Basketball’s regular season is down to its final week, and most of the No. 1 seeds for region tournaments have been set. Here’s a region-by-region look at what’s left of it.
The big games this week have No. 5 Norcross traveling to No. 2 Meadowcreek in Region 7 (boys game) and No. 8 Pebblebrook at No. 1 Westlake in Region 2 (girls game).
BOYS
Region 1 – Tift County (15-7, 5-0) and Camden County (16-6, 4-1), both unranked, will play at Tift on Feb. 1 perhaps to decide the No. 1 seed in this four-team region. In the meantime, Tift will play No. 1 Coffee of Class AAAAAA on Tuesday night in a non-region game. Then it's back to region play. Tift beat Camden 70-63 the first time on Jan. 11. It's unusual for Camden to be a contender. The school hasn't won a state-playoff game since 1986.
Region 2 – With a 15-game winning streak going, third-ranked East Coweta (23-1, 8-1) has clinched the No. 1 seed in a region that includes No. 6 Pebblebrook, No. 7 Wheeler and Westlake, which has appeared in the top 10, as well.
Region 3 – McEachern – ranked No. 1 in AAAAAAA and No. 1 or No. 2 in most every national rankings – has clinched the No. 1 seed for the region tournament.
Region 4 – Unranked Roswell (20-4, 9-0) has clinched the No. 1 seed.
Region 5 – Unranked Milton (17-7, 8-1) can wrap up the No. 1 seed with a victory over North Forsyth (10-14, 1-8 on Friday night). Lambert (19-5, 7-2) fell to second after being upset by West Forsyth (10-14, 5-4) last week.
Region 6 – No. 9 Discovery (20-3, 10-0) can clinch the No. 1 seed with a victory Tuesday night against Collins Hill (7-16, 1-9). Discovery, a 4-year-old school in Gwinnett County, returned all starters from its 11-15 team and is virtually assured of its first state-playoff berth.
Region 7 – No. 5 Norcross (17-7, 10-1) travels to No. 2 Meadowcreek (18-4, 10-0) on Friday in a rematch of the 2018 state-championship game won by Meadowcreek after Norcross had beaten the Mustangs twice in the regular season and once in the region tournament. Meadowcreek beat Norcross 63-55 on Dec. 10.
Region 8 – No. 4 Grayson (20-3, 7-1) could've clinched the No. 1 seed with a victory over 10th-ranked Shiloh (14-7, 6-2) last week, but Shiloh prevailed 76-67. Grayson won the first meeting 61-59 in overtime on Jan. 4. Grayson will close the deal if it defeats South Gwinnett (14-9, 4-4) and Rockdale County (7-15, 0-8) this week. No. 8 Newton (17-5, 6-2) is also a factor, so this region should have the best tournament in the high class next week.
GIRLS
Region 1 – No. 6 Colquitt County (19-2, 5-0) has clinched the No. 1 seed.
Region 2 – No. 1 Westlake (21-0, 8-0) is home on Tuesday night against No. 8 Pebblebrook (19-3, 8-1). Westlake won the first meeting 75-50 on Jan. 11. Westlake has won 40 straight games not counting its post-season loss in the GEICO national championship last year.
Region 3 – No. 5 North Cobb (22-2, 8-1) has clinched the No. 1 seed but took a 63-40 loss to unranked McEachern last week. McEachern (12-9, 5-3) has won four of the past five state titles and made the semifinals last year. McEachern has won five straight games, including a victory over Alabama's No. 2 Class 5A team, Ramsay of Birmingham, so this is a team to watch.
Region 4 – No. 4 Cherokee (21-3, 9-0) clinched the No. 1 seed with a 63-61 victory over Roswell (17-7, 7-2) last week after trailing by six at the end of three quarters.
Region 5 – No. 9 North Forsyth (19-4, 8-0) clinched the No. 1 seed last week with a 61-29 victory over then-second-place Forsyth Central. North is expected to dominate its region tournament.
Region 6 – Expect No. 2 Collins Hill (22-1, 11-0) has won 19 straight games, clinched the No. 1 seed and beaten every other team in the region by more than 20 points at least once.
Region 7 – No. 10 Norcross (15-9, 10-1) should clinch the No. 1 seed with a victory on Friday against last-place Meadowcreek. But No. 7 Brookwood (16-6, 8-2) is the higher-ranked team, has split its two games with Norcross and won seven straight, so the region tournament is up for grabs.
Region 8 – No. 3 Grayson (21-2, 8-0) should sew up the No. 1 seed with a victory Tuesday night against last-place South Gwinnett, then plays at Rockdale County (14-9, 5-2) on Friday for what might be a region-tournament finals preview.
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