Class 7A blog: Grayson’s boys, McEachern’s girls get best playoff draws

Grayson’s boys and McEachern’s girls got the best draws among Class 7A teams for the state tournament as each of those top-10 teams have no other ranked teams in their quarters of the brackets.

Grayson’s boys, ranked No. 2, opens with Marietta, which is 5-23 on the season. Grayson is seeded to play unranked Lambert, the Region 6 champion, in the second round. Things would get tougher in the quarterfinals and beyond, however, as Grayson, No. 1 Wheeler and No. 3 McEachern are in the same half of the draw.

McEachern’s girls, ranked No. 5, open with South Gwinnett, which is 10-14, and are seeded to play unranked Walton, an 18-9 team that just won its first region title since 1983.

Tougher draws belong to McEachern’s boys, ranked No. 3, and South Forsyth’s girls, ranked No. 4. They could face No. 1-ranked teams (Wheeler’s boys, Brookwood’s girls) in the second round. That’s if they get by ranked opponents in the first round.

McEachern’s boys open against No 10 South Gwinnett, the fourth-place finisher in the region that produced No. 2 Grayson and No. 5 Newton. Then could come an all-Cobb County meeting with Wheeler, although Wheeler must get by the most dangerous unranked team in the first round – Milton.

Wheeler’s boys have won seven state titles this century. Milton has won three. Both were state champions in 2021. Milton has been ranked most of the season but finished a surprising fourth in Region 6 behind Forsyth County powers Lambert and Denmark.

South Forsyth’s girls, ranked No. 4, should get by Wheeler (12-14) but could face No. 8 Peachtree Ridge in the second round and No. 1 Brookwood in the quarterfinals.

Brookwood, chasing its first girls basketball state title, can’t be unhappy with its draw. No. 2 Norcross, the defending champion, and No. 3 Buford are on the other side of the bracket.

Below are the girls and boys brackets with ranked teams in bold.

The first round is Tuesday and Wednesday with girls games the first night, boys the second.

BOYS

R5 #3 Osborne at R6 #2 Denmark

R8 #4 Collins Hill at R7 #1 Norcross (No. 4)

R3 #3 Harrison at R4 #2 Newton (No. 5)

R2 #4 Pebblebrook (No. 8) at R1 #1 Lowndes

R6 #3 West Forsyth at R5 #2 Cherokee (No. 9)

R7 #4 Berkmar at R8 #1 Buford (No. 6)

R4 #3 Parkview at R3 #2 Hillgrove

R1 #4 Colquitt County at R2 #1 Carrollton (No. 7)

R1 #3 Camden County at R2 #2 Westlake

R4 #4 South Gwinnett (No. 10) at R3 #1 McEachern (No. 3)

R7 #3 North Gwinnett at R8 #2 Mill Creek

R6 #4 Milton at R5 #1 Wheeler (No. 1)

R2 #3 Campbell at R1 #2 Valdosta

R3 #4 Marietta at R4 #1 Grayson (No. 2)

R8 #3 Mountain View at R7 #2 Peachtree Ridge

R5 #4 Walton at R6 #1 Lambert

GIRLS

R5 #3 North Cobb at R6 #2 Lambert

R8 #4 Collins Hill at R7 #1 Norcross (No. 2)

R3 #3 Hillgrove (No. 9) at R4 #2 Archer (No. 6)

R2 #4 Westlake at R1 #1 Lowndes

R6 #3 West Forsyth at R5 #2 Cherokee

R7 #4 Duluth at R8 #1 Buford (No. 3)

R4 #3 Grayson at R3 #2 North Paulding (No. 7)

R1 #4 Richmond Hill at R2 #1 Pebblebrook (No. 8)

R1 #3 Colquitt County at R2 #2 Campbell

R4 #4 South Gwinnett at R3 #1 McEachern (No. 5)

R7 #3 North Gwinnett at R8 #2 Central Gwinnett

R6 #4 Denmark at R5 #1 Walton

R2 #3 Carrollton at R1 #2 Valdosta

R3 #4 Harrison at R4 #1 Brookwood (No. 1)