Home court advantage for northeast Georgia area teams, good and bad, was a key factor on Friday in the second round of the Georgia High School Association girls playoffs.
In all, five area teams will be headed to the Elite 8 on Tuesday.
Buford and North Forsyth moved one win away from a possible semifinal showdown in Class 6A after wins at home. The Lady Wolves held off a tenacious Etowah squad 55-51 at The Buford Arena while the Lady Raiders dominated Archer, 56-32, in Coal Mountain.
Meanwhile, Cherokee Bluff also won at home in Class 3A, taking down Dougherty out of Albany, 56-40, in Flowery Branch with a huge second half. And Class A Division 1 No. 2 seed Banks County ran away from Washington County, 57-44, in Homer.
However, the road was not so kind to area teams as four of the five teams that had to travel came up empty in their bids to advance. Only Rabun County was able to snag a road win, knocking off Worth County 51-45.
East Forsyth, Chestatee, Jefferson, and Union County all saw their seasons end on Friday.
(See below for Friday's 2nd round scores:)
GHSA PREP BASKETBALL 2nd ROUND SCORES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21
CLASS 6A
Buford 55, Etowah 51
North Forsyth 64, Archer 42
CLASS 4A
Ware County 57, East Forsyth 45
CLASS 3A
Heritage-Catoosa 64, Chestatee 45
Cherokee Bluff 56, Dougherty 40
Jenkins 47, Jefferson 38
CLASS 2A
Murray County 81, Union County 42
CLASS A DIVISION 1
Rabun County 51, Worth County 45
Banks County 57, Washington County 44
GHSA PREP BASKETBALL 2ND ROUND BOYS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22
CLASS 6A
Etowah (R5, S3) at Buford (R8, S1), 3:30 p.m.
CLASS 5A
Brunswick girls (R1, S2) at Habersham Central (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Brunswick boys (R1, S2) at Habersham Central (R8, S1), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 4A
East Forsyth (R8, S3) at Tucker (R5, S1), 6 p.m.
CLASS 3A (PSR RANKINGS)
Cross Creek (S9) at East Hall (S8) -- WDUN AM 550
Peach County (S31) at Jefferson (S15), 6 p.m.
CLASS 2A (PSR RANKINGS)
Westside-Macon (S11) at Union County (S6), 6 p.m.
CLASS A DIVISION 1 (PSR RANKINGS)
Banks County (S17) at Southwest-Macon (S1), 6 p.m.
BEST Academy (S15) at Rabun County (S2), 6 p.m.
Commerce (S11) at Putnam County (S6), 6 p.m.
