The journey for state basketball titles begins Friday around the state and northeast Georgia, with two teams -- the Buford boys and girls -- looking to defend their Class AAAAA crowns from a year ago.
The northeast Georgia area, with 31 teams, had a stellar playoff run as a whole last year and will have to work hard to match that overall success in 2018. After the two titles by Buford, the Rabun County girls made the Class AA finals (falling to powerhouse Laney in the championship game); the Flowery Branch girls in Class AAAAA and both Lakeview Academy teams in Class A Private all made the final four; the Dawson County girls in Class AAA, the Jefferson girls in Class AAAA, and the Gainesville boys in Class AAAAAA all made the quarterfinals. The Red Elephants fell in an overtime gut-wrencher to eventual state champion Langston Hughes.
In the 2018 playoffs, 30 teams will open play Friday and Saturday trying to keep their seasons and title hopes alive. Twenty-five of the 30 teams are making repeat engagements to the playoffs across all seven classifications.
The Lady Wolves (24-3) are the Region 8-AAAAA champion for a second straight season and will open a doubleheader at 6 p.m. on Friday at The Buford Arena against Region 7-AAAAA No. 4 seed Kell. The Buford boys, also 8-AAAAA champs, will follow against 7-AAAAA No. 4 Cass at 7:30 p.m.
Buford girls coach Gene Durden said despite coming in as the No. 1 ranked team in Class AAAAA they are taking nothing for granted. Top-four ranked teams Villa Rica and Eagles Landing Christian both reside on the same side of the Lady Wolves’ bracket. All eight quarterfinalists are back and all four Final Four teams from last year’s Class AAAAA girls playoffs also return this year.
“We look at the brackets but really it’s just one game at a time this time of year,” Durden said. “We can’t look past anyone. Villa Rica and Eagles Landing are solid. Harris County is another team to look out for on the other side and I think (fellow Region 8-AAAAA foe) Flowery Branch has a good draw and is certainly capable of making a run.
“But there’s a lot of basketball left to play. Kell is a good young team in a good region. The key for us is our defense. We want to pressure people to play fast. We’ve had a couple of maybe complete games but the key this time of year is to start putting them back-to-back. Hopefully we can do that.”
Also in the first round in Class AAAAA, the Flowery Branch girls (22-6), the No. 2 seed from 8-AAAAA, will play host to 7-AAAAA No. 3 seed Rome (23-5) in the first round. The Lady Falcons have won 9 of 11 with both losses to Buford, while Rome has lost three of its last five.
The Gainesville boys, loaded with senior talent, won their second consecutive Region 8-AAAAAA title and may be playing as well as they have over the past two seasons. Red Elephants coach Benjie Wood said the down time has been the hardest thing to deal with.
“It’s a long time in between (region tournaments and the start of the state tournament) to wait to play,” he said. “That’s been tough but everyone has to deal with that. We’re ready to rock-and-roll. We’ve been working toward this point of the season all year. We’re excited to get going.”
Gainesville (20-6) was the preseason No. 1 in Class AAAAAA but was 3-6 at one point in the season. The Red Elephants won the 8-AAAAAA title over Dacula to push their win streak to 17 straight. Only Class AAAA Upson-Lee (58-straight) and Class 7A Pebblebrook (22) have longer current win streaks in the state than Gainesville. But Stephenson (20-5, 11-game win streak) and North Atlanta (19-9, 8-game win streak) loom for the Red Elephants. Wood said their experience could be a factor in a tough classification.
“There’s a lot of good teams,” Wood said. “I like how we’re playing right now. We have prepared for everything we’ll see in the playoffs. The key is to just focus on us. The guys know what’s at stake and have been here before. I feel like we’re ready to make a run as long as we stay healthy.”
Perhaps the most surprising playoff team in 2018 is the White County girls, who are making their first playoff trip since 2013. The Lady Warriors (14-12) won just six games in the 2016-17 season but second-year coach Jarvis Davenport, recently named the 2017-18 Region 7-AAAA girls Coach of the Year, delivered on a promise he made when he took the job of having them in the playoff hunt by year two. White County, the No. 2 seed from Region 7-AAAA, will play host to Region 8-AAAA No. 3-seed North Oconee in the program’s first-ever home state playoff game. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. on Friday in Cleveland.
