Kell, River Ridge and Sequoyah will each be represented by both their boys and girls basketball teams when the Class 6A playoffs resume this week with quarterfinal games Tuesday and Wednesday.
The top-ranked River Ridge girls will take part in the high-profile game of the quarterfinals when they travel to No. 2 Lovejoy for a 6:30 p.m. game Wednesday.
River Ridge (28-1) has won 21 consecutive games since its only loss, 63-58 to Class 7A No. 2 North Forsyth on Dec. 11. Lovejoy (25-3) has won 16 straight, outscoring its opponents by an average of 46 points during the streak.
River Ridge is led by junior guard Mataya Gayle, the Region 7 Player of the Year, while Lovejoy counters with Region 4 Player of the Year Bryanna Preston, a sophomore guard. Both are strong candidates for first-team all-state in Class 6A.
The sixth-ranked River Ridge boys defeated Valdosta 58-50 on the road in the second round and will host Hughes at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Hughes, the No. 3 seed from Region 4, is the only remaining Class 6A team, boys or girls, that did not finish first or second in its region tournament.
Kell’s girls team, ranked No. 3, survived a tough 57-50 battle against fourth-ranked Hughes last week to advance to a quarterfinal matchup with No. 10 Rome, which eliminated Region 3 champion Grovetown 60-42. Kell and Hughes were tied at 46 with less than two minutes left, but Crystal Henderson broke the tie with two free throws with 1:45 remaining and the Longhorns made 11 of 14 from the line down the stretch to pull away.
Kell’s boys knocked out fifth-ranked Tucker 76-61 to reach the quarterfinals for the third time in four seasons. It was the second consecutive 15-point victory in the playoffs for the Longhorns, who are unranked but reached the state final last season.
The Longhorns’ win sets up a quarterfinal matchup with No. 7 Sequoyah, which reached the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons with an 84-75 victory over Rockdale County. Sequoyah, which defeated Paulding County 135-112 in the first round, is the No. 1 seed from Region 7.
Sequoyah’s girls are in the quarterfinals for the first time since their 2016 team played in the semifinals. The Chiefs won at Houston County 49-39 to set up a matchup with Bradwell Institute. The Tigers, seeded No. 2 behind fifth-ranked Brunswick out of Region 2, defeated Dacula 53-45 on Saturday. Bradwell Institute is one of two unranked girls teams (Rockdale County is the other) remaining in the field.
Top-ranked Wheeler, a two-time defending state champion, picked up the biggest second-round win on the boys’ side, knocking off No. 2 Westlake 63-62. Wheeler trailed 62-58 with 33 seconds remaining, but Isaiah Collier converted a three-point play with 25 seconds left, and Arrinten Page’s dunk with eight seconds left was the game-winner.
“I said (Westlake) was going to come in and make shots, and they did,” Wheeler coach Larry Thompson told Anna Snyder of the Marietta Daily Journal. “I said those guys are going to come in and they are going to defend very well, and they did. And I said it was going to be one of those games where who has the ball last wins the basketball game. They had the ball last, we were just in a little better of a position on that possession than we had been all night.”
Wheeler will travel to eighth-ranked Grovetown for its quarterfinal game Tuesday night. The Warriors have cruised past Northside-Warner Robins (93-37) and No. 9 Alexander (78-54) in the first two rounds.
*State tournament scores, schedule:
Girls
Second round
Rockdale County 59, Carrollton 55
Brunswick 68, Buford 55
River Ridge 71, Lee County 34
Lovejoy 69, Sprayberry 53
Kell 57, Hughes 50
Rome 60, Grovetown 42
Bradwell Institute 53, Dacula 45
Sequoyah 49, Houston County 39
Quarterfinals
(R3 #2) Rockdale County at (R2 #1) Brunswick, 6 p.m. Tuesday
(R7 #1) River Ridge at (R4 #1) Lovejoy, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
(R5 #2) Rome at (R6 #1) Kell, 6 p.m. Tuesday
(R2 #2) Bradwell Institute at (R7 #2) Sequoyah, 6 p.m. Wednesday
Boys
Second round
Carrollton 76, Evans 72
Buford 62, Statesboro 51
Sequoyah 84, Rockdale County 75
Kell 76, Tucker 61
Wheeler 63, Westlake 62
Grovetown 78, Alexander 54
Hughes 57, Osborne 53
River Ridge 72, Valdosta 54
Quarterfinals
(R8 #2) Buford at (R5 #1) Carrollton, 7 p.m. Wednesday
(R6 #2) Kell at (R7 #1) Sequoyah, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
(R6 #1) Wheeler at (R3 #1) Grovetown, 7 p.m. Tuesday
(R4 #3) Hughes at (R7 #2) River Ridge, 7 p.m. Wednesday
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