Wildcats continue unblemished roll

WHO'S HOT: Laney girls. No other area team is perfect. Laney is 18-0 and has a victory over Hephzibah, another top team who's 17-2, early in the season. The Rebels weren't at full strength, but that's not Laney's fault.

WHO'S NOT: Lakeside. The boys are 2-15. The Lady Panthers are 3-13. That's five wins in 28 tips for hallways desperate for hoop highlights. Still, Lakeside's coaches continue to call in results. Some area teams only call in box scores that benefit their teams. That's to be respected, no matter the lack of victories.

BEST WINS LAST WEEK

Boys: Richmond Academy 64, Hephzibah 62: Trevor Welcher takes 15 3-pointers, missing eight of his first nine.

He makes four of his last six, including the game-winner with seconds left to earn a clutch region win.

Girls: Greenbrier 53, Baldwin 50: The Wolfpack were down going into the fourth quarter, but managed a hard-fought region win with a balanced scoring attack.

THIS WEEK'S BIG GAMES

Boys: Hephzibah at Butler. The victor doesn't win the regular season region title Friday at Butler, but the loser likely will not.

Girls: Laney at Josey: The only team in the way of Laney and a perfect regular season is its longtime nemesis. The teams meet Friday night at Josey.

QUOTABLE: "We're always in striking distance but never find that surge to get over the hump. We get tired. We have to leave in guys we're comfortable with offensively. We got a couple of kids who do an excellent job defensively but are non-productive offensively. We need a happy medium."

- Glenn Hills coach Richard Wallace, on his 4-11 team that starts five sophomores

INSIDE A TEAM: The Evans boys have started strong. Some area coaches wonder if the Knights (17-3) would be as successful had they not dropped a few teams from their schedule they'd played in years past. Nonetheless, it is still a terrific year.

"The strength of our team is our three guards," Evans coach Kevin Kenny said. "Our three guards (Brandon Durr, Jerome Manuel, Glenn Miller) are as good as any tandem in the CSRA night in and night out. We've got our big kids stepping up. We rely on the guards for scoring and everyone else has chipped in their roles."

MEET COACH KLOFENSTINE: Hephzibah boys coach Bob Klofenstine: Klofenstine, a native of the cheese state, has Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers items sprinkled all over his office.

Klofenstine has earned respect with the Rebels after serving as Rob Johnson's top assistant at Butler. He knows the game, and his team plays hard every night. His program is overshadowed a bit by the powerhouse girls team, but he's done a fine job in his own right.

He's also led Hephzibah's cross country team to new heights.

The Rebels have become one of the top 10 cross-country programs in Class AAA with members of the basketball team using the sport to keep in shape.

His passion for the level of play in Region 3-AAA is evident in every interview.

"The games go back and forth," Klofenstine said. "If we're up eight, we can almost expect a team to charge back. This region is so good you've got to expect runs to turn eight-point leads into tight games. It's a lot of fun."

CONTENDER CHECKUP

Greenbrier (17-1) was the first girls team in school history to enter a year with legit Final Four aspirations.

A chat with coach Garrett Black updates the title chances.

What Black likes: "Effort. The girls are playing hard and really selling out to what we're doing."

What he doesn't: "Rebounding. We're getting beat on the boards some nights."

What's been exposed: "Our lack of size. The one loss we had came when Cross Creek hurt us down low. They beat us on the boards."

Need to improve: "Free throws. We've got to be more consistent than shooting 58 percent. One thing that's saved us is we seem to make the ones that matter in the fourth quarter."

Surprises: "Tiffany Blackburn and Sara Oland. We began the year looking for third and fourth scoring options. Sara's a sophomore. Tiffany's a junior who's done well despite moving around a lot."

Bottom line: "We're not a great basketball team. We're a good blue-collar team that needs great effort every night to earn the right to win in the fourth quarter."

Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.