The end of the 2017-18 high school basketball regular season is upon us, and a few automatic berths into the upcoming state tournament are already clinched.
The Gainesville boys, both Buford teams, and the Jefferson boys have each booked state spots -- and yet there are plenty more to go around.
A full slate of games is scheduled for Tuesday and Friday with more state berths on the line, as well as positioning in the region tournaments, which are scheduled to begin next week.
Following is a brief synopsis of where all eight area regions sit heading into the final week of the regular season (following that is a schedule of games for the week):
Region 8-AAAAAA
The top two teams get automatic berths into the state tournament. The Gainesville boys have clinched the No. 1 seed with Dacula sitting in second place and Lanier just a game back. Those two teams close out the regular season on Friday. On the girls side, Winder-Barrow is in first place but leads both Dacula and Lanier by just one game. The play-in games will be held at the higher seeded team on Tuesday, Feb. 6, while the semifinals and finals will be held at Dacula beginning Feb. 9.
Region 8-AAAAA
The No. 1 seeds get an automatic berth into the state tournament. Both Buford teams have clinched the top seeds. Play-in games will tip Feb. 6 at the No. 2 seeds' home gyms. Currently the Flowery Branch girls and Clarke Central boys occupy the No. 2 spots. The semifinals and finals will move to Johnson, beginning Feb. 9.
Region 7-AAAA
The top three seeds on both boys and girls sides get automatic berths into the state tournament. The Nos. 4 and 5 seeds will play at the home of the No. 4 boys seed beginning on Feb. 6 for the final berth, with the semifinals and finals moving to West Hall on Feb. 8 with the finals on Feb. 10.
Region 8-AAAA
The top two teams get automatic berths into the state tournament. On the boys side, St. Pius and Jefferson both have clinched playoff spots while the Madison County girls have clinched the No. 1 seed. The entire tournament will be held at Oconee County beginning next Tuesday (Feb. 6) with semifinals and finals beginning Feb. 9.
Region 7-AAA
Both Greater Atlanta Christian teams have clinched the No. 1 seeds and both will get the automatic berths into the state tournament. The No. 2 seeds on both the boys and girls side will play host to first round games beginning on Feb. 6 before the semifinals and finals move to Dawson County on Feb. 9. The East Hall boys lead Dawson County by a game and the two teams play Tuesday in Dawsonville. The Tigers beat the Vikings in overtime in their first meeting. In the girls, East Hall leads both North Hall and Union County by a game.
Region 8-AAA
The top two teams on both sides will get automatic berths into the state tournament. Morgan County has clinched the top seed on the boys side, while the Franklin County girls need just one win to clinch the top seed. The No. 2 seeds are still wide open going into the final week. First round action will tip at the home of the No. 3 boys seed, which currently includes a two-way tie between Franklin County and Monroe Area. The site of the region semifinals and finals will begin Feb. 9 at Emmanuel College.
Region 8-AA
The No. 1 seeds get automatic berths into the state tournament with the No. 1 girls team, currently Banks County, playing host to the region tournament. On the boys side, Elbert County leads Banks County by a game, while the Lady Leopards lead Putnam County by one game. All four teams play a pair of games this week to close out the regular season. First round action will begin on Monday (Feb. 5) with semifinals and finals scheduled for Thursday and Friday (Feb. 8-9).
Region 8-A
Both Lakeview Academy teams sit in first place. The Lady Lions hold a one-half game lead over Prince Avenue, while the boys have a perfect 14-0 record and lead Prince Avenue by four games. The region tournament winners are the only ones that receive bids to the state tournament, as Class A uses the power rankings to fill the playoff bracket in its Public/Private postseason split. The entire Region 8-A tournament will be held at Commerce and will begin on Saturday (Feb. 3), with semifinals beginning Feb. 9 and finals following on Feb. 10.
AREA BASKETBALL SCHEDULE, JAN. 29 TO FEB. 2
(Games are listed by day and in alphabetical order by visiting team.)
Tuesday, Jan. 30
Banks County at Putnam County
Blessed Trinity at White County
Chestatee at West Hall
Clarke Central at Flowery Branch
Commerce at Tallulah Falls
Dacula at Habersham Central
East Hall at Dawson County
Franklin County at East Jackson
Gainesville at Winder-Barrow
Jackson County at East Jackson
Jefferson at St. Pius
Lakeview Academy at Riverside Military
Lanier at Apalachee
Loganville at Johnson
Rabun County at Social Circle
Towns County at Hebron Christian
Union County at Lumpkin County
Walnut Grove at Buford
Thursday, Feb. 1
Johnson at Clarke Central
Friday, Feb. 2
Apalachee at Gainesville
Buford at Johnson
Chattanooga Christian at Lakeview Academy
Chestatee at Blessed Trinity
Dawson County at Union County
East Jackson at Jackson County
Elbert County at Rabun County
Fannin County at East Hall
Lanier at Dacula
Lumpkin County at North Hall
Oglethrope County at Banks County
Prince Avenue at Commerce
Riverside Military at George Walton
Stephens County at Jefferson
Towns County at Athens Christian
Walnut Grove at Flowery Branch
West Hall at White County
Winder-Barrow at Habersham Central
