Greater Atlanta Christian's boys are back in the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season after surviving a scare against sixth-seed Wesleyan on Tuesday in the Region 6-AA tournament.
The Spartans, winners of the last two AA championships, entered the tournament as the three seed and narrowly held off the Wolves in a 64-61 overtime victory to secure a berth in the state playoffs. The Spartans (17-8) will face No. 2 seed Holy Innocents' in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Thanks to Brent Holloway for that report.
Here are some other highlights from region basketball tournaments Tuesday.
-Sam Asbury of Holy Innocents’ scored 35 points Tuesday, more than his opponent’s team total, in a 92-34 victory over KIPP Atlanta Collegiate.
-Columbia’s girls will miss the state playoffs for the first time since 2008. Columbia was the Class AAA champion in 2010 and 2012 and the AAAA champion in 2013. The team made the AAAA quarterfinals last season. Columbia’s season ended Tuesday in a 32-29 loss to fourth-seeded Arabia Mountain (16-9) in the Region 6-AAAA tournament at Arabia Mountain. Columbia (14-10) was seeded fifth, so it was not a big upset, although Columbia had beaten Arabia Mountain 42-38 on the road last week in the regular season.
-Grady (13-13) is in the state tournament for the fifth straight season after upsetting fourth-seeded Stone Mountain 52-42 in the Region 6-AAAA tournament at Arabia Mountain. Stone Mountain had spent much of the regular season in the Top 10 but lost its final three games and four of its last five to finish 17-9. Stone Mountain had swept Grady in the regular season.
-Collins Hills’ boys won’t make the state playoffs despite a 15-2 start, and North Gwinnett will despite a 6-11 start. North beat Collins Hill 52-47 in the Region 7-AAAAAA tournament at Duluth on Tuesday. North Gwinnett is on a 7-1 streak. The Bulldogs were 27-4 last season and made the state quarterfinals but returned only two starters.
-Eagle’s Landing, the 2013 Class AAAA champion, is done after losing Tuesday to Griffin 83-67 in the 4-AAAA tournament at Locust Grove. Eagle’s Landing had made the state playoffs each of the past five seasons. The Eagle’s finished 14-13. Although seeded third from its subregion (Eagle’s Landing was seeded second on its half), Griffin had beaten the Eagles in December and was favored in this game. The Bears are 19-6 and move on to face No. 1-ranked Jonesboro on Thursday in the semifinals.
-Hillgrove’s girls, seeded fifth in Region 4-AAAAAA, beat fourth-seeded North Cobb 65-47 on Tuesday. Though it was only a mild upset, it was significant because Hillgrove has never failed to make the state tournament since the school opened in 2007. Tuesday’s victory extends the streak.
-Westlake’s boys, seeded No. 4 in Region 3-AAAAAA, also needed a victory Tuesday to extend their streak of state-playoff appearances, which goes back to 1998. Westlake beat fifth-seeded Campbell 62-58 in Region 3.
-It’s not uncommon that one subregion is much stronger than the other. Take Region 2-AAAAA. The four girls semifinalists all come from the East subregion, made up of Augusta-area schools. The top four seeds from the subregion - No. 1 seed Greenbrier, No. 2 Cross Creek, No. 3 Grovetown and No. 4 Richmond Academy - advanced to Friday's semifinals with victories on Tuesday. Greenbrier beat East No. 5 seed Evans 70-56, and the other three teams advanced with wins over teams from the West (Macon area).
-In 6-AAAAA, perhaps the classification’s toughest region, No. 1-ranked Miller Grove, the six-time defending boys champion, got its postseason under way with an 80-28 victory over Druid Hills. The Wolverines clinched a state playoff berth with the win and will face Mays in the region semifinals at Stephenson on Friday.
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