Armuchee's boys and Hapeville Charter's girls basketball teams scored upsets on Monday that put themselves in the state playoffs for the first time in history.
Armuchee's futility had gone the longest. The Floyd County school was established in 1938. Its girls basketball teams have made the state playoffs 21 times, the first in 1954, but the boys had never made it.
''Armuchee was the last long holdout,'' said Becky Taylor, whose Georgia Basketball Project has recorded state-tournament results from its inception in 1922. "I can't think of any other long-established school [like Armuchee] that has yet to make an appearance.''
Hapeville opened in 2009 but didn’t have a full 12th grade until the 2012-13 basketball season.
Armuchee (10-15) entered the Region 7-AA tournament as the No. 6 seed with only two region victories but knocked off third-seeded Chattooga 66-64 to earn one of the region's four state-playoff berths in the state tournament. See story by Jim Alred of the Rome News-Tribune.
Chattooga swept the regular-season series, winning by 18- and 19-point margins, but couldn't overcome Armuchee and leading scorer Clay Barnett, who finished with 25 points. Armuchee advanced to the region semifinals to face No. 2 seed Coosa at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Hapeville Charter – which finished 1-19 last season - is going to the state playoffs at the expense of Greater Atlanta Christian, which will miss the state playoffs for the first time since 2000.
Led by 12 points from sophomore Kaniya Thomas and 11 from senior Shunseere Kent, the fifth-seeded Lady Hornets (11-14) beat GAC 52-32 in the Region 6-AA tournament at Holy Innocents’ Hapeville had lost both regular-season games to GAC.
Monday’s victory puts Hapeville in the semifinals against No. 1-ranked Holy Innocents (25-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m. But regardless of the outcome, Hapeville will make the 32-team Class AA state-playoff field.
In other highlights of region tournaments Monday:
-Habersham Central has struggled in almost every sport since being moved up to Class AAAAAA in 2012, but the Raiders had a good night at Chattahoochee on Monday in the Region 6-AAAAAA tournament. The boys team – which finished 1-17 in region play and was 0-11 since Jan. 1 – beat South Forsyth 44-34 and now stands one victory (albeit a long shot vs. Lambert) from making the state tournament. The girls, who are 14-12, but 6-12 in region play, survived 53-49 in overtime against Alpharetta. They must be back at Chattahoochee [it’s 63 miles from Hab Central to Chattahoochee] today at 7 p.m. to face sixth-ranked North Forsyth in the quarterfinals.
-Chapel Hill’s boys, seeded No. 8 in 5-AAAAA after going 9-16 (6-12 in region) in the regular season, is one victory away from the state playoffs after winning its second region tournament game in three days. Chapel Hill beat No. 9 seed Villa Rica 70-52 on Saturday and then knocked off No. 5 seed Hiram 52-43 on Monday. Hiram beat Chapel Hill by 21 and six points during the regular season. Chapel Hill will play No. 4 seed Lithia Springs on Wednesday for a trip to state.
-Westlake’s boys have made the state tournament each season since 1998. They’re 12-12 this season and facing a do-or-die game Tuesday in the Region 3-AAAAAA tournament against Campbell. Westlake and Campbell split their regular-season meetings. Westlake will have home-court advantage.
-Hillgrove’s girls (14-12 this season) have never missed the state playoffs. They even made it in 2006-07, when the school didn’t have a full senior class. They are in a must-win situation Tuesday at Kennesaw Mountain when they face No. 4 North Cobb. Hillgrove, seeded No. 5, beat North Paulding 67-29 to survive. North Cobb beat Hillgrove in both regular-season meetings.
-Southwest Whitfield's boys are in the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-04 season via a 64-43 win over LaFayette in the first round of the Region 7-AAAA tournament at Southeast. Southeast was seeded fifth in the region.
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