Region 3 became the second Class 6A region to cancel its postseason basketball tournament when the league voted last week to call off the event.
Region 3 canceled its tournament because of the risk of potential COVID-19 exposure that could force a team to forfeit its first-round state tournament game if it had to be quarantined. Region tournaments traditionally are held to select and seed the four boys teams and four girls teams that represent each league in the state playoffs.
This year, the top three boys and girls seeds from Region 3 will be determined by the final regular-season standings, and the fourth- and fifth-place teams will play a “play-in game” to determine the No. 4 seed. Those play-in games will be held on Feb. 16, with the fourth-place teams hosting.
Evans has clinched the No. 1 seed on the boys’ side, followed by Grovetown and Heritage-Conyers. Rockdale County and Alcovy will battle it out for the No. 4 seed. Rockdale County has clinched the No. 1 seed for the girls, followed by Grovetown. Evans, Heritage and Lakeside-Evans are in the mix for the final two playoff berths.
Region 4 made the decision in January to cancel its tournament. The region has three of the top five ranked girls teams (No. 1 Westlake, No. 4 Lovejoy and No. 5 Hughes) as well as 2017 and 2018 boys state champion Hughes and 2019 boys runner-up Tucker.
*Top-10 battle: The Kell girls team moved into a tie for first place in Region 6 with a 75-69 victory over Sprayberry on Friday, handing Sprayberry its first loss in region play. Kell’s Crystal Henderson and Sprayberry’s Flau’Jae Johnson scored 39 points each. The teams also switched positions in the Class 6A rankings, with Kell moving from No. 7 to No. 6 and Sprayberry dropping from No. 6 to No. 7. Kell is 20-13 overall (13-1 in the region) and has won 11 consecutive games since a 70-66 loss to Sprayberry on Jan. 8. Sprayberry is 17-4 overall and 13-1 in the region. Kell is at Kennesaw Mountain and Sprayberry is at South Cobb on Tuesday.
*Regular-season races (boys): First place for the boys remains up for grabs in four of the eight regions in Class 6A. No. 1-ranked Wheeler and No. 2 Kell have one loss each in Region 6, and the winner of their game Friday at Kell is almost certain to finish in first place. Wheeler won 74-73 when the teams met on Jan. 15. No. 3 Chattahoochee and No. 7 Centennial are likely to settle the Region 7 race when they meet Saturday at Chattahoochee. Sixth-ranked Shiloh can secure first place in Region 8 with victories this week against Buford and Winder-Barrow. Statesboro can clinch sole possession of first place in Region 2 with a win Tuesday at Brunswick. Valdosta (Region 1), Evans (Region 3), Westlake (Region 4) and Douglas County (Region 5) have secured first place in their regions.
*Regular-season races (girls): The girls race for first place in Region 6, which will come down to Kell and Sprayberry, is the only one that hasn’t been settled in Class 6A. The teams that have secured first place in the other regions are Valdosta in Region 1, No. 8 Statesboro in Region 2, No. 9 Rockdale County in Region 3, No. 1 Westlake in Region 4, No. 3 Carrollton in Region 5, No. 10 River Ridge in Region 7 and No. 2 Buford in Region 8. Westlake, Buford and Statesboro are the only remaining unbeaten teams in 6A.
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