Game time, HOOP! GHSA state tournament basketball is here, with dozens of Central Georgia teams ready
Polls
Sandy’s Spiel girls
Sandy’s Spiel boys
AJC girls
AJC boys
Last year’s first round pairings with seeds
Last year’s first round results, Tuesday
Last year’s first round results, Wednesday
Central Georgia Rankings (Sandy’s Spiel/AJC)
Girls
Class 5A
6/4 Warner Robins
Class 4A
4/4 Baldwin
9/X Central
Class AA
3 /4 Northeast
5/8 Dodge County
10/x Washington County
Class A Public
9/5 Taylor County
x/9 Dublin
Boys
Class 4A
7/5 Baldwin
7/7 Washington county
8/8 Northeast
Class A Public
3/3 Dublin
9/x Dooly County
Class A Private
9/10 FPD
Central Georgia state champs since 2012
Baldwin boys, Class 4A-2021
Hancock Central boys, Class A Public-2020
Taylor County girls, Class A Public-2015, 2016
Upson-Lee boys, Class 4A-2017,2018
Warner Robins boys, Class 5A- 2018
Wilkinson County boys, Class A Public-2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
There are 21 girls games and 23 boys games involving Central Georgia teams in the first round of the GHSA state basketball tournament.
Who will be playing this weekend?
It being the postseason, anybody’s guess is as good or as bad as anybody else’s.
Last year’s first round wasn’t a hot one for Central Georgia, with the girls going 4-12 – excluding two matchups between area teams – and the boys going 7-16, excluding opponent COVID forfeits.
Baldwin’s girls were ranked sixth in Class AAAA in the Sandy’s Spiel poll, and were sent home by Bainbridge in the first round. Lamar County, No. 7 in AA, was dealt the same fate.
All of the ranked boys teams made it through the first round.
Hancock Central goes for its third straight trip to the Class A Public boys final, starting at home with Macon County. The Bulldogs, second in Region 7, won the title in 2020, beating Treutlen 61-58, but lost 64-60 in last year’s finale to Towns County.
Towns County finished second in its region tournament, too.
Defending Class 4A boys champion Baldwin, ranked fifth and seventh, host Shaw, which didn’t make last year’s tournament.
Perry’s girls eked into the tournament under first-year head coach Natasha Gainous, and are rewarded with second-ranked and defending 3A champ Carver-Columbus.
Mary Persons has a state champ in the way in 3A with a trip to Cross Creek. The same goes for the Upson-Lee boys, at Cross Creek, which took the boys title last year.
The second round is Friday and Saturday, with the quarterfinals March 1-2. The semifinals are March 4-5 and neutral locations: West Georgia for 6A, Fort Valley State for 5A and 4A, Georgia College for 3A and 2A, Valdosta for Class A Public and the Buford City Arena for Class A Private.
The finals are March 9-12 at the Macon Coliseum.