This weekend, the semifinalists will play for their ticket to the 2A championships, which will be held on Thursday, March 11 at the Macon Centreplex, with the girls tipping off at noon and the boys playing immediately after, with a scheduled start of 2:30 p.m.
Before we get to the previews, let’s take one last look at my predictions made before the tournament began. We’ll start this time with the girls because, well, I don’t think I’ve ever predicted a bracket more incorrectly in all of my time doing this.
Let’s look at the carnage...
(For the latest 2A girls bracket with scores, visit GHSA.net.)
Credit: Predictions by Adam Krohn
Credit: Predictions by Adam Krohn
I said the girls’ side would be wide open, but I didn’t realize to this extent. For starters, we have a semifinalist — the Josey Lady Eagles — who entered the tournament unranked. None of the teams in the top three made it past the quarterfinals, and the Washington County Lady Golden Hawks are the only team in the top five to advance to the semis. So, it wasn’t just me who got 2A wrong — it’s the pollsters too.
Just hours after I wrote that the top-ranked Elbert County Lady Blue Devils were, “unquestionably the team to beat at this point,” they went out and lost 46-45 to Josey, the No. 2 seed from Region 4. Details of the win are scant, but the Lady Eagles tweeted this out:
It was an incredible ride for the Lady Blue Devils, who burst onto the scene this season behind the play of an exciting nucleus of sophomores. As long as this group stays together and healthy, the Lady Blue Devils should be considered title contenders for at least the next two seasons.
The Lady Eagles’ rivals in Region 4, the No. 7 Butler Lady Bulldogs, held on to beat No. 10 Columbia 56-55 on the road. So, the possibility of an all 4-2A championship remains.
Then there’s the team I had picked to win it all, the No. 2 Early Lady Bobcats. They fell 66-64 at home to No. 6 Fannin County. That brings to an end the remarkable prep career of Makayla Timpson, who is ranked as one of the top 50 players in the class of ‘21. A Florida State signee, Timpson had 37 points (including 11-for-13 from the free throw line), 21 rebounds, four steals and three blocks in her final game for the Lady Bobcats.
The one semifinalist I correctly pegged were the No. 4 Lady Golden Hawks, who blew past unranked Callaway 71-46.
At this late stage, I’m running out of opportunities to get picks wrong. I’ll take Washington County and Fannin County in the championship, with the Lady Golden Hawks winning.
Girls semifinals capsules
Josey Lady Eagles (18-6) at Washington County Lady Golden Hawks (17-1)
When: 6 p.m. Friday
Seeds, rankings: Josey is the No. 1 seed from Region 4 and unranked; Washington County is the No. 1 seed from Region 3 and No. 4.
Notes: In The Year of COVID, it’s only fitting that an unranked team that also didn’t win its region is still in contention for a state title. Though the Lady Eagles don’t have the greatest of credentials this particular season, they’ve been in the playoff picture for years. They’ve qualified for the tournament every season since 2014 and, more recently, finished runners-up in 2018 and quarterfinalists in 2019. The Lady Golden Hawks, who last season advanced to the quarterfinals, are in the semis for the first time since 2012, when they finished 3A runners-up a year after winning that classification’s title.
Butler Lady Bulldogs (21-4) at Fannin County Lady Rebels (22-4)
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Seeds, rankings: Butler is the No. 1 seed from Region 4 and No. 7; Fannin County is the No. 1 seed from Region 8 and ranked No. 6.
Notes: Though this marks the seventh time the Lady Rebels have reached the semifinals, the school said this is the first time they’ve ever hosted the game. The GHSA wasn’t hosting semifinals at a neutral site back in 2004, when they last made the semis as members of 3A. The Lady Bulldogs are in the semis for the first time since 1978, which was their only other appearance. Brionna Sims’ free throw was the difference in their quarterfinals win over Columbia. The Augusta Chronicle’s Wynston Wilcox has a game story.
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And now onto the boys. For the latest 2A boys bracket with scores, visit GHSA.net.
Credit: Predictions by Adam Krohn
Credit: Predictions by Adam Krohn
This bracket fared much better than the girls’ side. Three of my four semifinalists advanced, and I would have been 4-for-4 had I stuck with my gut on Columbia. As I mentioned here previously, I ultimately picked against the Eagles because I didn’t feel confident in picking three teams from Region 6 to get this far — but that’s exactly what happened.
The Eagles edged Washington County 49-47 on the road Wednesday to advance. I initially had Westlake coming out of the upper-left quadrant, but the Patriots lost in Round 2 to Washington County.
Aside from that quadrant, everything else went as predicted...mostly. I missed on two Round 1 games in the upper-right quadrant, but correctly picked Thomasville as its winner. As it would turn out, Thomasville beat Rabun County, of all teams, 64-53 to reach the semis. The Wildcats’ improbable run ends their season on a high note after they started 0-10 and had a separate six-game losing streak. The Wildcats (9-21) were in the quarters for just the second time in program history, with the first coming way back in 1951.
Lovett and Pace Academy also came out of their quadrants alive, and if the Knights win next round — they are heavy favorites — there will be an all-Region 6 final between the Knights and one of Columbia or Lovett. The Lions toppled 2A defending champions Statesboro 80-68 on the road, and the Knights beat Butler 58-44 at home.
Boys semifinals capsules
Columbia Eagles (20-6) at Lovett Lions (20-7)
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Seeds, rankings: Columbia is the No. 3 seed from Region 6 and ranked No. 7; Lovett is the No. 2 seed from Region 6 and ranked No. 4.
Notes: The Eagles are in the semis for the first time since 2014, which was the end of a dominant nine-year run between 3A and 4A that saw them win five state titles and finish runners-up four times. In their 49-47 quarterfinals win over Washington County on Wednesday, Kawasicki Ricks went coast-to-coast in the final 3.9 seconds to hit a bank shot from just inside the top of the key as the buzzer sounded, according to DeKalb athletics. Now they play a Lions team they’ve already beaten once this season, 64-59 on Jan. 15. The Lions would later beat them 72-59 in the 6-2A semifinals on Feb. 18. Lovett is in the semis for just the second time in program history, with the first coming in 2007.
Pace Academy Knights (26-1) at Thomasville Bulldogs (18-1)
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Seeds, rankings: Pace Academy is the No. 1 seed from Region 6 and No. 1; Thomasville is the No. 1 seed from Region 1 and No. 5.
Notes: The Knights lost the GHSA’s universal coin toss this round, meaning they’re the ones stuck with the four-hours-plus bus ride to basically Florida. The trip should serve as a warm-up for their travel routine to Macon the following week for the 2A title game. However, that doesn’t mean the Bulldogs are slouches. There are still holdovers from the 2018 Bulldogs championship team and, like the Knights, they’ve won all their playoff games thus far by double-digits — though they managed to advance this far without having to play a ranked team. The Knights beat No. 9 Banks County and No. 8 Butler in the second round and quarterfinals, respectively.
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