Welcome to the March to Macon. The road to the state championship is set and we dive into the bracket.

RELATED: Meet the 6A No. 1 seeds

First Round Game(s) to Watch 

Woodward Academy at Riverwood: This is going to be a fun matchup with a lot of younger prospects on the floor. Some of the better juniors and sophomores will be on the floor. The teams met earlier in the season and Woodward Academy won that one, but Riverwood is playing some of its best basketball of the season, so expect to see the Raiders try to get that win back. 

The Most Interesting Quadrant

This entire bracket is interesting if we’re being honest. One of the most important stories is whether or not Grovetown can repeat as 6A champs, so that makes the bottom left part of this bracket must-see. The Warriors stumbled early but have figured things out. The potential for a Grovetown and Lanier game also makes this part of the bracket intriguing. If that happens, it could make for one of the best games in the tournament. 

The first round matchups are as follows: 

#3 Sequoyah at #2 South Paulding

#4 Sprayberry at #1 Lanier

#3 Marist at #2 Lovejoy

#4 Houston County at #1 Grovetown

Final Four Picks

Before the season, I predicted Grovetown, Etowah, Alexander and St. Pius X.

Now that the bracket is out, those picks aren’t looking so bad, but they can’t happen because Etowah and St. Pius are in the same quadrant. There have also been some teams who had fantastic seasons that might derail some of the preseason picks. 

This was tough, but here are the updated final four picks:

Langston Hughes - This part of the bracket will be interesting. Langston Hughes is a team that can make noise in a tournament. They’re tough, they’re scrappy, and they’re going to bring the fight on each night. Last year, they made a run in the state tournament, and they have a squad that’s capable of winning three games to make it to another final four. 

Grovetown - This was one of the tougher choices in 6A. The deciding factor was the fact that this Grovetown team returns so much experience from last season’s 6A championship team. They’ve had success during this time of year in the not-too-distant past. The Warriors had a stretch of struggles early on, but they’ve righted the ship in 2023 and have rattled off 14 wins in a row. Lanier is also a team to watch. They’ve won 18 in a row. 

Alexander - Alexander and Jonesboro have been the two most consistent teams in 6A this season. They’ve tested themselves against great competition, and they both have sparkling records against teams from the state. It’s truly a coin flip between the two. We’re giving Alexander the edge, but either one of these teams has a viable chance of cutting nets. 

Etowah - Okay, maybe this might be the hardest pick in 6A. What do we do here? Two preseason picks in the same grouping. Etowah and St. Pius are the choices we’re deciding between. Both teams are playing well to close the season. Aside from a 3-point road loss to River Ridge, Etowah has been on a heater in 2023. Since the calendar turned, they’ve picked up nine double-digit wins, including one over 3A favorites, Sandy Creek. The Eagles opened the season with as difficult of a schedule as anyone in Georgia, and we’re going to bet on that experience paying off at the right time. 

The 2022-23 6A Champions are…

The Grovetown Warriors. 

We were bullish on Grovetown in the preseason for a reason. They brought back pretty much all of the production from the team that won 6A last season. This group has made it through this tournament before, and although they had a stretch of early struggles, they are playing like a team that can win five games in a row to send their seniors out as back-to-back champs.