BASKETBALL: East Paulding squads come up short in region tourney
A region title was at stake on Friday night for East Paulding, but the Lady Raiders fell to New Manchester in a 43-29 finish to the tournament before the playoffs begin. Don’t miss · Basketball SUBSCRIBER VIDEO: Mt. Zion at Rockmart Boys Basketball Read more → East Paulding took wins over Villa Rica in the […]
A region title was at stake on Friday night for East Paulding, but the Lady Raiders fell to New Manchester in a 43-29 finish to the tournament before the playoffs begin.
East Paulding took wins over Villa Rica in the second round and Alexander in the semifinals, but couldn’t hold on against a Lady Jaguars squad that has been on a roll with a perfect run through the region schedule and sit at 23-4 with their region title trophy in hand.
The Lady Raiders do get one positive out of the loss: they still get to host a home playoff game to open the Class 5A tournament.
A second seed spot against Newnan means that the 16-11 Lady Raiders have a good shot at least getting into the second round this season. Newnan enters after winning their region tourney consolation game over Dutchtown by 5. The Lady Cougars sit at 19-9 overall heading into the state tournament, winning 3 of their last 6 overall including a big loss to Morrow in the semifinal round of the region brackets.
The Raider boys were playing against the Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs in the consolation round game for the Region 5-5A tournament, finishing 53-52 in the one-point loss. It came off the 30-point loss they took to Alexander in the semifinal round.
It puts the Raiders on their heels going into the state tournament round in fourth place after two back-to-back losses, having to face off now against top-seeded region champ Langston Hughes, who defeated Newnan in a 72-55 victory on Friday.
Hughes at 18-6 is much better than their record suggests, going 13-1 through the region to take the title for the 2026 season after a semifinal bruising win over Morrow 66-32.
They haven’t lost a game since mid-January.