Demons and Warhawks hosting pair of Region 1-5A games Friday before rematch Saturday night

The top two teams in Region 1-5A boys basketball will be busy Friday night as both will be hosting region games. The Veterans Warhawks, 19-1 overall and 4-0 in region play, will host last place Thomas County Central (0-3) with an opportunity to eliminate them from state playoffs eligibility with a victory. The Warner Robins Demons, in second place at 3-2 following a 56-54 loss at Harris County (3-2 in region) Monday, will host Bainbridge (2-4 in region), currently in fourth place. 

All of this comes a day before a rematch that could settle the region regular season title. The Demons and Warhawks will meet Saturday at Warner Robins with a tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m. following the girls game. 

Veterans owns the tiebreaker over Warner Robins for the moment and the Demons would have to see the Warhawks lose consecutive region games, including defeating them during the rematch, in order to tie them at the top of the standings. Veterans can also clinch a region regular season title with a victory and a Demons loss Friday. “We have to keep winning in order to host the [region] tournament [next month],” said Warhawks head coach Brett Hardy when asked how important this week’s games are. His team is 7-0 at home this season.

 “We still have a lot to play for and need to keep getting better at what we do,” added Hardy.

The Demons (16-3 overall) on the other hand need to finish the region portion of the regular season strong no matter what’s going on at the top of the standings at the moment according to their head coach Jamaal Garman. “It’s big for us,” said Garman via text Tuesday night. “We have two very good opponents coming up so we have to focus on the moment at hand.” 

The Demons also have a non-region games at Jonesboro next Tuesday (6:30 p.m.). The Cardinals are 12-7 overall and 7-2 in Region 3-5A. 

Veterans won the first round 73-65 on Jan. 10.