Three of the top six ranked boys basketball teams were eliminated in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs Wednesday, while the girls tournament kicked off with barely a murmur.
The second round will be played Friday and Saturday, but the No. 2 Shiloh, No. 3 Lee County and No. 6 Etowah boys teams will not be part of it. Their losses were the biggest surprises of the first round. Last year, all three were eliminated from the playoffs by eventual champion Alexander – Shiloh in the second round, Etowah in the semifinals and Lee County in the final.
Shiloh, the regular-season and region-tournament champion in Region 8, lost to Douglas County 54-41. Douglas County helped its Region 5 complete a sweep of Shiloh’s Region 8, along with Alexander (over Gainesville), South Paulding (over Lanier) and Hughes (over Habersham Central).
Lee County won the regular-season and tournament championships in Region 1 but was knocked out by Riverwood 87-84 in overtime. Riverwood was ranked for most of the season, but two losses in the Region 4 tournament dropped the Raiders out of the top 10 and relegated them to a No. 4 seed. The Raiders’ victory was part of a four-game sweep of Region 1, joining St. Pius (over Veterans), Marist (over Tift County) and North Atlanta (over Houston County) in the second round.
Alpharetta, the No. 3 seed from Region 7, pulled off the other first-round upset when it defeated Etowah 56-50. Etowah was the top seed in the Region 6 tournament but lost to Woodstock 36-35 in the championship game and fell to a No. 2 seed for the state playoffs. Woodstock is the only Region 6 team still standing after beating Blessed Trinity 49-42 Wednesday night.
With just seven ranked boys teams remaining, only one second-round game – No. 8 Hughes at No. 10 Sprayberry – will match top-10 teams.
The girls’ side went much more as expected, with the top 10 teams winning their games by an average of 30 points. Only two of those games – No. 1 River Ridge’s 57-45 victory over Blessed Trinity and No. 10 Rome’s 37-32 win over Sprayberry – were decided by fewer than 22 points.
All eight girls region champions advanced to the second round. That includes seven members of the top 10 as well as Region 7 champion Pope, which had been ranked but fell out after a loss to Lassiter late in the regular season.
The girls teams from Lakeside-Evans (opened in 1988) and South Paulding (2006) won playoff games for the first time in school history and were among three No. 3 seeds to advance. Lakeside defeated Rockdale County 52-41, and South Paulding beat Habersham Central 58-29. The other No. 3 seed still standing is Sequoyah, which beat Lassiter 51-35.
Three second-round games will match top-10 teams. No. 6 New Manchester travels to top-ranked River Ridge, the defending state champion; No. 10 Rome visits No. 4 Hughes; and No. 8 Veterans plays at No. 9 Brunswick.
The playoffs continue with the third round Tuesday and Wednesday at the higher-seeded school (or the school that’s lower on the bracket when same-seeded teams meet).
*State tournament scores, matchups:
Girls
First round
Veterans 63, Lakeside-DeKalb 41
Brunswick 50, Mundy’s Mill 19
Rome 37, Sprayberry 32
Hughes 64, Gainesville 37
St. Pius 64, Thomas County Central 42
Woodward Academy 82, South Effingham 37
Sequoyah 51, Lassiter 35
North Forsyth 49, Alexander 16
South Paulding 58, Habersham Central 29
Pope 53, Etowah 44
Lakeside-Evans 52, Rockdale County 41
Marist 76, Houston County 22
New Manchester 53, Lanier 23
River Ridge 57, Blessed Trinity 45
Glynn Academy 63, Morrow 59
Tift County 64, Riverwood 22
Second round
(R1 #2) Veterans at (R2 #1) Brunswick
(R6 #2) Rome at (R5 #1) Hughes
(R4 #2) St. Pius at (R3 #1) Woodward Academy
(R6 #3) Sequoyah at (R8 #1) North Forsyth
(R5 #3) South Paulding at (R7 #1) Pope
(R2 #3) Lakeside-Evans at (R4 #1) Marist
(R5 #2) New Manchester at (R6 #1) River Ridge
(R2 #2) Glynn Academy at (R1 #1) Tift County
Boys
First round
North Atlanta 58, Houston County 44
Grovetown 55, Rockdale County 43
Alpharetta 56, Etowah 50
Alexander 70, Gainesville 47
Marist 36, Tift County 31
Woodward Academy 80, Brunswick 47
Pope 72, Sequoyah 50
Douglas County 54, Shiloh 41
Hughes 52, Habersham Central 45
Sprayberry 58, Allatoona 56
Jonesboro 61, Glynn Academy 52
St. Pius 79, Veterans 65
South Paulding 57, Lanier 45
Woodstock 49, Blessed Trinity 42
Evans 81, Mundy’s Mill 65
Riverwood 87, Lee County 84
Second round
(R4 #3) North Atlanta at (R2 #1) Grovetown
(R7 #3) Alpharetta at (R5 #1) Alexander
(R4 #2) Marist at (R3 #1) Woodward Academy
(R5 #4) Douglas County at (R7 #2) Pope
(R5 #3) Hughes at (R7 #1) Sprayberry
(R3 #2) Jonesboro at (R4 #1) St. Pius
(R5 #2) South Paulding at (R6 #1) Woodstock
(R4 #4) Riverwood at (R2 #2) Evans
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