Basketball finals: 15 of 32 contenders seeking 1st state titles

Nearly half the 32 teams playing in state basketball championships this week have never won state titles, but seven defending champions and 13 No. 1-ranked teams stand in the way at the Wednesday-Saturday event at the Macon Coliseum.

Among those making their first finals appearances are Midtown’s girls, representing a school that dates to 1947 and formerly known as Grady. Midtown is part of an all-Atlanta Public Schools Class 5A final against Maynard Jackson, another of the 15 teams that have never won titles. Jackson was a runner-up in 2016.

The most eminent program in the finals is Grayson despite its history without championships. The Rams’ boys and girls teams are No. 1 in Class 7A and hold multiple top-20 national rankings. Grayson’s boys play No. 2 McEachern, which features the state’s top recruit, Ace Bailey. The girls play No. 6 North Paulding, a program making its first finals appearance.

Here is a closer look at 16 championship games.

First finals: Nine teams are in the finals for the first time. Those boys teams are Riverwood, North Oconee, Toombs County and Mount Vernon. Those girls teams are Grayson, North Paulding, North Forsyth, Midtown and Hardaway.

Never won: In addition to the nine first-timers, teams that can win their first state titles are Grayson’s boys, Holy Innocents’ boys, Paideia’s boys, Jackson’s girls, Galloway’s girls and Greenforest Christian’s girls.

Defending: The seven 2023 champions still playing are Alexander, Kell, Sandy Creek and Westside-Macon among boys and Hebron Christian, Mount Paran Christian and St. Francis among girls.

Best boys final: Grayson and McEachern are No. 12 and No. 13, respectively, in MaxPreps’ national rankings. McEachern’s Bailey and Grayson’s Gacurri Harris are GHSA’s top-rated prospects, both consensus top-100 players. Grayson beat McEachern 79-62 on Nov. 11. Neither has lost otherwise to an in-state opponent. They meet Saturday.

Best girls final: Hebron Christian, ranked No. 11 nationally by MaxPreps, has won 54 straight games against Georgia opposition. Hebron’s coach, Jan Azar, has a state-record 15 state titles. She won 13 of those at Wesleyan, which is Hebron’s opponent Friday. Hebron beat Wesleyan 65-58 in the 2023 semifinals.

Best boys players: McEachern’s Bailey, a Rutgers signee, is the consensus No. 2 player in the country. Grayson’s Harris is pledged to Purdue. Others to watch are Riverwood’s Karris Bilal (Vanderbilt), Alexander’s Braeden Lue (Kennesaw State), Kell’s C.J. Brown (South Florida), McEachern’s Jaye Nash (uncommitted) and Sandy Creek’s Micah Smith (James Madison).

Best players (girls): Georgia Tech signees Danielle Carnegie of Grayson, Chit Chat Wright of Wesleyan and Tianna Thompson of Gallaway led their teams to the finals. Others to watch are Grayson’s Erin Rodgers (Florida Atlantic), St. Francis’ Sa’Mya Wyatt (Austin Peay), Wesleyan’s Bryanna Preston (Texas) and Marist’s Kate Harpring (sophomore who scored 45 in semifinal victory over defending 6A champion River Ridge).

Rematches: The Kell-Eagle’s Landing Class 5A boys final and the St. Francis-Galloway Class A Division II girls final are rematches from last year’s title games that Kell and St. Francis won. St. Francis is 5-0 the past two seasons against Galloway, but their 2023 final went overtime. The boys A Division I final also has region rivals Mount Vernon and Paideia. They’ve split two games this season.

Unranked: Three boys teams reached the finals as unranked teams. Riverwood, a fourth-place finisher in its region, has won four games away from home to reach the Class 6A final against No. 1 Alexander. Johnson-Savannah in 3A and Manchester in A Division II also are unranked. The girls’ brackets were far more predictable as 15 of 16 teams finished ranked in the top three, all but North Paulding.

Doubling up: Grayson and Greenforest Christian of Class A Division II can sweep state titles, something that has happened 22 previous times, most recently Kell in 2023.

To see it: Tickets are $15 and must be purchased on GoFan. The games are not on TV and can be streamed live through NFHS Network.

Schedule:

Wednesday

1 p.m. - A Division II girls (No. 1 Greenforest Christian vs. No. 2 Montgomery County)

3 p.m. - A Division II boys (No. 1 Greenforest Christian vs. Manchester)

5 p.m. - 4A girls (No. 2 Hardaway vs. No. 1 Baldwin)

7 p.m. - 4A boys (No. 4 Holy Innocents’ vs. No. 3 North Oconee)

Thursday

1 p.m. - 2A girls (No. 1 Mount Paran Christian vs. No. 2 Josey)

3 p.m. - 2A boys (No. 1 Westside-Augusta vs. No. 4 Toombs County)

5 p.m. – Co-ed 3-point contest

5:30 p.m. - 5A girls (No. 3 Midtown vs. No. 2 Maynard Jackson)

7:30 p.m. - 5A boys (No. 1 Kell vs. No. 2 Eagles Landing)

Friday

1 p.m. - 3A girls (No. 2 Wesleyan vs. No. 1 Hebron Christian)

3 p.m. - 3A boys (Johnson-Savannah vs. No. 1 Sandy Creek)

5 p.m. - Girls 3-point contest

5:30 p.m. - 6A girls (No. 3 Marist vs. No. 2 North Forsyth)

7:30 p.m. - 6A boys (Riverwood vs. No. 1 Alexander)

Saturday

11 am - A Division I girls (No. 1 St. Francis vs. No. 2 Galloway)

1 p.m. - A Division I boys (No. 1 Mount Vernon vs. No. 6 Paideia)

3 p.m. - AAASP (Clayton County vs. Houston County)