Coach Jan Azar reached the 700 career win milestone this afternoon in a clash of No. 1 ranked teams. The Lions handed their coach win No. 700 defeating St. Francis, ranked No. 1 in Class A, 66-57, in front of a large crowd, many of whom were curious fans eager to see the two defending state champions battle. St. Francis won the Class A title last season while Hebron took the Class AAA crown. The Knights held the early advantage building a five point lead in the first quarter. Hebron cut the lead to 14-12 by the end of the period. Midway through the second, the Lions finally wrestled the lead from St. Francis taking at 24-22 lead, a lead they would not relinquish. The Lions led 35-29 at halftime. Hebron built leads as large as 13 in the second half before settling for the 9-point win. Hebron’s posts had huge games today. Kerra Butler had another double-double scoring 23 points while pulling down 11 rebounds, while also blocking four shots. Danielle Osho narrowly missed a double-double as she had 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Mia James put up 10 points and three assists while Aubrey Beckham added six points and a game high seven assists. Amiya Porter and Nicky Daniel chipped in six and three points respectively. Hebron improves to 12-2 on the season and is moving up in the national polls. Coming off a successful trip to Phoenix where their only losses were close contests against the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the country, Hebron moved up to No. 11 in the latest MaxPreps rankings, No. 12 in the most recent ESPN poll, and No. 10 in the ASGR Basketball national Top 50. St. Francis is currently ranked No. 47 in the ASGR poll. Hebron will have six days off before they begin region play when Oconee County (6-6) pays a visit. Tipoff is 6:00 PM next Tuesday at Hebron.

The Lions took to the court for the first time since returning from Phoenix nine days ago and the jet lag had still not completely disappeared. Hebron was a little sluggish but still got a win downing Newton 62-41 in front of a large crowd Saturday night at Social Circle High School. If Kerra Butler was still jet lagged, it wasn’t noticeable as she had a monster double-double pouring in 23 points while grabbing 18 rebounds, both team highs. Danielle Osho was the only other Hebron player in double figures as she scored 14 points to go with six boards. Mia James added seven points and four assists while Nicky Daniel put up six points and four rebounds. Aubrey Beckham added five points and four assists for Hebron as Amiya Porter and Camryn Register chipped in three points apiece. Porter also had four rebounds. Aniya Moodie played tenacious defense and notched two steals to go with two points. Hebron is now 11-2 on the season with the win. Up next, the Lions will face off with Class A No. 1 ranked St. Francis in their first meeting since the 2021 Class A state championship game, a 54-49 Hebron win. Tipoff is 1:00 PM on Wednesday at Hebron.

The Hebron girls finished their trip to Phoenix on a high note taking down Arizona’s top ranked team. The Lions defeated Xavier College Prep, ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAAA as well as No. 1 in Arizona’s all classification rankings, 66-50 to end their tournament with a record of 2-2, very respectable considering the two losses were to the No. 1 and 2 ranked teams in the country, both by slim margins. Hebron led wire to wire in this one but didn’t pull away until the third quarter. The Lions only led 21-19 at the end of the first quarter. They stretched the lead to 36-31 at halftime. Hebron outscored Xavier 18-6 in the third quarter to blow the game open taking a 54-37 lead into the fourth quarter. Xavier had no answer for Aubrey Beckham as she led the Lions in scoring and assists with 26 and four respectively. She also grabbed six rebounds and was named to the All Tournament team for her outstanding play this week. Kerra Butler posted a double-double scoring 14 points while pulling down 10 boards. She also had four blocks in a solid all around effort. Nicky Daniel scored 11 points while Danielle Osho put up eight. Mia James added four points and three assists while Amiya Porter chipped in three points in the winning effort. Hebron ups its record to 10-2 on the season with the win. The team flies back to Atlanta tomorrow and will have a few days off to enjoy Christmas. Then its back to work. The Lions’ next game is on Friday, December 29 when they take on Newton. The game will be played at Social Circle. Tipoff is at 7:00 PM.

Hebron had another tough battle yesterday at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix. One day after battling the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Long Island Lutheran (NY) in a seven-point loss, the Lions took on the No. 2 ranked team in the country, Montverde (FL), who has the No. 1 ranked guard in the nation Jaloni Cambridge. The talented Eagles outlasted Hebron 63-52. Montverde led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter before and 35-26 at the half. Hebron made a run in the third quarter cutting Montverde’s lead to just three points at 46-43 entering the fourth quarter. Hebron could not cut further into the lead and Montverde came away with the 63-52 win. Aubrey Beckham led the way for the Lions with 23 points, four rebounds and four assists. Kerra Butler narrowly missed a double-double scoring nine points while grabbing 12 boards. Danielle Osho scored eight points for the Lions while Mia James put up seven points and three assists. Nicky Daniel chipped in five points for Hebron who falls to 9-2 on the year. Up next, Hebron will close out their Nike TOC experience facing the No. 1 ranked team in Arizona in all classifications, Xavier College Prep. Tipoff is Thursday, 3:00 PM Eastern.

The Hebron girls’ 41-game win streak came to an end Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, but it came at the hands of the No. 1 ranked team in America, in a hard fought 61-54 loss. Hebron gave nationally top ranked Long Island Lutheran (NY) all it could handle. Early nerves on the biggest stage proved to be the Lions’ ultimate downfall as Long Island Lutheran went up 10 at the end of the first quarter leading 24-14. The Lions settled in after realizing they can play with this team. Hebron outscored the Crusaders 14-13 in the second quarter and trailed 37-28 at the half. Long Island Lutheran, the defending Nike TOC champion, is incredibly deep, big, talented, and well coached. They upped their lead to 13 points midway through the third quarter, but Hebron would not go way. The Lions chipped away at the lead closing the gap to 51-45 at the end of the third quarter. Hebron cut the lead to just 54-50 with under two minutes to play but could not get any closer having to foul to stop the clock. Long Island Lutheran did a nice job making free throws late and were able to close out the win. The Hebron girls have gotten the attention of the national high school basketball community with their effort in pushing the nation’s top team to the brink. “Prognosticators” predicted a 30-point win for Long Island Lutheran. The Lions had something to say about that. Not to be overshadowed was a milestone reached by Hebron star junior Aubrey Beckham as she reached the 1000-career point milestone during the second quarter. Beckham was outstanding today as she dazzled the crowd with her ability to get to the basket. She dropped 26 points, dished seven assists… both team highs, and had five rebounds. Mia James had another solid game scoring 14 points to go with one steal and one rebound. Danielle Osho put up seven points, four boards, one steal and one assist while Kerra Butler had a monster seven blocks to go with four points, a game-high seven rebounds, and three steals. Alanna Beckham chipped in two points and one rebound in the losing effort. Hebron drops to 9-1 with the loss while Long Island Lutheran improves to 8-0. If you’re going to play the No. 1 team in the country, might as well play the No. 2 team the next day. The Lions will next face Montverde (FL), currently ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps. Montverde (7-1) lost its quarterfinal with No. 8 Bishop McNamara 61-56 earlier today. Tipoff is tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:00 AM Eastern.