Top-10 basketball teams were 152-6 in the first round of the state tournament Tuesday and Wednesday. And that was 150-4 when not playing each other.
What was easy gets hard Friday and Saturday when 40 games match top-10 teams. Five No. 1 teams will play ranked opponents.
Boys basketball playoff scores, schedules
The most eye-catching second-round games, both involving boys teams, are No. 2 Milton at No. 1 Woodward Academy in Class 5A and No. 3 Kell at No. 1 Pace Academy in Class 4A.
Milton was ranked No. 1 most of this season but lost to a sub-.500 team, Lanier, in its region tournament. That forced Milton, a third-place region finisher, into the path of a region champion in this weekend’s round of 16.
That region champion happened to be Woodward Academy (24-4), a team with only one in-state loss, to third-ranked Tri-Cities, which Woodward has avenged twice now.
Kell also stumped its toe in region play, losing to surging Westminster. Kell is a two-time reigning state champion, winning Class 5A the past two seasons, but now faces Pace Academy, which has held the No. 1 ranking since preseason.
Other No. 1-ranked teams facing ranked threats are River Ridge’s girls against No. 7 Morrow in 5A, Banks County’s girls against No. 10 Washington County in A Division I and Wilcox County against No. 4 Taylor County in A Division II.
The second-round winners will advance to the quarterfinals to be played Tuesday and Wednesday. The semifinals are Feb. 28-March 1 at neutral sites. Finals are March 5-8 in Macon.
40 second-round games involving top-10 teams:
Girls games are usually Friday, with boys games Saturday, although the GHSA allows exceptions for Saturday doubleheaders when one school’s boys and girls both have home games.
GIRLS
Class 6A
No. 3 North Paulding at No. 8 Carrollton
No. 7 Newton at No. 6 Norcross
Class 5A
No. 7 Morrow at No. 1 River Ridge
No. 8 Tri-Cities at No. 4 Milton
No. 9 Creekview at No. 3 Woodward Academy
Clas 4A
No. 5 Warner Robins at No. 4 North Oconee
No. 9 Midtown at No. 7 Dalton
No. 10 Jackson-Atlanta at No. 3 Kell
Class 3A
No. 7 Sandy Creek at No. 2 Luella
No. 8 White County at No. 3 Baldwin
Class 2A
No. 8 Butler at No. 6 Josey
No. 10 Sumter County at No. 4 Thomson
Class A Division I
No. 6 Central-Macon at No. 3 Model
No. 9 Elbert County at No. 7 Vidalia
No. 10 Washington County at No. 1 Banks County
Class A Division II
No. 3 Bryan County at No. 2 Macon County
No. 4 Taylor County at No. 1 Wilcox County
No. 8 Charlton County at No. 5 Randolph-Clay
Class 3A-A private
No. 5 Mount Paran Christian at No. 7 Southwest Atlanta Christian
No. 9 Greater Atlanta Christian at No. 6 Athens Academy
No. 10 Trinity Christian at No. 4 Galloway
BOYS
Class 6A
No. 4 Newton at No. 10 Peachtree Ridge
No. 6 Etowah at No. 8 Buford
No. 9 Pebblebrook at No. 7 Lambert
Class 5A
No. 2 Milton at No. 1 Woodward Academy
Class 4A
No. 3 Kell at No. 1 Pace Academy
No. 4 Southwest DeKalb at No. 9 McDonough
Class 3A
No. 5 Cross Creek at No. 6 East Hall
No. 7 Douglass at No. 10 Windsor Forest
Class 2A
No. 3 Columbia at No. 4 Butler
No. 2 KIPP Atlanta at No. 5 Morgan County
No. 6 South Atlanta at No. 8 Laney
Class A Division I
No. 3 BEST Academy at No. 4 Rabun County
No. 8 East Laurens at No. 5 Model
No. 9 Vidalia at No. 10 Worth County
Class A Division II
No. 2 McIntosh County Academy at No. 6 Taylor County
No. 4 Calhoun County at No. 5 Greene County
No. 10 Warren County at No. 3 Randolph-Clay
Class 3A-A private
No. 8 St. Francis at No. 7 Calvary Day
No. 10 Lovett at No. 9 Mount Paran Christian
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