The first round of the state basketball tournament eliminated 20 region champions or Top 10 teams. More significant attrition is expected Monday and Tuesday, when the tournament resumes with the second round in classes AAAAAA to AA and starts with the first round in Class A.
Those 112 games – including 17 that match Top 10 teams against each other – will decide who reports back for work Wednesday or Thursday for the quarterfinals.
Six girls region champions are already out, most notably fifth-ranked Westlake of Class AAAAAA, beaten by Tift County. The girls’ first round also witnessed some history as McEachern and Early County in separate games became the first teams in the 69-year history of the girls state tournament to break 100 points.
On the boys side, Westlake was a conspicuous casualty there too, losing in Brunswick. Westlake was ranked sixth. Also ousted was fifth-ranked Clarke Central, by sixth-ranked Tucker, in AAAAA. The 2013 runner-up, sixth-ranked Savannah, was put out by Thomson.
Here are eight games to watch in the second round that have ranked teams in danger.
BOYS
Walton at Berkmar (AAAAAA) – Eighth-ranked Berkmar (23-6) is the Region 8 champion, but Walton (24-5) is ranked higher, at No. 5, and can make the quarterfinals for the first time since 1998.
M.L. King at Allatoona (AAAAA) – Allatoona (28-1) is ranked No. 2, but the road to the state title runs through DeKalb County, where No. 1-ranked Miller Grove and other DeKalb teams have won the past eight state titles. Eighth-ranked M.L. King, whose Region 6 went 4-0 in the first round, represents DeKalb in this one.
Effingham County at Warner Robins (AAAAA) – Warner Robins, better known for its football, is ranked No. 7 and bearing down on its first quarterfinal since 2007. The Demons must get through ninth-ranked Effingham County and perhaps the state's best player, Missouri-bound JaKeenan Gant.
Blessed Trinity at Buford (AAA) – Blessed Trinity, 23-6 and ranked eighth, has its first 20-win season since its Class AA runner-up team in 2009. Buford, 24-5 and ranked fifth, has reached the semifinals four times since 2005 but never won.
GIRLS
Roswell at Archer (AAAAAA) – Second-ranked Archer (26-3) is a 5-year-old school that should make the quarters for the first time, but standing in the way is Roswell (20-8) and Andreona Keys, a Purdue signee who averages 23.9 points per game.
Duluth at North Forsyth (AAAAAA) – North Forsyth was 6-19 in 2011, the season before hiring Erik Herrick, who had taken Chattahoochee to the semifinals. His new school since has gone 21-9, 24-6 and now 28-2. Still no trips to the quarterfinals. To do that, the Lady Raiders will need to get past Duluth (18-11) and Katie Powell, a 6-3 post who has signed with TCU.
South Forsyth at Norcross (AAAAAA) – Norcross, ranked No. 7, has won 19 state playoff games and three state titles in the past five seasons. South Forsyth, 20-5 and ranked No. 9, won its first playoff game in 12 years last week. But the future looks good for this team with a sophomore, Sarah Myers, averaging 20.8 points and only one senior on the roster.
Tucker at Osborne (AAAAA) – Osborne, ranked fifth, has averaged 23 wins the past three seasons. The Cardinals are unbeaten in Georgia since Christmas and have a pair of underclassmen, Nikiri Goings and Zutorya Cook, averaging more than 17 points per game. But getting that first quarterfinal berth since 1998 entails surviving the bad luck of the draw – second-ranked Tucker in the second round.
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