Early exit sharpens focus for flawless Knights

Class 4A’s boys bracket shapes up to be filled with top 10 showdowns and teams that will take the court on high upset alert. For undefeated Upson-Lee, however, there is no need to remind the Knights how important each playoff game is as it is still fresh on their minds. Upson-Lee enters the playoffs with a flawless 27-0 record, but still has the bitter taste of last year’s 73-56 home loss to New Hampstead in the opening round to sharpen the focus this year. Upson-Lee hosts Region 4 No 4 seed North Clayton in the opening round, a team that snuck into the playoffs with an unimpressive 11-17 record and a timely 61-35 win over Salem in the first round of the region tournament. Following the win over Salem, North Clayton gave Henry County and Eastside competitive games to close the region tournament and will have nothing to lose as they look to play spoiler on Saturday.

Henry County will host Region 2 No. 4 seed Howard in the first round, while Region 5 champion LaGrange hosts West Hall two slots down in the bracket. Henry County’s 21-5 season and LaGrange’s 24-3 run have put them at the top of the Class 4A rankings with the undefeated Knights and could be on a collision course in the Elite 8.

Region 1 No. 2 seed Americus-Sumter ended the regular season with a 59-55 loss at Westover and took an 85-63 defeat to Carver-Columbus in the region tournament. The Panthers’ playoff push opens against a scrappy Thomson team that scored a 70-63 win over Burke County in the region tournament to avoid the first-round matchup with top-seeded Carver-Columbus that now awaits Burke County.