Class AAAAAA blog: Region champions dominate lineup for quarterfinals

Twelve of the 16 teams that won Class AAAAAA basketball region championships this season have advanced to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.

They’ll be joined there by two No. 2-seeded girls teams and two No. 3-seeded boys teams that earned their spots in the final eight with victories in second-round games Wednesday and Thursday.

Douglas County’s girls, the runners-up in Region 5, advanced with a 41-39 victory over the Region 3 champion, 10th-ranked Grovetown. Third-ranked Forest Park, the Region 4 runner-up behind top-ranked Lovejoy, beat Region 6 champion Sprayberry 66-55. Douglas County and Forest Park will face each other in the quarterfinals.

Region champions that survived the second round were Valdosta (Region 1), Glynn Academy (Region 2), Lovejoy (Region 4), Hughes (Region 5), Johns Creek (Region 7) and Dacula (Region 8).

On the boys’ side, Sequoyah advanced with a 61-56 victory over Richmond Hill. Sequoyah was the No. 3 seed from Region 6, and Richmond Hill was the Region 2 champion. The other No. 3 seed to reach the quarterfinals was Region 5’s Hughes, which won state championships in 2017 and 2018. The Panthers beat Region 1 champion Valdosta 55-52.

Boys region champions that reached the quarterfinals are Evans (Region 3), Tucker (Region 4), defending state champion Tri-Cities (Region 5), South Cobb (Region 6), Chattahoochee (Region 7) and Lanier (Region 8). Evans is the only remaining boys team from outside the metro Atlanta area. Only one time since 2003 (Brunswick in 2015) has a team that wasn’t from Fulton or DeKalb County won the championship in the state’s second-highest classification.

All eight of the boys quarterfinalists came into the tournament ranked in the top 10. The two that failed to advance – No. 5 Valdosta and No. 9 Richmond Hill – lost to other ranked teams. The top six ranked girls teams reached the quarterfinals, where they’ll be joined by unranked Douglas County and Johns Creek.

Quarterfinal games will be played Tuesday and Wednesday at school sites. The winners will advance to the semifinals, to be played Friday at Buford. The state championships are scheduled for March 7 at the Macon Centreplex.

Here are the results from the second round and the quarterfinal matchups.

Boys

Second-round scores

Tucker 57, Allatoona 43

Tri-Cities 79, Houston County 67

Sequoyah 61, Richmond Hill 56

Chattahoochee 73, Heritage-Conyers 68

Lanier 60, Stephenson 58

Hughes 55, Valdosta 52

South Cobb 75, Brunswick 49

Evans 76, Douglas County 62

Quarterfinal schedule