Chattooga's Jay Broome rises for a jump shot in a regular-season win over Dade County, one of 26 victories for the surging Indians this season.GHSA Boys’ Second Round
Class AAAA› Perry (21-8) at Northwest Whitfield (18-8), 7:30Class AAA› Central, Macon (20-7) at Calhoun (21-4), 6› Coahulla Creek (20-7) at Liberty County (20-5), 6Class AA› Thomasville (19-8) at Chattooga (25-1), 7
The statewide reputation of basketball in northwest Georgia is, well, meh.
That goes double for boys' hoops. The last state champion from the area goes back to 1969, when Hall of Fame coach Ken Ross and Murray County won the last of the Indians' three titles that decade. Calhoun came the closest with a Class AA runner-up finish in 2014.
For the most part, though, area boys' teams have traditionally been playoff fodder.
Now, no one is suggesting that reputation can change overnight, but if last weekend's first round is any indication, the tide may be turning.
Five area teams won playoff games. Even more impressive is that four of them did so for either the first time in school history or the first time in a good while.
Northwest Whitfield (18-8), a program with four decades behind it, won its first playoff game in dominating fashion, 68-45 over Madison County as junior Luke Shiflett scored 27 points. The Region 6-AAAA champions host Perry tonight with hopes of making even more history.
"Things had kind of gone against Northwest for years," coach Ryan Richards said. "They used to only take two teams per region and then when they went to four we were moved up to (Class) 5A and couldn't get out of the region.
"This team started slowly - anyone who saw us in December would never have believed we would be in the Sweet 16 - but the guys have grown into their roles and we've played much better as a team."
Chattooga last won a postseason game in 2009, but much has happened since, including complete renovation of the school and the hiring of coach Jared Groce. No area team had more pressure on it than the 25-1 Region 7-AA champions in the first round, and in front of a packed house they backed up the regular season with a win over Temple.
"It was definitely a huge win for us. It gets a little more intense at this point in the season with the mentality of win or go home," Groce said. "It's been a while since we played in a close game, so it was good to have that experience to have to close out a game."
Tonight's game against 19-8 Thomasville will be a completely different challenge. The visitors bring one of the tallest lineups in the state to Summerville, including 6-foot-8 Arkansas commitment Reggie Perry and four other players 6-5 or taller.
Maybe the biggest surprise of the group was Coahulla Creek, a six-year-old school that earned its first win by going on the road as Region 6-AAA's No. 3 seed and defeating Franklin County, 49-45. The Colts (20-7) also handed first-year coach Matt Legg his initial playoff win and had to improvise to do so.
With Franklin keying on 21-point-per-game scorer Tyler Phillips, the rest of the team had to pick up the slack, including Trey Collins, whose two 3-pointers keyed a second-half rally.
"All my supporting cast stepped up," said Legg, whose team travels to Liberty County tonight. "It's been unreal. These guys have been great this year. They just bought in to what I demanded and they have gotten it done. When we won that game at Franklin, the kids were just joyous. It was a great three-hour trip back home, something to always remember."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22