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Savannah high school basketball made a statement in the first round of the GHSA state playoffs earlier this week.

All four Region 3-3A schools advanced to the second round after Windsor Forest, Groves, Johnson and Beach each won in the first round on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here’s a look at this weekend’s second round games for the Savannah teams still alive in the 2022 state playoff bracket. All games will be played on Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26.

Class A-Private

NO. 8 PROVIDENCE CHRISTIAN (19-8) at CALVARY DAY (16-6)

Saturday; 6 p.m.

Calvary won its sixth straight game, knocking off Tattnall Square Academy 47-44 in the first round thanks to a game-winner from senior Dayyan O’Neal. Now, the Cavs look to extend their streak to seven against Class A-Private No. 8 Providence Christian out of Lilburn.

Providence is led by one of the best scorers in the state in senior Tony Caprio. Caprio averages 20.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Fellow senior Chance Thacker averages 11.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

 

Class 2A

WOODVILLE-TOMPKINS (16-10) at No. 9 RABUN COUNTY (23-5)

Friday; 7:30 p.m.

The Wolverines are back in the second round of the Class 2A state playoffs following their 60-57 victory over Putnam County in round one. Up next for head coach Lenny Williams and Woodville is a Friday night date with No. 9 Rabun County in Tiger, Georgia.

Rabun County has won 10 consecutive games and is 10-1 at home this season. The Wildcats will be paced by seniors Connor McKay and Gus Hood. McKay averages 25.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest. Hood boasts per-game averages of 13.6 points, 4.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds.

The teams have played one common opponent this year in Starr’s Mill. Woodville beat SM in November and, six days later, Rabun Co. lost to SM.

 

Class 3A

NO. 3 WINDSOR FOREST (20-5) at NO. 2 SANDY CREEK (26-3)

Friday; 6 p.m.

This is one of the marquee matchups of the Sweet 16 round regardless of classification. Both Windsor Forest and Sandy Creek are legitimate state title contenders and both have been ranked in Kyle Sandy’s Top-5 all season long.

Windsor Forest is the 2-seed out of region 3-3A and the Knights rolled to a 30-point win (69-39) in round one over an outmatched Pierce County squad. Head coach Aaron Clark and the Knights now face a stiff test in the form of defending state champion Sandy Creek (Tyrone, Georgia).

Sandy Creek and Windsor have one common opponent this year – Kell High School. Windsor defeated Kell while Sandy Creek lost to Kell.

 

NO. 6 GREATER ATLANTA CHRISTIAN (23-6) at NO. 8 GROVES (17-5)

Saturday; 4 p.m.; at Savannah High School

Coming off its first region championship since 2010, Groves didn’t miss a beat in the first round. The Rebels throttled Brantley County 70-33 on Tuesday to advance to the Sweet 16 Saturday evening versus a Class 3A blueblood in Greater Atlanta Christian.

The teams look similar on paper, as each averages roughly 61 points per game.

Groves looks to be led by its senior trio of Tremaine Johnson (11.6 points per game; 5.1 rebounds; 4.9 assists), Ikeen Johnson (10.7 points; 4.2 steals) and Jerald Colonel (10.6 points; 12.7 rebounds; 6.1 blocks).

The Spartans out of Norcross are anchored by senior Josh Fulton (22.5 points, 5.2 rebounds) and junior Eddie Page (7.7 points, 8.9 rebounds). 

 

REDAN (13-12) at NO. 10 JOHNSON (16-10)

Saturday; 7:30 p.m.

Johnson went on the road as the region’s 3-seed in round one and the Atomsmashers cruised past Tattnall County to the tune of a 57-34 win. Thanks to Redan’s upset of 1-seed North Hall in the first round, Johnson now finds itself hosting a Sweet 16 game in the bottom-left portion of the Class 3A bracket.

Head coach Chuck Campbell’s team might be peaking at the right time as senior Ted Hurst and junior Antonio Baker have formed one of the classification’s best scoring tandems down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs. Hurst averages 16.9 points and 8.9 rebounds while the shooting guard Baker scores 18.9 per game.

The Raiders, out of Stone Mountain, are paced by Christian Kennerly. The senior averages 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds.

 

BEACH (14-8) at WHITE COUNTY (18-9)

Saturday; 6 p.m.

The Bulldogs might be the best 4-seed in the entire Class 3A bracket and they showed why that is in their first round 64-58 victory at top-seeded Long County on Wednesday night. Now, head coach Simon Heyward’s club heads to Cleveland, Georgia for a Saturday evening matchup at White County.

White County upset Class 3A’s No. 4 team, Salem, in round one (62-58). The Warriors are 10-1 at home this season. Beach will lean on sophomore Larry Johnson and junior Shamarrie Hugie who average 16.6 and 16.3-points per game, respectively.

 

Class 4A

NO. 1 MCDONOUGH (24-2) at BENEDICTINE (16-6)

Saturday; 4 p.m.

The region 3-4A champion Cadets easily won (69-52) over Cairo in the Class 4A first round in a game which had 60 total fouls called. It was the ninth straight victory for head coach Frank Williams and the Cadets.

In the win, BC lost senior All-Region standout Christiaan Neely to a leg injury in the first half and he never returned. It’s unknown if he’ll be able to play against McDonough, but Benedictine certainly hopes he’ll be available as the Warhawks come to Savannah as the top-ranked team in all of Class 4A.

Freshman guard Caleb Jones has been excellent in his first high school campaign for BC. Jones leads the team in scoring with 11.3 points on average while Neely scores 11.1 per game.

McDonough has a dynamite junior tandem who combine to score half of the Warhawks’ points on average. Daavion Thomas averages 17.8 points and 4.9 assists per contest and Amon McDowell 14.7 points.

Phot Credit - DeShawn the Photographer

Follow Travis Jaudon on Twitter/Instagram @JaudonSports. Email him at travisLjaudon@gmail.com.

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