There were no Region 1 teams among the top 16 of the MaxPreps Class AAAAAA rankings going into the state tournament, but the region will have four of the final 16 teams remaining when the second round is played Wednesday and Thursday.
Victories by the Lee County, Northside-Warner Robins, Coffee and Valdosta boys gave the region a four-game sweep against Region 3 and were among the biggest surprises in a wild first round in which five of the 20 boys and girls teams ranked in the AJC top 10s were eliminated and the lower-seeded teams found a fair amount of success.
Two of the Region 1 wins came at the expense of top 10 teams. Valdosta, the region’s No. 4 seed and ranked No. 29 by MaxPreps, knocked out Region 3 champion Lakeside-Evans 56-55. Lakeside was No. 7 in the AJC poll and No. 6 in MaxPreps. Third-seeded Coffee (No. 17 in MaxPreps) advanced with a 77-71 victory against Heritage-Conyers (No. 10 AJC and MaxPreps).
The other Region 1 winners were Northside-Warner Robins over Greenbrier 74-59 and Lee County over Alcovy 71-59.
Combined with wins by the Houston County and Valdosta girls, Region 1 had a record of 6-2 in the first round, the best of any region in the classification.
Other top 10 teams in the AJC poll that were eliminated were the No. 5 Alpharetta boys (lost 60-57 to Tri-Cities), the No. 9 Gainesville girls (lost 54-53 to River Ridge), and the No. 10 Northside-Warner Robins girls (lost 52-51 to Greenbrier).
Here are some of the other top stories from the Class AAAAAA first round.
*How the seeds fared: No. 1-seeded teams went 6-2 against No. 4 seeds in both the boys and the girls brackets. The losers were Stephenson (boys), Lakeside-Evans (boys), Brunswick (girls) and Northside-Warner Robins (girls). The second-seeded teams had a tougher time against No. 3 seeds, winning six of eight boys games but only three of eight on the girls side.
*Good with the bad: Tucker, Lovejoy, Stephenson and Jonesboro gave Region 4 the only first-round sweep in the girls bracket when they beat Region 2's Bradwell Institute, Richmond Hill, Glynn Academy and Brunswick, respectively, but the Region 4 boys struggled. Third-ranked Jonesboro beat Richmond Hill 56-49, but Stephenson, Forest Park and Tucker were eliminated.
*Double-double: Nineteen schools had their boys and girls teams in the state tournament, but only two managed to get both teams through to the second round. Valdosta's boys advanced with their win over Lakeside-Evans, and the Wildcats girls beat Evans 57-37. Jonesboro boys beat Richmond Hill, and the Cardinals girls went on the road to eliminate Glynn Academy 52-45.
*Triple-double: Senior guard/small forward Shannon Titus, a first-team all-region player in 7-AAAAAA, had an impressive stat line in the top-ranked Northview girls' 54-36 victory over South Paulding. Titus finished with 17 points, 10 steals, 10 blocked shots, nine rebounds and seven assists. Titus is unsigned. Northview coach Chris Yarbrough put colleges on notice when he posted on Twitter, "You are missing out!"
*Looking ahead: There were no first-round matchups of teams ranked in the AJC top 10, but there will be three in the second round. No. 4 Harrison will travel to No. 6 Tucker and No. 7 Lovejoy will play at No. 5 Creekview on the girls side, and the No. 3 Jonesboro boys will play at No. 9 Allatoona.
*First-round scores
Boys
(R6 #2) South Cobb 65, (R8 #3) Lanier 55
(R2 #4) Glynn Academy 75, (R4 #1) Stephenson 63
(R1 #3) Coffee 77, (R3 #2) Heritage-Conyers 71
(R5 #1) South Paulding 70, (R7 #4) Cambridge 49
(R8 #2) Dacula 89, (R6 #3) Osborne 65
(R2 #1) Brunswick 81, (R4 #4) Forest Park 49
(R1 #2) Northside-Warner Robins 75, (R3 #3) Greenbrier 59
(R7 #1) Pope 59, (R5 #4) Mays 51
(R2 #2) Effingham County 64, (R4 #3) Tucker 55
(R8 #1) Gainesville 82, (R6 #4) Creekview 42
(R5 #3) Hughes 59, (R7 #2) Dunwoody 34
(R1 #1) Lee County 71, (R3 #4) Alcovy 59
(R4 #2) Jonesboro 56, (R2 #3) Richmond Hill 49
(R6 #1) Allatoona 69, (R8 #4) Winder-Barrow 37
(R5 #2) Tri-Cities 60, (R7 #3) Alpharetta 57
(R1 #4) Valdosta 56, (R3 #1) Lakeside-Evans 55
Girls
(R6 #2) Harrison 54, (R8 #3) Dacula 34
(R4 #1) Tucker 53, (R2 #4) Bradwell Institute 28
(R1 #3) Houston County 54, (R3 #2) Heritage-Conyers 31
(R5 #1) Douglas County 84, (R7 #4) Pope 74
(R6 #3) River Ridge 54, (R8 #2) Gainesville 53
(R4 #4) Stephenson 55, (R2 #1) Brunswick 48
(R1 #2) Valdosta 57, (R3 #3) Evans 37
(R7 #1) Northview 54, (R5 #4) South Paulding 36
(R4 #3) Jonesboro 52, (R2 #2) Glynn Academy 45
(R8 #1) Winder-Barrow 59, (R6 #4) Sequoyah 51
(R5 #3) Mays 58, (R7 #2) Alpharetta 54
(R3 #4) Greenbrier 52, (R1 #1) Northside-Warner Robins 51
(R4 #2) Lovejoy 54, (R2 #3) Richmond Hill 20
(R6 #1) Creekview 50, (R8 #4) Habersham Central 40
(R7 #3) Chattahoochee 30, (R5 #2) New Manchester 19
(R3 #1) Grovetown 59, (R1 #4) Coffee 48
*Second-round games
Boys
(R2 #4) Glynn Academy at (R6 #2) South Cobb
(R1 #3) Coffee at (R5 #1) South Paulding
(R8 #2) Dacula at (R2 #1) Brunswick
(R1 #2) Northside-Warner Robins at (R7 #1) Pope
(R2 #2) Effingham County at (R8 #1) Gainesville
(R5 #3) Hughes at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R4 #2) Jonesboro at (R6 #1) Allatoona
(R1 #4) Valdosta at (R5 #2) Tri-Cities
Girls
(R6 #2) Harrison at (R4 #1) Tucker
(R1 #3) Houston County at (R5 #1) Douglas County
(R4 #4) Stephenson at (R6 #3) River Ridge
(R1 #2) Valdosta at (R7 #1) Northview
(R4 #3) Jonesboro at (R8 #1) Winder-Barrow
(R3 #4) Greenbrier at (R5 #3) Mays
(R4 #2) Lovejoy at (R6 #1) Creekview
(R7 #3) Chattahoochee at (R3 #1) Grovetown
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