COVINGTON, Ga. — Both the Newton and Eastside basketball teams know who they’ll face when their respective region tournaments begin next week.
Both Eastside girls and boys teams clinched the No. 4 seed in the Region 4-AAAA tournament bracket released during Saturday’s region meeting. The Lady Eagles will face No. 5 seed Woodward Academy Monday at 4 p.m. It will be the first of a four-game first round set held at North Clayton.
Meanwhile, the boys will matchup against No. 5 seed Druid Hills on Tuesday at 4 p.m. — also the first of a four-game first round cluster of games.
The Lady Eagles (10-12, 6-8) split the regular season series with the Lady War Eagles (7-17, 5-9), winning 70-63 in overtime at Eastside back on December 7. But Eastside returned the favor with a 60-54 victory at Woodward on January 8
Eastside’s boys squad (14-9, 9-5) swept the regular season series with Druid Hills (17-7, 9-5) edging the Red Devils, 69-67 on the road on December 14 and then besting them 60-51 at Eastside on January 22. The Eagles are looking to bounce back from their second heartbreaking loss to No. 4 Henry County Thursday.
The Region 4-AAAA tournament will take place at North Clayton High in College Park.
Over in Region 8-AAAAAAA, the Newton Lady Rams drew the fourth seed and, on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., will face a fifth-seeded South Gwinnett team that they’ve beaten pretty soundly in both regular season games. Newton (8-14, 2-6) fell 71-63 to Archer on senior night, however, marking its third loss in the last four games.
The No. 8 boys squad drew the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will lock horns with Rockdale at 8:30 p.m. this coming Wednesday. Newton bounced back Friday night from a tough loss to Shiloh by defeating Archer 69-55 on senior night. All Region 8-AAAAAAA tournament games will be played at Grayson High in Loganville.
Social Circle (18-7, 9-5) will play against Rabun County (5-19, 4-10) at Elbert County High on Monday at 4 p.m.
Here are all the first round matchups for both the Region 4-AAAA and Region 8-AAAAAAA tournaments. Teams need to win at least one game in their respective region tournaments in order to qualify for the state tournament.
Region 4-AAAA Girls (Monday)
No. 4 Eastside vs. No. 5 Woodward Academy, 4 p.m.
No. 2 Luella vs. No. 7 Hampton, 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 North Clayton vs. No. 6 Druid Hills, 7 p.m.
No. 1 Henry County vs. No. 8 Salem, 8:30 p.m.
Boys (Tuesday)
No. 4 Eastside vs. No. 5 Druid Hills, 4 p.m.
No. 2 Woodward Academy vs. No. 7 Hampton, 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 Salem vs. No. 6 North Clayton
No. 1 Henry County vs. No. 8 Luella
Region 8-AAAAAAA Girls (Wednesday)
No. 4 Newton vs. No. 5 South Gwinnett, 4 p.m.
No. 3 Rockdale vs. No. 6 Shiloh, 7 p.m.
No. 1 Grayson and No. 2 Archer have first round byes.
Boys (Wednesday)
No. 4 South Gwinnett vs. No. 5 Archer, 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 Newton vs. No. 6 Rockdale, 8:30 p.m.
No. 1 Grayson and No. 2 Shiloh have first round byes.
