With five boys’ basketball teams winning on Saturday night, DeKalb County has a total of 11 teams moving into the Sweet 16 of the GHSA State Playoffs this week.

The big winners came out of the All-DeKalb Region 5-5A boys as all four teams advanced with first round victories.

Miller Grove (19-8), ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, rolled to a 73-46 win over Paulding County (11-18). The Region 5 No. 1 seeded Wolverines scored 20 points in the second quarter to go up 36-16 at the half. Twenty-one more points in the third quarter put the game away as Miller Grove took a 57-28 lead into the final quarter.

The Wolverines host Starr’s Mill (18-10), a 64-58 winner over Harris County, at 6:00 pm on Thursday.

Region 5 No. 2 seed Columbia entertained Region 7 No. 3 seed Carrollton (19-10) and rolled to a 74-53 victory with four players in double figures. Jalen Cobb hit for 12 of his 16 points in the first half as the Eagles (21-7) got out to a 33-19 lead at the break.

Kenton Eskridge who finished with a game-high 22 points had six three-pointers (4 in the second half) keyed the second half along with Reyhan Cobb (15 points) and Josh Taylor (13 points). The No. 6 ranked Eagles travel to No. 5 Fayette County (21-7) on Thursday at 7:00 pm in the second round.

Southwest DeKalb (17-12) went on the road to Kell (21-8) and knocked off the Region 7 No. 2 seed 52-34 behind 16 points from Mandarius Dickerson and 12 from Darius Hogan. The Panthers go on the road again with a tentative date on Thursday at No. 2 ranked Warner Robins (26-1).

The Lithonia Bulldogs (12-16) traveled to the west side of Atlanta to take on No. 10 ranked and Region 7 No. 1 seed Villa Rica (21-7) on Saturday. The Bulldogs advanced to the Sweet 16 with an impressive 77-65 victory and travel to Riverdale (12-11) on Thursday for their second-round matchup.

Class 3A
The No. 6 Ranked Cedar Grove Saints (17-6) hosted Lumpkin County (14-15) in the opening round of the Class 3A boys’ state playoffs.

The Saints pulled away from a 10-6 first quarter lead to a 32-20 halftime lead as they picked up the first-round win 71-58. Cedar Grove travels to No. 4 ranked Jenkins (21-7) on Thursday in the Sweet 16.

Class 6A
Both DeKalb entries in the Class 6A boys’ tournament came up short on Saturday as Stephenson and Tucker dropped their games to Region 2 opponents.

Stephenson (18-10) fell 75-63 to Glynn Academy (15-12) at home as Glynn hit 8 of 11 free throws in the final 1:38 to hold off the Jaguars for the upset.

The Jaguars fell behind by seven points in the third quarter, but rallied to within 50-49 on Drevion Evans three-pointer from the left corner as he was falling out of bounds as the third quarter clock ticked down to zero. Anthony Newsom’s two free throws to open the third quarter put Stephenson up 51-50.

Durand Green hit a pair of three-pointers to put Glynn up 56-53. Bryce Latimer answered with a three of his own with 5:13 to play to pull Stephenson within 58-57.

Glynn then took control as Green tipped in his own miss and an improbable three-pointer by big post player Dominique Walker pushed the lead out to 65-57.

Stephenson would get no closer than four points the rest of the way as Glynn closed out the game with the 8 of 11 performance at the line.

The Tucker Tigers (17-11) saw a 41-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter slip away against Effingham County (19-10) in a 64-55 loss on the road.

Class 4A
A return to the state playoffs for the first time in four years had the Druid Hills Red Devils hosting Perry on Saturday night, but was short-lived as Perry (21-8) upended Druid Hills (12-16) 71-56.

The Red Devils led by Elijah Durham’s 10 points got out to a good start taking an 18-14 lead into the second quarter.

Damien Bagley answered for Perry in the second quarter with 10 points of his own as he and his teammates took a 34-27 lead into the second half.

Perry would lead by as much as 18 points in the second half (59-41 with 5:08 to play) on the way to the win.

DCSD BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS RESULTS
Saturday, Feb. 18
BOYS
Class 6A
Glynn Academy (16-12) 75, Stephenson (18-10) 63
Effingham Co. (19-10) 64, Tucker (17-10) 55

Class 5A
Miller Grove (19-8) 73, Paulding Co. (11-18) 46
Columbia (21-7) 74, Carrollton (19-10) 53
SW DeKalb (17-12) 52, Kell (21-8) 34
Lithonia (12-16) 77, Villa Rica (21-7) 65

Class 4A
Perry (21-8) 72, Druid Hills (12-16) 56

Class 3A
Cedar Grove (17-6) 71, Lumpkin Co. (14-15) 58

DCSD BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Sweet 16 Round (Tentative)
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Girls
Class 3A
Beach (25-2) at Redan (20-6), 5:30 pm

Class 5A
McIntosh (20-8) at SW DeKalb (24-4), 6:30 pm
Arabia Mountain (20-5) at Griffin (26-1), 6:00 pm

Class 6A
Harrison (23-5) at Tucker (22-6), 7:00 pm
Stephenson (19-10) at River Ridge (19-11), 6:00 pm

Thursday, Feb. 23
Class 5A Girls
Columbia (16-7) at Warner Robins (26-1), 5:30 pm

Boys
Class 5A
Starr’s Mill (18-10) at Miller Grove (19-8), 6:00 pm
Columbia (21-7) at Fayette Co. (21-7), 7:00 pm
SW DeKalb (17-12) at Warner Robins (25-3), 7:00 pm
Lithonia (12-16) at Riverdale (12-11), 7:00 pm

Class 3A
Cedar Grove (17-6) at Jenkins (21-7), 6:00 pm