Region Tournament Upsets

Kyle Sandy February 19, 2026 @ 08:57 AM

<p>Lower seeds that punched their ticket to state or played spoiler for the opposition.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Walnut Grove</strong></h2>   <p>Possibly the biggest surprise to make state thus far is Walnut Grove. Heading into the Region 8-4A Tournament at 4-20 and 0-12 in region play, the seven-seeded Warriors had the daunting task of playing at two-seed Cedar Shoals, a seemingly peaking team that had won six straight and seven of eight with their lone loss coming at two-time defending state champion North Oconee 60-54. Walnut Grove lost 58-49 at home and 74-46 at Cedar Shoals in the regular season, their last meeting sparking the Jaguars winning streak. In a win-or-go home scenario, Walnut Grove stunned Cedar Shoals 64-57 in overtime as the Warriors' junior class carried the load. Ty Burce (17), Will Tyre (16) and Billy Hendrix (14) combined for 47 points. The Cinderella story continues today at 5:30 against three-seed Eastside.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Dublin</strong></h2>   <p>Dublin entered the Region 2 A D-I Region Tournament as the last place team, the 10-seed following an 0-13 region regular season and a 4-20 record. The switch has flipped however, as the Fighting Irish have upset seven-seed Bleckley County 47-41, six-seed Central-Macon 67-57 and three-seed East Laurens 58-55, currently ranked No. 9 in the state. Next on Dublin's hitlist is No. 8 in the state, the two-seed Dodge County. A balanced attack has seen the likes of juniors Jaydon McRae, Chris Dixon and Jakarian Jones all step up with double-digit scoring performances while sophomore Ardreakius Taylor has emerged, doubling his regular season scoring output of 5.3 points per game in the postseason. Making the run even more improbable is the Irish have won without leading scorer Glen Harris who averages 10 points per game.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Douglas County</strong></h2>   <p>Swept by Carrollton 55-40 and 59-41, five-seed Douglas County knocked off the four-seed at Carrollton in the Region 2-6A Tournament 67-49 to snatch a state playoff berth. The Tigers were just 9-13 entering play against the 15-10 Trojans. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='3243668' first='Kemarii' last='Reed'] exploded with five threes en route to 29 points and 16 rebounds both career highs for the 6-foot-2 wing. In the two meetings prior, Reed had combined for just 21 points and 12 rebounds.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Dougherty                                           </strong></h2>   <p>Dougherty seems to peak at the right time every season. The four-seed heading into the Region 1-3A Tournament scratched out the two-seed, losing to Monroe 72-61 in the title game after upsetting one-seed Westover, who entered play ranked No. 5 in the state with just one loss. The Trojans scored a 65-64 victory at the Boston Garden as a 24-9 second quarter gave Dougherty early momentum. At 13-13 overall, Dougherty lost 81-54 at Westover in the regular season before narrowing the gap in a 57-51 defeat in late January. 5-foot-9 junior Marcus Heath powers the Trojans averaging 15.5 points, 3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.4 steals. Fellow junior David Burgess contributes 9.4 points, 7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals while sophomore Mikel Roberts tallies 11 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game at 6-foot-4.</p>   <p></p>

Lower seeds that punched their ticket to state or played spoiler for the opposition.