Here are Class 7A standings for girls basketball with commentary on where things might be headed in each region with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
Cherokee, Norcross and Buford clinched the No. 1 seed for their region tournaments Tuesday.
Region tournaments determine seeds for the state tournament, which begins Feb. 21. The GHSA brackets show that the first round will pair regions 1 vs. 2, 3 vs. 4, 5 vs. 6 and 7 vs 8.
Region 1: Valdosta lost at Lowndes 57-47 on Saturday but can clinch the No. 1 seed for the region tournament by beating Colquitt County on the road Saturday. The No. 1 seed will host the region tournament. Lowndes is the defending region champion. Valdosta reached the Class 6A semifinals in 2019 and 2020.
Region 2: Pebblebrook ended Campbell’s 19-game winning streak Saturday with a 66-45 victory. They’ve split their two meetings and might be headed for a tie entering the region tournament.
Region 3: North Paulding beat Hillgrove 49-36 on Tuesday to complete a two-game region sweep of the Hawks and can clinch the No. 1 seed next Tuesday, Feb. 7, with a victory over McEachern. But Hillgrove - which has swept McEachern - remains alive. A three-way tie for first remains possibly if not likely since McEachern has home-court advantage next week. McEachern has played the tougher schedule (five losses to out-of-state teams) and owns the best pedigree (five state titles since 2012) among the three.
Region 4: Brookwood has won 14 straight since an early-December loss to Class 6A River Ridge and almost certainly will get the No. 1 seed. The Broncos beat No. 2 Archer 70-49 on Jan. 20 and plays Archer again Feb. 7. But Archer just took an overtime loss to Grayson on Tuesday, meaning the Tigers are now closer to third place than first. As noted last week, Brookwood was never much of a factor on a statewide level until three seasons ago. The Broncos have reached the quarters, semis and quarters the past three years.
Region 5: Cherokee beat second-place Walton 71-51 on Friday and can clinch the No. 1 seed by beating Kennesaw Mountain this Friday. Cherokee has made the quarterfinals or better each of the past five seasons but stands just outside the top 10 in the rankings. Cherokee has won region titles five of the past six seasons.
Region 6: South Forsyth clinched the No. 1 seed with a 64-48 victory over second-place Lambert on Tuesday and is 12-0 since Christmas. South Forsyth won its only region title in 2015.
Region 7: Norcross clinched the No. 1 seed Tuesday with a 51-38 victory over Peachtree Ridge. Norcross is the defending Class 7A champion. Peachtree Ridge has lost only to Norcross among in-state opponents this season.
Region 8: Buford clinched the No. 1 seed Tuesday with a 65-49 victory over Cengral Gwinnett. Buford lost its second game of the season Saturday to Wesleyan, a non-region opponent, 72-58.
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