It's been a good start to the season for the area high school basketball teams. As of Thursday morning, the Griffin Bears (3-0) and the Spalding Jaguars (2-0) boys teams were both undefeated, the Spalding Lady Jaguars were 3-1, the Griffin Christian Lady Crusaders were 2-1 and the Griffin Christian Crusaders were 1-1. The only team struggling is the Griffin Lady Bears, who have yet to win (0-3).

MONEY GAME: Griffin plays two more Region 4-AAAA Division A games next week, traveling to Stockbridge next Tuesday before hosting Dutchtown next Friday. Griffin will actually play Dutchtown twice, which usually doesn't happen with Division B teams. Griffin's second Dutchtown game will be on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in a game that won't count in the region standings. Bears head coach Prelvis Paster said there's a reason why they will play Dutchtown twice.

"The Dutchtown head coach said they get a good gate every time they host Griffin," Paster said. "I said that is fine with me."

BRAND NEW: The Spalding Lady Jags not only won their home opener for new head coach Chad Hubbard Tuesday, they also debuted news uniforms and new sneakers for the home crowd. Current Lady Jags assistant coach Demetrius King said he ordered the girls' new uniforms at the end of last season while Hubbard ordered the new Nike sneakers.

The new home uniforms are white with navy blue cursive letters that spell out "Lady Jags" on the front and raised blue numbers on the front and back. The new road unis will be navy blue with white letters and gray numbers. The new sneakers have a mixture of colors: A hint of silver, some white and a lot of neon blue.

"When the girls saw the new uniforms and new shoes, they were excited," King said.

BRAND NEW PART 2: The Griffin Christian Crusaders also sported new uniforms for their home opener against The Weber School on Nov. 13. The home uniforms are white with red stripes on the sides.

GOOD GAME, BUT: New Spalding girls head coach Chad Hubbard said he was proud of his girls hard work during the win over Locust Grove Tuesday, especially the play from Shaquoria Reid, Olivia West and Desiree Corbin. All 3 played well, with the sophomore Corbin hustling from one end of the court to the other to disrupt a fast break, showing some nice speed. The team's one bugaboo: Poor free throw shooting. They missed 16 of them Tuesday.

"And the sad thing is we practice free throw shooting a lot," Hubbard said. "I don't get it."

SHARP DRESSED MAN: New Spalding head coach Kemo Spear wore a nice blue suit in his home coaching debut Tuesday against Locust Grove, complete with a sweet piece of jewelry he's had for a while: His 2002-03 state championship ring he earned as the starting point guard at Griffin High.

"I had to wear the ring during the home opener," Spear said. "But I probably won't wear it all year. I don't want it to become a symbol of bad luck."

BITTERSWEET: Spear enjoyed getting a win in his home coaching debut and he definitely enjoyed staying undefeated at 2-0, but the win over Locust Grove was at the expense of someone he admires. Locust Grove is coached by Greg Wilson, who was an assistant coach on the Griffin 2002-03 state title team.

"Coach Wilson and I talk pretty much all the time. We've never lost touch with each other," Spear said. "That's my guy."

GOTTA SCORE: The Griffin Lady Bears are last in the Division B standings and are only averaging 34 points per game, the lowest point total in the subregion. Someone on the team has to step up and put the ball in the basket consistently to replace the production of four-year starter Jahmiya Clemons, who averaged more than 20 points per game for her final 3 years. Clemons graduated this past year.