Though the regular season won’t wrap up until this weekend, the area races are decided in boys Class A-AAAAA, and the brackets are out. Immediately noticeable: the top half is stacked, at least according to top-10 rankings.
All eight teams in the top half of the bracket are currently ranked, while only two of the eight teams in the bottom half appear in the most recent rankings. To bottom line it: whichever team emerges from the top half will have to face a ranked team each round. Meanwhile, No. 1 Westminster and No. 4 Cambridge wouldn’t see a ranked opponent until they face each other in the semifinals, assuming of course that both advance.
The reason for the appearance of imbalance has to do with the fact that several ranked teams finished lower in their area standings than unranked counterparts. No. 7 McIntosh took the 4 seed in Area 1 behind unranked Starr’s Mill and Woodward Academy. Similarly No. 10 Marist is the 4 seed in Area 4 behind Benedictine and Decatur.
It should also be mentioned that the brackets wouldn’t look quite as lopsided if not for recent changes in the polls; Benedictine has been in the top 10 for most of the season before recently dropping out, to be replaced by Pace Academy – the No. 3 seed out of Area 2.
Still, on the surface it looks like the teams in the bottom half of the bracket will benefit from a little luck of the draw. Meanwhile, Marist, which owns victories over Area 4 champ St. Pius and fourth-ranked Cambridge this season, faces a possibly the toughest path to the finals in the entire bracket. The War Eagles, who lost to Benedictine and Decatur by a combined three goals, will face second-ranked Lovett in the first round. The Lions beat Marist, 14-8, earlier this month. If the War Eagles were to manage the upset, awaiting them could be the potential gauntlet of No. 6 GAC and No. 3 Allatoona, just to get to the finals.
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Top 10 results, schedules
BOYS
Class AAAAA
1. Lambert (14-2)
- Thursday: vs. Alpharetta
- Saturday: at South Forsyth
2. Centennial (14-2)
- Tuesday: def. No. 5 North Gwinnett, 20-19 OT
- Thursday: vs. South Forsyth
- Friday: at No. 7 Harrison
3. Johns Creek (11-4)
- Friday: vs. Westminster
4. Roswell (15-2)
- Tuesday: def. Chattahoochee, 13-4
- Thursday: vs. Greater Atlanta Christian
5. North Gwinnett (15-2)
- Tuesday: lost to No. 2 Centennial, 20-19 OT
6. Mill Creek (16-2)
- Monday: def. Duluth, 17-1
- Tuesday: def. Marist, 9-7
7. Harrison (14-3)
- Monday: def. Walton, 17-11
8. Pope (13-3)
- Thursday: at McIntosh
9. Etowah (12-5)
- Monday: def. Cherokee, 17-3
- Friday: at Lassiter
10. Northview (12-4)
- Wednesday: vs. Allatoona
- Friday: vs. Grayson
Class A-AAAAA
1. Westminster (16-1)
- Friday: at Johns Creek
- *May 5: vs. Blessed Trinity
2. Lovett (12-5)
- Thursday: at Milton
- *May 5: vs. No. 10 Marist
3. Allatoona (15-2)
- Wednesday: at Northview
- *May 5: vs. No. 8 Wesleyan
4. Cambridge (13-3)
- Tuesday: def. Pinecrest Academy, 14-1
- Saturday: vs. Riverwood
- *May 5: at Kell
5. St. Pius (12-3)
- Friday: at Woodward
- *May 5: vs. No. 7 McIntosh
6. Greater Atlanta Christian (12-5)
- Tuesday: def. Riverwood, 15-5
- Thursday: vs. Roswell
- *May 5: vs. No. 9 Pace Academy
7. McIntosh (12-4)
- Tuesday: def. Kennesaw Mountain, 12-9
- Thursday: vs. Pope
- *May 5: at No. 5 St. Pius
8. Wesleyan (13-2)
- Monday: def. West Forsyth, 23-15
Thursday: at North Springs
- Friday: vs. No. 10 Marist
- *May 5: at No. 3 Allatoona
9. Pace Academy (11-5)
- Monday: def. East Paulding, 17-0
- Thursday: at Carrollton
- *May 5: at No. 6 Greater Atlanta Christian
10. Marist (10-5)
- Tuesday: lost to Mill Creek, 9-7
- Friday: at No. 1 Wesleyan
- *May 5: at No. 2 Lovett
GIRLS
Class AAAAAA
1. Milton (13-4)
- Tuesday: def. No. 2 Lassiter, 12-9
- Friday: vs. No. 7 Pope
2. Lassiter (14-4)
- Tuesday: lost to No. 1 Milton, 12-9
3. Chattahoochee (14-3)
- Tuesday: def. Johns Creek, 14-10
4. Walton (11-6)
- Thursday: at Roswell
5. North Gwinnett (14-2)
- Monday: def. GAC, 21-5
- Friday: vs. Collins Hill
6. Northview (10-4-1)
- Tuesday: lost to Blessed Trinity, 15-14
- Thursday: at No. 10 Harrison
- Friday: at Cambridge
7. Pope (11-4-1)
- Wednesday: vs. Woodstock
- Friday: at No. 1 Milton
8. West Forsyth (11-4)
- Wednesday: vs. Blessed Trinity
- Thursday: vs. Forsyth Central
9. Mill Creek (10-4)
- Idle; next: playoffs
10. Harrison (11-3)
- Monday: vs. Campbell, no score reported
- Thursday: vs. Northview
Class A-AAAAA
1. Cambridge (16-1)
- Tuesday: def. Riverwood, 10-0
- Friday: vs. Northview
2. Westminster (16-1)
- Tuesday: def. River Ridge, 20-5
- Thursday: vs. No. 3 Kell
3. Kell (14-3)
- Tuesday: def. East Paulding, 20-1
- Thursday: at No. 2 Westminster
4. Blessed Trinity (15-1)
- Tuesday: def. Northview, 15-14
- Wednesday: vs. West Forsyth
- Friday: at Starr's Mill
5. Creekview (14-2)
- Tuesday: def. Hillgrove, 20-10
- Thursday: at Sprayberry
6. St. Pius (14-3)
- Monday: def. Whitewater, 17-2
7. Sprayberry (11-4)
- Tuesday: lost to Lovett, 13-11
- Thursday: vs. No. 5 Creekview
8. McIntosh (11-6)
- Monday: def. Wesleyan, 14-10
- Wednesday: at Kennesaw Mountain
9. River Ridge (9-5)
- Monday: lost to No. 7 Sprayberry, 16-10
- Tuesday: lost to No. 2 Westminster, 20-5
10. Lakeside-Evans (10-1)
- Saturday: vs. Greenbrier
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Brent Holloway can be reached on Twitter, @thebholloway.
