Class AAAAAA
Berkmar needed to beat fifth-place Central Gwinnett on Friday to clinch the No. 1 seed in Region 8. If not, Shiloh was poised to steal the top spot with a victory against eighth-place Archer.
Both favored teams lost, leaving Berkmar (19-6, 13-3) with the title despite the Patriots’ collapse against Central (15-10, 8-8), which came from 13 points behind to win 51-43 at Berkmar’s home gym. Central’s Shaun Jones scored 20, his average. Jones, a 6-foot-3 guard, is Gwinnett County’s leading scorer.
Archer’s upset was more surprising. The Tigers are 10-15 overall, 4-12 in the region. No player had more than 10 points. The region tournament begins Monday at Berkmar.
Here are highlights from a big week in AAAAAA and the other classifications:
- No. 1-ranked Wheeler beat Etowah, Cherokee and Walton this week to clinch the No. 1 seed in Region 5. Wheeler trailed seventh-ranked Walton 25-9 before winning 78-65. Jaylen Brown, rated the No. 1 junior small forward prospect in the country by 247Sports, scored 29 points.
- Ninth-ranked Pebblebrook moved within one victory for the No. 1 seed in Region 4 after beating sixth-ranked Hillgrove and Marietta last week. Pebblebrook trailed Marietta 50-48 when Ty Hudson went coast-to-coast after a missed free-throw attempt and converted a 3-point play for 51-50 lead with 31.7 seconds left. Hudson, a leading contender for region player of the year, averages 20 points per game.
Class AAAAA
- The top-ranked Miller Grove boys team (20-5) beat Southwest DeKalb, Arabia Mountain and Mays during the final week of the regular season to finish undefeated against AAAAA teams for the second consecutive season. Miller Grove, the five-time defending state champion, lost this season to AAAAAA teams Wheeler and Norcross, AAAA Columbia and two out-of-state teams. The Wolverines went 14-0 in 6-AAAAA.
- The second-ranked Allatoona boys team (24-1 overall, 15-0 in 5-AAAAA) finished undefeated in region play for the third consecutive season after beating Paulding County 70-48 and Woodland-Cartersville 58-28 during the final week of the regular season. Allatoona's only loss this season was a 50-49 loss to Iroquois (Ky.) in a showcase in Louisville on Feb. 1.
- The Heritage-Conyers boys team earned the No. 2 seed in the Region 8 tournament with an 85-73 victory Friday against Apalachee, which will be the third seed. Apalachee sophomore Kamar Baldwin led all scorers with 30 points, but Heritage prevailed with a balanced offense led by Andre Harris with 13 points. Fifth-ranked Clarke Central is the No. 1 seed.
Class AAAA
- The second-ranked Columbus girls hammered Sandy Creek 70-40 on Friday. Tatyana Wyatt, Jacqueria Gunter, Jazmyn McIntosh and Alexia Manning each scored in double figures for the Blue Devils, which finished the regular season 24-1 and 14-0 in Region 5 play.
- The Woodland-Stockbridge girls jumped to a 23-0 lead at the end of the first quarter Friday and cruised to a 76-42 victory against Stockbridge on Senior Night. All four seniors — Mecca Sneed, K.K. Parrish, Aalyiah Dotson and Brianna Ohonba — started for coach Ashley Maddox's team. Sophomore post Zaundra Stevens led Woodland with 20 points against Stockbridge. The Wolfpack reached the quarterfinals of the state tournament last season.
- The winter weather that shut down school for much of the state has taken its toll on several teams. "I counted … we're only going to have two days of practice in 17 days," said South Atlanta boys coach Michael Reddick, whose team lost to Grady on Friday, but already was assured of the top subregion B seed in the 6-AAAA tournament. … No. 1 Columbia will be the top seed from subregion A. South Atlanta beat Columbia in the only meeting this season. The winter weather caused Columbia to play six games in six days. Columbia will host the region tournament.
