To say its's been a good start to the New Year for the White County High School basketball teams might be a bit of an understatement.
Both the Warriors and the Lady Warriors woke up this moring at the top of the heap in the Region 7-AAA standings after posting wins over Dawson County and Gilmer County in the past week.
With four games left on the regular season schedule, the Warriors and Lady Warriors are both sporting 7-1 records in region play, and have a chance over the next two weeks to not only secure a top spot in the region tournament, but also a ticket to the Class AAA state tournament.
With wins over Dawson County and Gilmer County, the Warriors took over the region lead by a half-game over Cherokee Bluff, which is 6-1 heading into Friday night's games. The Bears handed the Warriors' their lone region loss in December, and the two teams meet Tuesday, Jan. 26, for a pivotal game in Cleveland.
Dawson County is currently in third place at 6-2 after a 96-73 win over Lumpkin County Tuesday night.
While the Warriors own the season sweep over the Dawson, the Tigers are still in the race for the top spot as they handed Cherokee Bluff its lone region loss earlier this month.
North Hall, the Warriors next opponent on Friday, is sitting in fourth place with a 3-5 record after a win over West Hall on Tuesday. Lumpkin County is next at 2-5, with Gilmer (1-5) and West Hall (0-6) rounding out the regon standings.
On the girl's side, the Lady Warriors took a big step to securing the top seed for the tournament with a 66-49 road win Tuesday night at Gilmer County.
The win avenged a loss to the Lady Bobcats earlier in the season and ended Gilmer's perfect start in league play.
Gilmer and Lumpkin County are both 5-1 heading into the final two weeks of the season, and have yet to play each other due to Covid-19 issues. The two teams are set to play Friday night in Dahlonega.
North Hall, who hosts White County on Friday, is all alone in fourth place with a 4-3 record. Dawson County (1-6), Cherokee Bluff (1-6) and West Hall (0-5) round out the girl's side of the region.