Here are updates to Tuesday's story, which featured five big games in which a top team was going to lose.
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At least five very good boys basketball teams will see their seasons end Tuesday in region tournaments across the state.
On the girls side, one 20-game winner is already out. Henry County’s girls were 20-5 overall, 10-0 in its subregion, but won’t be going to state. They were upset Monday by Spalding 47-28 in the Region 4-AAAA tournament at Mount Zion in Jonesboro. Only the top four in each region qualify.
Henry had beaten Spalding 67-49 on Dec. 11. Spalding (16-10) was the No. 4 seed from the stronger subregion B. Henry was No. 1 in subregion A.
Here are five boys games slated for Tuesday that guarantee a pretty good team is done for the season:
Campbell (17-7) vs. South Cobb (15-10): Campbell has beaten No. 4 Westlake and lost in overtime to No. 6 Pebblebrook but lost to South Cobb 74-68 last week, knocking Campbell out of the top 10 in Class AAAAAA. Regions 6 and 8 are the deepest in the highest classification.
Update: Weather delayed. Will be played Wednesday.
Heritage-Conyers (17-7) vs. Apalachee (19-5): These 8-AAAAA rivals play at Cedar Shoals. Heritage won the regular-season game 68-59 on Dec. 18 and was ranked No. 10 until losing its final two regular-season games. Apalachee's high-scoring Kamar Baldwin, rated the consensus No. 11 recruit in Georgia, has signed with Butler, but his high school career could be nearing an end.
Update: Heritage won 69-67. Baldwin scored 42 points – 23 of his team’s 25 in the fourth quarter.
Jonesboro (21-4) vs. Henry County (15-10): Henry has wins over Eagle's Landing and Walnut Grove, two 22-3 teams that are ranked. If the state tournament was based on RPI rankings and a seeding committee, the Warhawks would be in. Instead, it's looking dire, as they face No. 1 Jonesboro in a do-or-die situation. This is a 4-AAAA game to be played at Mount Zion in Jonesboro.
Update: Jonesboro won 78-55. M.J. Walker, the 2015 Class AAAA player of the year, scored 26 points.
Redan (16-8) vs. Columbia (11-11): Redan is ranked No. 9, though seeded only fourth in tough Region 6-AAAA. Columbia has not missed the state playoffs since 2003 and won four state titles since then, including three in a row from 2010 to 2012. The playoff streak is in serious danger.
Update: Columbia won 63-53 in overtime to extend its streak to 13 seasons in the state playoffs. Redan becomes the first ranked team to fail to make the playoffs. Justin Longstreet had 18 points to lead Columbia. He opened the OT with a 3-pointer from the corner, the first of seven straight Columbia points.
Holy Innocents' (16-8) vs. #4 Wesleyan (15-10): These are No. 4 and No. 5 seeds from 6-AA, the classification's toughest region. Holy Innocents' is ranked No. 10 and Wesleyan No. 17 in MaxPreps' computer rankings of Class AA.
Update: Holy Innocents' won 45-44. Hard to believe that Wesleyan has missed the state playoffs three years in a row, or hasn't won a state playoff game since winning a championship 2008.
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