Redan was one of six DeKalb County girls’ teams to advance to the second round of the state playoff as the Lady Raiders ended the East Hall Lady Vikings season with a 62-44 home victory in the first round of the Class 3A girls’ basketball state playoffs on Friday night.

Junior guard Jocelyn Small hit for a game 27 points, 23 in the first half, as she led Redan (20-6) to their 20th victory of the season and second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16.

East Hall’s Mary Thomas hit a three and Kyan Mize drove for a basket as the Region 7 No. 4 seed Lady Vikings (16-11) jumped to an early 5-0.

Small would lead Redan roaring back as she put in 11 points in the first quarter, including a three and a drive to the basket following Dariyon Minor’s steal and layup to give Redan an 11-8 lead.

East Hall came back with a three by Carly Winters and a rebound and layup by Ashante Peoples to regain the lead at 14-11 with 1:22 to play in the period.

Small would hit two free throws and Taylor Teton added a three before Small drove to the basket for a layup with 13 seconds left in the quarter to send Redan into the second quarter with an 18-14 lead.

Twelve more points came at the hands of Small in the second quarter as she kept driving through the East Hall defense to the basket. Small hit a three-pointer with 32 seconds left in the half that sent the Lady Raiders into the half up 34-27.

East Hall came out in the second half shadowing Small and denying her the ball, but Kyrah Singleton and Kerrigan Johnson would be the driving forces for Redan with nine second half points.

Singleton started the second half scoring five of the first 10 Redan points to go with three from Small and a three-pointer by Sydney Brown as the lead expanded to 47-30 as East Hall went 4:29 of the third quarter without a score.

Mize ended the drought for East Hall with a drive to the basket with 1:23 to play in the quarter. Small hit one of two from the charity stripe to give Redan a 48-34 lead with one quarter remaining.

Singleton hit a pair of layups early in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to 18 (52-34) with 5:02 to play.

East Hall answered with a layup from Mize and drives by Winters, but still trailed by 15 (56-41) after Kerrigan Johnson’s three from the left corner with 2:40 to play in the game.

Thomas hit her third three-pointer of the game with 1:58 to play to close the gap to 56-44. Redan would answer by hitting six of eight from the line, four by Johnson, to close out the 62-44 victory.

Johnson joined Small in double figures with 12 points, all in the second half, while Johnquanek Spencer grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Redan.

Mize finished with 16 points to lead East Hall.

Redan moves into the Sweet 16 and will host Beach, a 61-33 winner over Daugherty, on Wednesday with a time to be announced.

In other Class 3A girls’ play, the Cedar Grove Lady Saints (15-6) were eliminated from the playoffs 72-43 by Greater Atlanta Christian (21-7).

Class 6A Girls
The Region 4-6A champions Tucker Lady Tigers defended their home court with a convincing 53-28 win over Bradwell Institute (13-15).

Tucker jumped out to a 25-18 half time lead. The Lady Tigers then came out in the second half and limited Bradwell to just 10 points in cruising to the win.

Harrison (23-5), the Region 6 No. 2 seed, travels to Tucker on Wednesday (TBA) for a Sweet 16 matchup after defeating Dacula 54-34 in the first round.

Stephenson (19-10) went on the road as the No. 4 seed from Region 4 and came home with a 55-48 win over No. 1 seed Brunswick (16-12)

The Lady Jaguars earned a trip to River Ridge (19-11), the Region 6, No. 3 seed, following a first round 54-53 thriller on the road at Gainesville. A time for the Sweet 16 match up in Woodstock will be announced later.

Class 5A Girls
The No. 3 ranked Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers made quick work of the Kell Lady Longhorns with a 65-24 win at home in the first round of the Class 5A girls’ state playoffs.

Southwest (24-4) rolled to a 34-10 halftime lead and never looked back against the Region 7 No. 4 seed Kell (15-14). The Lady Panthers host McIntosh (20-8), a 62-57 winner over Harris County, on Wednesday.

Arabia Mountain (20-5) is in the state playoffs for the third consecutive season, making the program’s first appearance in 2015, and is advancing to the Sweet 16 for the second time after knocking off Villa Rica (25-4) 52-45 at home on Friday night.

The Lady Rams have put together back-to-back 20 win seasons and must go on the road to Griffin (26-1), a 54-38 winner over Veterans, on Wednesday. Griffin’s only loss of the season came at the hands of Columbia, a team the Lady Rams defeated twice this season.

Columbia (16-7) also advanced into the Sweet 16 as the Lady Eagles steamed past Region 7, No. 2 seed Cass (20-8) 60-41 at Cass on Friday. The Lady Eagles now must travel to face a 26-1 Warner Robins team that beat Morrow 68-41 and is the No. 1 seed out of Region 1.

The Chamblee Lady Bulldogs (11-13) did not fare as well as the rest of the Region 5-5A teams as they fell 63-29 to Carrollton (28-1).

Class 6A Boys
The Dunwoody Wildcats first playoff game since 2008 was marred as Langston Hughes (20-8) took a 59-34 decision at Dunwoody.

The Wildcats (13-16) surprising run to the Region 7-6A championship game marked their return to the state playoffs.

Eight DeKalb boys’ teams play first round games on Saturday. See the schedule below.

DCSD BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS RESULTS
Friday, Feb. 17
GIRLS
Class 6A
Tucker (22-6) 53, Bradwell Institute (13-15) 28
Stephenson (19-10) 55, Brunswick (16-12) 48

Class 5A
SW DeKalb (24-4) 65, Kell (15-14) 24
Arabia Mountain (20-5) 52, Villa Rica (25-4) 45
Columbia (16-7) 60, Cass (20-8) 41
Carrollton (28-1) 63, Chamblee (11-13) 29

Class 3A
Greater Atlanta Christian (21-7) 72, Cedar Grove (15-6) 43
Redan (20-6) 62, East Hall (16-11) 44

BOYS
Class 6A
Langston Hughes (20-8) 59, Dunwoody (13-16) 34

DCSD BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Saturday, Feb. 18
BOYS
Class 6A
Glynn Academy (15-12) at Stephenson (18-9), 2:30 pm
Tucker (17-10) at Effingham Co. (18-10), 4:30 pm

Class 5A
Paulding Co. (11-17) at Miller Grove (18-8), 6:00 pm
Carrollton (19-9) at Columbia (20-7), 6:00 pm
SW DeKalb (16-12) at Kell (21-7), 4:00 pm
Lithonia (11-16) at Villa Rica (21-6), 7:00 pm

Class 4A
Perry (20-8) at Druid Hills (12-15), 6:00 pm

Class 3A
Lumpkin Co. (14-14) at Cedar Grove (16-6), 6:00 pm

Sweet 16 Round
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Girls
Class 3A
Beach (25-2) at Redan (20-6), TBA

Class 5A
McIntosh (20-8) at SW DeKalb (24-4), TBA
Arabia Mountain (20-5) at Griffin (26-1), TBA
Columbia (16-7) at Warner Robins (26-1), TBA

Class 6A
Harrison (23-5) at Tucker (22-6), TBA