High school region tournament action wrapped on Saturday with 16 DeKalb County School District teams are headed to the postseason beginning on Tuesday.

Six of the nine girls’ teams open play on Tuesday with two of the teams hosting first round games.

The Arabia Mountain Lady Rams (24-2) are coming off their Region 4-5A title this past week and play host to the Jenkins Lady Warriors (9-16). Arabia Mountain is making their 10th consecutive playoff appearance and seventh under Coach Jerry Jackson. It is the first state playoff meeting between the two squads.

Coach Kathy Richey-Walton’s No. 7 ranked Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers (21-7) finished as the Region 6-4A runners-up to earn a 13th consecutive playoff appearance. The Panthers host the Northwest Whitfield Lady Bruins (16-11), the No. 3 seed from Region 7-4A at 6:30 pm on Tuesday. The two teams are meeting in the state playoffs for the fourth time and the Panthers own a 3-0 mark, including the 2010 Class 4A state title game won 65-46 by Southwest DeKalb.

The Lakeside Lady Vikings (18-7) coached by Lakia Morton finished second in regular season play in Region 4-6A and have won the most games in a season since 2001 (19-8). Lakeside finished at the No. 3 seed after a tough 44-43 loss to St. Pius in the region tournament and goes on the road to take on Veterans (21-6), the Region 1 runner-up, in the opening round of the Class 6A state playoffs.

Lithonia (6-19) is making a second consecutive state playoff appearance under Coach Pamela Johnson after finishing as the No. 4 team in Region 4-5A. The Lady Bulldogs go on the road to Region 1 No. 1 seed Ware County (20-6) for a 6:00 pm game on Tuesday.

The Stephenson Lady Jaguars (15-10) got a big 58-48 win over Westminster in the Region 6-4A girls’ consolation game to earn the No. 3 seed and a trip to Heritage-Coosa (20-7) at 6:00 pm on Tuesday. Stephenson returns to the state playoffs after missing in 2023. It was the first time Stephenson had not made the playoffs since 2000 breaking a 22-season streak.

The Class 2A state tournament has the McNair Lady Mustangs making their first state playoff appearance in 24 years as the squad finished 14-14. McNair is the No. 4 seed out of Region 5-2A and goes on the road to take on Banks County (23-4) at 6:00 pm on Tuesday. McNair has played girls’ basketball and Coach Gwen Edwards squad is the just the second team to reach the playoffs in school history and the fifth to win 14 or more games.

The other 10 teams play on Wednesday and we will be highlighted in another article.

DCSD STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
FIRST ROUND
Tuesday, 2/20/24
6A Girls
Lakeside (18-7) at Veterans (21-6), 6:00 pm
5A Girls
Jenkins (9-16) at Arabia Mountain (24-2), 6:00 PM
Lithonia (6-19) at Ware Co. (20-6), 6:00 pm
4A Girls
NW Whitfield (16-11) at SW DeKalb (21-7), 6:30 pm
Stephenson (15-10) at Heritage Catoosa (20-7), 6:00 pm
2A Girls
McNair (14-14) at Banks Co. (23-4), 6:00 pm

Wednesday, 2/21/24
5A Girls
Chamblee (16-6) at Statesboro (21-4), 5:30 PM
5A Boys
Ware Co. (16-10) at Tucker (21-5), 6:00 pm
Lithonia (9-16) at Bradwell Institute (21-6), 5:30 pm
M.L. King (18-10) at Statesboro (20-4), 7:00 pm
4A Boys
SW DeKalb (11-15) at Central – Carroll (23-5), 7:00 pm,
3A Girls
Cedar Grove (6-14) at Hebron Christian (25-2), 5:30 pm
3A Boys
Cedar Grove (16-8) at Hebron Christian (23-3), 7:00 pm
2A Girls
Providence Christian (17-9) at Columbia (22-5), 6:00 pm
2A Boys
Providence Christian (17-10) at Columbia (23-3), 7:30 pm
Towers (15-11) at Athens Academy (21-5), 6:30 pm