Three No. 1-ranked basketball teams — Sandy Creek’s boys, Luella’s girls and Bremen’s girls — are out of the state tournament, beaten in the second round Friday and Saturday.
Harlem, Stephenson and Heard County, respectively, were the giant slayers. Newton’s girls and Douglass’ and Therrell’s boys also earned seismic victories in the round of 16.
Harlem beat Sandy Creek, the three-time defending Class 3A boys champion 42-41, ending Sandy Creek’s 16-game winning streak in the state tournament and 12-game winning steak in the second round.
Harlem is ranked No. 9 but lost in the first round last season and hadn’t reached a state quarterfinal since 1969. Harlem junior AJ Williams had 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
Stephenson and Heard County avenged five regular-season losses with their wins over No. 1 teams.
Stephenson, ranked No. 8 in Class 3A, lost three times to Luella in region play but won 52-50 on Friday. Avantey Gilreath scored in the lane with 4.3 seconds left to break a 50-50 tie. Stephenson, a state champion as recently as 2015, is in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2017.
Heard County, unranked in Class A Division I, had lost to Bremen twice before winning 66-62. That put Heard back in the quarterfinals, the round it reached last season before losing to eventual champion Fannin County.
In the highest-rated game of the second round, defending Class 6A girls champion Newton, ranked No. 2, beat No. 3 Buford 64-59. Buford had won 26 straight games, but its season ended as it did in 2025 — with a playoff loss to Newton.
Douglass, the No. 6 boys team in Class 3A, beat No. 3 Cedar Grove 63-57, ending the career of one of state’s best players, Tennessee signee Manny Green. Cedar Grove was the 2025 runner-up. Cedar Grove had beaten Douglass 51-49 eight days prior in the Region 5 tournament final.
Therrell, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A, beat No. 2 Carver of Columbus 65-55. Therrell has lost 12 games, but 10 of those were to ranked teams and four to No. 1 teams Holy Innocents’ and KIPP Atlanta Collegiate.
Another city team, Mays, nearly had the upset of Saturday night but lost to two-time Class 4A boys champion North Oconee 66-64 in overtime. North Oconee, ranked No. 2, advanced to play undefeated St. Pius, ranked No. 1, in the quarterfinals.
Only nine other games featured a lower-ranked or unranked team beating a higher-ranked team in the 128 second-round games.
Hillgrove’s girls, ranked No. 9 in 6A, beat No. 4 Carrollton 47-37. Hillgrove is the only girls team with victories over top-10 opponents in both rounds. Hillgrove beat No. 8 Marietta in the first.
In Class 4A boys, Cambridge beat No. 5 Tucker 58-56. Cambridge is unranked but riding an eight-game winning streak that includes the Region 6 championship last week. It was the final game for Tucker’s retiring coach, James Hartry, who tallied 523 victories in his 26 seasons with Tucker.
Other teams that beat higher-ranked opponents were unranked Elbert County’s boys (70-53 over No. 4 Model in Class A Division I); unranked Wheeler County’s boys (60-56 over No. 7 Early County in Class A Division II); No. 10 Coffee’s girls (65-53 over No. 9 Morrow in 5A); No. 8 Hart County’s girls 68-43 over No. 5 Westside-Macon in 2A); No. 9 Elbert County’s girls (61-58 over No. 6 Lamar County in A Division I); No. 8 Brooks County (53-47 over No. 7 Bryan County in A Division II); and unranked Bowdon’s girls (66-59 over No. 6 Pelham in A Division II).
The quarterfinals are Tuesday and Wednesday.
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