All 10 ranked girls teams and nine of the top 10 boys teams advanced out of the first round of the Class 6A basketball playoffs.
Now, they get to start knocking each other off.
Five games in the second round, to be played Friday and Saturday, will match top-10 opponents. The girls games include No. 6 Hughes at No. 9 Rockdale County, No. 7 Sprayberry at No. 2 Buford, and No. 4 Lovejoy at No. 8 Statesboro. All of those games come from the left half of the bracket. For the boys, the matchups will include No. 1 Wheeler at No. 7 Lanier and No. 5 Shiloh at No. 2 Kell.
The first round went mostly as expected on the girls’ side, with 15 of the 16 higher-seeded teams advancing. The exception was Hughes’ 45-30 victory at Houston County on Wednesday night. That was hardy an upset, though, as Hughes is ranked No. 6 in the state.
The first-round average margin of victory for the girls was 24.9 points, with only three games – Sequoyah over Pope 68-61, Lee County over Lakeside-DeKalb 40-31, and Habersham Central over Douglas County 52-45 – decided by fewer than 10 points.
The boys games were considerably more competitive, with an average margin of 12.1 points and seven games decided by fewer than 10 points.
Winder-Barrow pulled of the upset of the first round when it knocked out eighth-ranked Douglas County 64-56 in overtime. The victory made Winder-Barrow the only No. 4 seed left standing in Class 6A, and it capped off a four-game sweep for Region 8′s boys teams against Region 5.
Four No. 3-seeded boys teams also advanced. They were Tucker, which beat Valdosta 60-56; Buford, which beat Alexander 66-64; Brunswick, which beat Grovetown 77-70; and Heritage-Conyers, which rolled past Statesboro 81-57.
There were some fantastic finishes, as well. Fourth-ranked Evans, leading 65-64, survived three chances at the rim by Effingham County in the closing seconds and eventually won 67-64. Buford held on to win 66-64 when Alexander missed a tip-in of a missed free throw with less than a second remaining. And second-ranked Kell beat River Ridge 58-56 on a jumper by Scoot Henderson with 24 seconds left.
*State tournament scores, matchups:
Girls
First round
Hughes 45, Houston County 30
Rockdale County 72, Glynn Academy 31
Sequoyah 68, Pope 61
Carrollton 68, Lanier 33
Sprayberry 76, Cambridge 63
Buford 81, Alexander 45
Lovejoy 60, Valdosta 25
Statesboro 59, Heritage-Conyers 34
Rome 68, Dacula 42
River Ridge 72, Kennesaw Mountain 39
Grovetown 54, Richmond Hill 36
Lee County 40, Lakeside-DeKalb 31
Brunswick 68, Evans 39
Westlake 85, Northside-Warner Robins 30
Habersham Central 52, Douglas County 45
Kell 51, Creekview 37
Second round
(R4 #3) Hughes at (R3 #1) Rockdale County
(R7 #2) Sequoyah at (R5 #1) Carrollton
(R6 #2) Sprayberry at (R8 #1) Buford
(R4 #2) Lovejoy at (R2 #1) Statesboro
(R5 #2) Rome at (R7 #1) River Ridge
(R3 #2) Grovetown at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R2 #2) Brunswick at (R4 #1) Westlake
(R8 #2) Habersham Central at (R6 #1) Kell
Boys
First round
Tucker 60, Valdosta 56
Evans 67, Effingham County 64
Centennial 72, South Cobb 58
Winder-Barrow 64, Douglas County 56
Wheeler 75, Sequoyah 59
Lanier 71, South Paulding 43
North Atlanta 53, Houston County 44
Richmond Hill 76, Rockdale County 58
Buford 66, Alexander 64
Chattahoochee 68, Pope 60
Brunswick 77, Grovetown 70
Lee County 67, Hughes 52
Heritage-Conyers 81, Statesboro 57
Westlake 66, Northside-Warner Robins 50
Shiloh 67, Dalton 47
Kell 58, River Ridge 56
Second round
(R4 #3) Tucker at (R3 #1) Evans
(R8 #4) Winder-Barrow at (R7 #2) Centennial
(R6 #2) Wheeler at (R8 #1) Lanier
(R4 #2) North Atlanta at (R2 #1) Richmond Hill
(R8 #3) Buford at (R7 #1) Chattahoochee
(R2 #3) Brunswick at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R3 #3) Heritage-Conyers at (R4 #1) Westlake
(R8 #2) Shiloh at (R6 #1) Kell
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