The second round of the state tournament is Friday and Saturday. Girls play on Friday and boys on Sunday unless GHSA grants permission for a switch.
Three top-10 teams didn’t survive round one. Most surprising was Buford’s boys, ranked No. 6 and winners of Region 8. Berkmar - the Class 7A runner-up the past two years but only 14-15 this season - beat the Wolves 58-53 in Buford’s gym.
No. 3 McEachern beat No. 10 South Gwinnett 66-55 as McEachern’s Ace Bailey, who stands 6 feet, 10 inches, produced 17 points, 19 rebounds, 10 blocks, three steals and three assists.
The only ranked girls team to fall was No. 9 Hillgrove, beaten by No. 6 Archer.
This weekend, three of the round-of-16 games match ranked teams. They are No. 8 Peachtree Ridge at No. 4 South Forsyth and No. 7 North Paulding at No. 8 Pebblebrook (girls) and No. 8 Pebblebrook at No. 5 Newton (boys).
Below is the schedule with top-10 teams in bold.
The quarterfinals will be Tuesday and Wednesday, and that’s the first round in which same-seeded teams can meet. When that happens, the team listed higher on the draw gets home-court advantage because of a universal GHSA coin flip that took place Thursday.
That would mean that South Forsyth’s girls, ranked No. 4, would travel to No. 1 Brookwood if both win. It also means Wheeler’s boys, ranked No. 1, would travel to No. 3 McEachern.
GIRLS
R6 #2 Lambert at R7 #1 Norcross (No. 2)
R4 #2 Archer (No. 6) at R1 #1 Lowndes
R5 #2 Cherokee at R8 #1 Buford (No. 3)
R3 #2 North Paulding (No. 7) at R2 #1 Pebblebrook (No. 8)
R2 #2 Campbell at R3 #1 McEachern (No. 5)
R8 #2 Central Gwinnett at R5 #1 Walton
R2 #3 Carrollton at R4 #1 Brookwood (No. 1)
R7 #2 Peachtree Ridge (No. 8) at R6 #1 South Forsyth (No. 4)
BOYS
R5 #3 Osborne at R7 #1 Norcross (No. 4)
R2 #4 Pebblebrook (No. 8) at R4 #2 Newton (No. 5)
R7 #4 Berkmar at R5 #2 Cherokee (No. 9)
R4 #3 Parkview at R2 #1 Carrollton (No. 7)
R2 #2 Westlake at R3 #1 McEachern (No. 3)
R7 #3 North Gwinnett at R5 #1 Wheeler (No. 1)
R1 #2 Valdosta at R4 #1 Grayson (No. 2)
R5 #4 Walton at R7 #2 Peachtree Ridge
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