The holiday tournament season is over. NOW, the real drive for playoff spots will resume, or for at least one region, begin on Friday around northeast Georgia.
Region 8-3A will become the final region to begin its quest for playoff spots on Friday, and it figures to be perhaps one of the best races in the state in Class 3A on both the boys and girls sides.
In the Postseason Rankings (PSR) published by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) on a daily basis, the Cherokee Bluff boys (14-1, 0-0 Region 8-3A) are ranked second while East Hall (11-2, 0-0 Region 8-3A) is ranked third overall in Class 3A. The Bears won both the Lanierland Tournament and the Bluff Holiday Classic while the Vikings are coming off a tourney title win in the Smoky Mountain Winter Classic in Gatlinburg.
For the girls, Jefferson (9-3, 0-0 Region 8-3A) is ranked fifth while Cherokee Bluff (11-4, 0-0 Region 8-3A) is sixth, East Hall (7-5, 0-0 Region 8-3A) is 14th and Oconee County (10-4, 0-0 Region 8-3A) is 20th as they get ready open region play.
But that isn't the only region that is poised to go down to the wire.
The rest of more than half-a-dozen regions housing northeast Georgia teams also will get back to the grind on Friday.
Perhaps the biggest single, and most anticipated, matchup will be on the girls side. Class 3A No. 1 Pickens (11-1, 3-0 Region 6-3A) will travel to No. 7 White County (11-3, 3-0 Region 6-3A) with the early lead in Region 6-3A on the line.
For the boys, the biggest showdown will probably be in Mount Airy when Class 5A fourth-ranked (Sandy Spiel rankings) Habersham Central (13-2, 3-0 Region 8-5A) will play host to Loganville (7-4, 2-0 Region 8-5A) with first place on the line.
In all, 20 key region showdowns will take place on Friday as they start a month-long sprint to region tournaments and some automatic bids into the state tournament.
(See below for the full schedule of Friday's games.)
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY, Jan. 3
Carver-Columbus at Buford, 4:30 p.m.
Cherokee Bluff at Monroe Area, 6 p.m.*
Dawson County at Chestatee, 7 p.m.*
Jefferson at West Hall, 7 p.m.*
Lakeview Academy at Athens Christian, 6 p.m.*
Loganville at Habersham Central, 7 p.m.*
Lumpkin County at Johnson, 7 p.m.*
North Hall at GAC, 7 p.m.*
Oconee County at East Hall, 6 p.m.*
Pickens at White County, 7 p.m.*
Ringgold at Union County, 7 p.m.*
Winder-Barrow at Jackson County, 6 p.m.*
(* -- denotes region contest)
