High School Sports Blog
High School Sports Blog

Best girls tournaments: Two have classification’s top 2 teams

Holy Innocents’ sophomore Cierra Foster (left) guards Wesleyan’s Nicole Azar in a Jan. 18 game won by Holy Innocents’. Wesleyan has beaten Holy Innocents' in each of the past two Class A private-school finals and is ranked No. 1 despite regular-season losses to its arch-rival. The two are likely to meet again this week in the Region 5-A tournament at Wesleyan.
Holy Innocents’ sophomore Cierra Foster (left) guards Wesleyan’s Nicole Azar in a Jan. 18 game won by Holy Innocents’. Wesleyan has beaten Holy Innocents' in each of the past two Class A private-school finals and is ranked No. 1 despite regular-season losses to its arch-rival. The two are likely to meet again this week in the Region 5-A tournament at Wesleyan.
By Todd Holcomb
Feb 5, 2019

Region basketball tournaments are going on this week. Here are five of the best girls tournaments, including two that are expected to produce finals that match the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the state rankings. One of those would be a rematch of a 2018 title game.

Results of all state tournaments with results updated daily can be found this week on AJC.com.

3-AAAAAAA at North Cobb: No. 5 North Cobb (23-2, 9-1) clinched the No. 1 seed early, but last week's 63-40 loss at McEachern (14-9, 7-3) was ominous. McEachern is unranked but has won seven straight games, not to mention five state titles since 2012.

4-AAAAAA at Stephenson: No. 1 Lovejoy (22-3, 16-0) and No. 2 Forest Park (22-3, 14-2) are lined up for a third meeting with host school Stephenson (15-10, 12-4) poised as a spoiler. Lovejoy, the defending state champion, has beaten Forest Park 55-50 and 58-56, one of those in overtime. Forest Park has made the semifinals of five of the past six state tournaments but moved up in class this season.

5-AAAAA at Decatur: No. 5 Southwest DeKalb (19-6, 12-0) and Arabia Mountain (17-4, 10-2) are the headliners here. Southwest DeKalb has won five state titles under Kathy Richey-Walton. Columbia (18-6, 8-4) also is pretty good and lost only 54-51 to SWD last week.

1-AA at Early County: There are only five teams, but No. 1 Fitzgerald (23-0), Early Count (22-3, 6-2) and Thomasville (17-8, 4-4) are all pretty good. Fitzgerald had its best state finish, a semifinal, last season.

5-A at Wesleyan: Expect No. 1 Wesleyan (23-2, 6-1) and No. 2 Holy Innocents' (18-7, 7-0) to have another go at each other. Holy Innocents' won their only meeting 68-63 on Wesleyan's home floor, where they could meet again, but Wesleyan, the two-time defending Class a private-school champion, kept the top ranking and has beaten HI in each of the past two state title games, both times avenging regular-season losses. But it's not a two-team dance. Fifth-ranked Eagle's Landing Christian (19-3, 8-0) and Landmark Christian (14-11, 7-1) are contenders from the other subregion.

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