The newly ranked No. 1 Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers hit their first six shots of the game on the way to a 16-0 lead and continued to roll in a 65-22 Class 5A first round girls’ contest against Rome at Southwest DeKalb.

Jada Walton pulled up for a jumper to open the scoring and Daisa Alexander followed with two threes from the right wing and a layup to build a 10-0 lead just 1:30 gone in the game.

Back-to-back threes from Walton and Chantz Cherry stretched it out to 16-0 with 5:41 left in the first quarter.

Rome’s Kari Johnson put the Lady Wolves (18-10) on the scoreboard with a three-pointer from the right wing with 5:20 left in the period to break the quick run by the Lady Panthers (24-6).

Alexander added seven more points, including a three with 1:04 left in the first quarter, as Southwest finished the first quarter on a 13-2 run to head into the second quarter with a 29-5 lead.

Lanee Edwards had a three and two free throws to start an 8-0 run in the second quarter as the lead increased to 30 (37-7) with 4:24 to play in the first half.

Alexander finished the half with 18 points as Southwest led 44-14 at the half behind a three-pointer by YaRia Sanders and a layup by Walton on a high post pass from Ogheneruona Uwusiaba.

Rome would go7:35 of the third quarter without scoring and Uwusiaba scored four points as Southwest slowed things down in the second half to pull away to a 55-14 advantage. Retavia Floyd scored the only two points of the quarter for Rome on a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left in the period.

Alexander finished the game with 21 points and Jada Walton added 14 for the Lady Panthers. Uwusiaba grabbed 10 rebounds for Southwest.

No Rome player had more than 5 points in the game.

Southwest DeKalb moves on to the Sweet 16 for the fifth consecutive season and face Region 2 No. 2 seed Cross Creek (21-6), an 86-54 winner over South Effingham on Tuesday night.

Class 4A Girls
Redan 61, Southeast Whitfield 54
Taylor Tucker rallied the No. 9 Redan Lady Raiders to a 61-54 Class 4A first round playoff victory over Southeast Whitfield at Redan on Tuesday.

Southeast Whitfield (18-10) turned a 15-9 second quarter deficit into a 30-27 halftime lead and continued to lead throughout the third quarter taking a 47-44 lead into the fourth quarter.

Tucker had a pair of big and-ones in the fourth quarter to put Redan up 58-54 with two minutes to play. Redan outscored Southeast Whitfield to extend the team’s  lead to 61-54 to advance to the Sweet 16.

Redan travels to Region 2-4A champion and No. 3 ranked Veterans (24-4) on Friday. Veterans advanced with a 67-37 win over Liberty County on Tuesday.

GHSA Boys’ State Playoff Brackets
GHSA Girls’ State Playoff Brackets

DCSD State Playoff Results
Tuesday, Feb. 16
Class 4A Girls
Redan (21-5) 61, SE Whitfield (18-10) 54

Class 5A Girls
SW DeKalb (24-6) 65, Rome (18-10) 22

DCSD State Playoff Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 17
Class 6A
Girls
Campbell (15-11) at Tucker (23-4), 6:00 pm

Boys
Campbell (19-8) at Tucker (20-6), 7:30 pm

Class 5A
Girls
Miller Grove (15-12) at Sequoyah (22-6), 6:00 pm
Stephenson (20-8) at Creekview (22-5), 6:00 pm

Boys
Sprayberry (18-10) at Miller Grove (25-2), 6:00 pm
Kell (16-12) at SW DeKalb (23-5), 6:00 pm

Class 4A
Girls
Arabia Mountain (18-10) at Heritage-Catoosa (22-5), 6:00 pm

Boys
Columbia (13-12) at Heritage-Catoosa (20-8), 7:30 pm
NW Whitfield (20-6) at Lithonia (22-5), 6:00 pm

Class 3A
Boys
Dodge Co. (19-8) at Cedar Grove (18-7), 6:00 pm

Friday, Feb. 19
Class 5A Girls
Cross Creek (21-6) at Southwest DeKalb (24-6), TBA

Class 4A Girls
Redan (21-5) at Veterans (24-4), TBA