Coin flips not a friend of Middle Georgia teams

The good news for six Middle Georgia basketball teams was that they had a chance to host a quarterfinal game next week.

The bad news is three lost those coin flips Friday and one on Thursday, with one winning it on Thursday.

Warner Robins lost and will play at Buford at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

That eliminated what would’ve been a massive doubleheader at Veterans, with Warner Robins’ girls winning the flip Thursday.

The Demons girls host Buford at 5:30 p.m. at Warner Robins.

“Their heads dropped,” Warner Robins boys head coach Jamaal Garman said when he told the team about losing the coin flip. “I said, ‘Stop and think about the opportunity.’”

Garman pointed out that the school has fans in Atlanta that can’t make it down, and more college coaches were likely to attend a game in metro Atlanta than drive to Warner Robins.

And it’s a chance to knock off the top team in the state in its brand new $21 million, 5,500-seat arena.

“Their eyes got real big,” Garman said. “They’re ready for anything.”

Dublin will have to travel to Laney for a huge matchup of top-5 teams in Class 2A. Both teams reached this round a year ago, Laney in Class 3A.

Bleckley County’s girls lost a flip and will face Hapeville Charter at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The game will be played at Banneker, in College Park.

Middle Georgia’s bad luck with coins extended to Thursday evening, as well.

In a coin flip held right after Westside’s second-round victory Thursday, Pace Academy correctly called heads to earn hosting rights for their Class 3A showdown. That contest will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Washington County’s boys won a flip and will host South Atlanta. It continues a pleasant turnaround for the Golden Hawks, who went 9-17 last year and won the Region 3-2A tournament this year.

That region has two teams left, with Washington County and Dublin, as does Region 4-2A with Laney and Josey.

So only Upson-Lee, Washington County and Taylor County will be home for boys games next week.

On the girls side, hosts are Warner Robins, Central and Stratford.

The Middle Georgia upset of the Sweet 16 round goes to Northside, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time in program history with a resounding 80-61 win at Pope, which ended the season at 25-5.

Region 1-6A had three teams lose Thursday by a total of 12 points.

Thursday was a heartbreaker for most of the Middle Georgia boys teams that lost.

Mary Persons and FPD lost by three points Hawkinsville by four. Central, Monticello and Stratford lost on the road by six.

Only Crawford County and Tattnall Square lost by double figures.

In Wednesday’s girls action, Dodge County and Taylor County lost by one, and Wilkinson County by 3.

The semifinals are held at neutral sites: Class 6A at West Georgia, Class 5A at Columbus State, Class 4A at Fort Valley State, Class 3A at Augusta University, Class 2A at Georgia College, Class 1A public at Valdosta State and Class 1A private at the Cobb Civic Center.

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Coin flips not a friend of Middle Georgia teams."