OMS/HMS will be played Wednesday, November 12
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2025-26 Forsyth County Middle School Basketball Opening Day(s)
With teams returning the majority of their players from last year’s seventh-grade season, there’s a bit more predictability entering the 2025-26 campaign. Still, new move-ins, returning players from injury, and first-time contributors could all play major roles in shaping how the season unfolds.
Last year, Hendricks (champion) and South Forsyth (runner-up) dominated the league, winning their regular season games by an average margin of more than 27 points. The two powerhouses met in Week 9 with matching 8-0 records, and South Forsyth prevailed, 45-33, on its way to a perfect 10-0 regular season. Hendricks finished just behind at 9-1, and both teams cruised through their first two playoff games to set up a highly anticipated championship rematch. This time, the Hawks flipped the script, defeating the Eagles 39-25 to capture the school’s first-ever county championship in any sport. Both teams closed the year with identical 12-1 records.
Lakeside (9-3) and Liberty (7-4) each put together impressive seasons, though their winning margins were much narrower than those of the league’s top two teams. The Lions averaged an 8.6-point margin of victory, while the Patriots lived on the edge all year with an average winning margin of just 1.8 points. Lakeside’s only regular season losses came against Hendricks and South Forsyth, while Liberty’s three defeats were to teams that all finished above them in the standings. After a 1-3 start, Liberty caught fire down the stretch, closing the regular season on a six-game winning streak.
DeSana (5-5) was the only other team to finish at .500 or better. The Dragons dropped a close regular season matchup to Liberty, 32-28, but got their revenge in the quarterfinals, edging the Patriots 22-20 to advance to the tournament’s final four.
Meanwhile, Little Mill, Riverwatch, and Vickery Creek each finished just one game shy of earning a first-round bye in last year’s playoffs and will look to take the next step up the standings this season. North Forsyth, Otwell, and Piney Grove, on the other hand, will be eager to bounce back and climb out of the lower half of the league after challenging 2024-25 campaigns.
Featured Matchup
South Forsyth @ Liberty
Date: Thursday, November 13 | Tipoff: 7:00 PM (approx.)
Day 1 of the 2024-25 season set the tone for the year, as Hendricks and South Forsyth dominated while the rest of the matchups were tightly contested. In their season opener, South Forsyth rolled past Liberty 48-14. The Patriots, however, found their rhythm as the season progressed—winning their final six games to earn the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. Their postseason run was cut short with a narrow 22-20 upset loss to DeSana in the quarterfinals.
South Forsyth, meanwhile, went on to post a perfect 10-0 regular season and appeared poised to sweep both 7th grade Forsyth County Championships. But their title hopes were dashed in the final, as Hendricks handed the Eagles their only loss of the season.
On paper, this is the matchup to watch—two teams that finished with winning records last year squaring off to open the new campaign. That makes it the Featured Game of the Week, with Liberty looking to prove just how far they’ve come since last season, while South Forsyth aims to pick up right where they left off.
Other Matchups
The 2024-25 champions kickstarted their campaign in dominant fashion, cruising past Otwell by 48 points. It was the first of five games in which the Hawks would top the 50-point mark. Impressively, the 9 points they allowed weren’t their lowest defensive total of the season—later, they held Riverwatch to just 6 points.
Otwell endured a challenging year, winning just one game and finishing 10th in the standings. However, the Bulldogs pulled off a surprise in the opening round of the playoffs, upsetting Little Mill before falling to Hendricks in the quarterfinals.
Last year, DeSana opened the season with a 22-11 win over Riverwatch. The Dragons went on to finish as the No. 5 seed in the tournament, just one game ahead of the Panthers in the standings. It was an up-and-down season for DeSana, but a quarterfinal upset over No. 4 seed Liberty earned the Dragons a trip to the semifinals.
Riverwatch experienced a similar season, finishing in a three-way tie for sixth place with Little Mill and Vickery Creek at 4-6. However, the Panthers’ year ended on a disappointing note, as they were upset in the tournament by previously winless Piney Grove.
In last year’s matchup, the two teams combined for just 20 points, as North Forsyth edged Piney Grove 11-9 in what was by far the lowest-scoring game of the entire season. Offense was hard to come by for the Wildcats throughout 2024-25—they topped the 25-point mark only once, in a 32-22 upset win over Riverwatch.
Piney Grove struggled even more on offense, failing to reach the 20-point mark in any regular-season game last year. However, the Grizzlies pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the tournament with a 35-32 upset over No. 6 seed Riverwatch.
Little Mill defeated Vickery Creek in the teams' opener in 2024-25, 17-15. The Mustangs began the year 2-0 before a five-game skid knocked them out of contention for a first-round bye. They eventually finished in a three-way tie for sixth place, but as the No. 7 seed in the tournament, Little Mill was upset by Otwell in the opening round.
Vickery Creek bounced back quickly after its season-opening loss, reeling off three straight wins. However, a midseason skid dropped the Vipers back in the standings, and their season came to an end with a playoff upset at the hands of North Forsyth.
* All 8th-grade game times are approximate and are listed as one hour after the 7th-grade start times.
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