State tournament begins today

Top teams to host some intriguing first-round games.

The 98th Georgia high school state basketball tournament begins today, with 224 first-round games on the home courts of the higher-seeded teams scheduled for today and Saturday.

The No. 1-ranked boys teams are McEachern (Class AAAAAAA), Tri-Cities (AAAAAA), Buford (AAAAA), Upson-Lee (AAAA), Morgan County (AAA), Woodville-Tompkins (AA), St. Francis (A-Private) and Calhoun County (A-Public). McEachern is ranked in the top two of almost every national poll, but is seeking its first state title. Tri-Cities and Woodville-Tompkins have also never won basketball state titles.

The No. 1-ranked girls teams are Westlake (AAAAAAA), Lovejoy (AAAAAA), Buford (AAAAA), Carver-Columbus (AAAA), Beach (AAA), Fitzgerald (AA), Holy Innocents’ (A-Private) and Marion County (A-Public). Westlake hasn’t lost to a Georgia opponent since 2017. Carver, Fitzgerald and Marion County have never won state titles.

Here’s a closer look at some of the players, teams and stories that spice up the opening round:

Best boys players: Isaac Okoro, an Auburn signee, is the highest-rated senior prospect in the tournament, and point guard Sharife Cooper is a 5-star among juniors. Both play for McEachern. Some other blue-chip prospects are Kyle Sturdivant and Brandon Boston of Norcross, Buford’s Marcus Watson, Woodward Academy’s Walker Kessler, Grayson’s Deivon Smith and Southwest DeKalb’s K.D. Johnson.

Best girls players: Six players are ranked among the 100 best prospects in their graduation years, according to prospectsnation.com. They are No. 15 Jordan Isaacs of St. Francis, No. 28 Javyn Nicholson of Collins Hill and No. 92 Deasia Merrill of Villa Rica (among seniors) and No. 21 Anaya Boyd of Lovejoy, No. 28 Olivia Cochran of Hardaway and No. 56 Amirah Abdur-Rahim of St. Francis (among juniors).

Best boys first-round matchup: Gainesville travels to eighth-ranked Langston Hughes in a rematch of the 2018 Class AAAAAA title game won by Hughes. Games that match ranked teams are No. 5 East Coweta at No. 1 McEachern (AAAAAAA), No. 8 Chattahoochee at No. 4 Sprayberry (AAAAAA), No. 8 Hart County at No.

5 Pace Academy (AA) and No. 8 Druid Hills at No. 4 Carver-Columbus and No. 9 Dougherty at No. 7 Henry County (AAAA).

Best girls first-round matchup: Only one girls game features two ranked teams — No. 10 Washington County at No. 8 Bryan County in Class AA.

First-time girls: Seven girls teams are in the tournament for the first time — Cherokee Bluff, East Jackson, Elite Scholars Academy, King’s Ridge Christian, Lake Oconee Academy, Stewart County and Tallulah Falls. Cherokee Bluff is a first-year school from Hall County that was 3-9 in region play but avenged two lopsided losses to Lumpkin County in the Region 7-AAA tournament last week to qualify.

First-time boys: Six boys teams are in the tournament for the first time — Denmark, Discovery, Mount Bethel Christian, North Paulding, Pinecrest Academy and Trinity Christian. Denmark, which opened last summer in Forsyth County and has no seniors on its roster, defeated Marist 57-45 in the Region 7-AAAA final. Discovery, a 3-year-old school from Gwinnett County, won Region 6-AAAAAAA. Mount Bethel of Marietta, new to the GHSA, is a major contender in Class A after winning state titles in the Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association the previous two years.

More long waits ended: It has been at least 10 years since girls teams from Druid Hills (2001), Cedartown (2005), Jones County (2009) and Walker (2009) made the state tournament. It has been at least 10 years since boys teams from Forsyth Central (2001), Galloway (2004), Brantley County (2005), East Coweta (2005), Parkview (2008), Cedartown (2009) and Savannah Country Day (2009) made it. They’re all in.

History-seeking boys: There are 25 boys teams in the tournament that have never won a tournament game and 26 others that haven’t advanced in 10 years. The most interesting is East Coweta, which hasn’t advanced since 1964. The Indians were ranked No. 2 in Class AAAAAAA after a 24-1 regular season and finished first in a region with three other ranked teams. But the strong region came back to bite in the region tournament, and now East Coweta is 24-3 and must travel to No. 1-ranked McEachern today.