Following Tuesday night’s region tournament action, the number of DeKalb County teams with State Tournament bids sits at 12 with the possibility of one more on Wednesday night.

Arabia Mountain (girls), Cedar Grove (boys and girls), Columbia (boys and girls), Miller Grove (boys and girls), Southwest DeKalb (boys and girls), Lakeside (girls), Stephenson (girls) and Tucker (boys) have state playoff tickets punched.

The Stephenson Jaguars (7-15) can punch a ticket to the playoffs with a win over Douglass (16-7) on Wednesday at 6:00 pm at Riverdale.

Two DeKalb teams claimed playoff berths on Tuesday night in the first round of the Region 5-4A Tournament at Tucker High School.

The first to claim a spot was the Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers (18-8) with a 45-21 win over the Tucker Lady Tiger (13-12) in the opener.

Southwest DeKalb led 21-13 at the half but outscored Tucker 24-8 in the second half to seal a trip to the state playoffs. A short jumper on the baseline by Ryann Chaney to open the second half started a quick 5-0 lead to push the advantage to double digits.

Bailee Canty, who had 22 points on the night, had five of those points in the third quarter. Mariya Shields hit a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left in the third quarter to finish off another 5-0 run that sent the Panthers into the final quarter of play up 34-18.

Tucker got a basket from Harmonie Cooper to open the fourth quarter, but it would be the last basket of the game for the Tigers. Canty scored seven points in an 11-1 run to end the game with the Panthers on top 45-21.

Kenedi Thomas added 10 points to the 22 by Canty and Mariya Shields scored six points and grabbed 10 boards. Harmone Cooper had eight points to lead Tucker and Azaria Tolen added four points and grabbed nine rebounds.

BOYS
Tucker 101, Druid Hills 54
Tucker (20-6) came out of the gate hot rolling out to a 16-0 lead in less than four minutes of the first quarter against the Druid Hills Red Devils (3-18) at Tucker on Tuesday.

Jakobe Williams hit for seven points in the opening 16-0 run, including a deep three-pointer while Austin Walker started the game with a basket and added another as the Tigers streaked ahead of the Red Devils.

Walker added two more baskets in the opening quarter as the Tigers took a 31-6 lead into the second quarter.

Tucker pushed out to a 51-21 halftime lead then early in the third quarter. Tucker hit four three-pointers, three by Braedyn Gillispie, as the lead continued to build going up to 87-45 with a quarter to play.

Freeman would put up 20 of his game-high 27 points in the third quarter as Druid Hills put 23 points on the board in quarter only to have Tucker score 36.

Kelan Smith scored the basket to put the Tigers over the century mark with one minute to play.

The Tigers had four players in double figures for the game and 13 players scored as the bench was emptied. Gillispie led the way with 13 points while Walker and Williams both hit for 12 points for the Tigers. Teammate Devin King added 11 points in the game.

Marist 72, Lithonia 31
The Marist War Eagles soared to a 72-31 win over the Lithonia Bulldogs to eliminate them from the state playoffs.

Khamillo Wells, one of three Marist players in double figures, scored six points in an opening 10-0 run by the War Eagles as he got a steal and drove to the bucket. Na’Kyiz Davis had the final two points of the first quarter on a simple layup, but the Bulldogs still trailed 17-4.

Marist continued to build on the lead throughout the game as the War Eagles pulled away for the 72-31 win.

James Lasco and Jay Walsh (8 rebounds) scored 11 points each to lead the War Eagles (19-7).

DCSD REGION BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULES/RESULTS
Tuesday, Feb. 11
REGION 4-1A DIVISION 1 – At Putnam Co.
BOYS
Towers (16-8) 79, McNair (16-10) 53

REGION 6-2A – At Miller Grove
GIRLS
Miller Grove (13-8) 53, Drew Charter (13-17) 41
Columbia (20-5) 51, Salem 7
BOYS
South Atlanta (19-7) 60, Miller Grove (8-17) 37
Salem 49, Columbia (21-4) 44 OT

REGION 5-3A – At Riverdale
GIRLS
Cedar Grove (11-13) 45, Douglass (7-11) 33
Stephenson (16-10) 73, Riverdale (5-21) 21

REGION 4-4A – At Pace Academy
BOYS
Mays (18-7) 91, M.L. King (8-18) 53

REGION 5-4A – At Tucker
GIRLS
Southwest DeKalb (18-8) 45, Tucker (13-12) 21
Northview (18-8) 63, North Springs (9-17) 23
BOYS
Marist (19-7) 72, Lithonia (7-19) 34
Tucker (20-6) 101, Druid Hills (3-18) 54

REGION 4-5A – At Woodward Academy
GIRLS
Lakeside (14-9) 52, Decatur (5-21) 33
Arabia Mountain (17-8) 62, Shiloh (12-14) 26
BOYS
Decatur (15-10) 67, Dunwoody (8-17) 57
Shiloh (9-16) 67, Chamblee (15-11) 64 OT

Wednesday, Feb. 12
REGION 5-3A – At Riverdale
BOYS
Stephenson (7-15) vs. Douglass (16-7), 6:00 pm

Thursday, Feb. 13
REGION 4-5A – At Woodward Academy
GIRLS
Lakeside (14-9) vs. Tri-Cities (19-4), 4:00 pm
Arabia Mountain (17-8) vs. Woodward (19-5), 7:00 pm

REGION 5-4A – At Tucker
GIRLS
SW DeKalb (18-8) vs. Northview (18-8), 4:00 pm
St. Pius (16-10) vs. Marist (24-2), 7:00 pm
BOYS
Tucker (20-6) vs. Marist (19-7), 5:30 pm
SW DeKalb (24-2) vs. St. Pius (19-7), 8:30 pm

REGION 6-2A – At Miller Grove
GIRLS – Consolation/Finals
Salem (4-22) vs. Drew Charter (13-17), 4:00 pm
Miller Grove (13-8) vs. Columbia (20-5), 7:00 pm
BOYS – Consolations/Finals
Miller Grove (8-17) vs. Columbia (21-4), 5:30 pm

REGION 4-1A – D1 – At Putnam Co.
Towers (16-8) vs. Putnam Co. (24-1), 8:30 pm

Friday, Feb. 14
Region 5-3A – At Riverdale
GIRLS
Stephenson (16-10) vs. North Clayton (14-11), 4:00 pm
Cedar Grove (11-13) vs. Luella (22-3), 7:00 pm