Georgia high school basketball teams have two weeks to make their moves before the start of the postseason. In northwest Georgia there are several region top seeds still up for grabs – most coming with region tournament byes and automatic state berths – and a handful of showdown boys’ and girls’ games.
Take Region 6-AAAA, for example. The girls’ race likely will be decided next Friday when Heritage hosts Northwest Whitfield. Northwest’s Lady Bruins (15-4, 9-0) own a 10-point win over the Lady Generals (19-2, 7-1), but a Heritage win likely would lead to the dreaded coin-flip tiebreaker for the region tournament top seed.
“You want to be that No. 1 seed because of the bye and the automatic spot in the state,” Northwest coach Greg Brown said. “If the two of us tie, there are tiebreakers we go through, but I think it would come down to a coin toss.”
The boys’ race was altered by an upset Friday night when Gilmer downed Heritage (15-6, 5-3). The Generals, having split with LaFayette (16-2, 7-2) and lost a game at Northwest (13-5, 8-1), could have forged a possible three-way tie with a win over the Bruins next Friday. Northwest, which split with LaFayette, can now win the top seed outright with wins in its final three league games.
You want drama? Head to Region 6-AAA, one of Georgia’s few subdivided leagues and one that, apparently, is still trying to work out the kinks in its tiebreaking and tournament seeding system.