic, ranked No. 11 by MaxPreps.com and No. 21 by USA Today.

"I'm definitely disappointed," Martin said. "I was really looking forward to playing a team like Olympic. But you can't do anything about the weather."

After Olympic was forced to stay in Charlotte when icy conditions forced an early dismissal of school on Friday, Martin Luther King of Lithonia filled in against GAC in the Hilton Invitational at Norcross.

MLK didn't give the Spartans (19-3) much of a game on short notice, losing 81-48 as Collin Swinton led GAC with 19 points and Isaiah Wilkins had 18 points to go with seven blocked shots and seven rebounds.

GAC, shooting for its third Class AA state title in four seasons, had to regroup after leading-scorer Delano Spencer was lost because of grades at the end of the first semester. But the Spartans have done just that after an initial blip.

"I'm very happy with the way we're playing," Martin said. "We're playing hard on defense and sharing the basketball."

But with Region 6-AA offering GAC little resistance, knew his team would have benefited -- win or lose -- from a game against a team like Olympic.

"You always want to play the best teams who can to get ready for the tournament," Martin said.

GAC jumped on MLK (7-13) early and never let up.

Swinton scored eight points in the first quarter to pace the Spartans to a 17-6 lead and added eight more points in the second to match MLK's totals as the Spartans built a 42-17 halftime lead.

Wilkins scored 10 points in the third quarter and it was 66-31 going into the shortened final quarter.

Troy Morrison had 13 points and five assists for the Spartans. Cam Boyd hit a trio of 3-pointers en route to 12 points and Andrew Lewis scored eight.

Dominique Smart hit three times from behind the arc for MLK and led the Class AAAAA Lions with 13 points.