Sports update: East Cobb schools reach state basketball playoffs

New Pope Gym

The Georgia High School Association state basketball playoff brackets have been released, and five East Cobb public schools will be competing starting this weekend.

Three of them will be playing at home—the Wheeler, Sprayberry and Kell boys.

The Wildcats will play host to Cobb rival Hillgrove in the 7A tournament, while the Yellow Jackets will face Chattahoochee in Class 6A.

Kell, ranked No. 8 in Class 5A, will be at home against Lithia Springs.

The Mt. Bethel Christian Academy boys, ranked No. 4 in Class A private schools, also will play in the GHSA tournament. They received a first-round bye and will play at home next week in the second round against Holy Innocents’ or Stratford Academy.

The Walker School boys also are competing in the Class A private tournament, and are ranked No. 6, and will play at home against Aquinas.

The Pope girls have a tall order in their opener, at No. 8 Creekview in Canton.

The Pope boys also have to go on the road to play a ranked opponent, as South Cobb is No. 3 in 6A.

Here’s the first-round rundown:

Class 7A Boys

  • Hillgrove (10-13) at Wheeler (17-11), 7:30 p.m. Friday
  • Walton (15-13) at Tift County (18-8), 7:30 p.m. Friday

Class 6A Boys

  • Chattahoochee (22-6) at Sprayberry (23-4), 7 p.m. Friday
  • Pope (15-12) at South Cobb (19-6), 6:30 p.m. Friday

Class 6A Girls

  • Pope (22-6) at Creekview (22-5), 6 p.m. Friday

Class 5A Boys

  • Lithia Springs (17-9) at Kell (23-5), 7 p.m. Friday

Class A Private Boys

  • Stratford/Holy Innocents’ at Mt. Bethel Christian (22-7), Feb. 20-21
  • Aquinas (10-15) at Walker (19-8), 7:30 p.m. Friday

Class A Private Girls

  • Walker (13-12) at Paideia (20-5), 5:30 p.m. Friday

The Wheeler and Walton boys could meet in the second round if they both win this weekend. They didn’t play each other during the regular season.

The state playoff game would be played at Wheeler since the Wildcats are the higher seed.

Wheeler is ranked No. 8 in Class 7A while Sprayberry, No. 4 in 6A, faces a ranked team in No. 8 Chattahoochee.

Second-round games will take place Feb. 20-21 and quarterfinals are slated for Feb. 26-27 on the floors of highest-seeded teams.

Semifinal games in 6A will be at Carrollton, and in 7A the games will be played at Buford on March 2.

Should any East Cobb teams reach the GSHA “Final Four,” games in 5A, 6A and 7A will be played in Macon on March 9. The Class A private school finals are in Macon on March 6.

Admission is $7 and season passes are not accepted in the playoffs.

View the brackets here:

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