Hebron Christian won a game between reigning state basketball champions, unranked Jenkins stunned No. 1-ranked Pickens, and top-ranked Creekside handled a 500-mile round trip game like a 30-0 team should in the girls state basketball quarterfinals Tuesday night.
Except for Jenkins’ road victory - another notch for a Savannah team making history every round - the quarterfinals were largely free of big surprises.
Hebron, ranked No. 1 in Class 3A-A private, beat No. 5 Mount Paran Christian 53-46, ending Mount Paran’s 17-game winning streak in the state tournament. Hebron won 3A the past two seasons while Mount Paran won 2A the past two seasons and Class A Private the one before that.
Hebron’s Danielle Osho scored 15 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Mia James scored 19 points and had four assists.
JaKerra Butler, the Region 8-2A player of the year and Hebron’s all-time leading scorer, missed most of second half with an injury, though she returned for the final two minutes and finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“It was an extremely physical game, and I was proud of our girls for playing through, especially when Kerra got hurt on a foul at the basket,” Hebron coach Jan Azar told the AJC. “We had to play a couple of younger players who stepped up big time. Freshman Taryn Dixon and sophomore Alyssa Craig gave us huge minutes while Kerra was out.”
Hebron (28-1) will face No. 4 Galloway in Friday’s semifinals at North Georgia College.
Jenkins, a Savannah team that had never won a state-playoff game until this month, beat Pickens 48-39 on the road in Class 3A.
Now the Raiders are in their first semifinal after beating their first No. 1 ranked team. This comes under sixth-year head coach Brianna Brooker, a Jenkins alumna.
“I don’t want to bask in it too much,” Brooker said. “Every time we accomplish something, the goal changes, We just focus on the three feet in front of us. Each round has been making history, but we’re chasing bigger than history. We’re chasing a state title.”
Jenkins sophomore I’Yarna Lee scored 17 points, and junior A’Niyah Browner scored 15. Taylor Young blocked three shots, and senior Aliyah Frazier guard Pickens star Ellison Steinhauer in the late stages, holding her to five second-half points.
The only other unranked girls team still playing is Washington-Wilkes, which also had not won a playoff game or region title until this season. Washington-Wilkes beat No. 9 Tattnall County 54-51 in Class A Division II.
Creekside (30-0) of Class 4A got through a road game near the Florida border when the Seminoles beat Ware County 63-46. Creekside is chasing its first state title in history and will play in its first semifinal since 2001 against Marist, the 2024 Class 5A champion.
Another highly ranked team sent on the road, second-ranked Grayson of Class 6A, beat Lowndes 57-54. Tatum Brown scored 21 points. Grayson won Class 7A last season.
Pickens is the only No. 1-ranked team that’s out. Winning were North Forsyth, River Ridge, Josey, Banks County and Wilcox County won.
The semifinals are Friday and Saturday at neutral sites.
The boys quarterfinals are Wednesday.
Girls quarterfinal scores:
Class 6A
Grayson 57, Lowndes 54
Cherokee 57, Hillgrove 54
North Forsyth 50, Carrollton 43
Newton 54, Buford 45
-Semifinals Saturday at Georgia State
Class 5A
Bradwell Institute 60, Woodward Academy 58
Hughes 66, Veterans 34
River Ridge 80, New Manchester 44
Milton 69, Brunswick 56
-Semifinals Friday at Georgia State
Class 4A
Creekside 63, Ware County 46
Marist 51, Cartersville 34
Maynard Jackson 45, Northview 39
North Oconee 62, Dalton 57
-Semifinals Saturday at Fort Valley State
Class 3A
Jenkins 48, Pickens 39
Cherokee Bluff 63, Monroe 54
Fayette County 54, Luella 41
Baldwin 50, Heritage-Ringgold 49
-Semifinals Friday at Fort Valley State
Class 2A
Murray County 57, Sonoraville 41
Morgan County 58, Carver-Columbus 33
Hardaway 76, Columbia 27
Josey 48, Thomson 43
-Semifinals Friday at Georgia Southwestern
Class A Division I
Fannin County 68, Heard County 53
East Laurens 61, Vidalia 52
Model 34, Lamar County 31
Banks County 71, Rabun County 35
-Semifinals Saturday at Georgia College
Class A Division II
Wilcox County 75, Randolph-Clay 45
Screven County 62, Clinch County 56
Macon County 60, Turner County 57
Washington-Wilkes 54, Telfair County 51
-Semifinals Friday at Georgia College
Class 3A-A private
Hebron Christian 53, Mount Paran Christian 46
Galloway 50, Greater Atlanta Christian 39
Holy Innocents’ 68, North Cobb Christian 36
St. Francis 86, Calvary Day 48
-Semifinals Friday at North Georgia College
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