Four-straight days of state championship action will take place at the Macon Centreplex starting Wednesday, March 6 and concluding on Saturday. Class A Division II and Class 4A will crown their state champions on Day 1 and Thursday will see the Class 2A and Class 5A finals in addition to the Coed 3-point contest at 5 p.m. On Friday, Class 3A tips off a championship double-header before the Girls 3-point contest and the 6A championships will conclude Day 3. On Saturday, The Class A Division I champions will be crowned ahead of the AAASP Finals between the Clayton County Eagles and Houston County Sharks. The highly-anticipated Boys Slam Dunk contest will take place at 5 p.m. before Class 7A concludes a jam-packed 17-game slate.
The 2023-24 GHSA basketball season accelerated after a compelling regular season with dramatic region tournament action across the state. Playoffs tipped off on Feb. 20 and Georgia saw a total of 479 boys and girls playoff games through the next four rounds of action. All four previous rounds occurred within the span of just two weeks and now it is all on the line for this year’s finalists that have successfully marched to Macon.
TALE OF THE TAPE
This year’s championship field includes three defending girls champions (Hebron Christian, Mt. Paran and St. Francis) and four on the boys side (Alexander, Kell, Sandy Creek and Westside-Augusta). Last year, there were five defending girls state champs that made it back to Macon and Westside-Augusta was the lone boys team. Now, The Westside boys and Mt. Paran girls are in exclusive company as the only two programs with an opportunity to three-peat this season and both will be represented in the Class 2A finals on Thursday.
Class A Division II will tip off on Wednesday with Greenforest Christian in both matchups. The Lady Eagles will take on Montgomery County with an opportunity to win their first-ever title and the boys will take on Manchester and can win its fifth all-time championship. Up next, the Hardaway and Baldwin girls each carry 24-game win-streaks into their Class 4A showdown and Wednesday’s finale will feature North Oconee and Holy Innocents’ which is one of four finals that is guaranteed to crown a first-ever champion.
After the Mt. Paran girls take on Josey and Westside-Augusta battles Toombs County, the coed three-point contest will take center stage. Thursday’s action resumes with the Class 5A girls, which will pair Midtown and Jackson-Atlanta. Both programs will be competing for first-ever titles and then the Kell boys will face Eagle’s Landing in the only championship rematch on this year’s slate. A year ago, Kell scored a 61-53 win over the Eagles for its first-ever title.
MAJOR MILESTONES
On Friday, defending Class 3A girls state champion Hebron Christian will tipoff with rival Wesleyan as Jan Azar leads the top-ranked Golden Lions against her former school. Then, Sandy Creek will look for a back-to-back Class 3A boys title against Johnson-Savannah—who is looking to snap a title drought that dates back to 2013. The girls three-point contest will precede the Class 6A finals. Marist will look for its second state title since 2022 against an unbeaten North Forsyth team that sits one win away from its historic first. Defending state champion Alexander closes out Friday’s lineup against Riverwood—which is making its first-ever finals appearance.
Saturday offers back-to-back Region 6 matchups in the Class A Division I finals as the defending champion St. Francis girls take on Galloway and rivals Mt. Vernon and Paideia square off. St. Francis will attempt to sweep the Scots, and Mt. Vernon and Paideia will settle their head-to-head series this season. Two-time defending champion Houston County will attempt to win its 11th all-time AAASP title against the Clayton County Eagles before the Slam Dunk Contest. The Class 7A finals will close out the season as Grayson attempts to sweep titles for the first time. The Lady Rams (31-0) and North Paulding are each one win away from first-ever titles. In the boys grand finale, Grayson will look for its first-ever title against McEachern and the Indians’ All-American five-star Ace Bailey.
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