The four reigning state champions in the field for the Class 6A boys and girls basketball tournaments cruised to victories this week in a first round that was free of major upsets.
The Grovetown boys and the girls teams from Lovejoy, Woodward Academy and Marist won their playoff openers by an average 32 points to reach the second round, which will be played Friday and Saturday at the higher-seeded school.
Grovetown, which won the program’s first state championship in school history last year, advanced with a 75-47 victory over Houston County for its 15th consecutive victory. The Warriors are 19-8 after starting the season 4-8.
On the girls’ side, defending champion Lovejoy is one of three teams in the tournament that won state titles last season, thanks to the most recent reclassification. Woodward Academy moved up after winning the 5A title, and Marist jumped two classes after winning the championship in 4A. All three survived their first tests.
Third-ranked Lovejoy, which was seeded No. 1 in the Region 3 tournament but slid to the No. 3 seed for state when it lost to Rockdale County in the region semifinals, went on the road to defeat Riverwood 63-20 in the first round. Lovejoy was one of four girls teams to win first-round games on the road, joining Gainesville, Sequoyah and Lee County. Gainesville is the only fourth-seeded team, boys or girls, still alive. Lovejoy reached the semifinals five times in the previous six seasons and is seeking its third championship in six years.
Woodward Academy’s girls team, which also lost to Rockdale County in the Region 3 tournament and settled for the No. 2 seed, advanced with a 72-33 victory against private-school rival St. Pius. The War Eagles, ranked No. 4, are seeking their third consecutive state championship and sixth overall.
Marist, unranked despite a 25-2 record, won its first girls basketball championship last season with a thrilling 56-54 double-overtime victory against then-No. 1 Luella. The War Eagles defeated seventh-ranked Forest Park 51-33 on Tuesday, making Forest Park the only ranked girls team to lose in the first round.
It was an especially good first round for Marist, as the eighth-ranked boys team won at Lovejoy 72-50. The only other lower-seeded boys team to win in the first round was River Ridge, which knocked out seventh-ranked Hughes 53-50. Hughes is the only ranked boys team that has been eliminated.
All eight regions have at least one girls team and one boys team remaining in the tournament.
There will be four second-round games matching ranked teams, two on the boys’ side and two for the girls. The boys games include No. 9 South Paulding at No. 5 Lanier and No. 8 Marist at No. 3 Grovetown. The girls games matching ranked opponents are No. 3 Lovejoy at No. 8 Veterans and No. 4 Woodward Academy at No. 5 Brunswick.
Third-round games will be played Tuesday and Wednesday at the higher-seeded school or at the school listed higher on the bracket if the seeds are the same.
*State tournament scores, matchups:
Girls
First round
Woodstock 56, New Manchester 44
Gainesville 70, Sprayberry 66
Lovejoy 63, Riverwood 20
Veterans 62, Glynn Academy 27
Sequoyah 65, Douglas County 50
North Forsyth 67, Pope 57
Woodward Academy 72, St. Pius 33
Brunswick 71, Thomas County Central 36
Lee County 44, South Effingham 30
Rockdale County 71, Lakeside-DeKalb 23
Habersham Central 53, Lassiter 40
Hughes 55, Rome 36
Tift County 55, Grovetown 38
Marist 51, Forest Park 33
Blessed Trinity 67, Shiloh 36
River Ridge 70, Alexander 36
Second round
(R8 #4) Gainesville at (R6 #2) Woodstock
(R3 #3) Lovejoy at (R1 #1) Veterans
(R6 #3) Sequoyah at (R8 #1) North Forsyth
(R3 #2) Woodward Academy at (R2 #1) Brunswick
(R1 #3) Lee County at (R3 #1) Rockdale County
(R8 #2) Habersham Central at (R5 #1) Hughes
(R1 #2) Tift County at (R4 #1) Marist
(R7 #2) Blessed Trinity at (R6 #1) River Ridge
Boys
First round
River Ridge 53, Hughes 50
Blessed Trinity 68, North Forsyth 56
Riverwood 59, Woodward Academy 58
Lee County 61, Evans 49
South Paulding 56, Sequoyah 54
Lanier 67, Sprayberry 64
Marist 72, Lovejoy 50
Grovetown 75, Houston County 47
Brunswick 60, Tift County 57
Jonesboro 48, South Cobb 34
Shiloh 64, Alpharetta 51
Alexander 65, Rome 57
Lakeside-Evans 63, Veterans 59
St. Pius 56, Rockdale County 50
Pope 63, Habersham Central 56
Etowah 79, Paulding County 51
Second round
(R6 #2) River Ridge at (R7 #1) Blessed Trinity
(R4 #2) Riverwood at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R5 #2) South Paulding at (R8 #1) Lanier
(R4 #3) Marist at (R2 #1) Grovetown
(R2 #2) Brunswick at (R3 #1) Jonesboro
(R8 #2) Shiloh at (R5 #1) Alexander
(R2 #3) Lakeside-Evans at (R4 #1) St. Pius
(R7 #2) Pope at (R6 #1) Etowah
About the Author
