2025-26 Girls Basketball

Week 1 Preview

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.

Because 7th-grade teams are made up entirely of players new to middle school basketball, no preview article will be published for the opening game day. Once final scores are in from Wednesday’s and Thursday’s games, coverage will begin with a Week 1 review article and will continue weekly through Championship Saturday on January 31.

South Forsyth (0-0) @ Liberty (0-0)

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.

  * All 8th-grade game times are approximate and are listed as one hour after the 7th-grade start times.