Road to Macon has one more stop for GHSA basketball teams: semifinal pairings, finals schedule

          Semifinal weekend last year for Central Georgia was busy and suspenseful.

Finals

Macon Coliseum
Wed., March 6
2  p.m.: A Private Girls
4  p.m.: A Private Boys
6  p.m.: A Public Girls
8  p.m.: A Public Boys

 Thurs., March 7
2 p.m.: 2A Girls
4 p.m.: 2A Boys
6 p.m.: 3A Girls
8 p.m.: 3A Boys

Fri., March 8
11 am: 4A Girls
1 p.m.: 4A Boys
3 p.m.: AAASP Wheelchair
6 p.m.: 5A Girls
8 p.m.: 5A Boys

Sat., March 9
1  p.m.: 6A Girls
3 p.m.: 6A Boys
5 p.m.: 7A Girls
7 p.m.: 7A Boys

          Baldwin, Upson-Lee, and Warner Robins boys played at FVSU. Westside’s boys lost a close one in Savannah, and Wilkinson County’s boys won, while Stratford’s girls were gritty in a loss to Holy Innocents.

          Semifinal weekend this year?

          Wilkinson County, you’re up.

          The Warriors are the lone Central Georgia team left, with the Northeast and Hancock Central boys losing Wednesday after an 0-fer Tuesday with Warner Robins’ boys, and the girls from Veterans, Rutland, and Stratford all losing.

          The departures of Warner Robins and Upson-Lee in particular put a dent in the semifinal and potentially championship gates.

           But there are some potential championship matchups that would bring some folks in.    

          Of all the teams remaining,

          Nearly 35 remaining teams are from outside metro Atlanta, with between 15-20 around 90 minutes or less from Macon.

          Boys and girls are at the same semifinal locations, including Fort Valley State and Georgia College. Game times are 2, 4, 6, and 8 p.m. for all semifinals.

          The championships are all at the Macon Coliseum,

GHSA

GIRLS

Class 7A

Buford City Arena
Cherokee vs. Collins Hill
Westlake vs. N. Forsyth
          All are region tourney champs.

Class 6A

West Georgia
Lanier vs. Forest Park
Lovejoy vs. Valdosta
          Lovejoy beat Houston County, a region rival of Valdosta. Forest Park is a two seed.

Class 5A

Columbus State
Buford vs. SW DeKalb
Villa Rica vs. Columbia
          Buford and Villa Rica are back. Columbia is a two seed.

Class 4A

Fort Valley State
Spalding vs. Luella
Flowery Branch vs. Carver-Columbus
          Spalding is the Region 4 champ. Flowery Branch made the 5A semis last year, dropping down after reclassification adjustments. Luella is a two-seed.

Class 3A
Georgia Southern/Savannah
Hart County vs. Beach
Johnson-Savannnah vs. Sonoraville
          Johnson-Savannah, a two-seed, is a returnee. Beach knocked out Central and Sonoraville topped Rutland.

Class AA

Georgia College
Early County vs. Model
Laney vs. Douglas-Atlanta
          Early County is a two-seed, Model a three-seed that beat Lamar County (and beat Josey, which eliminated Dodge County), and topped Dodge County in last year’s quarters. Model and Laney,  are returning.

Class A Public

Valdosta State
No. 8 Clinch County vs. No. 4 Marion County
No. 2 Telfair County vs. No. 3 Calhoun County
          Marion County is the lone returnee.

Class A Private

North Georgia
No. 1 Holy Innocents vs. No. 5 Calvary Day
No. 2 St. Francis vs. No. 6 Wesleyan
          Calvary Day won at Stratford Tuesday and is the newcomer from last year.

BOYS

Class 7A
Norcross vs. McEachern
Meadowcreek vs. Tift County

Class 6A
Brunswick vs. Tri-Cities
Tucker vs. Heritage-Conyers
          Third-seed Heritage-Conyers beat Houston County, and is the lone semifinal returnee.

Class 5A

Buford vs. SW DeKalb
Fayette County vs. Lithonia
          Lithonia and Fayette County are two-seeds, Lithonia avenging last year’s home loss to Warner Robins on Wednesday.

Class 4A

Americus-Sumter vs. Sandy Creek
Woodward vs. Carver-Columbus
          Second-seed Americus-Sumter and Carver are returnees. Americus-Sumter has dumped the last two state-title-game participants, Upson-Lee and St. Pius.

Class 3A

Morgan County vs. Windsor Forest
Dawson County vs. Hart County
          Hart County is a three-seed that was eliminated by Westside in last year’s quarters. Windsor Forest beat Westside. Morgan County is the lone semi returnee, beating Central in last year’s quarters.

Class AA

Elbert County vs. Therrell
Laney vs. Vidalia
          Therrell and Vidalia are two-seeds. Therrell beat Northeast on Wednesday, and Laney topped Washington County and Vidalia beat Southwest. Vidalia and Laney played in a semi last year.

Class A Public

No. 1 Calhoun County vs. No. 5 Wilkinson County
No 2 Treutlen vs. Irwin County
          Treutlen has eliminated Dooly County and Hancock Central. Wilkinson County and Calhoun County are returnees.

Class A Private

No. 1 St. Francis vs. No. 4 Mount Bethel
No. 2 ELCA vs. No. 6 Christian Heritage
          St. Francis and ELCA are back.