As the second full week of high school basketball season came and went, the only team left standing unblemished is the Griffin High Bears, who are currently 4-0. The season is still starting off pretty well, as the Griffin High Lady Bears finally won to improve to 1-3, giving everyone in the area at least one win so far.

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GIRL POWER: Even though the Griffin girls are under .500 at this point, Spalding and Griffin Christian’s girls are having nice starts to their seasons. The Spalding High Lady Jaguars are 4-2 (2-0 in region play) and the Lady Crusaders of Griffin Christian are 3-3. Last year, Spalding didn’t win its fourth game until Dec. 29 and GC only won twice.

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HEARING THINGS: Late in the Griffin Christian Crusaders’ blowout victory over Trinity Christian last week, reserve GC guard Alec Marierose dribbled up the court and yelled out a play called “Five Out.” The referee in the game thought Marierose yelled “Time Out” and immediately stopped play and charged GC with a timeout. The stunned Crusaders stood still for a few seconds before heading to the bench. GC head coach Mic Savage told the ref what Marierose really said and they all had a good laugh. It may not have been funny if GC didn’t have any timeouts left.

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WHISTLE BLOWERS: The referees in the Griffin Christian vs. Trinity Christian games last Friday were extremely loose with the whistles. In both the girls and the boys games, a total of 89 fouls were called against GC. Three Lady Crusaders fouled out against Trinity and several Crusaders were in foul trouble that night.

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SENIOR-ITIS: One reason for the undefeated start for the Griffin Bears is that they rely on a group of seniors who have been playing varsity ball since their freshman years. The tandem of Kelvin Waldon, Tae Mayes, J.R. Ellis and Terrell Collier has been through some ups and downs at Griffin High and that has formed a bond between them.

“We’ve been fighting since we were young to have a winning team at Griffin High,” said Ellis. “Thanks to coach [Prelvis] Paster’s instructions, we feel we’re on the right track.”

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HAVE TO LISTEN: Spalding senior forward Markee Dickerson said having 2003 state champion Kemo Spear as their head coach is a serious benefit to them.

“We have no choice but to listen to coach Spear and follow his instructions,” Dickerson said. “He’s been to the mountain top and won it all. We want to do that as well.”

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SEAL OF APPROVAL: A former Crusaders player was in the home gym last week to watch Griffin Christian play Trinity Christian: Matthew Hammond.

Hammond, now a freshman basketball player at Shorter College, was home for a break and took the time to watch his younger brother Jonathan and his former teammates play.

Matthew said he was pleased with their performance.

"I think the guys played well. They have to work on their chemistry, but other than that, I saw good things," he said. "I honestly believe this year's team can be better than we were last year."