After days of waiting and watching, the area's regions have finally re-set their basketball tournament schedules.
With the winter weather finally thawing around northeast Georgia, Regions 8-AAAAA, 8-AAAA, 7-AAA and 8-AA have all re-formulated their tournament schedules and are set to begin on Saturday. Region 8-A, meanwhile, is on course to resume play on Friday.
Here's a rundown of the schedules for area regions: (For an in-depth look at this weekend's schedule, scroll down.)
Region 8-AAAAA will tip-off tournament play on Saturday with play-in games at Loganville High and continue with boys and girls quarterfinals games on Monday split between Loganville and Apalachee. Semifinal games will follow on Tuesday at Loganville, with the championship contests set for Wednesday at Loganville
Region 8-AAAA already played its girls quarterfinal games on Monday and will resume on Saturday at Lanier with boys quarterfinal games. Semifinal games are scheduled for Monday at Lanier, with the championship contests set for Tuesday. The Chestatee girls, along with Stephens County already booked their semifinal and state tournament spots on Monday, as did Walnut Grove and Eastside.
Region 7-AAA will feature opening round games at three different sites on Saturday -- Buford, Dawson County and North Hall. Play will start at Buford at 2:30 p.m. with the Dawson County girls facing Fannin County. The Buford boys will follow against Fannin County at 4 p.m., and the Buford girls will face West Hall at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Dawson County will play host to just two games on Saturday: the East Hall boys against West Hall at 6 p.m. and the Dawson County boys against North Hall at 7:30 p.m. Also on Saturday, at North Hall, the Banks County girls will face East Hall at 4 p.m. The North Hall girls will follow against White County at 5:30 p.m. and the White County boys will battle Banks County at 7 p.m.
Region 8-AA will play its semifinal games on Saturday at Rabun County High, with the championship round set for Monday. Region 8-AA avoided some of the winter weather issues by moving its tournament play up to Monday, setting up its semifinal games for Friday a day in advance -- both the Union County boys and girls teams won, as did the Jefferson boys and girls, each clinching state playoff berths and semifinal showdowns with each other. The Rabun County girls were already berthed into the semifinal round via their No. 1 seed and will face Greene County in the semifinals, while the Wildcats will also play Greene County in the other boys semifinal.
Region 8-A will convene its tournament on Friday at Commerce with first round games beginning at 3 p.m. Quarterfinal games will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Commerce, with semifinal contests set for Monday and the championship rounds set for Tuesday.
The GHSA opted on Wednesday to push back the start of the state tournament -- previously scheduled to start on Feb. 19-20 -- and give regions until Wednesday, Feb. 19 to complete their tournaments. The GHSA is still formulating new dates for the state tournament.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULES FOR REGIONS 8-A, 8-AA, 7-AAA, 8-AAAA, 8-AAAAA
Region 8A
Friday
First round
At Commerce High
3 p.m. -- Pinecrest Academy girls vs. Athens Academy
4:30 p.m. -- Athens Academy boys vs. Tallulah Falls
6 p.m. -- Hebron Christian girls vs. Tallulah Falls
7:30 p.m. -- Towns County boys vs. George Walton Academy
Saturday
Quarterfinals
At Commerce High
10 a.m. -- Prince Avenue girls vs. Commerce
11:30 a.m. -- Hebron Christian boys vs. Commerce
1 p.m. -- Lakeview Academy girls vs. Hebron/Tallulah Falls winner
2:30 p.m. -- Pinecrest Academy boys vs. Athens Academy/Tallulah Falls winner
4 p.m. -- Towns County girls vs. Athens Christian
5:30 p.m. -- Lakeview Academy boys vs. Providence Christian
7 p.m. -- George Walton Academy girls vs. Pinecrest Academy/ Athens Academy winner
8:30 p.m. -- Athens Christian boys vs. Towns County/George Walton Academy winner
Region 8-AA
Saturday
Semifinals
At Rabun County
4 p.m. -- Jefferson girls vs. Union County
5:30 p.m. -- Rabun County boys vs. Greene County
7 p.m. -- Rabun County girls vs. Greene County
8:30 p.m. -- Jefferson boys vs. Union County
Region 7-AAA
Saturday
Quarterfinals
At Buford High
2:30 p.m. -- Dawson County girls vs. Fannin County.
4 p.m. -- Buford boys vs. Fannin County
5:30 p.m. -- Buford girls vs. West Hall
At Dawson County High
6 p.m. -- East Hall boys vs. West Hall
7:30 p.m. -- Dawson County boys vs. North Hall
At North Hall High
4 p.m. -- Banks County girls vs. East Hall
5:30 p.m. -- North Hall girls vs. White County
7 p.m. -- White County boys vs. Banks County
Region 8-AAAA
Saturday
Boys quarterfinals
At Lanier High
1 p.m. -- Madison County vs. Walnut Grove
2:30 p.m. -- Lanier vs. Lumpkin County
4 p.m. -- Johnson vs. Stephens County
5:30 p.m. -- Eastside vs. Chestatee
Region 8-AAAAA
Saturday
Play-in Games
At Loganville
4 p.m. Heritage girls vs. Apalachee
5:30 p.m. Flowery Branch boys vs. Winder-Barrow
Monday
Quarterfinals
At Loganville
4 p.m. -- Flowery Branch girls vs. Loganville
5:30 p.m. -- Gainesville boys vs. Cedar Shoals
7 p.m. -- Gainesville girls vs. Winder-Barrow
8:30 p.m. -- Apalachee boys vs. Loganville
At Apalachee
4 p.m. -- Clarke Central girls vs. Cedar Shoals
5:30 p.m. -- Heritage boys vs. Salem
7 p.m. -- Salem girls vs. Heritage/Apalachee winner
8:30 p.m. -- Clarke Central boys vs. Flowery Branch/Winder-Barrow winner
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