Pace Academy’s boys, Carrollton’s girls and Maynard Jackson’s girls were standouts Friday night in the second round of the state basketball tournament.
Also making news were girls teams from River Ridge, Jenkins, New Manchester, Northview and Washington-Wilkes.
It was mostly girls night, with almost every other boys round-of-16 game set for Saturday, but No. 1-ranked Pace made a boys declaration in Class 4A with an 80-50 victory over third-ranked Kell, a two-time reigning champion.
Pace has won state titles five of the past nine seasons but was upset by Holy Innocents’ last year in the second round while ranked No. 1.
“Felt like we were faced with another tough second-round draw in the two-time AAAAA state champions in Kell, but our guys were and still are motivated by our early exit last season,” Pace coach Sharman White said. “Glad to still be playing basketball at this time of the year.”
Pace’s Chandler Bing scored 16 points. Hayden Clay had 13 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Bentley Lusakeuno had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Maynard Jackson, another Atlanta team, also got its victory at the expense of Marietta’s Kell, the third-ranked Class 4A girls team. Jackson won 53-48. Jackson was the 2024 Class 5A champion but is ranked No. 10 after finishing third in its region tournament this month.
Carrollton beat Class 6A’s No. 3 team, North Paulding, 44-43, overcoming a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and taking the lead for good on VCU signee Daija Preston’s layup with 1:10 left.
Carrollton, ranked No. 8, is in the quarterfinals for the first time since its 2021 Class 6A runner-up season. Carrollton was the home team Friday as North Paulding was the Region 5 finalist behind fourth-ranked Cherokee.
Another impressive winner Friday was Jenkins, an unranked Class 3A team from Savannah. Jenkins had never won a state-playoff game until last week. This week, the Warriors defeated No. 6 Jefferson 47-38. Jenkins was 9-17 last season and had been 0-7 all-time in the state tournament.
Three other unranked girls teams beat top-10 opponents Friday.
In Class 5A, New Manchester beat No. 6 Coffee, the Region 6 champion, 63-48. New Manchester, of Douglas County, missed the playoffs last season but was a state semifinalist in 2022.
In Class 4A, Northview defeated No. 6 Jones County 57-40. Until last week, Northview, of north Fulton County, had not won a state-playoff game since its 2019 quarterfinal appearance.
Washington-Wilkes beat No. 6 Seminole County 64-39 in Class A Division II. Washington-Wilkes earlier this month won its first region title in program history, covering about 60 years, and then won its second state-playoff game in history last week.
The eight No. 1-ranked girls teams advanced Friday. Four had to get through other top-10 teams.
No. 1 River Ridge of Class 5A beat No. 7 Morrow 74-61. River Ridge took a 21-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Georgia Southern signee Kayla Cleaveland scored 23 points.
No. 1 Josey of Class 3A beat No. 8 Butler in an all-Augusta game 42-36; No. 1 Banks County of Class A Division I beat No. 10 Washington County 57-44; and No. 1 Wilcox County of A Division II beat No. 4 Taylor County 58-40.
The other four No. 1s – North Forsyth, Creekside, Pickens and Hebron Christian - all won by 19 points or better.
About 10 girls games will be played Saturday.
The quarterfinals are Tuesday and Wednesday and the semifinals next weekend. The finals in the eight classifications are May 5-8 in Macon.
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