The Grovetown boys team and the Lovejoy girls will put their championship reigns on the line when the Class 6A basketball state tournament begins Tuesday night.
Grovetown won its first state championship in 2022 and enters this year’s playoffs ranked No. 3 in Class 6A. The Warriors (18-8) started the season 4-8 against a schedule filled with out-of-state opponents and Class 7A powers like McEachern, Buford, Newton and Wheeler. Once region play began, however, the Warriors hit their stride, winning 14 consecutive games in claiming the regular-season title and the tournament championship in Region 2-6A. Grovetown defeated Evans and Brunswick by an average of 31 points in the region tournament last week.
Grovetown will host Houston County in the first round.
Lovejoy’s girls (22-5), also ranked No. 3, are seeking their third state championship in six seasons. The Wildcats tied for first place in rugged Region 3-6A, but a loss to Rockdale County in the tournament semifinals relegated them to a No. 3 seed for the state playoffs. That likely means Lovejoy will have to work their way back to the finals without playing at home. Lovejoy will play its first-round game at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Riverwood.
Lovejoy is just one of three reigning state champions in the Class 6A field. Woodward Academy won the title in 5A last season, and Marist won in 4A. Both moved up to 6A during reclassification.
First-round games continue Wednesday, with the second round to follow on Friday and Saturday.
Here’s a look at the tournament.
Girls
*The favorites: River Ridge (22-5), seeking its first state championship, is No. 1 heading into the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Last year, the Knights were knocked out by eventual champion Lovejoy 71-59 in the quarterfinals and finished as the No. 2-ranked team. If River Ridge falls short, look for one of the quartet from Region 3 to win the championship. No. 2 Rockdale County, No. 3 Lovejoy, No. 4 Woodward Academy and No. 7 Forest Park have been ranked among the top seven teams all season.
*Best first-round game – Forest Park at Marist, 6 p.m. Tuesday: Region 4 champion Marist is unranked despite a 23-game winning streak and a 24-2 record. The War Eagles are probably the best team outside the top 10, but they got the toughest draw of any first-place team. Forest Park was ranked No. 4 in 6A before losses to Woodward Academy and Lovejoy in the Region 3 tournament dropped them to No. 7 in the rankings and a No. 4 seed. Marist was the 4A champion in 2022, and Forest Park was the 5A runner-up.
*A look at the bracket: The ranked teams are dispersed fairly evenly across the bracket, with each quarter containing either two or three top-10 teams. That could lead to some outstanding second-round matchups – No. 4 Woodward Academy vs. No. 5 Brunswick, No. 3 Lovejoy vs. No. 8 Veterans, and No. 7 Forest Park vs. No. 10 Tift County – provided they all advance. New Manchester, Woodstock, Gainesville and Sprayberry, in the upper left quadrant, wouldn’t meet a ranked opponent before the quarterfinals.
Boys
The favorites: Top-ranked Alexander (22-5) is seeking its first championship. The Cougars have lost five games, but three came against out-of-state opponents and one came against Class 7A No. 2 Grayson, 64-60 on Dec. 3. Alexander’s only loss to a Class 6A team was a 56-52 overtime loss to No. 7 Hughes on Feb. 7. No. 2 St. Pius (22-5) has won 11 consecutive games since a one-point loss to No. 8 Marist on Jan. 10. Defending champion Grovetown has steadily climbed in the rankings and is primed for another title run.
*Best first-round game – Tift County at Brunswick, 6 p.m. Wednesday: Neither teams is among the top 10 in the AJC rankings, but Brunswick (21-6) is No. 12 and Tift County (20-6) is No. 14 in the MaxPreps rankings. This is the only first-round game in Class 6A that matches 20-win teams. Tift County finished in second place in Region 1 but lost to Veterans in the region tournament semifinals and settled for the No. 3 seed. Brunswick was the No. 2 team behind Grovetown in the Region 2 regular season and tournament.
*A look at the bracket: The toughest quadrant is the lower left, which includes four top-10 teams. The second-round games there could match No. 5 Lanier against No. 9 South Paulding and No. 3 Grovetown against No. 8 Marist. The other three quadrants include two ranked teams each. On the right side of the bracket, No. 1 Alexander and No. 2 St. Pius are on a path to meet in the semifinals. Alexander has No. 4 Jonesboro in its quadrant, and St. Pius has No. 6 Etowah in its group. In the top left quadrant, No. 7 Hughes could meet No. 10 Blessed Trinity in the second round.
*First-round state tournament matchups:
Girls
(R5 #3) New Manchester at (R6 #2) Woodstock
(R8 #4) Gainesville at (R7 #1) Sprayberry
(R3 #3) Lovejoy at (R4 #2) Riverwood
(R2 #4) Glynn Academy at (R1 #1) Veterans
(R6 #3) Sequoyah at (R5 #2) Douglas County
(R7 #4) Pope at (R8 #1) North Forsyth
(R4 #3) St. Pius at (R3 #2) Woodward Academy
(R1 #4) Thomas County Central at (R2 #1) Brunswick
(R1 #3) Lee County at R2 #2) South Effingham
(R4 #4) Lakeside-DeKalb at (R3 #1) Rockdale County
(R7 #3) Lassiter at (R8 #2) Habersham Central
(R6 #4) Rome at (R5 #1) Hughes
(R2 #3) Grovetown at (R1 #2) Tift County
(R3 #4) Forest Park at (R4 #1) Marist
(R8 #3) Shiloh at (R7 #2) Blessed Trinity
(R5 #4) Alexander at (R6 #1) River Ridge
Boys
(R5 #3) Hughes at (R6 #2) River Ridge
(R8 #4) North Forsyth at (R7 #1) Blessed Trinity
(R3 #3) Woodward Academy at (R4 #2) Riverwood
(R2 #4) Evans at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R6 #3) Sequoyah at (R5 #2) South Paulding
(R7 #4) Sprayberry at (R8 #1) Lanier
(R4 #3) Marist at (R3 #2) Lovejoy
(R1 #4) Houston County at (R2 #1) Grovetown
(R1 #3) Tift County at R2 #2) Brunswick
(R4 #4) South Cobb at (R3 #1) Jonesboro
(R7 #3) Alpharetta at (R8 #2) Shiloh
(R6 #4) Rome at (R5 #1) Alexander
(R2 #3) Lakeside-Evans at (R1 #2) Veterans
(R3 #4) Rockdale County at (R4 #1) St. Pius
(R8 #3) Habersham Central at (R7 #2) Pope
(R5 #4) Paulding County at (R6 #1) Etowah
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