The first round of the Class AAA state basketball tournament is in the books, so let's look at what took place after the first 32 games:
-- Boys top seeds: Two No. 1 seeds on the boys side did not advance to the second round. Dawson County, the No. 1 seed from Region 7, was eliminated after a 72-69 loss to Cedar Grove, the No. 4 seed from Region 5. And Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, the No. 1 seed from Region 6, lost to Hart County, the No. 4 seed from Region 8, 53-31.
-- Girls top seeds: All eight No. 1 seeds on the girls side advanced to the second round. Rutland, the No. 1 seed from Region 4, defeated Liberty County 59-29. Cedar Grove, Region 5's No. 1, beat Dawson County 45-39. Tattnall County, the No. 1 from Region 2, beat Central-Macon 51-38. North Hall, the No. 1 from Region 7, downed Pace Academy 58-46. Jefferson, the top seed from Region 8, beat Coahulla Creek 62-55. Monroe, No. 1 from Region 1, beat Southeast Bulloch 54-45. Sonoraville, the top seed from Region 6, handled Jackson County 61-41. Top-ranked Johnson-Savannah, the No. 1 seed from Region 3, beat Lumpkin County 66-38.
-- Boy's upset specials: Five lower-seeded boys teams defeated their higher-seeded opponents. The most surprising was Cedar Grove's 72-69 victory against Dawson County at Dawson County. Dawson led early, 9-2, but the Saints put together a 31-11 run to build a 17-point lead to take control of the game. Here were the other outcomes: Region 8 No. 3 Monroe Area over Region 6 No. 2 Murray County, 49-47; Region 3 No. 3 Johnson-Savannah over Region 1 No. 2 Crisp County, 52-44; Region 8 No. 4 Hart County over Region 6 No. 1 Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, 53-31; Region 7 No. 3 Cherokee Bluff over Region 5 No. 2 Westminster, 61-51.
-- Girl's upset specials: All but two higher-seeded teams advanced to the second round. Here were the other two "upset" games: Region 3 No. 3 Savannah over Region 1 No. 2 Worth County, 51-48;. Region 7 No. 3 Fannin County over Region 5 No. 2 Westminster, 54-45.
-- Playing to form (boys): The top-ranked Pace Academy boys opened the tournament with an easy 80-37 victory against North Hall. Pace was led by Matthew Cleveland, who had 22 points, eight assists and six steals. The Knights will face Beach in the second round before a possible matchup against Westside-Macon in the quarterfinals.
-- Playing to form (girls): The Johnson-Savannah girls are trying for their third consecutive state title and seem to be peaking at the right time. Antalazia Baker scored 17 points for No. 1 seed Johnson-Savannah in its 66-38 home victory against at-large team Lumpkin County. Jaida Burgess and K'Lya Hankerson each scored 14 points for the Atomsmashers, and Amani Hamilton scored 12 points.
-- Great escapes (boys): Two games were extremely close. Franklin County, the No. 2 seed from Region 8 narrowly defeated Calhoun, the No. 3 seed from Region 6, 65-63. Franklin will travel to Long County for the second round. On the other side of the bracket, Region 7 No. 2 Greater Atlanta Christian narrowly defeated Region 5 No. 3 Lovett, 71-70. GAC will travel to Monroe in the second round.
-- Great escapes (girls): Savannah, the No. 3 seed from Region 3, narrowly defeated Region 1 No. 2 Worth County 51-48. The Savannah program, which never had won a state playoff game, will travel to North Hall in the second round.
The second round will be played Wednesday and Thursday at home sites of the higher-seeds.
First-round scores
Boys
R8 #3 Monroe Area 49, R6 #2 North Murray 47 OT
R4 #1 Westside-Macon 80, R2 #4 Tattnall County 59
R3 #2 Beach 67, R1 #3 Worth County 49
R5 #1 Pace Academy 80, R7 #4 North Hall 37
R8 #2 Franklin County 65, R6 #3 Calhoun 63 OT
R2 #1 Long County 61, R4 #4 Rutland 44
R3 #3 Johnson-Savannah 52, R1 #2 Crisp County 44
R5 #4 Cedar Grove 72, R7 #1 Dawson County 69
R2 #2 Pierce County 72, R4 #3 Peach County 55
R8 #1 Jefferson 75, R6 #4 Adairsville 46
R7 #2 Greater Atlanta Christian 71, R5 #3 Lovett 70
R1 #1 Monroe 60, R3 #4 Benedictine 42
R4 #2 Central-Macon 68, R2 #3 Appling County 36
R8 #4 Hart County 53, R6 #1 Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 31
R7 #3 Cherokee Bluff 61, R5 #2 Westminster 51
R3 #1 Windsor Forest 79, At Large Murray County 56
Girls
R6 #2 Ringgold 68, R8 #3 Hart County 53
R4 #1 Rutland 52, R2 #4 Liberty County 29
R3 #2 Beach 56, R1 #3 Crisp County 36
R5 #1 Cedar Grove 45, R7 #4 Dawson County 39
R8 #2 Morgan County 43, R6 #3 Calhoun 40
R2 #1 Tattnall County 51, R4 #4 Central-Macon 38
R3 #3 Savannah 51, R1 #2 Worth County 48
R7 #1 North Hall 59, R5 #4 Pace Academy 46
R2 #2 Pierce County 52, R4 #3 Kendrick 44
R8 #1 Jefferson 62, R6 #4 Coahulla Creek 55
R7 #2 GAC 76, R5 #3 Stone Mountain 31
R1 #1 Monroe 54, R3 #4 Southeast Bulloch 45
R4 #2 Jackson 54, R2 #3 Brantley County 35
R6 #1 Sonoraville 61, R8 #4 Jackson County 42
R7 #3 Fannin County 54, R5 #2 Westminster 45
R3 #1 Johnson-Savannah 66, At-Large Lumpkin County 38
Boys second-round schedule (Feb. 19-20)
R8 #3 Monroe Area vs. R4 #1 Westside-Macon
R3 #2 Beach vs. R5 #1 Pace Academy
R8 #2 Franklin County vs. R2 #1 Long County
R3 #3 Johnson-Savannah vs. R5 #4 Cedar Grove
R2 #2 Pierce County vs. R8 #1 Jefferson
R7 #2 GAC vs. R1 #1 Monroe
R4 #2 Central-Macon vs. R8 #4 Hart County
R7 #3 Cherokee Bluff vs. R3 #1 Windsor Forest
Girls second-round schedule (Feb. 19-20)
R6 #2 Ringgold vs. R4 #1 Rutland
R3 #2 Beach vs. R5 #1 Cedar Grove
R8 #2 Morgan County vs. R2 #1 Tattnall County
R3 #3 Savannah vs. R7 #1 North Hall
R2 #2 Pierce County vs. R8 #1 Jefferson
R7 #2 GAC vs. R1 #1 Monroe
R4 #2 Jackson vs. R6 #1 Sonoraville
R7 #3 Fannin County vs. R3 #1 Johnson-Savannah
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