Checking up on each Houston County team before the start of region play

The halfway point of the season is here, and as the new year rolls around so does region play.

Most Houston County teams have gotten at least 10 games in so there’s a decent idea of how they’ll perform in their respective regions. All of these observations were made on games prior to Monday, Dec. 29:

Houston County

Boys

HoCo is firmly the best boys team in the county with a 9-3 record and are looking like region favorites entering 2026.

They have a couple of really quality wins against Putnam County and Southwest-Macon and five of their other wins have been by double digits.

Senior Morehead State commit Malik Gillespie and senior Josh Jackson have been as advertised. The Bears have a wealth of size under the basket with Braylin Mills (6-foot-7, 310 pounds), Mahkel Stephens (6-foot-7, 185 pounds) and Joshua Pettigrew (6-foot-5, 229 pounds) that gives them an immediate advantage against most teams.

With the collapse of Lee County after the departure of Braden Moore and eight other seniors HoCo looks like a solid favorite in Region 2-5A, too. The middle of the region is a bloodbath, but unless something changes that won’t have much to do with the Bears.

Girls

Year 2 under head coach Dani Wright hasn’t gone smoothly as the Lady Bears field another extremely young roster.

Alaina Coley and Sameena Khan are the lone seniors and HoCo is still looking for their first win after 12 games.

They’ve had some chances to come out on top against Howard and Peach County, but fell short each time. Unless something changes quickly the Lady Bears could be looking at another last place finish in Region 2-5A, which hasn’t gotten much easier from a year ago.

Northside

Boys

Northside overachieved in Buck Harris’ first year leading the program, and they’ve continued to trend upwards in his second.

At 7-3 they’ve already won half of the games they did last year, and they reached seven wins roughly two weeks before they did last year.

They’re not perfect and will not have an easy time trying to find a place among Coffee (7-3), Thomas County Central (7-3) and Veterans (8-5), but a home playoff game is within reach for the Eagles.

Girls

The Lady Eagles (8-2) have followed a similar trend to the boys in ChoRhonda Gwaltney-Harris’ second year with some noticeable improvements defensively.

The offense is still rough around the edges, but regardless Northside has some wins against decent teams like Union Grove and Perry.

They’ve also put up some ridiculous margins against teams they “should” beat, and they didn’t have many if any games they “should” have won last year.

Time will tell how all this plays into the region standings. Veterans gets better seemingly every week and Lee County will be no pushover, but there’s a world where Northside hosts a playoff game this season.

Perry

Boys

Perry has seen a small return on their youth investment nine games into their season with a 3-6 record, just one win shy of their 4-22 mark last year.

Injuries have made things more difficult than they’d hoped, but they’ve managed wins against Macon County, Central-Macon and Bleckley County, which were all losses last year.

Whether or not they can make noise in the region, or their first playoff appearance in three years, remains to be seen. But with the uncertainty surrounding Warner Robins (4-8) and a New Hampstead team that’s 4-7, who knows what will happen by the end of the regular season.

Girls

The Lady Panthers are having a decent first season under head coach Austin McIntyre sitting just under .500 at 5-7.

Their best win is against Bleckley County (5-3), but their other four are against teams with a combined 7-29 record.

New Hampstead isn’t fielding a girls team this year, and with Benedictine being an all-boys school Perry is guaranteed a playoff spot this season. Whether or not they can secure a home game will depend on their performance against Wayne County (8-5).

Veterans

Boys

Veterans is on pace to have a similar season to their last, sitting at 8-6 just before the region schedule.

They’ve had their ups and downs as they adjust to the demands of first-year head coach Brandon Driggers, who’s looking to instill a culture of toughness.

The Warhawks have responded to that at times, sweeping Warner Robins for the first time in four years, but they’ve also failed to live up to that standard particularly at the Bear Brawl.

Every spot outside of first in Region 2-5A is up for grabs, so time will tell what Veterans can do.

Girls

The Lady Warhawks had a rough 1-6 start but are since 3-3 as they continue to improve after big offseason losses.

Their last three before the region schedule were all losses, but to teams with a combined 35-4 record.

Region 2-5A is relatively open and Veterans’ second half should be much better than its first, so their finish in the region standings is uncertain.

Warner Robins

Boys

The Warner Robins boys haven’t been able to figure it out this season and finished their last stretch of non-region games 1-6, including four straight losses.

Their 4-8 record is a new low in Jamaal Garman’s 14th year; It’s a mark they didn’t even get to in his first year when they finished 13-14.

The Demons’ worst loss is a 60-55 overtime loss to Northgate (3-6) but they’ve also beaten Houston County twice and been swept by Veterans for the first time in four years.

There’s no telling which version of Warner Robins is the real one, but defending their region title or even securing a home playoff game seems like a tall task at this point in the season.

Girls

The Demonettes jumped out to an 11-0 start to the season and have since lost to Lee County and Josey, but overall they show no signs of letting up as they make a run for the region championship.

Halfway through the season they’re firmly the favorite as Ware County falls to 4-7. Wayne County is currently the biggest threat at 8-5 but at this point its Warner Robins’ region to lose.

Westfield

Boys

Westfield may have hit a three-game skid to end 2025, but they had their best start in the MaxPreps era at 6-1.

All four of their losses were by single digits, including one to Tiftarea Academy, three to Trinity Christian and four to John Milledge Academy.

At the moment Calvary Christian is the biggest player in GIAA District 5-4A/3A, but it’s feasible for the Hornets to play a playoff game in the Hornets’ Nest by the end of the season.

Girls

The Lady Hornets haven’t missed a beat after returning their entire 2024-25 roster and are currently 8-2. Their two losses, to Trinity Christian and Terrell Academy, are by a combined three points.

Westfield wasn’t able to take St. Anne-Pacelli down for the district championship last year, but if the current trend keeps up they could be looking at their first since 2022-23.