The first round of the high school basketball playoffs proved memorable for a number of northeast Georgia programs -- and now the 14 area teams left standing will get a chance to battle for a quarterfinal berth.
The "Sweet 16" gets underway on Wednesday (and continues through Thursday) and presents a number of intriguing matchups.
That certainly includes the Class AAAA girls bracket, where Region 7-AAAA champ West Hall will play host to Columbus at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in what coud be one of the more closely-contested games of the week.
The Lady Spartans cruised through the first round, defeating Troup County 78-54 but now must face a physically-imposing Columbus team that could be the biggest test of the bracket for West Hall.
Meanwhile, Region 7-AAA boys champ East Hall is coming off a 65-64 nail-biting defeat of Westminster in the first round and will now play host to Islands High out of Savannah on Thursday. East Hall has steadily imrpoved throughtout the season and will have a chance to join the 'Elite' with a win on Thursday.
Also, three Region 7-AAA girls teams advanced to the second round but both North Hall and Dawson County face difficult road assignments.
In Class AAAAA, the Flowery Branch girls face a tough road trip against Statesboro. However, the host Lady Blue Devils have the fewest wins of the eight region champions in AAAAA. The Lady Falcons could face a tough road with one-loss Carrollton perhaps waiting in the quarterfinals if they can get past Statesboro.
The Banks County boys are riding a 20-game win streak as they play host to Josey out of Augusta in Class AA. The Region 8-AA champion Leopards were knocked off in the second round last year and are looking to take one more step in 2017.
And that's just scratching the surface of all the programs from northeast Georgia with at least one team still alive in the posteason.
For a complete list (including start times) of area teams competing in this week's second round of state simply scroll down.
SECOND ROUND STATE PLAYOFF BASKETBALL MATCH-UPS
Start times/days listed where available
Area teams listed in bold
Class AAAAAA
- Effingham County (Region 2, No. 2 seed) at Gainesville boys (Region 8, No. 1), 5:30 p.m. Thursday -- Radio: 1240 AM ESPN
Class AAAAA
- New Hampstead (Region 2, No. 2) at Buford boys (Region 8, No. 1), 6 p.m. Thursday
- Ware County (Region 2, No. 2) at Buford girls (Region 8, No. 1), 6 p.m. Wednesday
- Flowery Branch girls (Region 8, No. 2) at Statesboro (Region 2, No. 1), 6 p.m. Wednesday
Class AAAA
- Columbus (Region 1, No. 2) at West Hall girls (Region 7, No. 1), 7:30 p.m. Wednesday -- Radio: WDUN AM 550/102.9 FM
- Luella (Region 4, No. 3) at Jefferson girls (Region 8, No. 1), 6 p.m. Wednesday
Class AAA
- Islands (Region 3, No. 3) at East Hall boys (Region 7, No. 1), 5:30 p.m. Thursday -- Radio: WDUN AM 550
- Dawson County girls (Region 7, No. 2) at Monroe (Region 1, No. 1), 6 p.m. Wednesday
- North Hall girls (Region 7, No. 3) at Johnson-Savannah (Region 3, No. 1), 6 p.m. Thursday
Class AA
- Josey (Region 4, No. 3) at Banks County boys (Region 8, No. 1), 6 p.m. Thursday
- Vidalia (Region 2, No. 2) at Rabun County girls (Region 8, No. 1), 5:30 p.m. Wednesday
Class A Public
- Towns County boys (No. 15) at Calhoun County (No. 2), 5 p.m. Thursday
Class A Private
- Wesleyan (No. 15) at Lakeview Academy boys (No. 2), 6:30 p.m. Thursday
- Greenforest (No. 14) at Lakeview Academy girls (No. 3), 6 p.m. Wednesday
