It’s time for Championship Month in Georgia as a plethora of teams will be crowned state champions over the coming month. As always, plenty of squads from DeKalb look to achieve their dreams of winning titles, while others will simply enjoy the experience and intensity of the state playoffs.
ON THE PITCH …
In soccer, a multitude of county teams will begin their quest for greatness this week. In Class 5A, Stephenson makes the long trip to Camden Co. to open up the playoffs. The Jaguars have been a fixture in state over the past few seasons, but a region with relatively low competition has certainly aided their cause and it has been quite some time since they made it out of the first round.
Marist finished the year second in ultra-competitive Region 6, Class 4A, and have an intriguing matchup with Rome to open the tournament. The Wolves are hot, having won seven of eight, and will come to Marist with plenty of confidence. But Brendan Murphy’s team will look to stop them after a young team went through a season full of ups and downs.
Lakeside may be the best hope for Region 6, Class 4A. The 2008 champs won the region, are ranked No. 3 in the state, and haven’t lost since a March 24 defeat to Marist. They will be heavily favored against Osborne, although a second round matchup against the winner of the Whitewater- Heritage match could get dicey for Rick Barb’s team.
Chamblee squeaked into the tournament out of the region, and face the most difficult test of the three with a trip to Rome to face Dalton. The Catamounts are no stranger to the state tournament, having qualified for nearly 10 consecutive seasons.
St. Pius is ranked No. 1 in Class 3A and No. 8 in ESPN’s Rise Fab 50 Rankings. Now the defending state champs gear up for another run into the playoffs. They will face Mountain View at home, and will be happy to see that their side of the bracket doesn’t present a ton of competition.
Meanwhile, the SPX girls have run through the competition with a balanced roster that has contributors in all four grades. Alexa Newfield is the star goal-scorer, and has already signed with Georgia as a sophomore. Diana Solaga, also a great scorer up front, is a sophomore as well. But the team draws leadership from the back line, where senior goalkeeper Emily Cox has been fantastic over her entire career, and will continue it at Alabama next season. The Golden Lions drew Stephens County in the opening round.
Back in the boys game, Druid Hills heads to state with the No. 3 seed from Region 5, Class 3A. The Red Devils aren’t used to playing first round games on the road, but this hasn’t been your normal team. The Devils are incredibly young, featuring a plethora of freshman and sophomores in their starting lineup, and they needed penalty kicks just to get into the tournament in a win over Johns Creek. They make the trip to Covington, Ga., to face Eastside in round one.
In Class AA/A, Paideia surprised some people by winning their region. They have a home game against an always tough Greater Atlanta Christian team.
Lakeside and Marist carry the torch for the county in the girls game as well, and they will face Alatoona and Rome, respectively, in the first round. Just like the boys, Paideia drew GAC in the first round, although they will be on the road.
ON THE COURT …
Keep an eye on several teams in tennis as well, which played their second round this week. Marist have been strong all year long, but faced a stiff test in round two with Starr’s Mill. Meanwhile, Chamblee were eliminated in the first round, going down to defeat 3-1 at Hillgrove. St. Pius and John’s Creek are still around after shutting out their first round opponents in Class 3A.
In the girls tourney, Lakeside was eliminated in a tough 3-2 defeat at home to Cass. Chamblee experienced a similar result in a 3-1 road loss to Hillgrove. However, defending champ Marist continued their run with an easy win over Dalton.
STATE FINALS …
Golf’s state tournament opens up this week as well. Marist heads in with plenty of momentum after winning the region titles behind top scores from Jack McEnaney and Savannah Grice. St. Pius squeaked by Johns Creek to take home the Region 5, Class 3A title thanks to a superb effort from top scorer Max Troutman.
The gymnastics state finals are this week. Dunwoody’s Cassandra Watkins is the only participant from DeKalb.
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