Playoff Preview: Favorite 1st Round Matchups

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The brackets have been made official and the first round of games begins Tuesday night. Here, we take a lot at some of the best 1st round matchups.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Walton vs. Lambert (7A)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wed 2/22 7:30pm @ Lambert</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lambert capped off a great regular season with a region championship and a 1-seed but drew a tough Walton team in the first round. Lambert is led by senior guards [player_tooltip player_id='1223227' first='Niko' last='Wilson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1361058' first='James' last='Tyre'], who I imagine won't go down without a fight. They're joined by talented underclassmen, Cam Bland and Will Dopfer. Walton will be led by one of the top point guards in the state, [player_tooltip player_id='1131830' first='Luke' last='Flynn']. He's capable of a big scoring night and could certainly lift Walton over the 1-seed Lambert for a first round upset. [player_tooltip player_id='1688187' first='Caesar' last='Burrows'] compliments him nicely in the backcourt and [player_tooltip player_id='1201500' first='Harrison' last='Morris'] will be a handful for Lambert inside. This one could go either way in my opinion.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Habersham Central vs. Pope (6A)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wed 2/22 7:00pm @ Pope</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pope recently earned the 2-seed and will host Habersham Central in the first round. Pope has exceeded expectations this year, largely because of breakout star [player_tooltip player_id='1773628' first='Zach' last='Bleshoy']. Berry commit [player_tooltip player_id='1444756' first='Ryan' last='Luttrell'] gives them another viable scoring option on the perimeter and junior guard Deven Royal has been playing well lately too. They'll have their hands full with Habersham Central, one of the toughest 3-seeds. It's typically a well-rounded attack for the Raiders, [player_tooltip player_id='1055502' first='Brannon' last='Gaines'], [player_tooltip player_id='1363541' first='Bryce' last='Pittman'], Brighton Paul, &amp; [player_tooltip player_id='1801881' first='Josiah' last='McCurry'] all playing vital roles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>North Forsyth vs. Blessed Trinity (6A)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wed 2/22 7:00pm @ Blessed Trinity</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This matchup immediately jumped off the page to me when brackets first released. The intrigue here comes in the matchup between two of Georgia's best big men, [player_tooltip player_id='1020690' first='Brigham' last='Rogers'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1326694' first='Cole' last='Kirouac']. Rogers is a 6'9, do-it-all forward that recently signed with Belmont and he'll lead the way for Blessed Trinity. Kirouac on the other hand, is more of a paint presence with good feet and a nice arsenal of post moves. North Forsyth's 6'10 big man currently holds offers from UGA, Missouri, and Georgia State. This should be a great test for each of them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Hart County vs. Gilmer (3A)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wed 2/22 6:00pm @ Gilmer</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 3A, we get a first round matchup between two great teams in Hart County and Gilmer. Both teams feature some star power at the top, very different players though. Hart County is led by [player_tooltip player_id='820299' first='Tahj' last='Johnson'], a 6'7 athletic forward that plays above the rim and fills up the stat sheet. Sophomore 7-footer [player_tooltip player_id='1386104' first='Jackson' last='McVey'] leads Gilmer and he's put up some crazy numbers this year. Role players will likely be all the difference in this game. One matchup to keep an eye on is that between Gilmer's freshman point guard, [player_tooltip player_id='1630080' first='Keegen' last='Bryant'], and Hart County's sophomore Keelan Stowers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Athens Academy vs. Model (2A) </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wed 2/22 7:00pm @ Model</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Again here, we see two tough teams square off in the first round. Athens Academy is a very dangerous 4-seed, a big reason being junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1145644' first='Kymel' last='Williams']. Williams is a volume-scorer that's capable of lifting Athens Academy to a W on his own. Model's [player_tooltip player_id='1049240' first='Jakenes' last='Heard'] is a long, athletic guard that could be very effective guarding Williams. His brother, Jeremiah Heard, is one of the most physically dominant bigs in the state at 6'9, 280 lbs. He'll need to dominate the interior for Model to advance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->