Several northeast Georgia area teams were, and more could be, the beneficiaries of the Georgia High School Association's "Universal" coin-flip held on Thursday.
The "flip" is held when same-seeded teams meet in the playoffs. It is a new by-law that the GHSA that began this season after year's of individual coin-flips between same-seeded teams all across the state. Gone are the days of principals, athletic directors, or the coaches themselves meeting in half-way locales for a 10-second flip of a quarter.
In a statement from the GHSA, "Per GHSA by-law 4.39, GHSA Executive Director Robin Hines conducted a “universal” coin toss on Thursday to determine which part of the bracket would be “home” in the Class 2A through 7A quarterfinal round of the state basketball tournament if the two competing teams are equal seeds."
The universal coin toss came up “tails” meaning that the team in the TOP half of the official GHSA playoff bracket will be the designated home team in the quarterfinal round in cases where equal seeds meet AND both schools qualify to host a playoff contest. This is only for games between equal seeds. In all other cases, the higher-seeded team will host as usual.
Four teams already have benefitted from the flip for next week's quarterfinals. The Buford girls and Flowery Branch girls from Region 8-AAAAA in Class 5A earned home playoff games. The No. 1 seed Lady Wolves will play host to Region 4-AAAAA No. 1 seed Eagles Landing while the Lady Falcons, a No. 2 seed, will play host to Region 4-AAAAA No. 2 seed Dutchtown. The Region 8-AAAA No. 1 seed Jefferson girls will play host to Region 4-AAAA top seed Henry County. The Banks County girls, the No. 1 seed from Region 8-AA, will play host to defending state champion and Region 4-AA No. 1 Laney.
Five more teams could also earn home games from the coin flip in specific scenarios:
- The No. 2 seed East Hall girls if they win. Johnson-Savannah, also a No. 2 seed, won on Wednesday.
- The No. 3 seed Flowery Branch boys if they win and Eagles Landing, also a No. 3 seed, beats Warner Robins;
- The No. 2 seed Jefferson boys if they win and No. 2 seed Salem knocks off Upson-Lee and its 59-game win streak;
- The No. 2 seed Dawson County boys if they win and No. 2 seed Jenkins-Savannah beats Cook County.
Two other teams will earn home game with wins regardless of opponent. The Region 8-AA No. 1-seeded Banks County boys will entertain the Laney-Metter winner if the Leopards beat defending champion South Atlanta on Thursday. Region 8-AAAAA No. 1 seeded Buford boys will play host in the quarterfinals if they can beat Miller Grove. The Wolves would await the Statesboro-Dutchtown winner.
Two other teams already have earned home court for the quarterfinals with and without a coin flip. The Region 5-AAAAAAA No. 1 seeded North Forsyth girls in Class 7A will play host to No. 2 seed Hillgrove. The Region 8-AAAAAA Gainesville boys will play host to the Richmond Hill-Lakeside-Evans winner due to the coin flip.
