The state basketball tournament gets under way Tuesday and Wednesday with 160 first-round games that begin the journey to the state finals in Macon next month.
Here are some things worth knowing about the opening round and beyond:
What's new?: Six teams are in the state playoffs for the first time. Armuchee, a Floyd County school that opened in 1938, is only 10-17 this season but shocked 20-5 Coosa in the region tournament last week to qualify as the No. 4 seed from 7-AA. Sonoraville, opened in 2005, qualified its boys team for the first time. Also making state-tournament debuts are girls teams from Arabia Mountain (opened 2009), Hapeville Charter (2009), Heritage-Ringgold (2008) and New Hampstead (2012).
What's missing?: Greater Atlanta Christian's girls failed to make the state playoffs for the first time since 2000. They had won three state titles in that span. Clarke Central and Northside-Warner Robins had made the girls state tournament 10 consecutive seasons. Bainbridge's boys had their 10-season streak snapped. A dozen other teams lost streaks of five years. Most notable was Columbia's girls, who won state titles in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
It has been a while: There are 11 teams breaking state-tournament droughts of at least 10 years. The longest is South Atlanta's girls, dating to 1999. Banks County had not sent a boys or girls team to state since 2004. Both are back this year. Other drought-breaking girls teams are Perry (2003), Metter (2003) and East Laurens (2003). Other boys teams are Harris County (2001), Monticello (2001), Southwest-Macon (2002), Southeast Whitfield (2004) and Kell (2005).
Defending champions (girls): Don't expect any repeats among 2014 champions as Tucker (AAAAA, now in AAAAAA), Redan (AAAA) and Randolph-Clay (A private) aren't even ranked. McEachern (AAAAAA) is barely hanging on at No. 9, and St. Pius (AAA, now in AAAA) and Kendrick (AA, now in AAA) are coming off upsets in their region tournaments. The best shot is probably Southwest Atlanta Christian, ranked No. 2 in Class A.
Teams to beat (girls): Osborne hasn't won a state title in any sport since 1964 but is the No. 1 team in Class AAAAAA, which appears as wide open as it has been in more than a decade. Brunswick is 27-0 and ranked No. 1 in AAAAA, but metro Atlanta teams have won the highest two classifications every year since 2003. Also unbeaten is Class AAA No. 1 Dawson County (27-0), a school that has four state titles in its history, all in wrestling. The No. 1 team with the best recent history is Buford in AAAA. The Wolves have reached the state-title game five of the past six seasons, winning in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Holy Innocents' (27-0) was the Class A private runner-up last season and is ranked No. 1 in AA. The highest-ranked Class A public school is Taylor County (27-0), which has won 10 state titles but none since 2003.
Defending champions (boys): Tift County, the first South Georgia team to win the highest class since 1998, is 26-1 and ranked No. 2 but not regarded as highly after the graduation of all-class player of the year Tadric Jackson, now at Georgia Tech. Miller Grove (AAAAA), Jonesboro (AAAA) and St. Francis (A private) enter as No. 1-ranked teams and are expected to repeat. Morgan County (AAA), two-time champion Greater Atlanta Christian (AA) and Wilkinson County (A private) should contend, but are not the favorites. GAC and Wilkinson didn't win their regions this year.
Teams to beat (boys): Nationally ranked Wheeler is No. 1 in AAAAAA, but a pair of two-point victories in the region tournament last week suggests that the school's sixth state title, first since 2009, will not come easy. Also nationally ranked are Jonesboro (AAAA) and St. Francis (A private). Miller Grove (AAAA) has won a state-record seven consecutive state titles. Laney (AA) is 26-1 and has beaten several ranked teams from higher classifications. Pace Academy, the No. 1 Class AA team, has won nearly 40 state titles in all sports, but none in basketball. The highest-ranked Class A public-school team is Hancock Central, which beat defending champion Wilkinson County in the Region 7-A championship game last week.
What's next?: The tournament resumes Friday and Saturday with the first round of the Class A public and private tournaments and the second round for classes AA through AAAAAA. The state finals are March 6-8 in Macon, where 14 champions will be crowned.
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