“There’s been some buzz (during the week). People are starting to get excited about watching this team,” Davenport said. “When I came here I told (the administration) that I was here to win. I felt it would take a couple of years. We’re young but we have talent. This is a big step for the program but we’re also going into this to win the game. North Oconee has two real good guards. Defense is the key for us so getting some easy baskets and getting (our defense) set up will be the key. It’s more about us and what we do.”
Also in the first round Class AAAA, the West Hall girls and 2,000-point scorer Anna McKendree will travel to Madison County (6 p.m. tip, also on WDUN AM 550/102.9 FM). The Lady Spartans up-tempo style should pose plenty of problems for the Lady Red Raiders, who won the 8-AAAA regular season title but fell to Jefferson in the finals.
Jefferson will play host to a doubleheader on Saturday with the Chestatee girls taking on the Lady Dragons at 6 p.m. and the West Hall boys playing the Jefferson boys at 7:30 p.m. at The Arena.
In Class AAA, seven area teams will try to advance to the Sweet 16 but none face as tough a task as Region 7-AAA No. 4 seed Dawson County, who travels to No. 2-ranked and undefeated Region 8-AAA champ Franklin County (27-0) in the first round.
There are some intriguing draws throughout the playoffs on both the boys and girls brackets in all eight classifications.
(Scroll further down to see all the first round matchups involving all 30 area teams.)
CLASS AAAAAAA
The girls side houses Region 5-AAAAAAA champion North Forsyth. Meanwhile, 2017 state finalists McEachern and Norcross could meet this time in the quarterfinals. ... North Forsyth and Westlake are tied for the lead in the classification in wins (25) and could meet in the semifinals. Four of the top five teams in wins in 7A are on the same side of the bracket as North Forsyth.
CLASS AAAAAA
As mentioned above, the Gainesville boys (17) and Stephenson boys (11) carry the two longest current win streaks in 6A and could meet in the quarterfinals. ... The Red Elephants have a favorable draw with three of the top four teams in wins -- Cambridge, No. 2 Brunswick, defending champion Langston Hughes -- all on the opposite side of the bracket. However, Creekview (23-4) slipped to third in the 6-AAAAAA tournament and could be a factor on the top half of the bracket. The Grizzles travel to 20-game winner Douglas County in the first round. ... Perhaps the most interesting first round match-up could be Tri-Cities boys (the No. 4 seed from 5-AAAAAA), who are 19-9 on the season, against 18-game winner South Cobb. The winner of that game could get 8-AAAAAA runner-up Dacula, which was ranked in the top 5 for part of the season. The winner of that quadrant is likely to face Brunswick in the quarterfinals.
For the girls in 6A, defending state champion Mays did not make it out of the region tournament to defend its title. ... Region 8-AAAAAA runner-up Lanier faces a daunting road. The Lady Longhorns open at home against Alpharetta (21-5), and if they get past the first round they could face 2017 state runner-up Harrison (22-4) in the second round. ... Region 8-AAAAAA champ Winder-Barrow (20-4) is on a collision-course with No. 1-ranked Lovejoy (27-1) in the quarterfinals.
CLASS AAAAA
In the girls draw, defending champion Buford, which opens against Kell (12-16), has a favorable quadrant with just Eagles Landing Christian among the classification leaders in offense and defense. But the Lady Wolves side of the bracket as a whole houses four of the top five defensive teams, led by Buford (33 points allowed per game). ... Two of the top 4 offensive teams in Villa Rica and Arabia Mountain could meet in the second round. ... The 8-AAAAA runner-up Flowery Branch girls, who are looking for another semifinal run or better, have a favorable draw as well with just Ware County among the top offensive and defensive teams in their quadrant. The Lady Falcons do open at home against 23-game winner Rome, but three of Rome’s five losses have come on the road. However, 2017 semifinalists Southwest DeKalb, which knocked off the Lady Falcons in last year’s semifinals, along with Harris County, also loom in later rounds.
