The region tournaments are in the books, and the state tournament brackets are set. On the boys and girls side of the class, teams will begin preparing for their first-round matchups. Here are the region champions on both sides of the class:
Boys: Crisp County (Region 1); Tattnall County (2); Windsor Forest (3); Central-Macon (4); Cedar Grove (5); North Murray (6); Dawson County (7); Morgan County (8).
Girls: Cook County (Region 1); Tattnall County (2); Beach (3); Kendrick (4); Lovett (5); Sonoraville (6); Greater Atlanta Christian (7); Hart County (8).
Now let's look at the boys side and break down the bracket by quadrant to see which teams are likely to make a deep run in the tournament.
Top-left quadrant
-- R4 #3 Jackson at R1 #2 Worth County
-- R3 #4 Groves at R2 #1 Tattnall County
-- R6 #3 Coahulla Creek at R7 #2 Greater Atlanta Christian
-- R5 #4 Redan at R8 #1 Morgan County
Notes: Dawson County's 86-76 victory against Greater Atlanta Christian in the Region 7 championship game set up what could be one of the best matchups prior to the semifinals. GAC and Morgan County are one victory away from meeting in the second round. The game would be a rematch of last year's semifinal game which GAC won 73-71. Both programs are successful in the postseason, GAC winning the championship last year and Morgan winning state titles in 2014 and 2016. Both teams feature quality guard play. GAC is led by 6-foot-6 guard Ben Sheppard, 6-2 guard Hunger McIntosh and 6-4 power forward Chris Hinton. Morgan County is led by senior guards Tyrin Lawrence, Stevin Greene and Alec Woodard.
Bottom-left quadrant
-- R1 #3 Cook County at R4 #2 Westside-Macon
-- R2 #4 Long County at R3 #1 Windsor Forest
-- R7 #3 East Hall at R6 #2 Calhoun
-- R8 #4 Monroe Area at R5 #1 Cedar Grove
Notes: Cedar Grove and Windsor Forest carry their No. 1 seeds into the bottom left quadrant after winning closely contested region-title games. Cedar Grove defeated Pace Academy 48-46 in Region 5's title game; Windsor Forest beat Beach 69-63 to capture the Region 3 crown. Westside-Macon, the Region 2 No. 2 seed, plays like a No. 1 seed. Westside lost 84-79 in three overtimes to Central-Macon in the Region 4 title game. Westside advanced to the semifinals last year before losing to Jenkins 52-49.
Top-right quadrant
-- R2 #3 Brantley County at R3 #2 Beach
-- At Large Franklin County at R4 #1 Central-Macon
-- R5 #3 Westminster at R8 #2 Jefferson
-- R6 #4 Ringgold at R7 #1 Dawson County
Notes: Dawson County's victory against GAC in the Region 7 title game provided the No. 1 seed and a path to the semifinals that might have less resistance than others. Central-Macon is riding momentum from its triple-overtime thriller in Region 4. The Chargers advanced to the quarterfinals last year before losing to Morgan County 51-37.
Bottom-left quadrant
R3 #3 Johnson-Savannah at R2 #3 Liberty County
R4 #4 Kendrick at R1 #1 Crisp County
R8 #3 Hart County at R5 #2 Pace Academy
R7 #4 Lumpkin County at R6 #1 North Murray
Notes: This quadrant is difficult to figure. Crisp County, the No. 1 seed from Region 1, has an 11-12 record and will struggle to reach the quarterfinals. North Murray has lost four games this year, and of those losses, only two came against Georgia teams. The Mountaineers are riding a 10-game winning streak entering the first-round game against Lumpkin County. Hart County has the most recent tournament run, reaching the quarterfinals last season before losing to Westside-Macon, 55-53. Pace Academy, the Region 5 No. 2 seed, will not be an easy opening game for Hart. The Bulldogs are coming off a 54-40 victory against Monroe Area, which earned the No. 2 seed. Pace Academy, the Region 5 No. 2 seed, is a favorite in this game.
Coming Thursday: Breaking down the girls bracket and focusing on the best girls and boys first-round games.
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