Seven northeast Georgia-area region champions -- six girls teams and one boys team -- will get their 2024 postseasons underway on Tuesday in the Georgia High School Association playoffs.
The girls are up first on Tuesday, unless a doubleheader is schedule if both teams are playing host to first round games. The boys are set for Wednesday.
(Below is the full schedule of playoff games on Tuesday for teams in the AccessWDUN coverage area.)
All seven -- both Buford teams in Class 7A, North Forsyth in Class 6A, Jefferson in Class 5A, Chestatee in Class 4A, Banks County in Class 2A, and Rabun County in Class A Division 1 -- are prohibitive favorites to move on to Friday's second round. However, they are not the only teams looking for postseason success.
Habersham Central in Class 6A is also at home and has an interesting showdown with Region 5-5A No. 3 seed South Paulding. The Lady Raiders (10-14) have made the Sweet 16 two of the last three years while the Lady Spartans (12-17) have never won a playoff game and are making their first trip to the postseason since 2018.
Cherokee Bluff, a 22-game winner that suffered a pair of upset losses in the Region 8-4A tournament, heads to 21-game winner Stockbridge.
Towns County, which finished 17-10 but also was upset in the Region 8-A Division 2 tournament, travels to Region 5-A Division 2 champion Johnson County, which has not won a playoff game since 2002.
The Lakeview Academy girls are ranked No. 1 in the GIAA and their recent region title gave them the No. 1 seed and a bye into the second round of the GIAA Class 3A playoffs. The Lady Lions will get their postseason started on Friday against the winner of the first round matchup between Brookwood-Dominion Christian.
In all, 14 area teams will be in action on Tuesday looking to advance to the second round.
Check back with AccessWDUN Sports later Tuesday night for scores and stories.
1st ROUND BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS, Tuesday, Feb. 20
GIRLS
CLASS 7A
Wheeler girls (Region 5, Seed 4) at Buford (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Osborne boys (R8, S4) at Buford (R8, S1), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 6A
Gainesville (R8, S4) at Hughes (R5,S1), 6 p.m.
South Paulding (R5, S3) at Habersham Central (R8, S2), 6 p.m.
Alexander (R5, S4) at North Forsyth (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS 5A
Tri-Cities (R5, S4) at Jefferson (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Flowery Branch (R8, S4) at Jackson (R5, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS 4A
Cherokee Bluff (R8, S4) at Stockbridge (R5, S1), 7 p.m.
Woodland-Stockbridge (R5, S4) at Chestatee (R8, S1), 6:30 p.m. -- 94.5 FM The Lake
CLASS 3A
White County (R7, S3) at Ringgold (R6, S2), 6 p.m.
CLASS 2A
McNair (R5, S4) at Banks County (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS A DIVISION 1
Commerce (R8, S3) at Prince Avenue (R5, S2), 6:30 p.m.
Jasper County (R5, S4) at Rabun County (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS A DIVISION 2
Towns County (R8, S4) at Johnson County, 5:30 p.m.
GIAA CLASS 3A
Lakeview Academy, first-round bye
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/2/1228842/basketball-1st-rd-state-playoffs-sked