The first two rounds are over, and the quarterfinals resume Tuesday and Wednesday. Below is a look at what happened, and what’s ahead.
CLASS 7A
Boys
Credit: GHSA.net
Credit: GHSA.net
All games were double-digit blowouts except in the upper-left quadrant, where both teams advanced winning by 1. No. 4 Walton beat No. 6 Mill Creek 11-10 and Harrison beat Cherokee 4-3, with both teams unranked. Harrison and Marietta, which beat Brookwood 20-3, are the only remaining unranked teams.
Lack of parity has become one of the issues with the current classification alignment for 7A, and one could argue its playoffs begin with the quarterfinals. Next, defending champions West Forsyth (14-5), ranked No. 5, will face top-ranked North Paulding (19-0), and No. 3 Buford (18-1) plays No. 9 Milton (11-8). On the other side of the bracket, it’s No. 4 Walton (18-2) vs. Harrison (10-10), and Marietta (13-7) vs. No. 2 Lambert (17-2).
Girls
Credit: GHSA.net
Credit: GHSA.net
Following a first-round bye, top-ranked Milton opened its title defense with an 11-6 over Mill Creek. The win moves the Eagles to 15-4 and sets up an early No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup against Cherokee (14-4), which beat Parkview 18-5. The winner plays North Gwinnett (11-6) or No. 5 Hillgrove (13-5). Unranked North Gwinnett beat No. 8 North Paulding 10-6.
On the other side, No. 9 South Forsyth (15-5) plays No. 3 West Forsyth (13-4), and unranked Lambert (13-7) plays No. 4 Walton, with all four coming off double-digit wins.
5A-6A
Boys
Credit: GHSA.net
Credit: GHSA.net
When looking at the quarterfinals matchups, the first thing that stands out is a rematch of last year’s championship between top-ranked Roswell (17-2) and No. 3 Allatoona (14-5). Roswell, the defending champs, beat Allatoona 13-5 on Feb. 16.
No. 5 Alpharetta (14-3) plays unranked Cambridge, which earned two comfortable wins over unranked Union Grove and Woodward Academy. On the other side, unranked Centennial (10-10), which beat No. 9 Greenbrier 17-5, will play No. 2 North Forsyth (14-2), and No. 6 Blessed Trinity (14-5) plays No. 4 Lassiter (14-4).
In top 10 matchups, Blessed Trinity beat No. 8 GAC 10-9, and North Forsyth beat No. 10 Woodstock 9-8.
Area 5 has all four of its teams remaining.
Girls
Credit: GHSA.net
Credit: GHSA.net
Just like on the boys’ side, all four Area 5 teams are still playing. Top seed and No. 3 Cambridge beat GAC 21-3. Unranked Chattahoochee, a No. 4 seed, beat unranked Midtown 15-4. No. 6 Roswell, a No. 3 seed beat No. 9 Lakeside-Evans 13-4, and top-ranked and three-time defending champions Blessed Trinity, the No. 2 seed, beat unranked Decatur 22-6.
The quarterfinals matchups are unranked Lassiter (13-6) vs. Cambridge (15-4), unranked Alpharetta (10-11), which shocked No. 2 River Ridge 12-6, vs. Chattahoochee (11-7), unranked Pope (12-9) vs. Blessed Trinity (16-1), and No. 6 Roswell (13-5) vs. No. 5 Creekview (16-2).
A-4A
Boys
Credit: GHSA.net
Credit: GHSA.net
Three unranked teams remain. Defending champions Westminster beat No. 10 Savannah Country Day 10-6, Lovett beat No. 5 Whitewater 13-7 and Oconee County beat unranked Mount Pisgah 16-6.
The quarters feature No. 2 Fellowship Christian (14-4) vs. No. 8 Wesleyan (12-5), No. 1 Starr’s Mill (14-2) vs. No. 4 Benedictine (14-4), Westminster (12-8) vs. Lovett (7-12) and Oconee County (10-10) vs. No. 3 North Oconee (12-3).
Also beating ranked teams to advance were Fellowship over No. 9 Whitefield Academy 11-4, and North Oconee 15-8 over No. 6 Mount Paran.
Girls
Credit: GHSA.net
Credit: GHSA.net
We have another No. 1 vs. 2 quarterfinals matchup, with Wesleyan (16-1) going against top-ranked Fellowship Christian (17-1). Wesleyan beat Fellowship 13-10 on Feb. 27. Defending state champions and No. 10 Pace Academy (11-6) will play No. 3 Westminster (14-4), unranked Holy Innocents’ (8-10) plays No. 8 Starr’s Mill (13-6), and No. 9 Mount Paran (11-4) plays No. 5 East Forsyth (17-3).
Those beating ranked opponents to advance were Pace, which beat No. 6 Whitewater 16-8, and Mount Paran, which beat No. 4 North Oconee 22-8
Sources: AJC rankings, Maxpreps
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