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
(R5 #1) Tri-Cities at (R4 #1) Tucker
(R6 #3) Sequoyah at (R7 #1) Chattahoochee
(R5 #3) Hughes at (R8 #1) Lanier
(R3 #1) Evans at (R6 #1) South Cobb
Girls
Second-round scores
Lovejoy 44, Harrison 25
Hughes 61, Heritage-Conyers 43
Glynn Academy 67, Sequoyah 50
Johns Creek 65, Houston County 55
Dacula 69, Brunswick 50
Valdosta 70, Cambridge 55
Forest Park 66, Sprayberry 55
Douglas County 41, Grovetown 39
Quarterfinal schedule
(R5 #1) Hughes at (R4 #1) Lovejoy
(R7 #1) Johns Creek at (R2 #1) Glynn Academy
(R1 #1) Valdosta at (R8 #1) Dacula
(R5 #2) Douglas County at (R4 #2) Forest Park
About the Author
