Only two Class 6A schools put both their boys and girls teams in the quarterfinals of the state basketball tournament, but at least one of them will suffer a postseason defeat when Westlake travels to Kell for a doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Marietta.
Westlake’s girls (17-0 and ranked No. 1) are seeking their fourth consecutive state championship, winning the past three in 7A before moving down this season in reclassification. The Lions have not lost a game in Georgia during their championship reign. Westlake cruised through the first two rounds, defeating Northside-Warner Robins 85-30 and Brunswick 84-36.
The Lions are led by Raven Johnson, the 2020 AJC all-classification player of the year. Johnson, who averages 15.4 points, six assists, 4.7 rebounds and four steals, is a South Carolina signee who was recently named a McDonald’s All-American.
The fifth-ranked Kell girls (25-3) have won 16 consecutive games since a 70-66 loss to No. 7 Sprayberry on Jan. 8. Only one game during the winning streak – a 58-54 victory over Sprayberry in the Region 6 championship game – was decided by fewer than 11 points. The Longhorns have beaten Creekview 51-37 and Habersham Central 50-32 in the playoffs. Kell lost to Buford in the Class 5A championship game in 2020. Crystal Henderson was a first-team all-state selection as a freshman last year.
On the boys’ side, No. 2 Kell (20-6) comes in as the higher-ranked team. The Longhorns beat No. 1 Wheeler 78-71 in overtime to win the Region 6 championship and avenge two close regular-season losses. Kell edged River Ridge 58-56 in the first round of the playoffs and beat No. 5 Shiloh 63-55 in Round 2.
Scoot Henderson, Crystal’s brother, is the No. 14-rated player nationally among juniors. His jumper with 24 seconds remaining provided the winning points against River Ridge. He scored 18 against the Knights and 13 points against Shiloh.
Westlake (16-3) has quietly moved into the rankings at the No. 9 spot by winning 12 of 13 games since a 4-2 start. Westlake is the No. 1 seed out of Region 4, which did not have a region tournament, and has beaten Northside-Warner Robins 66-50 and Heritage-Conyers 71-69 in overtime in the state tournament. The Lions trailed Heritage 22-7 after the first quarter and 33-20 at halftime and still trailed by 10 with minutes remaining but rallied to tie the game at 60-60 to force overtime.
Two unranked teams – the Lee County boys and Grovetown girls – made it to the 6A quarterfinals.
Lee County’s boys (16-10), the Region 1 champions, followed up their first-round victory over Hughes with a 55-52 overtime win over Brunswick on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since the program won its only state title in 1985. M.J. Taylor, who finished with 18 points, hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer and made a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force the extra period. Lee County will host third-ranked Chattahoochee this week. Chattahoochee rallied to beat Buford 76-72 in overtime in the second round behind 25 points from A.J. White.
Grovetown, which opened in 2009, has a basketball team in the quarterfinals for the first time in school history after its girls defeated Richmond Hill and Lee County in the first two rounds. Grovetown (12-7), the No. 2 seed from Region 3, led Lee County 38-18 at halftime Saturday and held on for a 60-52 victory. The Warriors will travel to No. 10 River Ridge at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The only No. 3 seed remaining in either bracket is the sixth-ranked Hughes girls team, which joins fellow Region 4 teams Westlake and Lovejoy in the quarterfinals. The Panthers defeated Houston County 45-30 and No. 9 Rockdale County 61-55 in the first two rounds.
*State tournament scores, matchups:
Girls
Second round
Hughes 66, Rockdale County 55
Carrollton 64, Sequoyah 43
Buford 90, Sprayberry 63
Lovejoy 48, Statesboro 31
River Ridge 55, Rome 42
Grovetown 60, Lee County 52
Westlake 84, Brunswick 36
Kell 50, Habersham Central 32
Quarterfinals
(R4 #3) Hughes at (R5 #1) Carrollton
(R4 #2) Lovejoy at (R8 #1) Buford
(R3 #2) Grovetown at (R7 #1) River Ridge
(R4 #1) Westlake at (R6 #1) Kell
Boys
Second round
Evans 63, Tucker 50
Centennial 66, Winder-Barrow 58
Wheeler 77, Lanier 64
Richmond Hill 42, North Atlanta 39
Chattahoochee 76, Buford 72
Lee County 55, Brunswick 52
Westlake 71, Heritage-Conyers 69
Kell 63, Shiloh 55
Quarterfinals
(R7 #2) Centennial at (R3 #1) Evans
(R6 #2) Wheeler at (R2 #1) Richmond Hill
(R7 #1) Chattahoochee at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R4 #1) Westlake at (R6 #1) Kell
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