Marietta and Brookwood clinched girls basketball region titles Tuesday night. McEachern and Colquitt County had big victories but them a leg up in their region races. Cherokee and Woodstock will have a championship game Friday night for the Region 5 title after finishing tied in the regular season.
Below is a look at each Class 7A region race. Regions 1, 6, 7 and 8 will have region tournaments next week to decide their four state qualifiers. Regions 2, 3, 4 and 5 have canceled their regions tournaments over COVID-19 concerns and will seed their four state-playoff teams based on regular-season standings.
Region 1 – Colquitt County (12-6, 5-1) clinched the No. 1 seed for next week’s region tournament with a 47-45 victory over No. 9 Tift County (10-2, 3-2) on Tuesday night in Tifton. They’ll likely meet again next week for the region title. The girls finals will be played at Lowndes on Thursday. Tift is the defending champion. Colquitt won in 2019 and 2017.
Region 2 – No. 3 McEachern (13-4, 6-0) beat No. 2 Campbell (11-2, 4-1) 58-44 on Tuesday, ending Campbell’s nine-game winning streak to move into first place, but the two will meeting again Saturday at McEachern. There will be no Region 2 tournament, so the leader in the regular-season standings will be the No. 1 seed. McEachern has won five straight region titles. Campbell last won a region title in 2011. Campbell made the semifinals last season. McEachern made the quarterfinals.
Region 3 – No. 5 Marietta (16-5, 9-1) clinched the region title Tuesday night with a 56-47 victory over Harrison. It marks the Blue Devils’ first region title since 2009. It’s the team’s sixth straight win.
Region 4 – Unranked Brookwood (13-7, 6-2) won the region title Tuesday night with a 66-47 victory over second-place Newton (5-8, 3-2). It’s Brookwood’s second region title in three seasons. The Broncos made the state quarterfinals –their best finish in history - last season.
Region 5 – No. 4 Cherokee (21-3, 9-1) and Woodstock (18-7, 9-1) finished tied after Woodstock completed its regular season Tuesday night with a 58-28 victory over Roswell. There’s no region tournament, so the two Cherokee County rivals will meet Friday night at Etowah (neutral site) for the region title. Both are playing well. [Updated: Cherokee won Friday, earning the No. 1 state seed.] Cherokee has won eight straight. Woodstock has won six straight. Cherokee beat Woodstock 72-46 on Jan. 22 but lost 51-46 on Jan. 11. Cherokee has gone to state as a No. 1 seed each of the previous four seasons and made the state semifinals last year. Woodstock most recently was a region champion in 2016.
Region 6 – No. 8 North Forsyth (19-4, 11-1) and No. 7 West Forsyth (17-6, 11-1) won their final regular-season games Tuesday night. Region 6 is having a tournament, so this story will be continued next week. North Forsyth has won three straight region titles. West Forsyth last won in 2016. North Forsyth made the quarterfinals last season.
Region 7 – No. 6 Norcross (16-6, 11-0) has clinched the No. 1 seed for next week’s tournament. The Blue Devils will finish their regular season Wednesday night against Duluth. Archer (15-8, 8-2) is in second. Norcross has won region titles six of the past seven seasons, including in 2020. Norcross made the state quarterfinals last season.
Region 8 – No. 1-ranked Collins Hill (19-1, 6-0) will be the No. 1 seed for next week’s tournament. Collins Hill has won region titles each of the past three seasons. Collins Hill was the 2020 runner-up to Westlake, now in Class 6A.
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