For the boys, Buford is also looking to repeat and comes in as the second-highest scoring team in the classification (73.7 ppg). The other top six offensive teams are all on the opposite side of the bracket and five are in the bottom right quadrant so look for some wide-open games in the early rounds. ... The Wolves could face an interesting second round matchup against perennial power Miller Grove, which was a semifinalist last season. .. Warner Robins (80.1 ppg) is the top scoring team and is in the same quadrant as Flowery Branch, which travels to Villa Rica in the first round. Villa Rica has shown it is vulnerable in the playoffs, however, falling in the first round last season as a No. 1 seed.
CLASS AAAA
Defending girls champion Columbus did not make it out of region so there will be a new champion crowned. ... Two northeast Georgia regions -- 7-AAAA and 8-AAAA -- matchup in the first round so there will be some local flavor to open the playoffs. Region 8-AAAA champ Jefferson takes on Chestatee and faces a favorable road until possibly meeting Henry County in the quarterfinals. The Lady Dragons (21-6) have won 8-straight, their longest win streak of the season. ... West Hall faces a tough road but its matchup with Madison County is one of the more intriguing first round games. However, looming in the second round is Northwest Whitfeld. ... If the White County girls can make the most of their first-ever home state playoff game the Lady Warriors may face a similar team in Sandy Creek. But 2017 state runner-up Carver-Columbus is a possible quarterfinal matchup if they can get by what could be an interesting matchup with Baldwin in a showdown of two of the top 3 scoring teams in AAAA.
For the boys, the winner of the Jefferson-West Hall matchup faces a tough road with LaFayette (23-2) possible in the second round and defending champ Upson-Lee (26-0) which is riding that 58-game win streak, looming in the quarterfinals. White County also faces a tough road with a trip to 2017 state runner-up St. Pius in the opening round. Stephens County, a 20-game winner, could be a darkhouse after getting upset by the Dragons in the Region 8-AAAA tournament and slipping to a No 3 seed. It won’t be easy for the Indians, though, who travel to Marist and could offer an interesting second round matchup for 2017 semifinalist Sandy Creek. If they get that far then Henry County, another 2017 semifinalist, looms in the quarterfinals.
CLASS AAA
For the boys, despite being a No. 3 seed, East Hall (17-11) has an interesting draw. The Vikings travel to Hart County (15-12) which was just 9-8 outside of Region 8-AAA play, with two of those wins coming against North Hall. If the Vikings, who are 6-2 on the road this season, can get past the Bulldogs then they get the winner of Redan (13-13) and Calhoun (13-13). East Hall and Westside-Macon (18-10) have the best records in their quadrant. ... That cannot be said for Dawson County, whose quadrant houses five of the top 9 winningest teams in 3A. The Tigers (18-9) face Monroe Area (12-15) in the first round but either Ringgold (19-7) or Cedar Grove (21-6) awaits in the second round and then possibly No. 3-ranked Jenkins-Savannah (21-5) in the quarterfinals. ... North Hall (10-17) faces a huge obstacle in 2017 state runner-up Morgan County (26-1) in the first round.
For the girls, Dawson County was a quarterfinalist in 2017 but will face a tall order in trying to make a repeat trip. The Lady Tigers, who slipped to a No. 4 seed due to injuries, take on No. 2-ranked and undefeated Franklin County in the first round. Pierce County, Peach County, and Sonoraville -- all in the top 12 in wins -- are in the same quadrant as Dawson County as well. ... Region 7-AAA No. 2 seed East Hall (16-12) also will have a tough road with 19-game winner Hart County in the first round and possible matchups with Lovett (23-4) and Johnson-Savannah (18-6) in following rounds. ... North Hall (14-12) may have the best road for advancing, but it won’t be easy either. The Lady Trojans travel to Morgan County (12-14) in the first round. Then they could face top-5 Haralson County (25-2) in the second round and then either Central-Macon (22-4) or Tattnall County (22-5) in the quarterfinals.
CLASS AA
The Rabun County girls advanced to their first-ever state finals in 2017. Despite key graduations, the Lady Wildcats won 22 games during the season -- but it was only good for a third place finish in a tough Region 8-AA. A run to the quarterfinals is possible for Rabun, which shares the most wins in the quadrant with Bryan County, the No. 4 seed from Region 2 after being upset in the region tournament. ... The Banks County girls, meanwhile, have a path to the quarterfinals in taking on Pepperell (6-17) in the first round and then getting the winner of Heard County (9-14) and K.I.P.P (13-11) in the second round. But most likely they will meet up with defending champ Laney, which has won 57-straight games, in the quarterfinals.
