Six local teams made the state basketball playoffs, three on the boys side and three on the girls side. When Saturday evening rolled around, only two teams were advancing to the sweet 16; Landmark Christian’s Lady War Eagles, coached by Jim Waller, and Waller’s former team, the Sandy Creek Lady Patriots, now coached by Tara Ware.

Landmark faced Trion and won 44-27. The Lady War Eagles had a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 25-17 at the half when Christian Hunnicutt drained a shot at the buzzer. The lead grew to 13 points heading into the fourth quarter and outscored the Bulldogs 8-4 in the final quarter to seal the win. Hunnicutt finished with 18 points, while her sister Diamond, added seven and Kelsey Knapp chipped in five points.

The Lady War Eagles (21-8) will take on the Jefferson Lady Dragons (21-8) at Georgia Highlands College in Rome on Thursday at 4 p.m. Jefferson defeated Aquinas 55-35 in the first round of the Class A playoffs on Saturday. Jefferson lost to Hebron Christian Academy in the region title game. Their only other loss to a Class A opponent this season came against W.D. Mohammed by a score of 53-35.

Players to watch - Landmark Christian - Christian Hunnicutt, Diamond Hunnicutt, Andrea Fergus, Kelsey Knapp and Kassi Deel. Jefferson - Shalita Brooks, Tylena Moon, Caroline Adams and Mimi DuBose.

Sandy Creek’s Lady Patriots played an incredibly close game with the Warner Robins Demonettes at home on Saturday night and emerged victorious, 61-57. The game came down to free throws and Sandy Creek shot from the line 38 times, while Warner Robins only got to the line 12 times. Morganne Campbell once again led the Lady Patriots in scoring with 19 points but the team also got great performances from Jenna Jackson with 13 points, China Dennis with 10 and Lynsey Paschal, who scored eight points but pulled in 15 rebounds.

The win puts Sandy Creek (23-5) in a game against the Jones County Lady Greyhounds (27-1) at Columbus State University tomorrow at 7 p.m. Sandy Creek has gone 13-2 in their last 15 games but Jones County is the hotter team, having not lost in 2006. The Lady Greyhounds are on a 19 game winning streak. Their only loss was on Dec. 17, a 61-60 loss to Wilkinson County. In their winning streak, Jones County has won by 30 points or more eight times, including a 66-24 win over Lee County last week in their first round win over Lee County.

Players to watch - Sandy Creek - Morganne Campbell, Lynsey Paschal, Jenna Jackson, China Dennis - Jones County - Chimere Jordan, Kiswanna Ross, Renae Harvey and Samerian Pitts.

The news wasn’t as good for the other locals.

On Friday, Fayette County (23-3) traveled to Savannah and lost in overtime, 93-88. Channing Welch was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 21 points.

Starr’s Mill (11-15) hosted the Beach Bulldogs and lost 52-46. The Panthers had an early lead and were within three with just under 30 seconds remaining. Mark Harris scored 17 for the Panthers, while Justin Reed chipped in 12 and Spencer Shelton added nine.

On Saturday, the Starr’s Mill Lady Panthers (16-13) lost to Beach 66-39. Alexs Shaffer and Emily Woodward both scored nine points for the Lady Panthers.

In the AAAA playoffs on Friday, Sandy Creek’s boys fell to Griffin 79-49. Gavin Montgomery was the leading scorer for the Patriots with 14 points, while Terrance Roberts added nine points.

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