VALDOSTA — The Region 1-6A portion of the basketball schedule gets started this weekend, with both Lowndes and Valdosta getting started.

Valdosta went first, a road trip Friday afternoon to Richmond Hill. Because of the distance, the girls game gets started at 5 p.m. Both Lowndes and Valdosta play Saturday. Valdosta is at home against Camden County at 6 p.m. and Lowndes at Tift County at the same time.

Friday additionally saw Colquitt County at Camden County. Colquitt has a 1 p.m. start at Richmond Hill Saturday.

It has been an electric start for 1-6A’s girls teams. Lowndes and Colquitt are both 10-1, and Richmond Hill is 10-2. Valdosta and Camden each have nine wins and Tift is 5-5. However, Tift is hot, too, having won three consecutive games. The Lady Devils started the season slow because of injuries but have a full lineup back.

Kaci Demps scored her 1,000th point for Lowndes right before Christmas. Demps and Aryana Thomas are tied for Vikettes scoring leader, each averaging 15.7 points per game. Kayla Jackson adds in 9.1 points per outing and has the rebounding lead at 8.2 per game.

Makiyah Brewton and Lauren Bloom have been early scoring leaders for Valdosta.

Elsewhere in the region, Amira Walters-Smith (Colquitt) is 1-6A’s best scorer was 20.3 points per game. Tytionna Scott (Camden), Jalaya Miller (Tift) and Jimmya Cushion (Tift) are other names to watch. Like Demps, Cushion recently reached 1,000 points.

For the boys, Valdosta and Lowndes are each 9-5. Tift is 8-3 while Colquitt is 7-2. Camden and Richmond Hill are 6-7 and 5-7, respectively.

Jabarri Williams and Brandon Brown, both of the VHS Wildcats, are listed in the top scorers for 1-6A, according to stats posted to MaxPreps. Through 12 games, Williams was putting in an average of 16.8 points per game and was hitting 41% of his three-pointers. Brown has been even deadlier behind the arc at almost 50%.

Lowndes’ balanced lineup is led by Kam Jackson. Through the first 13 games, six players were averaging at least six points per game.

Others to watch for in the region include Travis Herrin and Caleb Reed of Camden; Marcus Moore, Kanilyn Jones and Jakari Byrd (Colquitt) and Kaden Lawson and J.J. Lamar of Tift.

Lowndes’ Vikettes and Camden’s Wildcats won the last region basketball titles in 1-7A. Tift’s girls won in 1-6A last season.

Following the opening weekend, here is the full Region 1-6A basketball schedule for 2024-25

Tuesday Jan. 7

Colquitt County at Lowndes

Richmond Hill at Camden County

Friday, Jan. 10

Tift County at Camden County

Saturday, Jan. 11

Valdosta at Lowndes

Richmond Hill at Tift County

Tuesday, Jan. 14

Valdosta at Colquitt County

Friday, Jan. 17

Colquitt County at Tift County

Camden County at Lowndes

Richmond Hill at Valdosta

Saturday, Jan. 18

Richmond Hill at Colquitt County

Tift County at Valdosta

Tuesday, Jan. 21

Lowndes at Colquitt County

Friday, Jan. 24

Camden County at Colquitt County

Richmond Hill at Lowndes

Saturday, Jan. 25

Lowndes at Valdosta

Tuesday, Jan. 28

Tift County at Colquitt County

Camden County at Richmond Hill

Friday, Jan. 31

Valdosta at Camden County

Tift County at Richmond Hill

Saturday, Feb. 1

Tift County at Lowndes

Tuesday, Feb. 4

Colquitt County at Valdosta

Friday, Feb. 7

Camden County at Tift County

Lowndes at Richmond Hill

Saturday, Feb. 8

Lowndes at Camden County

Valdosta at Tift County