It is the last week of the regular season but the playoff picture remains a fight to the finish in every classification across state, including the deep Class AAAA field. Here is the breakdown of all the scenarios to look for this weekend.
Region 1 (Faces Region 4 Round 1)
In the sub-divided Region 1, three games will determine the four seeds. Undefeated Bainbridge plays Cairo for the No. 1 and No. 2 seed. The winners of Westover at Thomas County Central and Worth County at Crisp County will occupy the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds.
Region 4
The winner of Locust Grove (5-0) at Jonesboro (5-0) will win the top seed and region title and the loser will take the No. 2 seed. The final two playoff berths will be handed to the winners of Eagle’s Landing (3-2) at Spalding (4-1) and Griffin (3-2) at Eastside (4-1).
Region 2 (faces Region 3 Round 1)
The winner of Mary Persons (9-0, 5-0) at West Laurens (4-1) wins the No. 1 seed in Region 2. If Mary Persons loses, it takes the No. 2 seed automatically but if West Laurens loses, the Raiders could take the No. 2 or No. 3 seed depending on other outcomes. Upson Lee and Veterans are both 3-2 and will face off for a playoff berth Friday night. Both lost to Mary Persons and Upson Lee lost to West Laurens. Veterans beat West Laurens but lost to Howard (2-3). If Upson Lee wins, West Laurens is guaranteed the No. 2 seed. If Veterans wins, Upson Lee would take the No. 4 seed and Veterans would win the tiebreaker at 4-2 with West Laurens if Mary Persons beats the Raiders. Howard can sneak into the playoffs with a win over Baldwin and an Upson Lee victory over Veterans.
Region 3
In the small Region 3, Thomson (3-0) can clinch the region title with a home victory over Burke County (2-1) on Friday. Liberty County finished region play last Thursday with a win over Windsor Forest and sits at 3-1 with its lone loss to Thomson. Liberty County beat Burke County 26-20, so if Burke County defeats Thomson on Friday, it would move Thomson, Burke County and Liberty County into a three-way tie at 3-1. Wayne County (1-3) already clinched the No. 4 seed with its win over Windsor Forest (0-4).
Region 5 (Faces Region 8 Round 1)
Fayette County has already secured the No. 4 seed in Region 5 but Woodward Academy, Sandy Creek and Carrollton all still have a shot at the No. 1 seed. Undefeated Woodward Academy (4-0) is the only team that controls its own destiny and can clinch the region title with a win over Carrollton (3-1). Woodward Academy handed Sandy Creek (3-1) its only region loss and Sandy Creek handed Carrollton its first region loss last Friday. If Carrollton finds a way to beat Woodward Academy and Sandy Creek defeats Fayette County then it would force a three-way tie. If Carrollton loses, Sandy Creek is guaranteed the No. 2 seed. If Carrollton wins and Sandy Creek loses, then Carrollton would win the No. 1 seed with the tiebreaker over Woodward Academy.
Region 8
The winner of Stephens County (6-0) at Buford (6-0) wins the region and the loser will take a No. 2 seed into the playoffs. Every other team in the region has lost to both Stephens County and Buford, so North Hall (4-2) sits in the best shape with a chance to clinch the No. 3 seed on Friday at White County (3-3). North Oconee (3-3) lost to North Hall in addition to the two region finalists, but beat White County this season and can clinch a playoff spot with a win at Madison County (1-5) on Friday. If North Hall beats White County, the No. 4 seed will automatically go to North Oconee, regardless of its outcome vs. Madison County. If White County wins over North Hall and North Oconee loses to fall to 3-4, then White County would take No. 3 and North Hall would take No. 4.
Region 6 (Faces Region 7 Round 1)
St. Pius (7-0) already clinched the Region 6 championship and No. 1 seed and Marist (6-1) is the No. 2 seed. Lithonia already finished its season with a 4-4 region record. Grady and Arabia Mountain are both 4-3 and Columbia is 3-4. If Grady beats Stone Mountain on Thursday, that guarantees the Grey Knights the No. 3 seed since they beat Arabia Mountain last Saturday 8-3. Arabia Mountain can clinch the No. 4 seed with a win over Columbia this Saturday. Columbia already defeated Lithonia this season, so a Columbia win over Arabia Mountain would eliminate both Arabia Mountain and Lithonia and put the Eagles at No. 4 despite all three teams sharing a would-be 4-4 record. A Grady loss to Stone Mountain and a Columbia win over Arabia Mountain would put Grady, Arabia Mountain, Lithonia and Columbia all at 4-4.
Region 7
Undfeated Cartersville can clinch the No. 1 seed with a win over Pickens (5-1) this Friday. Pickens’ only loss was to a two-loss Northwest Whitfield (5-2) team so a win over Cartersville would give the Dragons the No. 1 seed without a coin flip needed and Cartersville would take the No. 2 seed. Pickens can either take the No. 1 seed with a win over Cartersville, or the No. 3 seed with a loss. Pickens would move into a tie with 5-2 Northwest Whitefield with a defeat and the tiebreaker would give the Bruins the edge. Southeast Whitefield finished its season with a 3-4 region mark, but Gilmer, Heritage and Ridgeland all 2-4 entering the final week. Both Gilmer and Heritage beat Southeast Whitfield during the regular season so the winner would take the No. 4 seed unless Ridgeland can complicate things with a victory. Ridgeland sits at 2-4 but has beat both Heritage and Gilmer this season while losing to Southeast Whitfield. A Ridgeland win over Lafayette would move the Panthers to 3-4 with Southeast Whitfield and the winner of Gilmer and Heritage for a three-way tie for fourth.
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