On Tuesday, nine northeast Georgia area teams -- eight girls and the Buford boys -- advanced to the Sweet 16 with first round wins in the Georgia High School Association playoffs.
On Wednesday, 11 more teams -- nine boys and the Union County and Dawson County girls -- will try to join them as they get their postseasons underway. However,, it should prove to be a much more difficult path for most as only four will be at home.
The Union County boys and girls are holding a doubleheader in Blairsville, with the girls taking on Eagles Landing Christian and the boys playing Landmark Christian in Class 2A. Both Dawson County teams will take on Adairsville on the road in Class 3A.
The toughest assignment probably falls to Gainesville, which travels to Alexander to take on the defending Class 6A state champion Cougars. The Red Elephants are making their first playoff appearance since 2021 and have not won a playoff game since 2019.
The Lumpkin County boys are making their first playoff appearance since 2019 and are looking for their first playoff win since 2016.
(Below is the full schedule of playoff games on Wednesday for teams in the AccessWDUN coverage area)
1st ROUND BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS, Wednesday, Feb. 21
BOYS
CLASS 6A
Gainesville (R8, S4) at Alexander (R5, S1), 7 p.m.
Langston Hughes (R5, S3) at Habersham Central (R8, S2), 7 p.m.
CLASS 4A
North Hall boys at McDonough, 6 p.m.
CLASS 3A
Dawson County girls (R7, S4) at Adairsville (R6, S1), 6 p.m.
Dawson County boys (R7, S4) at Adairsville (R6, S1). 7:30 p.m.
Lumpkin County (R7, S3) at Ridgeland (R6, S2), 6 p.m.
CLASS 2A
East Jackson boys at Callaway, TBD
ELCA (R5, S3) girls at Union County (R8, S2), 6 p.m.
Landmark Christian boys (R5, S3) at Union County (R8, S2), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS A DIVISION 1
Prince Avenue Christian (R5, S3) at Rabun County (R8, S2), 7 p.m.
CLASS A DIVISION 2
Towns County (R8, S4) at Twiggs County, 6 p.m.
GIAA CLASS 3A
Lakeview Academy, first round bye
1st ROUND BASKETBALL SCORES, Tuesday, Feb. 20
GIRLS
CLASS 7A
Buford girls 66, Wheeler 21
Buford boys 52, Osborne 49
CLASS 6A
Hughes 64, Gainesville 37
North Forsyth 49, Alexander 16
South Paulding 58, Habersham Central 29
CLASS 5A
Jefferson 56, Tri-Cities 49
Jackson 80, Flowery Branch 27
CLASS 4A
Chestatee 75, Woodland-Stockbridge 52
Stockbridge 72, Cherokee Bluff 49
CLASS 3A
White County 70, Ringgold 38
CLASS 2A
Banks County 73, McNair 17
CLASS A DIVISION 1
Commerce 60, Prince Avenue 58
Rabun County 63, Jasper County 32
CLASS A DIVISION 2
Johnson County 52, Towns County 50
GIAA CLASS 3A
Lakeview Academy, first-round bye
