Ron Seibel: With football done, hoops now in session

For all but one high school in Middle Georgia, football season has come and gone.

With the exception of Fitzgerald, which will be playing in the GHSA Class AA title game Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Dome, football players have moved on to whatever winter sport they play.

At schools where there is great crossover between sports, the football mourning period is short. Stratford, which put together a dramatic rally from a 14-point deficit in the final three minutes Friday at Aquinas only to fall just short after another Irish score, took to the basketball floor for its first game four nights later. Most of the players on the varsity basketball roster were also on the football team, and boys basketball head coach Jamie Dickey doubles as the football team's offensive coordinator, so there was little preparation time prior to Tuesday's game, a win over George Walton.

As much as the Eagles wanted to be playing football in the Georgia Dome this weekend, the effort and fortitude they showed last week was commendable. The Stratford players willed their way back into that game, bouncing back after most people -- including myself -- had written them off midway through the fourth quarter once the Eagles went down 14 points and failed to recover a short, looping kickoff.

Back to the present, however, and catching up with what's going on with basketball. Schools that don't have to worry about the football playoffs got a jump on basketball season, with some teams having been in action for a month now.

Here's a look at what's going on in the Middle Georgia high school basketball scene, with a focus on teams that went deep in the playoffs last year. Results are taken from what coaches and administrators have uploaded to MaxPreps.com, the website the GHSA uses to determine Class A power ratings.

BOYS

Class AAAAA: All four Middle Georgia teams from Region 2-AAAAA made the playoffs last year, with Warner Robins reaching the semifinals and Jones County making the quarterfinals. Warner Robins is off to a 3-1 start, posting three comfortable wins while losing to Class AAAAAA Tift County. The Demons open region play Friday at home against Houston County, which is 2-2 with a win over Dublin, a split with Westside and an overtime loss to Whitefield Academy. Jones County, meanwhile, is 2-4 against a strong schedule, and Northside is 1-1 with a 16-point win Wednesday over Stratford.

Class AAAA: Upson-Lee went the farthest among Middle Georgia teams in the Class AAAA playoffs, reaching the quarterfinals. While the Knights are 6-3, defending Region 2-AAAA champion Perry is asserting itself, defeating Upson-Lee 68-63 on Tuesday in Perry. The Panthers (4-1 overall) did have a 30-point loss to Warner Robins, but they have also posted impressive wins over Rutland, Mary Persons and Veterans.

Class AAA: Defending Region 2-AAA champion Rutland had major graduation losses following a semifinal appearance in which it fell just three points short of a trip to the Macon Coliseum, and the Hurricanes are off to a 1-4 start. The early Region 2-AAA race has turned into a scramble, with Jordan (3-0 in region play) leading a pack of teams (Central, Kendrick, Southwest, Spencer, Westside) with one loss in region competition.

Class AA: Crawford County made a Coliseum appearance in March, falling to Seminole County in the Class AA championship, and have the bulk of the roster returning. The Eagles are averaging nearly 94 points a game in a 4-0 start this season, the highlight being a 98-86 win over Hancock Central to open the season. Vidalia, which plays in a different region, is 6-0 after making the semifinals last year.

Class A: Stratford, which ran into a tall and talented Greenforest team in last year's quarterfinals, beat George Walton 59-35 on Tuesday before falling 76-60 to Northside on Wednesday. FPD is off to a 3-0 start, beating Mary Persons 64-62 on Saturday, while Tattnall Square is off to a 3-1 start, the lone loss coming to Paideia.

GIRLS

Class AAAAA: No Middle Georgia team went to the playoffs in Class AAAAA last season. Warner Robins is off to a 4-1 start under first-year head coach Tracy Fendley, the only blemish coming in a 50-48 overtime loss to Tift County a week ago. The next night, however, Warner Robins defeated Veterans, a Class AAAA semifinalist last season, 45-44. Northside has also started strong, going 4-0 with two wins over Savannah and victories over Sandy Creek and Stratford.

Class AAAA: Other than the close loss to Warner Robins and an early 66-52 loss to defending Class AAA champion Laney, Veterans' start has been strong. The Warhawks are 5-2, holding defending Region 2-AAAAA champion Greenbrier to 16 points to open the season and defeating Perry, which finished second in last year's Region 2-AAAA tournament, by 30 points. West Laurens is also off to a 5-2 start, with its only loss in region play so far coming to Veterans.

Class AAA: Peach County scored a big win in last season's Region 2-AAA title game, defeating 2014 Class AA champion Kendrick. The teams met again Dec. 1 in Fort Valley, with Kendrick pulling out a 62-58 victory. Central, meanwhile, is off to a 4-0 start, posting wins over Westside, Rutland and Southwest. A big test awaits Friday, when the Chargers host Northside.

Class AA: Vidalia, a team that usually sticks around for awhile in the postseason, is 5-1, the lone loss coming to West Laurens. Putnam County, which won the Region 4-AA title last season, is 6-2 but fell to region foe Bleckley County 58-49 on Tuesday in the Royals' first win of the season in three attempts.

Class A: Stratford, which advanced to the Class A private school semifinals last season when it beat Tattnall Square in the quarterfinals, is 3-1 after falling 53-43 to unbeaten Northside on Tuesday. Tattnall, meanwhile, is off to a 5-0 start, while FPD is 3-2. Taylor County, last year's Class A public school champion, is 4-1, the lone loss being a one-point decision at Greenville.

Contact Ron Seibel at 744-4222 or rseibel@macon.com

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 7:52 PM with the headline "Ron Seibel: With football done, hoops now in session."