CLASS 6A
Saturday, March 7 at Georgia State
R4 #4 Grayson 68, R3 #2 No. 8 Hillgrove 56: Kennesaw State-signee CoCo Rudolph exploded for 40 points to guide Grayson (22-10) back to the state title game for the third consecutive season. Hillgrove (24-7) saw Aeris Macon score 17 points followed by Tori Thompson’s 12 and Shelby McCall’s 11.
R5 #1 No. 1 North Paulding 69, R3 #1 No. 7 Campbell 54: North Paulding (29-2) punched their ticket back to Macon for a 2023/24 rematch with Grayson as Kenzie and Kalee Hinkson scored 17 points each while Morgan Landrum added 16. Gabrielle (13) and Aleigha (10) Parish combined for 23 points for Campbell.
CLASS 5A
Friday, March 6 at Georgia State
R7 #1 No. 1 Milton 59, R2 #1 Coffee 48: Grace Musselman, Berry-signee Caroline Young, Tamia Tomlinson and Brooklyn Brunetti all scored 13 points to pace Milton (27-4). Jasmine Porter led Coffee (28-3) with 27 points.
R6 #3 No. 7 Creekview 57, R6 #2 No. 2 River Ridge 50 OT: Brenley Matthews (15), Kentucky softball-commit Lili Beal (13), Brenau-signee KK Hamby (11) and Kylee Herrick (10) led Creekview (26-5) past River Ridge (23-8) after losing twice before. UNC Greensboro-signee Kyla Cantey paced River Ridge with 12 points. Finley Parker had 11 points.
CLASS 4A
Saturday, March 7 at Akins Arena (Athens)
R6 #1 No. 2 Kell 69, R2 #1 No. 8 Jones County 49: Kell (25-5) shot 26-34 from the foul line compared to the Greyhounds’ 13-27. The Longhorns received 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals from Maliyah Gilbert while Asiah Thompson added 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Howard-signee Kennedy Deese collected 10 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 blocks. Jones County (25-6) led 26-25 at the half but were outscored 24-11 in the third. Aubrey Norris paced the Hounds with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. Georgia Southwestern-signee Kamiyah Adams finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 block.
R5 #1 No. 1 Marist 77, R7 #2 No. 7 Cartersville 41: UNC-signee Kate Harpring finished five points away from breaking the all-time career scoring record in the state of Georgia, pouring in 37 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Katie Elder filled up the box score with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks for Marist (29-2). Cartersville (24-6) was led by Trinity Montgomery’s 13 points, Zoe McCurry’s 11 and Columbus State-signee KK Arnold’s 9 points and 4 assists.
CLASS 3A
Saturday, March 7 at Legacy Arena (Douglasville)
#4 No. 2 Sandy Creek 85, #1 No. 3 Monroe 69: Sandy Creek (25-6) saw Morghan Reckley dump in 46 points in a battle of five-star prospects.
#2 No. 7 Heritage-Catoosa 46, #6 No. 8 Pickens 35: Tori Epps scored 18 points and Paisley Collins had 11 as Heritage-Catoosa (27-4) clamped down on Pickens (22-10) holding North Georgia-signee Ellison Steinhauer to 12 points, 11 in the fourth.
CLASS 2A
Friday, March 6 at Legacy Arena (Douglasville)
#5 No. 5 Hardaway 61, #1 No. 1 Josey 59 OT: Hardaway (23-8) saw Josey (25-4) rally from down 16-points to force overtime but the Hawks survived thanks to Rhianna Boynton’s 29 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks. Jaylah Todd added 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while Marlana White pitched in 8 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Freshman Amerria Crowley posted 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Nicole Baldwin had 5 points.
#2 No. 4 Murray County 61, #3 No. 2 Columbia 47: Callan Ledford piled in 27 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 steals while Blaklee Ledford had 18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 1 block as Murray County (26-4) clinched a rematch with Hardaway in the state title.
CLASS 1A D-I
Saturday, March 7 at Fort Valley State
#12 No. 9 Elbert County 48, #8 No. 2 Putnam County 45: Elbert County (22-8) got 12 points from Audrey Lunsford as the Blue Devils knocked off Putnam County (21-3).
#3 No. 8 East Laurens 55, #2 No. 7 Thomasville 45: Deanna Lowther posted 20 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. Jameria Bing scored 12 points, Zahmaria Robinson had 10 and freshman Garyunna Mitchell collected 6 points and 19 rebounds.
CLASS 1A D-II
Friday, March 6 at Fort Valley State
R4 #1 No. 1 Wilcox County 71, R7 #1 Bowdon 45: In the loss, Bowdon freshman Meg Robinson scored all 14 of her points in the first half. Melaya Andrews added 13 points.
R8 #1 No. 2 Washington-Wilkes 57, R3 #1 No. 4 Metter 37: Samaria Young scored 16 points and Bugg Porter added 14.
CLASS 3A-1A PRIVATE
Friday, March 6 at Akins Arena (Athens)
#1 No. 1 Hebron Christian 71, #4 No. 2 St. Francis 62: Hebron Christian (29-1) rode a balanced attack to pull away from St. Francis (27-5). Tennessee-signee Gabby Minus dumped in 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Michel Robbins provided 17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steal while UGA-signee Alanna Beckham finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, scoring 13 points in the first half. Nariah Nelson came on strong to close the game with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, 10 points coming after the half. St. Francis was led by Giaunni Rogers’ 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. South Alabama-signee Cam Golston scored eight points in the fourth quarter, part of her 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Aila Courtenay was effective, with 10 of her 15 points coming in the first half to go along with her 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.
#3 No. 3 Holy Innocents’ 49, #7 No. 8 GAC 44: With their twin towers saddled with foul trouble sitting nearly the entire first half, Holy Innocents’ (24-6) found a way to sneak past GAC (23-9) as Makayla Weaver scored nine of her 15 points in the first half to finish with her 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals. Loriel Murray had just two points at half time but took over down the stretch with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 1 block while Elana McMasters added 11 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. GAC was tied at 6 after one quarter and down 17-16 at the half before heading into the fourth deadlocked at 27. Milan Johnson led the Spartans with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Dru Jeckewicz had 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Freshman Peyton Frazier collected 10 points, 10 rebounds and 8 blocks.
