February Frenzy: High School basketball everywhere

ALBANY – It’s not quite March Madness, but local basketball teams are in the thick of a February frenzy as the high school playoff season begins. Three local tournaments will bring teams to the Albany area for games every night this week, with championship matchups set for Friday night at Lee County High School, Monroe High School, and Albany State West.

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Lee County

The Lee County Trojans wrapped up their regular season Saturday night with a 65-36 win over Coffee. With the game in hand, the starters sat out the fourth quarter, but Matthew Hardwick, Braden Moore, and Kam Sanders still reached double figures. Hardwick led with 15 points, Moore scored 12, and Sanders added 10.

Lee County will host the region semifinals and finals beginning Thursday. The Trojans will face the winner of the Veterans vs. Thomas County Central game. Houston County also earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of Northside vs. Coffee.

The Lady Trojans fell to Coffee 53-33, dropping them to the No. 3 seed in the region. Taliyah Porter led Lee County with 13 points, but the loss means the Lady Trojans will not receive a first-round bye and must defeat Houston County to advance.

“We didn’t play as a team,” said Lee County girls’ head coach Tondra Davis. “We didn’t play mentally strong.”

The play-in games will be held at Northside (Warner Robins) on Tuesday. The Lady Trojans will take on Houston County at 7 p.m. If they win, they will face Veterans at 4 p.m. Thursday at Lee County High School.

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Westover, Monroe, Dougherty

The Westover Patriots (16-6) lost their final regular-season game in overtime Saturday night in Fort Valley but held onto the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the region tournament.

Bryson Carter and Jaden Holmes each scored 13 points, while Greg Williams added 11, but the Patriots fell to Peach County 65-60. As the No. 2 seed, Westover is off until Thursday, when they will face the winner of Tuesday night’s Dougherty vs. Cairo matchup.

The Dougherty Trojans (15-9), the No. 3 seed, will host No. 6 seed Cairo (4-18) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Albany.

The Lady Patriots (11-8) secured the No. 3 seed after a 57-38 win over Peach County. Sydney Donaldson had a dominant performance, finishing with 23 points, 20 rebounds, and four assists. Charity Green added nine points, while Wyleria Holmes and Alex Marcus each scored seven. Marcus also pulled down 13 rebounds.

If the Lady Patriots defeat Cairo in the first round, they will face the Dougherty Lady Trojans (15-10) in the semifinals.

Both Monroe teams earned first-round byes. The Golden Tornadoes (16-9) and the Lady Nadas (20-5) will face the winners of the Bainbridge vs. Peach County matchups in round one.

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Class A – Region 1

The No. 2-ranked Randolph-Clay Red Devils (23-2) and the No. 3-ranked Calhoun County Cougars (20-2) headline the Region 1-A tournament at Albany State West. Both teams earned byes and won’t play until the semifinals on Thursday.

The Seminole County Lady Indians (21-4) and the Randolph-Clay Lady Red Devils (19-6) also earned byes and will begin play in the semifinals.

Four games are scheduled each day this week at ASU West, beginning at 4 p.m. The semifinals are set for Thursday, with championship games on Friday.

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Deerfield-Windsor and Terrell Academy

The Deerfield-Windsor basketball teams will compete in the GIAA Region 3-AAA semifinals Tuesday at Georgia Southwestern in Americus.

The Knights (21-2) will face Tiftarea at 5:30 p.m., following the Lady Knights (11-14), who will take on Brookwood. The Lady Knights lost to Brookwood 48-32 in their regular-season finale but will have another shot at them in the tournament.

The Terrell Academy Eagles will play Brookwood in the semifinals Tuesday night—if they win their play-in game against Valwood on Monday. The undefeated Lady Eagles (22-0) will also begin their tournament run Tuesday, facing the winner of Valwood vs. Tiftarea.

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Sherwood Christian

Sherwood Christian’s basketball teams will travel to Bainbridge for the GIAA Region 3-AA tournament, which begins Tuesday.

The Lady Eagles will take on top-seeded Southwest Georgia at 7 p.m., while the Sherwood boys will face Georgia Christian at 5:30 p.m. A win would send either team to the region championship game on Friday in Bainbridge and secure a home game in the first round of the state playoffs.