Two teams that have won state titles this decade and two others have never played in the finals will contend for the Class 6A boys and girls basketball championships Friday at the Macon Coliseum.
Second-ranked North Forsyth will meet No. 3 Marist at 5:30 p.m. in the girls championship game. No. 1 Alexander will take on unranked Riverwood at 7:30 in the boys final.
Here are some of the storylines to watch in this week’s Class 6A championship games:
*North Forsyth seeks perfection: The North Forsyth girls team (31-0) is one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in Georgia, along with the Class 7A No. 1-ranked Grayson girls, as the Raiders head into their first appearance in a championship game. North Forsyth lost in its previous two trips to the semifinals, in 2018 and 2019. The Raiders lost to Sequoyah in the second round last season. “They care about doing it for each other and not letting this end,” Raiders coach Brad Kudlas said. “Now it’s nice because we know when it’s going to end. We get to go Friday … it’s just surreal. I never would have thought.” In the semifinals last week, North Forsyth led Veterans 26-13 at halftime and 32-25 after three quarters and held on for a 43-33 victory. Region 8 player of the year London Weaver and Gabbie Gliatta scored 15 points each. The Raiders have won their four playoff games by an average of 18 points.
*Harpring’s monster night: Marist sophomore Kate Harpring tied her career high with 45 points to lead the No. 3-ranked War Eagles (29-1) to a 72-69 overtime victory in the semifinals against River Ridge, the defending champion and top-ranked team. Harpring scored with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the game 62-62 and send it into overtime. With Marist trailing 69-67 with 57 seconds left in overtime, she made the first of two free throws, missed the second, grabbed her own rebound and was fouled again. This time she made both free throws for a 70-69 lead. Abby Lindsay added two free throws with nine seconds left, and River Ridge missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer. “Pretty special night for all of us,” Marist coach Kim Hixon said. Marist won the Class 4A championship in 2022, beating Luella 56-54 in double overtime. Avery Fantucci made a game-tying halfcourt shot at the buzzer at the end of regulation, then scored the winning points on a breakaway layup as time expired in the second overtime.
*Alexander seeks to repeat: No. 1-ranked Alexander will try to become the first boys team to win back-to-back championships in Class 6A since Hughes did it in 2017 and 2018. The Cougars won the first championship in school history when they defeated Lee County in last year’s final. They have been ranked No. 1 all season and come into the finals at 29-2. Alexander has won 16 consecutive games, including a 93-64 victory over fifth-ranked Woodward Academy in the semifinals. Alexander led 44-31 at halftime and blew the game open in the third quarter by outscoring Woodward Academy 29-19. Braedan Lue scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures. The Cougars also got 19 points from Gregory Dunson, 13 from Torian Greene, 11 from Jermaine Freeman and 10 from Chris Hutchinson. Both of Alexander’s losses this season came against teams that will be playing in the finals this week – Class 4A Holy Innocents’ and Class 7A McEachern.
*Riverwood recovers from setback: The Riverwood boys team (24-7) finished in a tie with St. Pius for first place in Region 4 and spent most of the season in the top 10, but the Raiders didn’t make things easy on themselves with losses to Marist and North Atlanta that dropped them out of the rankings and relegated them to a No. 4 seed for the state playoffs. That meant they would have to play all of their playoff games on the road. Riverwood was up to the challenge, however, winning at third-ranked Gainesville, Evans and Woodstock before defeating Jonesboro 79-63 in the semifinals in Carrollton to reach the championship game for the first time in school history. Six-foot-2 guard Karris Bilal, a Vanderbilt signee ranked as the No. 22 senior in Georgia by the 247Sports Composite, scored 18 of his game-high 30 points in the first half as the Raiders built a 36-27 halftime lead, and Jonesboro never got closer than five points in the second half. J.R. Leonard added 22 points.
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