Class AAA
- The Buford boys and girls closed their seasons with unbeaten league records and will enter the Region 7 tournaments as the No. 1 seeds. The boys (20-5, 14-0) won their 14th consecutive game with a 70-37 victory against North Hall. D'Marcus Simonds tallied 21 points and 11 rebounds. The girls (23-2, 14-0) rolled to a 56-29 victory against the Trojans. Camille Anderson and Bree Horrocks each scored 10.
- The boys and girls from Washington County will enter the postseason as the No. 1-ranked teams in the state. The Washington County girls finished the regular season with a 22-0 record, 8-0 in Region 3. The Golden Hawks defeated No. 6 Dodge County 62-41. Shon Kitchens (19.4 points) leads the high-scoring team. The boys finished 21-1, its only blemish a loss to Fayette County in the Upward Classic tournament. The Hawks closed the season by beating Dodge County 58-36, but essentially won the region when it beat No. 9 Thomson on Feb. 1. McKel Miller leads the team with 14.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
- The Cedar Grove boys got an assist from St. Pius to enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. The Saints secured first place in Region 6-AAA when St. Pius defeated Blessed Trinity. Cedar Grove and Blessed Trinity were tied with two region losses entering the last game of the season. Blessed Trinity owned the tiebreaker, based on its two regular-season victories against the Saints. But while Cedar Grove won its final game against Cross Keys, Blessed Trinity was beaten 63-61 by St. Pius, leaving the Saints alone in first. The Region 6 playoffs will start Monday at St. Pius.
Class AA
- With their 81-37 victory against Toombs County on Friday, the No. 2-ranked Vidalia Indians joined the No. 1-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian Spartans as the only two AA schools to finish the regular season undefeated, both going 25-0. The Indians locked up the No. 1 seed for the Region 2 tournament after defeating 2 opponents by an average of 42 points.
- The No. 8-ranked Jefferson Dragons played three region games in four days — two against Toombs County and one against Rabun County — and went undefeated to complete a 10-0 Region 8 record and No. 1 seed. On Tuesday, the Dragons edged second-place Rabun County 75-70. The next day, they began a two-game series against Toombs County in which they won by an average of 20.5 points. The Dragons finished the regular season 20-5.
- The No. 7-ranked Armuchee Lady Indians and Calhoun Lady Jackets were tied atop Region 7 heading into their last regular-season game at Calhoun. The Lady Indians prevailed 44-43 in overtime to take the No. 1 seed in the 7-AA tournament. Armuchee defeated Calhoun 51-36 earlier in the season.
Class A
The teams with the top 16 power ratings will advance to the state playoffs, with region tournament champions receiving the top seeds based on their power rating. Then the classification will be divided into private and public state tournaments. Here are next week’s likely No. 1 seeds after the region tournaments.
- Public boys: Portal has the top spot, heading into the Region 3 tournament. The Panthers will have to hold off Calvary Day, a private school, and public school rival Treutlen, for the region championship. If Portal falls, look for Seminole County, the top team in Region 1, to become the No. 1 seed.
- Private boys: Whitefield Academy, the 2012 Class A champions before the split championships last year, has the No. 1 seed. To hold that rating. Whitefield most likely will have to defeat Region 6-rival North Cobb Christian, the No. 2 team in the power rating, for a third time this season. Barring an upset, the teams are probably headed for another showdown in the tournament championship game.
- Public girls: Claxton has the top seed, but the Tigers may have to defeat private-school Calvary Day in the Region 3 championship game this week to keep it. The teams split during the regular season. If Claxton falters, look for Randolph-Clay, the favorite to win the Region 1 tournament and current No. 2 in the power ratings, to claim the top seed.
- Private girls: Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy and Holy Innocents' are in a tight battle for the top spot. SACA overtook the Bears this week by .02 of a point, even though Holy Innocents' finished the regular season 23-0. The Warriors will have the tougher road during their Region 6 tournament, where they most likely will play rival St. Francis in the title game. St. Francis defeated SACA in last season's private-school state championship game, but SACA defeated the Knights in the teams' only meeting this season, 54-49.
