Tony Watkins is leaving Lambert High School and returning to Gwinnett County as the new Grayson girls basketball head coach. Watkins has been coaching for 32 years and he has compiled 602-270 record as both a boys and girls head coach. 

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Lambert took the No. 2 spot in this week's rankings as much of the state

Photo courtesy AIS

heads to spring break. The Longhorns beat Walton, Class AAAAAA's former No. 2 team, last week in Raider Valley. Collins Hill handed Duluth its first loss of the season and rose to No. 6. Harrison tumbled six spots after losing to Marietta.

Lithia Springs debuted in Class AAAAA with a 10-1 record and a win over Allatoona last week. Rome also found itself ranked for the first time with a 9-1 record and seven straight wins.

Johnson-Gainesville moved up to No. 2 in Class AAAA after three decisive wins over quality teams West Hall, Winder-Barrow and Chestatee. LaGrange vaulted into the top five by winning five in a row including an impressive victory over Columbus.

Dawson County entered the top five in Class AAA after a quality victory over North Hall and a solid 10-2 overall record.

Chattahoochee County was the story of the Class AA poll this week as the Panthers have won five straight including an impressive 2-1 win over Bremen last week. Westside-Augusta debuted in the poll at No. 10.

In Class A, Brookstone found itself at No. 7 with an impressive 8-1-1 record while Our Lady of Mercy, Walker and Mount Paran rounded out the top 10.

Dunwoody will play host to the DeKalb County Gymnastics Championships on Thursday. Lakeside-DeKalb and Dunwoody have dominated the meet the past six years, with each school owning three county titles. Lakeside has claimed the last two

DeKalb County Athletics

and the Vikings' bid for a three-peat will depend largely on senior Meg Stephens. Stephens won the all-around in 2012 and last season when she placed first in all four events. Stephens edged the field with a 35.25 point total and Dunwoody's Lizzie Marra placed second with 32.50, finishing ahead of Stephen's teammate Linsey Bergstrom's 32.15. The top three and all six top all-around finishers from last year are back for Thursday's meet.

Southwest DeKalb is also loaded with seniors and head coach Bernice Foreman says this year's meet will be all about the body of work her senior leaders have put in over the year's.

"We've got some great underclassmen, but the goal this season has been to get our seniors performing as well as they can. The county meet is about them being in the spotlight," said Foreman.

Lauren Jones, Gabrielle Ash and Zoria Edmondson are Foreman's seniors and the team has bumped practice up to 6 am this week to ensure the gym time is not disrupted. Cedar Grove and McNair also practice with the Panthers. The championships will start at 6 p.m. and the two-time defending champs will look to win its title under a new coach. Former head coach Jennifer McNulty had a baby last year and stepped away from coaching. New head coach Elizabeth Krieger will be guiding the program on Thursday.

Parkview advanced to the riflery state championship by the slimmest of margins after defeating Upson-Lee 1,135-1,134 in a semifinal showdown last Wednesday. Upson-Lee boasted the match's top shooter in Alyssa Hanson, who accounted for 289 points. Parkview, however, prevailed with depth. The Panthers were led by Will Zimmerman (286), Jonathan Stoves (286), Dalton Stoves (282) and Gino Parathemmakill (281).

            Northside-Columbus, which captured three consecutive state titles from 2005 through 2007, is back in the championship round after finishing fourth last year. The Patriots beat Gainesville 1,149-1,130 last Thursday. Cason Borum of Northside was the top shooter in the match with a score of 294. The Patriots also got strong showings from Shelby Huber (290), Brianna Henthorn (283) and Jade Gallahair (282). Gainesville was led by Dylan Chistel's 288.
            There will be a new state champion in 2014, as Union Grove was bounced by Ware County 1,126-1,124 last Friday. Union Grove's 2013 triumph had given it three titles in the last six years, but the Wolverines could not quite get past Ware County and maintain their hopes of going back-to-back. Their 1,124 total is also not good enough to snag one of the two wild-card spots in the championship. The two highest-scoring semifinal losers will round out a field of 14 at the April 12 festivities in Fort Benning, Ga.
            Additional automatic qualifiers include East Coweta, Luella and Allatoona.