Top games: Round 1

Friday marks the start of the GHSA’s Class AA tournament for the 2017-18 season. Here, we will preview the top games for Round 1. But before we do that, here are some helpful links:

We’ll start with a game I labeled in my predictions blog post as the most-anticipated game of the opening round. It comes from the boys’ side and it’s the No. 10 Swainsboro Tigers (20-6) at the No. 3 Thomasville Bulldogs (23-3) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

The Tigers are one of last year’s finalists and unexpectedly come out of Region 2 as the No. 4 seed after seeing their undefeated record against 2-AA come to an end with a loss to Vidalia early in the region tournament. All previous signs pointed to the Tigers earning the No. 1 seed for a second consecutive season, so for them to enter as their region’s final playoff team is bad news for the Bulldogs, who earned a No. 1 seed out of Region 1.

Senior guard Jaylan McKinney still leads the Tigers and will be a headache for the Bulldogs, who are by all accounts a legitimate state title contender themselves. The Bulldogs are looking to make a deep run after being upset in the second round at home last season by Chattooga. The previous two seasons resulted in a quartefinals appearance for them. The Bulldogs are led by senior forward Reggie Perry — a Mississippi State signee who, according to 247sports, is a five-star recruit and the No. 2 overall player in Georgia.

If there is going to be a No. 4 seed beating a No. 1 seed, this game could be it. It’s the only first round boys matchup involving top 10 teams in AA, and that’s only because of Swainsboro’s poor showing in the region tournament, where they lost to Metter in overtime, then Vidalia.

But to be fair to the Tigers, they lost in the 2-AA tourney to a formidibale opponent in the Vidalia Indians, which had given them fits all season. Though the Tigers twice beat Vidalia in the regular season, they only won each time by five points or less. The Indians finally got to them when it counted most, edging them 41-40 in the consolation game.

There’s also a top 10  matchup on the girls side, with the No. 7 Putnam County Lady Eagles (20-4; No. 4, Region 8) playing at the No. 6 Model Lady Blue Devils (22-3; No. 1, Region 7) on Friday at 6 p.m. And like the Swainsboro-Thomasville boys matchup, this one involves one of the state’s better teams finishing as a No. 4 seed in its region.

The Lady Eagles play in a very deep 8-AA that includes ranked Banks County (No. 2) and Rabun County (No. 8). In fact, just a week ago the Lady Eagles were ranked No. 2 themselves. The reason they slipped in the rankings — and to the No. 4 seed — is due largely to a disappoiting loss to Elbert County in the region tournament. They followed that with another loss to Rabun County in the consolation game.

But they're still a solid team that's fully capable of beating Model. In fact, two seasons ago in the semifinals, the Lady Eagles did just that. And the key players from that 2016 game for both Putnam County and Model — Rykia Pennamon for the Lady Eagles and Victaria Saxton for the Lady Blue Devils — are still around. Both are seniors, with Pennamon averaging 18.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.7 assists; Saxton is a five-star recruit according to ESPNw who signed with South Carolina.

While the Lady Eagles fought for playoff seeding in 8-AA, the Lady Blue Devils dominated 7-AA, going 16-0 including the region tournament.

Other games to keep an eye on:

Stats, records and game times are sourced from MaxPreps. Follow the AJC’s Class AA coverage on Twitter.