There were several surprises, good and bad, for northeast Georgia area boys basketball teams Wednesday, and one girls team, in the first round of the GHSA basketball playoffs.
The good was nine teams -- Banks County boys, Buford girls, East Hall boys, East Jackson boys, Gainesville boys, Jackson County boys, Lumpkin County boys, Rabun County boys and Union County boys -- advanced with first round wins. The bad, four teams saw their seasons come to an end. (NOTE: See below for a complete list of Wednesday's scored es, and this weekend's state playoff schedule.) That makes it 15 northeast Georgia-based teams marching to the second round -- plus three more Class A teams that will get underway this weekend.
In Class AAAAA, the Gainesville boys, behind a 33-point effort from D’Marcus Simonds, held off Villa Rica to advance.
In Class AAAA, the Buford girls took an impressive win over Whitewater as part of a doubleheader with the Buford boys at home. However, the boys could not make it a sweep falling to Fayette County, 69-62. The North Hall boys also saw their season end with a tough 59-56 loss to Carrollton at the North Hall gym, a last-ditch 3-pointer preventing at least overtime.
In Class AAA, the East Hall boys routed Ringgold 86-59 at Valhalla behind a season-high 17 3-pointers for the game. Lumpkin County won a thriller 55-54 over North Murray in Dahlonega and Banks County beat Coahulla Creek 80-61 on the road behind 42 points from Zez Steeple. West Hall, however, could not make it a sweep for Region 7-AAA in a 68-39 loss to Region 6-AAA champ Calhoun on the road.
Region 8-AAA teams saw two teams advance in Jackson County, who beat Rockmart 75-52 and East Jackson, which knocked off Central-Carroll 73-62. Jefferson, though, fell to Callaway 73-58 on the road.
In Class AA, Rabun County and Union County gave Region 8-AA a pair of big wins. The Wildcats whipped Chattahoochee County 74-48 while the Panthers nipped Bowden 56-51. Riverside Military Academy, though, was knocked off at home 50-40 by Temple.
WEDNESDAY'S FIRST ROUND STATE PLAYOFF SCORES FOR AREA TEAMS
CLASS AAAAA
Gainesville boys 68, Villa Rica 62
CLASS AAAA
Buford girls 63, Whitewater 38
Fayette County boys 69, Buford 62
Carrollton boys 59, North Hall 56
CLASS AAA
East Hall boys 86, Ringgold 59
Lumpkin County boys 55, North Murray 54
Banks County boys 80 Coahulla Creek 61
Jackson County boys 75, Rockmart 52
East Jackson boys 73, Central-Carroll 62
Calhoun boys 68, West Hall 39
Callaway boys 73, Jefferson 58
CLASS AA
Union County boys 56, Bowden 51
Rabun County boys 74, Chattahoochee County 48
Temple 50, Riverside Military Academy 40
SECOND ROUND STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS
Friday-Saturday, Feb. 19-20
Region seeding in parentheses
Start times added as received
Area teams in bold
Class AAAAA
- Northside girls (No. 3, Region 1) at Flowery Branch (No. 1, Region 8), 6 p.m. Friday
- Gainesville girls (No. 3, Region 8) at Columbus (No. 1, Region 1), 6 p.m. Friday
- Gainesville boys (No. 2 seed, Region 8) at McIntosh (No. 1, Region 4), 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Class AAAA
- Buford girls (No. 2, Region 8) at Mt. Zion (No. 1, Region 4), 6 p.m. Friday
Class AAA
- Washington County girls (No. 2, Region 3) at West Hall (No. 1, Region 7), 7 p.m. Friday
- Dawson County girls (No. 2, Region 7) at Laney (No. 1, Region 3), 7 p.m. Friday
- Westside boys (No. 2, Region 3) at East Hall (No. 1, Region 7), 6 p.m. Saturday
- Lumpkin County boys (No. 2, Region 7) at Laney (No. 1, Region 3), 7 p.m. Saturday
- Banks County boys (No. 3, Region 7) at Central (No. 1, Region 2), 4 p.m. Saturday
- East Jackson boys (No. 2, Region 8), at Cedar Grove (No. 1, Region 4), 6:30 p.m. Saturday
- Jackson County boys (No. 3, Region 8) at Jenkins (No. 2, Region 1), 5:30 p.m. Saturday
Class AA
- Monticello girls (No. 2, Region 4) at Rabun County (No. 1, Region 8), 5:30 p.m. Saturday
- Monticello boys (No. 2, Region 4) at Rabun County (No. 1, Region 8), 7 p.m. Saturday
- Union County girls (No. 2, Region 8) at Putnam County (No. 1, Region 4), 6 p.m. Friday
- Union County boys (No. 3, Region 8) at Thomasville (No. 1, Region 1), 7 p.m. Saturday
FIRST ROUND CLASS A STATE PLAYOFFS
(First round Class A playoffs begin Feb. 19-20)
Class A Private
- George Walton Academy girls at Lakeview Academy, 6 p.m. Friday
- Hebron Christian boys at Lakeview Academy, 7:30 p.m. Friday
Class A Public
- Commerce girls at Greenville, 6 p.m. Friday
