Metro Atlanta domination of the state basketball tournament is on the wane.
Non-metro teams appear on pace to win six of the 14 state titles as the tournament enters this weekend’s semifinals. That would be the most since 2003.
That’s partly a function of the move to six classifications and a splitting Class A into public and private divisions in 2012, making for a total of 14 champions. But it’s still significant. Metro teams have won 54 of 68 state titles over the past five years, peaking in 2010, when all 10 champs were from the Atlanta area.
Non-metro teams are assured of the boys titles in Classes AAA, AA and A (public) and one girls title in A (public). No metro teams made those semifinals.
There is only one metro team remaining in AAAAA boys (Allatoona), AAAA boys (Jonesboro) and AAA girls (Decatur). Only defending champion Jonesboro among those is the highest-ranked team in the field.
Two metro-area boys teams that were ranked No. 1 – Miller Grove (AAAAA) and Pace Academy (AA) – were eliminated this week, beaten by Warner Robins and Vidalia in the quarterfinals. Miller Grove had won six straight state titles and a record 32 straight state-playoff games.
Here are more facts and figures from the semifinals, which will be played at six neutral college venues Friday and Saturday.
-The Class AAAAAA semifinals, to be played at Georgia Tech, are an all-metro affair. That comes after Tift County’s boys last year became the first South Georgia team to win the highest class since Beach’s girls in 2000. Wheeler’s boys are ranked No. 1. Parkview’s girls, ranked No. 2, beat No. 1 Osborne in the quarterfinals.
-The AAAAA boys champion will be a first-time winner. Allatoona and Brunswick are in the semifinals for the first time, and Cedar Shoals has never made a final. Warner Robins was the 2014 runner-up.
-Allatoona and Brunswick are among five boys teams in the semifinals for the first time. The others are Shiloh (AAAAAA), Carrollton (AAAA) and Rutland (AAA).
-The only girls team in the semifinals for the first time is Veterans of AAAA. The Houston County school opened in 2010 and had not won a state-playoff game, boys or girls, until this season. The Warhawks are 30-1 heading into their game against Carrollton at West Georgia.
-Second-ranked Mays appears to be the girls team to beat in AAAAA. The last Atlanta city team to win a title was South Atlanta’s boys in 2009. The last girls team was Mays in 2003. DeKalb County teams have won eight of the past nine state titles in the second-highest class. Only Stephenson keeps those hopes alive, and the Jaguars were the third seed out of Region 6. Also in the mix are fifth-ranked Forest Park and unranked Dutchtown.
-DeKalb County schools have won at least one state title each year since 2004. Only Tucker’s boys and Stephenson’s girls remain, and neither is favored. Tucker faces No. 1-ranked Wheeler in the semifinals. Stephenson faces No. 5 Forest Park. Decatur, a city school in DeKalb, is alive in AAA.
-Three schools have their boys and girls teams in the semifinals. They are Carrollton (AAAA), Laney (AAA) and St. Francis (A private). It has happened 13 times that a school has swept the boys and girls titles, most recently in 2013 with St. Francis. Laney and St. Francis have the highest-ranked boys and girls teams left in their draws.
-Cairo is the only semifinalist that qualified fourth, or last, out of its region. The Syrupmakers (20-11) have beaten region champions Perry and Lithonia to advance to the AAAA final four in West Georgia against Carrollton. It is Cairo’s first semifinal appearance since 2004.
-The AA semifinals will be played Friday at Columbus State, the rest on Saturday. In the girls draw, Region 6 schools Holy Innocents’, Wesleyan and Lovett have Region 1 champion Pelham surrounded. Swainsboro, Crawford County, Vidalia and Seminole County have eradicated metro teams in the boys semifinals.
-The GHSA has played the semifinals a week ahead of the finals only since 2012, when classifications were expanded to six and space and time were needed for 14 state finals. The championship games will be played March 5-7 in Macon.
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