Wheeler, McEachern, Pebblebrook and Hillgrove won Class 6A quarterfinal boys basketball games Wednesday night, making for a historic all-Cobb County final four this weekend at Georgia State.
It marks the first time one school system has qualified all four semifinalists in one classification and the second time one county has done it, first since 1967.
In other highlights from this week’s quarterfinals, six teams reached the semifinals for the first time; St. Pius’ boys and North Paulding’s girls justified their No. 1 rankings with victories over defending champions; and Tri-Cities’ boys, barely a .500 team in the regular season, continued to find their 2025 championship form with another road upset.
In the highest class, Cobb stamped itself as boys basketball kings, winning four games against Gwinnett County opponents.
Wheeler, ranked No. 1, beat North Gwinnett 70-48. McEachern, ranked No. 2, beat No. 10 Peachtree Ridge 93-69. The winners will play Saturday in the semifinals at Georgia State.
No. 4 Hillgrove and No. 6 Pebblebrook won their games on the road — Hillgrove over No. 3 Grayson 63-61 and Pebblebrook over No. 7 Meadowcreek 65-55. All three of Pebblebrook’s playoff victories have been away from home.
The only previous all-county semifinals took place in 1967, when the Class 2A boys final four were Northside, Russell, Headland and Carver, according to Becky Taylor of the Georgia High School Basketball Project. Russell and Headland were Fulton County schools, and Northside and Carver were Atlanta City schools.
In the 6A girls bracket this week, North Paulding beat defending champion Newton 58-47 on Tuesday, ending the Rams’ reign as champions. Ranked No. 1, North Paulding has never won a state title. Campbell, Grayson and Hillgrove joined North Paulding in the semifinals.
St. Pius eliminated North Oconee, the two-time defending Class 4A boys champion, 72-64. St. Pius is 31-0 and chasing its first state title.
Tri-Cities, an unseeded 5A boys team, was 14-13 entering the state tournament but beat No. 4 Hughes, its south Fulton County rival, 76-63. It was Tri-Cities’ third straight road victory in the tournament. Tri-Cities won 5A in 2025.
Joining Pebblebrook and Tri-Cities as teams to win three straight road games were Harlem’s boys, Grayson’s girls and Creekview’s girls.
Creekview’s girls advanced to the semifinals for the first time with their 43-36 victory over Loganville. Other girls teams playing in their first finals fours will be Heritage of Ringgold (3A) and Metter (A Division II).
First-time boys semifinalists are Cambridge (4A), KIPP Atlanta Collegiate (2A) and Rabun County (A Division I). Cambridge is unranked. KIPP and Rabun are ranked No. 1.
The semifinals will be played Friday and Saturday at Georgia State (6A, 5A), Akins Ford Arena in Athens (4A, Private), Legacy Arena in Douglasville (3A, 2A) and Fort Valley State (A Division I and II).
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