The region tournaments have closed shops, and the excitement begins as GHSA fills in the brackets for the State Tournament for basketball.
Whereas typically the Final Four games have taken place in Macon, this year marks a departure from that tradition. Each classification will have its Final Four hosted by a variety of colleges and universities across the state. Colleges such as Valdosta State and Georgia College & State University will be hosting Final Fours.
For 12 of our local teams, the dream of playing in the state tournament has now become a reality. Where three of those teams (both Tallulah Falls boys and girls, and Towns County boys) are not exactly penciled into a bracket yet, they should be. For 1A schools, the public vs private split requires a power ranking to come out and determine which teams have a high enough power index number to be in the private or public 1A state bracket.
The Tallulah Falls boys have done more than enough to earn a nod among the private schools, and the Towns County boys put up a school record for wins (18) as well, and have a decent shot to make the playoffs. Tallulah girls are on the bubble.
Here are the locals that we are certain are in, and their respective first round matchups:
GIRLS
6A – #4 Habersham Central at #1 Creekview
3A – #2 Dawson County vs #3 Lovett
2A – #1 Rabun County vs #4 Therell
2A – #2 Banks County vs #3 South Atlanta
BOYS
4A – #2 Stephens County vs #3 Heritage
4A – #3 White County at #2 Sandy Creek
3A – #3 Lumpkin County at #2 Cedar Grove
3A – #4 Dawson County at #1 Pace Academy
2A – #1 Banks County vs #4 Washington-ATL
Where some teams like the Banks County boys and Rabun County girls were all season long expected to make state, as well as a solid Habersham Central team, others that advanced to state came as a surprise. Dawson’s boys ended a playoff drought by grabbing the fourth seed out of 7-AAA, while the Lady Tigers of Dawson shockingly upset a couple of teams to advance to a third straight region championship game.
Stephens and White County boys teams both were expected to make a playoff run in 2016-17, as well as a Lumpkin boys team that had to regroup after losing some prime talent from a year ago.
As higher teams get the home court advantage, be sure to support or travel to see any of our local teams. Banks County boys and girls host first round games, as do the Rabun girls, Dawson girls and Stephens boys.
Feature Image by Bobby Escoe
