The No. 9 ranked Tucker Lady Tigers was the only team of four DeKalb girls’ squads in action on Wednesday to pick up a victory to advance to the Elite Eight.

Tucker rolled to a 54-35 victory on the road at Region 2 No. 1 seed Bradwell Institute (18-10) to advance to the Class 6A Elite 8 for the first time since 2016. They had defeated Bradwell in the first round a year ago.

The Lady Tigers (21-9) take on another 2017 foe as they travel to Harrison (24-4), a 61-54 winner over Lanier on Wednesday. Harrison defeated Tucker 43-35 in the Sweet 16 last season.

Class 5A Girls
Sweet 16 action in Class 5A girls’ play did not go well for DeKalb as 2017 Class 5A runner-up Southwest DeKalb and No. 7 ranked Arabia Mountain were both knocked out of the playoffs.

Carrollton’s Taylor Brown was the big difference in the game at Southwest DeKalb as she hit for a game-high 27 points in a 54-43 win by the Trojans.

Brown scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to help Carrollton (24-6) pull away from a 33-27 lead to the win. She had two old-fashioned, three-point plays in the run as the Panthers could not slow her drives to the basket.

Southwest DeKalb went on a 5-0 run late on a basket and free throw by Michaela Bennefield and a pair Jayla Kimbrough free throws, but could get no closer than 9 the rest of the way.

The Panthers had rallied from an 11-2 first quarter deficit to tie the game at 22-22 on a basket by Adrianna Brownlee with 43 seconds to play in the first half. Carrollton made it 24-22 advantage at the half on a basket by Erial Daniel.

Southwest DeKalb has made the playoffs 11 of the past 12 seasons with five state championships and in all 11 appearances this was just the second time to lose before reaching the finals. The only year to miss was the 2011 season following three consecutive state titles.

The Arabia Mountain Lady Rams ended an amazing 21-3 season with a tough 67-66 loss to No. 3 ranked Villa Rica (25-1) on the road on Wednesday.

Arabia Mountain trailed by as much as 17 points early in the fourth quarter before rallying to within 67-66 in the final 20 seconds with the opportunity to win. A nice drive for the potential winning basket was waved off due to a charging call and Villa Rica got the ball back.

The Lady Rams were not going to quit and forced a turnover to get one last chance, but were unable to execute on the inbounds play and the clock ran out.

Class 3A Girls
The Cedar Grove Lady Saints had their season come to an end at the hands of No. 2 ranked and undefeated Franklin County in a tough road game in the Sweet 16.

Franklin County came away with a 53-26 win at home to improve to 29-0. Cedar Grove finished the year at 13-7.

Sweet 16 action continues for six DCSD boys’ teams on Thursday and the Stephenson Lady Jaguars. See the game schedule down below.

DCSD STATE BASKETBALL RESULTS
Wednesday, Feb. 21 (Second Round)
Class 3A Girls
Franklin Co. (29-0) 53, Cedar Grove (13-7) 26

Class 5A Girls
Villa Rica (25-1) 67, Arabia Mountain (21-3) 66
Carrollton (24-6) 54, Southwest DeKalb (17-13) 43

Class 6A Girls
Tucker (21-9) 54, Bradwell Institute (18-10) 35

DCSD STATE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 22
Class 3A Boys
Dawson Co. (19-9) at Cedar Grove (22-6), 7:00 pm
Redan (14-13) at Hart Co. (16-12), 6:00 pm
Towers (18-9) at Morgan Co. (28-1), 7:00 pm

Class 5A Boys
Flowery Branch (18-11) at Lithonia (22-6), 6:30 pm
SW DeKalb (18-11) at Hiram (21-9), 7:30 pm
Miller Grove (20-7) at Buford (24-4), 7:00 pm

Class 6A Girls
Stephenson (18-11) at Coffee (17-9), 6:00 pm

Tuesday, Feb. 27
Class 6A Girls
Tucker (21-9) at Harrison (24-4), TBA