Greater Atlanta Christian, Beach girls prepared for rematch, a look at Class AAA after Round 2

ajc.com

If the quarterfinal matchups in the Class AAA state high school basketball tournament look familiar, they should.

It starts on the girls' side where three of last year's Final Four teams – Greater Atlanta Christian, Beach, Johnson-Savannah – are still alive. The premier game offers a meeting between two of the top programs -- Beach at GAC. Both advanced to the quarters with blowouts, GAC defeating Coahulla Creek, 68-28, and Beach ousting Cook, 56-27.

Both teams carry memories of last season's controversial Beach victory in the semifinals. A scorebook error helped lead Beach to victory and left GAC bemoaning what might have been.

GAC coach Lady Grooms has not spent one minute thinking of last year's scoring-error and is prepared to take advantage of the home-court this time around. She thinks her team is playing to form at the right time.

"In the second round, we played sharp and we may be peaking at the right time," Grooms said. "It was one of the best team wins, and we put up some points, too. We dominated the inside. We must continue to get the ball to our big (players) down low."

"But, I am excited to play Beach again, especially on our home court. Beach out-rebounded us last year, and I believe that defense and rebounding can help win championships. They deserved the win last year."

Speaking of last year? Some of us might be, but GAC isn't. The focus lately has been playing their game in an adjusted, Benton-less, lineup. GAC lost its best player, Robyn Benton, during the holidays to injury. She was averaging almost 18 points a game.

"We are not focused on last year, since we have a new team as well," Grooms said. "With Robyn (Benton) being out, we had to create another culture and system. Our focus is to play Spartan basketball. We are happy to be home this time around, and we have four seniors who are playing hard to continue their season. We are coming to fight. Our Forum is an awesome place to play. Our fans and support will help our girls play confident."

The Lady Spartans have three players scoring in double-figures: Taylor Sutton (16.8 points), Caria Reynolds (12.1 points) and Mary Martha Turner (10.1 points). Reynolds (21 points) and Sutton (14 points) led scorers in GAC's second-round victory against Coahulla Creek.

Beach also is looking to punch its ticket to the semifinals. The Lady Bulldogs could be described as "lacking" on offense with one player, Tatiyanna Morris (10.8 points), averaging double figures. But the Lady Bulldogs spread scoring among Madison Evans (6.5 points), Jaida Burrgess (6.7 points), Maryyana Page (6.9 points), Kaila Rougier (8.1 points) and Jabreika Bass (9.7 points). Every player on the floor can score, and Beach has a lot of depth.

This game could be too close to call.

On the boys side, one Final Four contender from last season is still alive -- the top-ranked Morgan County Bulldogs. Defending-champion Pace Academy had its bid for a repeat cut short by GAC in the second round, 57-54.

The rest of the state is making its presence known across the bracket with only two teams metro Atlanta teams left in the quarterfinals – GAC and Cedar Grove. Two programs from Savannah, Jenkins and Johnson, give the southern end of the state some quarterfinal recognition. Two Middle Georgia programs represent the heart of the state in the final eight – Westside-Macon and Central-Macon.

The remaining quarterfinalist is Hart County from Northeast Georgia.

Boys Schedule

First Round

Feb. 16-17

R5#2 Pace Academy 62, R6#3 Sonoraville 43

R7#1 Greater Atlanta Christian 76, R8#4 East Jackson 43

R1#2 Monroe 79, R2#3 Liberty County 69

R3#1 Johnson-Savannah 88, R4#4 Kendrick 68

R5#3 Towers 81, R6#2 Bremen 59

R8#1 Morgan County 61, R7#4 North Hall 29

R2#2 Long County 86, R1#3 Dougherty 85

R4#1 Central-Macon 67, R3#4 Beach 39

R7#2 Dawson County 66, R8#3 Monroe Area 53

R5#1 Cedar Grove 60, R6#4 Ringgold 40

R3#2 Jenkins 59, R4#3 Jackson 39

R1#1 Cook 67, R2#4 Pierce County 59

R8#2 Hart County 65, R7#3 East Hall 50

R5#4 Redan 45, R6#1 Calhoun 41

R4#2 Westside-Macon 65, R3 #3 Islands 57

R1#4 Crisp County 73, R2#1 Tattnall County 62

Second Round

Feb. 21-22

R7#1 GACS 57, R5#2 Pace Academy 54

R3#1 Johnson-Savannah 74, R1#2 Monroe 55

R8#1 Morgan County 64, R5#3 Towers 49

R4#1 Central-Macon 62, R2#2 Long County 49

R5#1 Cedar Grove 64, R7#2 Dawson County 52

R3#2 Jenkins 52, R1#1 Cook 49

R8#2 Hart County 62, R5#4 Redan 39

R4#2 Westside-Macon 75, R1#4 Crisp County 64

Quarterfinals

Feb. 27-28

R4#1 Central-Macon at R8#1 Morgan County

R3#2 Jenkins at R5#1 Cedar Grove

R3#1 Johnson-Savannah at R7#1 GACS

R4#2 Westside-Macon at R8#2 Hart County

Girls Schedule

First Round

Feb. 16-17

R6#3 Coahulla Creek 53, R5#2 Pace Academy 44

R7#1 Greater Atlanta Christian 70, R8#4 Monroe Area 39

R1#2 Cook 58, R2#3 Long County 52

R3#1 Beach 64, R4#4 Pike County 13

R5#3 Cedar Grove 40, R6#2 Sonoraville 39

R8#1 Franklin County 56, R7#4 Dawson County 35

R2#2 Pierce County 69, R1#3 Dougherty 48

R4#1 Peach County 61, R3#4 Islands 35

R7#2 East Hall 63, R8#3 Hart County 52

R5#1 Lovett 52, R6#4 Lakeview-FO 27

R3#2 Johnson-Savannah 60, R4#3 Rutland 33

R1#1 Monroe 67, R2#4 Liberty County 29

R8#2 Morgan County 64, R7#3 North Hall 52

R6#1 Haralson County 61, R5#4 Stone Mountain 34

R4#2 Central-Macon 59, R3#3 Jenkins 32

R2#1 Tattnall County 61, R1#4 Worth County 26

Second Round

Feb. 21-22

R7#1 GACS 68, R6#3 Coahulla Creek 28

R3#1 Beach 56, R1#2 Cook 27

R8#1 Franklin Co. 53, R5#3 Cedar Grove 26

R4#1 Peach County 53, R2#2 Pierce County 42

R5#1 Lovett 58, R7#2 East Hall 39

R3#2 Johnson-Savannah 64, R1#1 Monroe 57

R6#1 Haralson Co. 53, R8#2 Morgan Co. 40

R2#1 Tattnall Co. 54, R4#2 Central-Macon 45

Quarterfinals

Feb. 27-28

R3#1 Beach vs. R7#1 GACS

R4#1 Peach County vs. R8#1 Franklin County

R3#2 Johonson-Savannah vs. R5#1 Lovett

R2#1 Tattnall County vs. R6#1 Haralson County