A glance at the first round of the Class 3A basketball playoffs

The basketball playoffs are upon us and Class 3A will take to the court Tuesday and Wednesday for the first rounds of the GHSA basketball playoffs. The boys play Wednesday, the girls play Tuesday.

The second rounds are Friday for the girls and Saturday for the boys. The quarterfinals rounds are Feb. 25 for the girls and Feb. 26 for the boys before the semifinals at Fort Valley State on Feb. 28 and March 1.

The state championships will play at 7 p.m. on March 5 for the boys and 5 p.m. for the girls. Lets take a look at some tournament favorites in play on each side of class.

Where do the defending champions stand?

Entering the tournament, the two-time, back-to-back boys defending champions Sandy Creek are ranked No. 4 in the class. Baldwin, the girls defending champions, are ranked No. 6.

Boys favorite I like two-time champion and No. 2-ranked Cross Creek. The Razorbacks won titles in 2021 and 2022 but will have to upend top-ranked Sandy Creek at some point to secure the programs third title.

Boys toughest quadrant Top-left. No. 1 Cross Creek, No. 4 Sandy Creek and No. 5 East Hall each reside here. The two Creeks could meet in the quarterfinals if both win their first two games. Cross Creek plays LaFayette and Sandy Creek opens against Monroe Area. East Hall opens against North Hall and could play Cross Creek in the second round if it advances.

Class 3A Boys Top 10 Final Regular season rankings

1. Cedar Grove

2. Cross Creek

3. Pickens

4. Sandy Creek

5. East Hall

6. Jefferson

7. Cherokee Bluff

8. Baldwin

9. Westside-Augusta

10. Douglass

Girls favorite Defending champion Baldwin might be ranked No. 6 but I like their chances. The Braves have won four titles, but last years was the first since three-consecutive from 1986-1988. Senior Kassidy Neal is scoring 17 points per game with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Senior Janaye Walker has 15 points per game with 14.4 rebounds with three assists and steals. Sophomore Suri Clark is scoring 11 points with seven rebounds and two steals per game.

Girls toughest quadrant Top-left. Like the boys, this quadrant is a brute. Theres top-ranked Pickens opening against Howard. Theres No. 2 Jefferson playing East Hall and theres No. 5 Oconee County facing Calhoun. If Pickens and Oconee County each win, there will be a top-5 matchup in the second round between No. 1 Pickens and No. 5 Oconee.

Follow the link to see the Class 3A boys and girls full brackets and see the ranked first-round schedules below.

Class 3A Girls Top 10 Final Regular season rankings

1. Pickens

2. Jefferson

3. Luella

4. Fayette County

5. Oconee County

6. Baldwin

7. White County

8. Sandy Creek

9. Heritage-Ringgold

10. Monroe

Dont forget to sign up for Score Atlantas High School Sports Report! The newsletter hits your inbox every Saturday morning with breaking news, recruiting info, classification blogs and more. Subscribe to the only newsletter that dives into every single sport around the entire state of Georgia! Sign up today:https://bit.ly/scoreatl