For the boys, Banks County, despite knocking off Elbert County for the Region 8-AA title, will have a very tough road. The Leopards (23-5) open with Coosa (10-17) in the first round but then will more than likely face defending state champ South Atlanta (23-4) in the second round and, if they can get past the Hornets, a possible showdown with Laney (25-3) awaits in the quarterfinals.
CLASS A PRIVATE
Both Lakeview Academy teams are coming off semifinal runs in 2017 but both also earned first round byes a year ago as a No. 2 seed (boys) and a No. 3 seed (girls). Not so in 2018. The Lakeview boys face a daunting challenge. The Lions nabbed a No. 9 seed and face a second round matchup with Holy Innocents if they get past Landmark Christian. A quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 seed Christian Heritage also looms. Powers North Cobb Christian and St. Francis also are on the same side of the bracket as the Lions and one of those is likely to be a semifinal matchup. ... Fellow Region 8-A foe Tallulah Falls also made the top 24 and will take on Walker but then faces a second round matchup with St. Francis.
For the girls, Lakeview Academy only managed a 15th seed in 2018 and also face a monster road. The Lady Lions (17-9) open with Galloway but then draw No. 2 seed St. Francis (24-4) in the second round. If they can get by St. Francis, Our Lady of Mercy (20-3), Wesleyan (23-4) and Calvary Day (26-2) all are on the same side of the bracket as the Lady Lions.
FIRST ROUND STATE PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS FOR AREA TEAMS
Listed by time, classification; area teams in bold
FRIDAY
CLASS AAAAAA
Mountain View (Region 6-AAAAAAA, Seed 4) at North Forsyth girls (R5, S1), 7 p.m.
CLASS AAAAAA
Alpharetta (R7, S3) at Lanier girls (R8, S2), 7 p.m.
Lanier boys (R8, S3) at Cambridge (R7, S2), 7 p.m.
Gainesville girls (R8, S4) at Northview (R7, S1), 7 p.m.
CLASS AAAAA
Kell (R7, S4) at Buford girls (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Rome (R7, S3) at Flowery Branch girls (R8, S2), 7 p.m.
Cass (R7, 4S) at Buford boys (R8, 1S), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS AAAA
North Oconee (R8, S3) at White County girls (R7, S2), 6 p.m.
West Hall girls (R7, S3) at Madison County (R8, S2), 6 p.m. -- RADIO: WDUN AM 550
Stephens County boys (R8, S3) at Marist (R7, S2), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS AAA
Dawson County girls (R7, S4) at Franklin County (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Hart County (R8, S3) at East Hall girls (R7, S2), 7 p.m.
CLASS AA
Pepperell (R7, S4) at Banks County girls (R8, S1), 5:30 p.m.
Rabun County girls (R8, S3) at Rockmart (R7, S42), 7 p.m.
Coosa (R7, S4) at Banks County boys (R8, S1), 7 p.m.
CLASS A Private
Galloway (18) at Lakeview Academy girls (15), 6 p.m.
Landmark Christian (24) at Lakeview Academy boys (9), 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
CLASS AAAAAA
Pope (Region 7, No. 4 seed) at Gainesville boys (R8, 1S), 6 p.m.
CLASS AAAAA
Flowery Branch boys (R8, 3S) at Villa Rica (R7, S2), 6 p.m.
CLASS AAAA
Chestatee girls (R7, S4) at Jefferson girls (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
White County boys (R7, S4) at St. Pius (R4, S1), 7 p.m.
West Hall boys (R7, S3) at Jefferson boys (R8, S2), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS AAA
East Jackson boys (R8, S4) at GAC (R7, S1), 2 p.m.
Monroe Area (R8, S3) at Dawson County boys (R7, S2), 5 p.m.
North Hall girls (R7, S3) at Morgan County (R8, S2), 5:30 p.m.
East Hall boys (R7, S3) at Hart County (R8, S2), 6 p.m. -- RADIO: WDUN AM 550
North Hall boys (R7, S4) at Morgan County (R8, S1), 7 p.m.
