Lovett, Carrollton, Walnut Grove, Westover, South Atlanta and other region-tournament upstarts created quandaries in the boys basketball rankings, causing 13 teams to enter the state tournament ranked higher than teams that beat them last week.
The most conspicuous are McDonough and Pace Academy, Class 4A’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams. Lovett shot them down to win the Region 5 tournament, beating McDonough 66-62 in the semifinals and Pace 62-60 in the final.
Lovett moved up two spots to No. 5, while McDonough and Pace kept their positions ahead of No. 3 Southwest DeKalb and No. 4 Fayette County, which won their region tournaments.
McDonough and Pace had been 2-0 against Lovett. McDonough is 8-4 against top-10 teams from all classes, while Pace is 6-2 and played a national schedule that included seven mostly elite out-of-state teams. No. 3 Southwest DeKalb and Fayette County are each 1-2 against top-10 Georgia teams from all classes.
Nonetheless, No. 1 McDonough will be seeded No. 3 from Region 5 and travel to Holy Innocents’ in the first round this week.
Also in Class 4A, Walnut Grove and Westover won region titles as underdogs but didn’t pass the teams they bested.
Walnut Grove is No. 9 despite defeating No. 6 Madison County and No. 10 North Oconee to win Region 8. Walnut Grove, formerly 0-4 against those teams, is 16-12 overall against one of the class’ toughest schedules.
Westover upset Bainbridge, ending the Bearcats’ 22-game winning streak, to win Region 1. Bainbridge, at No. 7, remains one spot higher than the Patriots in the rankings.
Another rankings conundrum involved Pebblebrook, which is No. 8 in Class 7A despite finishing fourth in Region 2. The Falcons lost to eventual champion Carrollton in the semifinals and to unranked Campbell in the third-place game last week but were 4-0 against them in the regular season while also scoring victories over No. 2 Grayson and No. 3 McEachern.
In Class 2A, North Cobb Christian and Drew Charter remained ranked but will travel in the first round as No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. Unranked South Atlanta, which finished fourth in the regular season, was the surprise Region 6 winner. Unranked Washington finished second.
Other top-10 teams getting a benefit of the doubt after losses to unranked teams in region tournaments were No. 7 Hughes, which lost to South Paulding in Class 6A; No. 8 Marist, which lost to Riverwood in 6A; Dutchtown, which lost to Union Grove in 5A; and No. 10 Tucker, which lost to Decatur in 5A.
In Class A Division I, Mount Bethel Christian stayed No. 2 despite a loss to No. 3 Mount Pisgah Christian in the Region 6-A Division I tournament.
St. Francis, also in that region, wound up No. 10 in A Division I despite an 11-14 record and a failure to make the state tournament. The Knights lost to No. 4 King’s Ridge Christian 48-47 in a region quarterfinal. Region 6 has the classification’s four highest-ranked teams.
The first round of the state tournament is scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday at the home courts of the higher-seeded teams.
Class 7A
1. Wheeler (21-6)
2. Grayson (21-5)
3. McEachern (21-6)
4. Norcross (23-4)
5. Newton (17-10)
6. Buford (20-6)
7. Carrollton (20-6)
8. Pebblebrook (17-10)
9. Cherokee (21-6)
10. South Gwinnett (18-9)
Class 6A
1. Alexander (22-5)
2. St. Pius (22-5)
3. Grovetown (18-8)
4. Jonesboro (22-3)
5. Lanier (23-4)
6. Etowah (19-8)
7. Hughes (19-8)
8. Marist (19-8)
9. South Paulding (21-7)
10. Blessed Trinity (21-6)
Class 5A
1. Eagle’s Landing (25-1)
2. Kell (23-2)
3. Hiram (23-2)
4. Dutchtown (20-8)
5. Chapel Hill (20-8)
6. Mays (19-8)
7. Tri-Cities (17-10)
8. Maynard Jackson (17-8)
9. Warner Robins (17-7)
10. Tucker (19-7)
Class 4A
1. McDonough (24-4)
2. Pace Academy (20-7)
3. Southwest DeKalb (25-2)
4. Fayette County (22-5)
5. Lovett (19-9)
6. Madison County (25-3)
7. Bainbridge (25-2)
8. Westover (19-7)
9. Walnut Grove (16-12)
10. North Oconee (22-6)
Class 3A
1. Sandy Creek (21-6)
2. Johnson-Savannah (22-4)
3. Monroe Area (23-4)
4. Cross Creek (16-10)
5. Cedar Grove (16-9)
6. Dougherty (15-11)
7. Monroe (20-7)
8. Beach (22-5)
9. Wesleyan (20-7)
10. Upson-Lee (20-6)
Class 2A
1. Columbia (27-1)
2. Westside-Augusta (20-7)
3. Providence Christian (23-4)
4. Spencer (23-4)
5. Putnam County (21-6)
6. Butler (17-9)
7. Windsor Forest (21-6)
8. Thomson (16-8)
9. North Cobb Christian (20-6)
10. Drew Charter (20-7)
Class A Division I
1. Mount Vernon (20-8)
2. Mount Bethel Christian (18-7)
3. Mount Pisgah Christian (19-8)
4. King’s Ridge Christian (18-10)
5. Darlington (22-3)
6. Social Circle (17-10)
7. Woodville-Tompkins (18-9)
8. Athens Christian (15-9)
9. Temple (22-5)
10. St. Francis (11-14)
Class A Division II
1. Greenforest Christian (17-7)
2. Christian Heritage (22-2)
3. Portal (26-1)
4. Macon County (25-2)
5. Wilkinson County (20-6)
6. Calhoun County (23-4)
7. Charlton County (25-2)
8. Manchester (20-5)
9. Mitchell County (23-4)
10. Chattahoochee County (21-6)
