For the second consecutive season, a defending champion in Class AAAAAA basketball was eliminated in the first round of the state tournament.
Last year, the two-time defending champion Hughes boys team was knocked off by Gainesville in the opening round. This time it was the Lanier girls, who lost to Sequoyah 47-46 on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by freshman Elle Blatchford.
Trailing 46-44 with five seconds remaining, Sequoyah inbounded the ball into the backcourt to Blatchford, who took five dribbles, including one behind the back, before launching the game-winner from about 30 feet. Her shot gave Sequoyah its only lead of the game and helped the Chiefs avenge a 61-37 loss to Lanier in the second round of the 2019 tournament.
The 5-foot-8 guard, who is the leading scorer for a balanced Sequoyah offense, finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
Sequoyah (19-10), the No. 3 seed out of 6-AAAAAA after losing to Sprayberry 65-61 in the region tournament quarterfinals, will face fifth-ranked Glynn Academy (23-4) in the second round at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Brunswick. Glynn Academy is the Region 2 champion. The Chiefs are seeking their first trip to the quarterfinals since the 2016 team reached the semifinals. Glynn Academy was a quarterfinalist last season, losing to Lanier 42-31.
Here are some of the other top stories from Class AAAAAA from the first round and beyond:
*How the top 10s fared: Lanier's girls team was one of two ranked AAAAAA teams to lose in the first round. The other was the Alexander girls, who lost to Cambridge 67-56. Cambridge was making its first tournament appearance in girls basketball. All 10 of the ranked boys teams advanced. Defending champion and third-ranked Tri-Cities (86-84 over Johns Creek), No. 8 Chattahoochee (69-66 over Alexander) and No. 7 Hughes (48-45 over Cambridge) had the closest calls in some great matchups between Regions 5 and 7.
*How the top seeds fared: All 16 teams that came into the tournament with No. 1 seeds survived the first round, leaving no No. 4 seeds remaining in the boys or girls fields. The only No. 3 seed to win on the girls' side was Sequoyah, with its victory over Lanier. No. 3-seeded boys teams fared much better, winning six of the eight games against No. 2-seeded opponents. The two No. 2 seed boys teams remaining are Allatoona (Region 6) and Douglas County (Region 5). Overall, the higher-seeded teams were 25-7 in Round 1.
*How the regions fared: No regions swept in the first round, meaning that all eight regions have at least one boys team and one girls team left in the tournament. Only one region went 3-1 in girls play. Region 6 got victories from Sprayberry, Harrison and Sequoyah, leaving Dacula as the only remaining Region 8 team. Two regions went 3-1 in boys play – Region 5 (Tri-Cities, Douglas County, Hughes) and Region 6 (South Cobb, Allatoona and Sequoyah). Region 6 was the best overall in the round, winning six of eight games.
*Twice is nice: Twenty-four schools sent their boys and girls teams to the state tournament, but only seven got both into the second round. Schools with both teams advancing were Valdosta (Region 1), Houston County (1), Hughes (5), Douglas County (5), Brunswick (2), Heritage-Conyers (3) and Sequoyah (7). Thirteen of the 24 schools went 1-1, and four – Coffee, Alexander, Pope and Winder-Barrow – had both teams eliminated. Last year, only Sequoyah and Bradwell Institute got both teams into the second round..
*Best second-round games: The No. 1-ranked Lovejoy girls will host No. 7 Harrison in a rematch of the 2018 championship game, which Lovejoy won 57-41. Lovejoy was the state runner-up in 2019, and Harrison was eliminated by Valdosta in the quarterfinals. Two boys games will be matchups of ranked teams. No. 7 Hughes, the state champ in 2017 and 2018, will travel to Valdosta to face the fifth-ranked Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. No. 6 Sequoyah will go on the road to face No. 9 Richmond Hill at 6 p.m. Thursday.
*Scores, schedule
Boys
First-round scores
Allatoona 63, Dacula 55
Tucker 67, Effingham County 56
Houston County 53, Lakeside-Evans 49
Tri-Cities 86, Johns Creek 84
Sequoyah 63, Gainesville 53
Richmond Hill 65, Morrow 53
Heritage-Conyers 65, Lee County 63
Chattahoochee 69, Alexander 66
Stephenson 55, Glynn Academy 41
Lanier 76, Sprayberry 45
Hughes 48, Cambridge 45
Valdosta 62, Grovetown 50
Brunswick 74, Lovejoy 68
South Cobb 60, Winder-Barrow 38
Douglas County 66, Pope 57
Evans 79, Coffee 60
Second-round schedule
(R6 #2) Allatoona at (R4 #1) Tucker, 7 p.m. Thursday
(R1 #3) Houston County at (R5 #1) Tri-Cities, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
(R6 #3) Sequoyah at (R2 #1) Richmond Hill, 6 p.m. Thursday
(R3 #3) Heritage-Conyers at (R7 #1) Chattahoochee, 7 p.m. Wednesday
(R4 #3) Stephenson at (R8 #1) Lanier, 7:30 p.m. Thursday
(R5 #3) Hughes at (R1 #1) Valdosta, 7:30 p.m. Thursday
(R2 #3) Brunswick at (R6 #1) South Cobb, 6:30 p.m. Thursday
(R5 #2) Douglas County at (R3 #1) Evans, 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Girls
First-round scores
Harrison 60, Winder-Barrow 55
Lovejoy 52, Richmond Hill 32
Heritage-Conyers 57, Coffee 49
Hughes 45, Alpharetta 34
Sequoyah 47, Lanier 46
Glynn Academy 52, Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 28
Houston County 60, Greenbrier 44
Johns Creek 60, Tri-Cities 51
Brunswick 53, Stephenson 46
Dacula 61, South Cobb 59
Cambridge 67, Alexander 56
Valdosta 83, Evans 25
Forest Park 63, Bradwell Institute 27
Sprayberry 63, Habersham Central 48
Douglas County 57, Pope 44
Grovetown 43, Northside-Warner Robins 40
Second-round schedule
(R6 #2) Harrison at (R4 #1) Lovejoy, 6:30 p.m. Thursday
(R3 #2) Heritage-Conyers at (R5 #1) Hughes, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
(R6 #3) Sequoyah at (R2 #1) Glynn Academy, 6 p.m. Wednesday
(R1 #2) Houston County at (R7 #1) Johns Creek, 6 p.m. Wednesday
(R2 #2) Brunswick at (R8 #1) Dacula, 6 p.m. Thursday
(R7 #2) Cambridge at (R1 #1) Valdosta, 6 p.m. Thursday
(R4 #2) Forest Park at (R6 #1) Sprayberry, 6 p.m. Thursday
(R5 #2) Douglas County at (R3 #1) Grovetown, 5:30 p.m. Thursday
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