MACON — Two Northeast Georgia area teams will look for state titles on Friday at the Macon Centreplex.
One, the Buford boys, are looking for their third title since 2017 and first in Class 6A under first-year coach and former Wolves player Benjie Wood. Buford, ranked fifth in the final Class 6A poll, will take on unranked Grovetown at 7 p.m.
The other, the Lumpkin County girls, are looking to continue to break new ground seeking their first-ever state title. The Lady Indians, ranked No. 1 in the final Class 3A poll, will take on old Region 7-3A foe and third-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian at 1 p.m.
A trend set on the first day of the four-day event, in particular, could bode well for both, depending on the outlook.
Four first-time champions were crowded on Wednesday in both Class 4A and Class A Public. Advantage Lumpkin County; concern for the Wolves, who have captured two titles since 2017.
So far, there have been no repeat champions as action in Macon began at 1 p.m. on Thursday.
GIRLS NOTEBOOK
The Lumpkin County girls have never won a state championship in basketball. In fact, the Lady Indians had never advanced past the semifinal round in its history until knocking off Westminster last week in the Final Four.
But as is usually the case in life, things change.
The Lady Indians will take to the court Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. hoping to check that off of their Bucket List against the Lady Spartans.
Lumpkin County (29-1) comes in with the most wins in Class 3A and has been ranked No. 1 most of the season. The Spartans (25-6) are no strangers to the championship game having won the Class 3A title in 2020 and the program owns nine titles overall.
In the girls tournaments, there will be six new champions crowned this season with the potential for two more, meaning there could be no repeat champions in 2022. If there were no repeat champions that would mark the second consecutive year for that to happen. Before that, the last time there were no repeat champions on the girls side was 2008. ... Already there have been two first-time ever champions crowned with Marist in Class 4A and Lake Oconee in Class A Public both winning on Wednesday. Four others, including Lumpkin County in Class 3A, also could find themselves as first-time champions. Only two teams, Woodward Academy in Class 5A and Hebron Christian in Class A Private, have the potential to repeat as champions this season. ... Seven of the eight finals matchups involve ranked teams. Only one team, Hancock Central in Class A Public, came into a title match unranked. ... High finishes in region tournaments also proved to be supremely important once the state tournament rolls around. Of the 16 finalists across the eight classifications, 11 were region champs the other five were No. 2 seeds out of their regions.
BOYS NOTEBOOK
The Buford boys are one of five non-region champ teams to advance to the finals, and have had to fight from behind in both the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds to get back to Macon for the first time since winning the Class 5A title in 2019.
The Warriors (28-3) will be another stern challenge for the Wolves (25-6). Grovetown, the Region 3-6A champion, leads Class 6A in wins and comes in riding a 17-game win streak since an overtime loss to Sequoyah in a Christmas Tournament.
However, Buford is coming off a 73-72 win over Sequoyah in the semifinals and has knocked off three region champs (Statesboro, Carrollton, and Sequoyah) in successive rounds. But the Warriors did take out defending champion Wheeler in the Elite 8 and perennial power Hughes last week in the Final Four.
The boys tournaments are eerily similar to the girls. There also will be six new champions crowned this season with the potential for two more where there could be no repeat champions in 2022. If there were no repeat champions that would mark the third time since 2016 for that to happen. ... Already there have been two first-time ever champions crowned with Spencer in Class 4A and Drew Charter in Class A Public both winning on Wednesday. ... Four others, including Buford’s opponent Grovetown, also could find themselves as first-time champions. Only two teams, Eagles Landing in Class 5A and Cross Creek in Class 3A, can repeat as champions this season. ... Seven of the eight finals matchups involve ranked teams. Only one team, Grovetown in Class 6A, came into a title match unranked. ... High finishes in region tournaments also proved to be crucial for the boys as well. Of the 16 finalists across the eight classifications, 11 were region champs the other five were No. 2 seeds out of their regions. ... Only one final -- Windsor Forest vs. Cross Creek in Class 3A -- did not involve a region champ.
