The first round was completed last week, and while there were no major upsets, six ranked teams lost. However, in four of those games, the winner was ranked. Just two ranked teams lost to an unranked opponent. So much for parity.
Below are some of the highlights from Round 1. Round 2 takes place Monday and Tuesday, and the quarterfinals will be played Thursday and Friday. The championship is May 14.
6A-7A boys
What sticks out here is that the No. 1 Lambert Longhorns and No. 2 Pope Greyhounds meet in Round 2 at Lambert. It will be a rematch from just a few weeks ago, when the Greyhounds won 6-5 at Pope. That loss was the first in a two-game skid the Longhorns (16-2) ended the regular season on, stopping their bid for an undefeated season. The Longhorns recovered, beating Grovetown 19-1 in the first round.
No. 2 Pope, a No. 2 seed from Area 4, survived unranked Milton, 11-10, in Round 1.
The No. 5 Harrison Hoyas lost 14-12 to the unranked, No. 4 seed North Gwinnett Bulldogs. At 8-11, the Bulldogs have a record that makes them easy to overlook, but MaxPreps pegs them with a strength of schedule rating of 13.5, which is No. 9 in 6A-7A.
In the second round, the Bulldogs get an unranked team, Woodstock — a No. 2 seed that beat Collins Hill 17-1 in Round 1.
The No. 10 South Forsyth War Eagles got the only Round 1 shutout of any of the brackets, defeating Evans 14-0. The War Eagles (14-5) take on No. 3 Walton (16-3) in the only other Round 2 matchup of ranked teams.
1A-5A boys
There was no parity here, with all ranked teams advancing except for No. 9 North Oconee, which lost to No. 8 Woodward Academy, 11-5.
No. 5 Fellowship Christian (13-5) travels to No. 3 Westminster (16-1) for Round 2′s only matchup of ranked teams. They’ll play at No. 3 Walton (16-3) next.
6A-7A girls
In a shootout, the No. 5 Lassiter Trojans topped No. 7 Roswell 17-16 on the road. The Trojans play unranked Lambert (9-10), which beat Lakeside-Evans 18-3 in Round 1.
No. 8 Pope lost 14-13 to the unranked, No. 3 seed Cambridge Bears (8-9), who now play No. 4 Creekview (16-1).
There are no ranked matchups in Round 2.
1A-5A girls
There was one ranked matchup in the opening round, with No. 6 McIntosh edging No. 10 Holy Innocents’, 18-17.
No. 7 St. Pius survived a major upset, beating unranked Columbus, 9-8.
No. 2 Westminster and unranked Whitewater advanced via bye — only byes of the tournaments.
In Round 2, No. 8 Starr’s Mill (9-10) travels to play No. 4 Wesleyan (15-3), and No. 7 St. Pius (9-7) travels to No. 6 McIntosh (13-4) for the only ranked matchups.
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