Top-ranked Sandy Creek’s 68-22 second-round victory against Wesleyan and No. 2-ranked Johnson-Savannah’s 78-54 victory against Crisp County set up a matchup between two of the top boys programs in Class 3A.
Welcome to the quarterfinals, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sandy Creek was led by Vic Newsome (18 points) and Micah Smith (10) against Wesleyan. Antonio Baker led Johnson with 24 points, six assists and six rebounds. Malachi Robinson scored 15 points with 12 rebounds and four assists.
The highly ranked matchup clearly is one of the feature games of the tournament. Here’s the breakdown:
Boys
Best boys quarterfinals matchups: Sandy Creek at Johnson-Savannah is the only meeting between No. 1-No. 2 teams in the quarterfinals and features the higher-ranked team traveling four hours. For the winner? A trip to Fort Valley State for the semifinals. Sandy Creek (23-6) has been ranked at the top all season; Johnson (25-4) No. 2. Two former champions – No. 5-ranked Cedar Grove and an unranked Douglass – are still alive on the left side of the bracket. Douglass will travel to No. 6 Dougherty and Cedar Grove will host Long County. Cedar Grove has one state title – Class 2A in 1997. Douglass won the 4A championship in 1984.
Second-round close calls/upsets: Hart County’s 68-60 victory against Adairsville was a 3-seed over a 1-seed and marked the biggest “upset,” if you want to call it that. Terrance Mitchell scored 24 points with 13 rebounds, two steals and one assist to lead the Hart. Keelan Stowers scored 16 points with four assists, two rebounds and two steals, and Tahj Johnson finished with seven points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks.
Who wins the title? It’s hard to call right now with a matchup like Sandy Creek and Johnson on the horizon. And with Cross Creek and Hart County lurking on the same side of the bracket, it makes for a tough selection. Sandy Creek seems like the easy and proper choice.
Girls
Best quarterfinals girls matchups: No. 3 Cross Creek at home against No. 4 Lumpkin County garners attention. Cross Creek won the 3A title in 2021, and Lumpkin County is the defending champion. No. 2-ranked Wesleyan will be at home against No. 6 Carver-Columbus, the 2019 and 2021 4A champion. Wesleyan has 13 state titles and won back-to-back A Private championships in 2017-2018.
Second-round close calls/upsets: No. 9-ranked Mary Persons, the Region 2 No. 1 seed, narrowly defeated Region 3 No. 2 Liberty County 47-43. Cross Creek struggled against No. 10 Monroe in its 52-49.
Who wins the title? With top-ranked Hebron Christian (29-0) and No. 2-ranked Wesleyan (26-3) facing different quarterfinal matchups, but on the left side of the bracket, it’s a difficult decision. Add in No. 8 Calvary Day, No. 3 Cross Creek and No. 4 and defending-champion Lumpkin County on the right side of the bracket, the difficulty increases. Hebron has been on top all season and seems like the easy, yet proper choice.
Class 3A Boys Quarterfinals
R5 #3 Douglass at R1 #1 Dougherty
R3 #2 Long County at R5 #2 Cedar Grove
R5 #1 Sandy Creek at R3 #1 Johnson-Savannah
R8 #3 Hart County at R4 #1 Cross Creek
Class 3A Girls Quarterfinals
R1 #1 Carver-Columbus at R7 #1 Wesleyan
R2 #1 Mary Persons at R8 #1 Hebron Christian
R7 #3 Dawson County at R3 #1 Calvary Day
R7 #2 Lumpkin County at R4 #1 Cross Creek
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