Eight local high school basketball teams entered the state playoffs last week in their respective classifications and only three remain.
Fayette County’s Lady Tigers, Sandy Creek’s Lady Patriots and Landmark Christian’s Lady War Eagles have advanced to the sweet sixteen, which begins Thursday.

The Fayette County Lady Tigers trailed Effingham County 12-0 in the first quarter on Saturday but battled back to take a 19-17 lead at the half, thanks to a huge three pointer from Tessah Holt in the final seconds of the second quarter. Fayette County never relinquished the lead for the rest of the game, though the going was tough. The final score was 38-35.
Holt led the team in scoring with 15 points, while Jasmine Facey and Anna Onyeuku each scored six.

The Lady Tigers are scheduled to face North Clayton on Friday at 7 p.m. at Mercer University. North Clayton’s Lady Eagles are 23-6 overall. They have won 12 of their last 13 games and have been led in scoring this year by guard Latia Williams and power forward Nekeita Stewart. The winner of this game will face the winner of the Greenbrier and Northside, Warner Robins game on Saturday.

Sandy Creek’s Lady Patriots (22-5) took on North Hall last Friday and won 53-22. Though the Lady Trojans took an early lead, Sandy Creek’s stifling defense came roaring back and held North Hall to four points total in the second and third quarter. Lynsey Paschal had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds in the win. Erinn Knight added 12.

Sandy Creek will face Hart County at the Rome Forum at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Hart County (16-12) defeated North Atlanta 41-38 last Friday. The winner of this game will face the winner of Franklin County and Villa Rica on Saturday.
Landmark Christian (27-2) hosted Lakeview Academy on Friday and won 52-26. The Lady War Eagles ran up a 29-14 lead by the halfand went on a 12-2 run in the third quarter to widen the margin. Christian Hunnicutt led the team with 17 points, while Tiffany Hall added 12 and Diamond Hunnicutt added nine points.

They will face Bremen at Georgia Highlands College on Thursday at 4 p.m. Bremen (17-12) has won five of their last six games. They defeated Lincoln County 72-63 last weekend in the first round of the state playoffs.

The winner of this game will meet the winner of Hebron Christian and Bowdon at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Starr’s Mill’s girls traveled to Augusta to face the Greenbrier Lady Wolfpack last Friday. They lost 65-30. The Lady Panthers (11-18) trailed 15-2 after the first quarter and had problems dealing with Greenbrier’s defensive pressure.
On the boys’ side, Fayette County started their game by falling behind Ware County 23-16 in the first quarter and 46-33 at the half. The Tigers made a big fourth quarter comeback and took a one point lead with just over a minute remaining but the Gators capitalized on some late mistakes and won 76-73.

Noel Johnson scored 24 points and pulled in nine rebounds and Brandon Boykin scored 18 points and recorded four steals and four assists for Fayette County.

In other games on Saturday, Landmark Christian’s boys lost to Tallulah Falls 76-64, Whitewater’s boys lost to Statesboro 57-47 and McIntosh’s boys lost to Richmond Academy 73-57.

Cameron Rich led the Chiefs with 21 points while Jeremy Lampkin added 11.

login to post comments