Region tournament play gets underway today

HALL COUNTY -- The prep basketball season officially makes its turn down the home stretch on Monday, when region tournaments begin throughout north Georgia.

In Region 7-AAA, eight play-in games will determine which teams get a shot at making it to state and which squads will be headed home.

Teams from 7A-AAA will play at North Hall, starting with the Johnson girls (4-18) against Chestatee (12-12) at 4 p.m. The West Forsyth boys (7-18) will take on White County (11-13) at 5:30 p.m., while the West Forsyth girls (3-22) will take on North Hall (16-7) at 7 p.m. The Chestatee boys (19-6) will face Pickens (2-21) in the final game at 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, teams from 7B-AAA will play at West Hall, opening with the White County girls (7-16) versus Flowery Branch (9-13) at 4 p.m. The Johnson boys (10-14) will take on Lumpkin County (5-20) at 5:30 p.m., while the Lumpkin girls (8-17) will take on West Hall (12-11) at 7 p.m. The Gainesville boys (13-11) will play Gilmer (6-19) at 8 p.m.

The winners of each of those games will move into the 7-AAA tournament, which begins on Tuesday at West Forsyth High in Cumming. First-round tournament play continues on Wednesday at West Forsyth, while the semifinals and finals will take place on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at Gainesville High.

Meanwhile in Region 8-A, the Lakeview Academy boys and girls will begin tournament play starting on Tuesday at Prince Avenue Christian Academy in Athens.

The Lions boys (17-8) -- the No. 1 seed from their subregion -- play at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, against the winner of Monday’s Hebron Christian vs. Towns County game. The winner of Tuesday’s contest will qualify for the Region 8-A semifinals -- which begin on Friday at Towns County High in Hiawassee -- and the Class A tournament.

Meanwhile, the Lakeview girls (11-10) next play at 4 p.m. Wednesday, when they face Athens Christian at Prince Avenue in Athens. As with the boys, the winner will qualify for state and the Region 8-A semifinals.

In other games Monday, the Buford High boys and girls will take on Creekview in the Region 6-AA tournament. The Lady Wolves (20-5) play host to Creekview at 6 p.m., while the Wolves (8-16) travel to Creekview at 7 p.m. Monday.

Both Buford teams must win two games in the region tournament to qualify for state.