The Elite 8 of the Georgia High School Association basketball tournament is upon us and 10 northeast Georgia area teams are still alive in their pursuit of state titles.
On Tuesday, all six girls teams and two boys team will be in action around the state. On Wednesday, just the Gainesville boys and Dawson County boys will be in action.
And none will have an easy road to the semifinals.
The most compelling matchup will be the Flowery Branch girls playing host to Henry County in the Class 4A tournament. The Lady Falcons were ranked third in Class 4A and Henry County was ranked second in the final regular-season poll by Kyle Sandy. Flowery Branch has rolled into the quarterfinals by an average of 37.5 margin of victory in the first two rounds. Henry County was a preseason favorite to make the state finals. The Lady Falcons are looking for their third consecutive semifinals.
The Rabun County girls have had a similar march to the Elite 8 in Class 2A winning their first two games by an average of 41 points. The Lady Wildcats can make their second trip to the Final Four in three seasons with a win at home against Early County.
Buford as well has rolled into the Class 5A quarterfinals after routing Carrollton by 30 points in the Sweet 16. The Lady Wolves will entertain Veterans with a chance to make their sixth-straight semifinals appearance.
The Lakeview Academy girls will once again be at home but have a monster task in front of them when perennial power Wesleyan comes to Gainesville on Tuesday. The Lady Lions are looking for their second Final Four appearance in three years as well.
The Jefferson girls, who were ranked No. 1 in Class 3A late in the regular season, will play host to defending Class 3A champion Johnson-Savannah. The Lady Dragons, who were knocked out in the Elite 8 each of the last two seasons, are looking for their first semifinal appearance since 2006.
The Dawson County girls will make the second-longest road trip in the state in any classification on Tuesday traveling to Savannah to take on Beach. The Lady Tigers have been hot in the playoffs after a disappointing Region 7-3A tournament, notching a pair of road playoff wins behind Kaylee Sticker.
For the boys, the Gainesville boys, fresh off a double-overtime thriller over Cambridge, will head to Tucker in the quarterfinals. The Red Elephants rode career nights from Rafael Rubel and Makius Scott and will need similar performances against the Tigers, who have won nine straight games and lost just once at home all season.
The Buford boys are looking for their second semifinals in three seasons playing host to Dutchtown, the only non-top two seed left in Class 5A. The Wolves also are rolling having dispatched their first two playoff foes by an average of 21 points.
The Dawson County boys have a chance to make history on Wednesday taking on Franklin County at home. A win for the Tigers will propel them into their first-ever semifinal appearance in program history.
And the Riverside Military boys, after making history last week with a fourth quarter for the ages by Shad Dabney, have a chance to continue their best-ever playoffs against Eagles Landing Christian Academy. The Eagles will travel to McDonough on Tuesday.
GHSA THIRD ROUND PLAYOFFS
(Area teams in bold)
TUESDAY'S SCHEDULE
Class 5A
Veterans girls at Buford, 6 p.m.
Dutchtown boys at Buford, 7:30 p.m.
Class 4A
Henry County girls at Flowery Branch, 6 p.m. (RADIO: FM 102.9 & AM 550 WDUN)
Class 3A
Dawson County girls at Beach, 6 p.m.
Johnson-Savannah girls at Jefferson, 6 p.m.
Class 2A
Early County girls at Rabun County, 6 p.m.
Class A Private
Wesleyan girls at Lakeview Academy, 6 p.m.
Riverside Military Academy boys at Eagles Landing Christian, 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE
Class 6A
Gainesville boys at Tucker, 6:30 p.m. (RADIO: FM 94.5 & AM 1240 THE LAKE)
Class 3A
Franklin County boys at Dawson County, 7 p.m.
