The road to state championships gets underway on Tuesday, with 17 Northeast Georgia-area girls teams looking to keep their seasons going in first-round action.
Three area teams -- North Forsyth in Class 7A, Lumpkin County in Class 3A, Rabun County in Class 2A -- come in ranked No. 1 in the final regular-season rankings and are among the favorites to win titles in their respective classifications. All three will be at home in the first road and hold possible home-court advantage all the way through, depending on how brackets shape out.
North Forsyth has a tough draw in Class 7A despite the top ranking. The Lady Raiders could face No. 3 Grayson, which was upset in the Region 8-7A final, in the second round and then possibly No. 5 Harrison in the quarterfinals.
Lumpkin County also faces a tough draw in Class 3A. The Lady Indians could see No. 8 Tattnall County in the second round and then a rematch of last year’s thrilling semifinal against No. 2 and defending state champion Cross Creek in the quarterfinals looms as well.
Rabun County, however, has a very favorable draw with no ranked teams in its quadrant. The Lady Wildcats would not have to face a ranked team until the semifinals, where they could see No. 3 Northeast-Macon.
Buford (10th in Class 6A), Jefferson (3rd in Class 4A), Chestatee (6th in Class 4A) and East Jackson (10th in Class 3A) also come in ranked at the end of the season, and all four will be at home in the first round. Jefferson (8-4A) and East Jackson (8-3A) are No. 1 seeds after winning their region tournaments and also could hold a home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
East Forsyth in Class 3A and Commerce in Class A Public will also have playoff games at home in the first round.
In Class 6A, Habersham Central has a tough opener against No. 9 Sprayberry.
In Class 4A, one of the more interesting opening round games will be in Gainesville when No. 6 Chestatee takes on No. 8 Arabia Mountain at the Lynn Cottrell Complex.
In Class 3A, a pair of important matchups has White County, which had been ranked during the season, traveling to No. 3 GAC and Dawson County heading to No. 4 Westminster.
Check below for the entire schedule of first-round games for Northeast Georgia area teams.
1st ROUND GIRLS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE, Tuesday, Feb. 22
CLASS 7A
North Gwinnett (R8, S4) at North Forsyth (R6, S1), 7 p.m.
CLASS 6A
Habersham Central (R8, S3) at Sprayberry (R6, S2), 6 p.m.
Osborne (R6, S3) at Buford (R8, S2), 6 p.m.
CLASS 5A
Jackson County (R8, S4) at Jackson-ATL (R6, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS 4A
Arabia Mountain (R6, S3) at Chestatee (R8, S2), 6 p.m.
CLASS 3A
Cedar Grove (R5, S3) at East Forsyth (R7, S2), 6:30 p.m.
Dawson County (R7, S4) at Westminster (R5, S1), 6 p.m.
White County (R7, S3) at GAC (R5, S2), 6 p.m.
CLASS 2A
Banks County (R8, S3) at Pace Academy (R6, S2), 5:30 p.m.
Lovett (R6, S4) at Rabun County (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Union County (R8, S4) at Columbia (R6, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS A PUBLIC
Armuchee (R6, S3) at Commerce (R8, S2), 6 p.m.
Towns County (R8, S4) at Mt. Zion-Carroll (R6, S1), 6 p.m.
1st ROUND GIRLS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE, Wednesday, Feb. 23
CLASS 4A
Mays (R1, S4) at Jefferson (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS 3A
Redan (R5, S4) at Lumpkin County (R7, S1), 7 p.m.
Ringgold (R6, S4) at East Jackson (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS A PRIVATE
Lakeview Academy (R6, S3) at Prince Avenue (R8, S2), 6 p.m.
