There have been some great sequels that have been made through the years: Jaws 2, The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather II are some stellar movies that come to mind.

On the flip side, there have been some bad sequels such as Iron Eagle III, Jaws the Revenge (the 4th movie in the series) and Legally Blonde 2.

For the Griffin Bears boys basketball team, the hope is the sequel to the Bears’ 36-34 loss to Spalding High back in December resembles Jaws 2 and not Iron Eagle III. Both teams will play their second game since 1953 Saturday evening at Spalding High; game time is set for 5:30 p.m.

“We’ve got to come to play this weekend and I believe that we will,” said Bears head coach Deon Daniel. “I think this will be a good weekend for Griffin High basketball.”

Griffin could use a shot in the arm this weekend after a heartbreaking loss to the Ola Mustangs Tuesday night. The Bears were up 20 points on Ola early in the second half, but couldn’t finish the Mustangs on the road.

Dropping heartbreakers has been a bad habit for the Bears (7-10, 4-7 in Region 4-AAAA) this season - six of their 10 losses have been by 8 points or less and two of those six have been in overtime. Overall, the Bears have lost three of their last four games and six of their last nine. The loss to Spalding could’ve been avoided if one more shot was made.

“We were 0-for-9 from three-point range against Spalding,” Daniel said. “If we hit just one of those three-pointers, we win the game.”

Spalding, ranked sixth in Class AAA in the latest GaSports.com poll, is moving in the opposite direction from its cross-town rivals. The Jaguars basketball team (16-2, 10-2 in Region 4-AAA) is having a stellar season - it has won 12 of its last 13 games, with the only loss being to the top-ranked AAA team in the state, South Atlanta High. The Jags, led by senior Aramis Jester’s 15 points per game, are ranked for the first time in team history, have the most wins in school history and had the longest winning streak in team history (11 games).

“Saturday’s game should be fun - it’s definitely important for the guys,” said Jags head coach Cecil Spear. “With it being so early in the rivalry, I don’t think it’s a significant thing right now. As the years go on and we get something started, it’ll be big later on down the road.”

Spalding junior guard Derrius Tyler flashed a broad smile when asked about the significance of Saturday’s cross-town matchup with Griffin.

“If we beat them again, we will definitely have bragging rights for the year,” Tyler said. “I know all their guys and I have played travel ball with [Griffin players] Shaq Barber, Meredith Beck and Denarius Appling. It should be a good game.”

Before playing each other on Saturday, both teams must take care of business tonight against region rivals at home. Griffin will look to get back on the winning track against Mt. Zion-Jonesboro, a team which clobbered the Bears 69-48 on Dec. 16, while Spalding faces a Mary Persons team it whipped 55-23 on Jan. 6. The Spalding boys tip-off at 7:30 p.m. while the Griffin boys start at 8:30 p.m.

“The key to winning the Mt. Zion game is putting four quarters together,” Daniel said. “Against Spalding, we’re going to have to run the ball.”

The rest of the regular season is crucial for the Jags - a first-ever berth in the state playoffs is on the line.

“Friday night’s game is all business for us,” said Spear. “We’ve got four region games left and we need to win two of them to get an automatic bid to state. It we win those two games, we will automatically finish in second place which will give us a bye in the first round and the second round to the semifinals.”