Rare region championship between two No. 1 teams yields playoff seeding anomaly

Holy Innocents’ is ranked No. 1 among teams that will compete in the Class 3A-A Private bracket. KIPP is ranked No. 1 among public schools in Class 2A.

Both top-ranked teams knew that Thursday night meant more than simply winning a region championship. The winner would clinch a high state playoff seed and home-court advantage into the later rounds, and the loser would fall to a lower seed in their respective brackets.

Holy Innocents’ earned a top seed in the Class 3A-A Private bracket with a 56-46 win over KIPP. Holy Innocents’ got outstanding performances from Khalid Worthy (14 points, 15 rebounds), Jaden McCullough (15 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Devin Hutcherson (13 points, six rebounds).

Despite being the top-ranked public school team in Class 2A, KIPP will be seeded lower than every region champion in the Class 2A bracket, probably low enough to play road games as early as the quarterfinals.

Holy Innocents’ coach Mario Mays said the team entered the region tournament with state seeding in mind.

“That was a big thing for us. You win one, and you can be at home, and you win again, and you can come back and be at home,” Mays said. “That’s our mindset. We want to secure our home court, so that’s why this is important.”

KIPP coach Emanuel Mathis admitted the region championship loss was frustrating in part because his team could lose home-court advantage later in the playoffs.

“When you have a turnover on the road or when the other team makes a big shot and you’re on the road, you’re now dealing with momentum. You’re dealing with a crowd,” Mathis said. “We’re teenagers, and so when you have teenagers, that can affect you.”

The Bears and Warriors split their first two games against each other this season, setting up Thursday’s tiebreaking series finale for what Mathis called a “budding rivalry.”

Mathis said the de facto Game 3 with a region title hanging in the balance provided plenty of motivation even without focusing on state playoff seeding. It would have been the first region championship in KIPP basketball history, an impressive benchmark of the program’s development under Mathis.

“Of course, we would love to have all of our games at the house in the state (playoffs), but tonight, we wanted a region championship,” Mathis said. “It meant something to us. I’m sure it meant something to them as well, but we weren’t playing for the state tournament tonight.”

KIPP has proved it can win in hostile environments. Mathis’ Warriors beat Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Morgan County on the road in the state playoffs last season before falling to eventual state runner-up Union County.

Last season’s playoff trip was the first in KIPP basketball history. The Warriors’ resume — highlighted by a 21-5 overall record and several top-10 wins — provides reasons to believe they could host their first home playoff game this season.

Holy Innocents’ won its first title in program history last season and hopes to defend it largely in the comfort of its own home.

“We’ve got a great group of fans and a great student section, so we’re just excited about being able to go home and play in front of them,” Mays said.

AJC Varsity will continue to update state playoff brackets in the stories below as region tournament results are finalized.