GHSA Basketball Final 4

Boys Final 4 Recaps

Class 7A

(At Buford City Arena)

R3 #1 McEachern 66, R7 #2 Norcross 62 OT: Caleb Murphy hit a late three to send the game to overtime, but Norcross fell to undefeated McEachern. Sharife Cooper finished with 26 points. Kyle Sturdivant scored 23 for the Blue Devils.

R7 #1 Meadowcreek 73, R1 #1 Tift County 36: South Florida-signee Jamir Chaplin scored 20 points followed by UAB-signee Jalen Benjamin’s 19 and Temple-signee Damian Dunn’s 11.  Kedrick Green added 7 points. Tyree Marshall had 17 points in the loss for Tift County.

Class 6A

(At West Georgia)

R5 #1 Tri-Cities 83, R2 #1 Brunswick 74: Region 5 Player of the Year Titus Hunter poured in 28 points and DaMarcus Johnson netted 20 as the Bulldogs sank Brunswick. Demetrius Rives scored 15. Kelan Walker scored 13 points in the loss while Region Player of the Year Joyful Hawkins was held to 7 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks.

R4 #1 Tucker 52, R3 #3 Heritage-Conyers 46: Braelon Seals scored 19 points and Dartmouth-signee Nate Ogbu put up 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Tigers clinched a state championship berth. Jermontae Hill netted 8 points. Heritage-Conyers was led by Trelan Scott’s 16 points and Josh Guilford’s 13.

Class 5A

(At Columbus State)

R8 #1 Buford 59, R5 #1 Southwest DeKalb 50: Donell Nixon scored 20 points, hitting 6 threes in the win. KD Johnson scored 17 points in the loss while James Glisson had 12.

R3 #2 Fayette County 69, R5 #2 Lithonia 62: Ricky Knight hit a three with 5.3 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Knight had 20 points to lead Fayette County while William Richard scored 16 points and JeKobr Coleman netted 15. Lithonia was led by Eric Gaines’ 16 points and 11 rebounds. Justin Myles pitched in 16 points.

Class 4A

(At Fort Valley State)

R1 #2 Americus-Sumter 63,  R5 #1 Sandy Creek 56: Josh Lusane had 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Panthers rolled into the state championship. Drexel-signee TJ Bickerstaff had 21 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals for Sandy Creek. Julian Alexander chipped in 13 points and 3 assists.

R1 #1 Carver-Columbus 58, R4 #1 Woodward Academy 50: Carver-Columbus pulled away late to set up an all Region 1 match up in Macon. AJ Watts piled in 28 points. In the loss, Walker Kessler had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. Michael Whitmore had 9 points, 3 assists and 4 steals.

Class 3A

(At Georgia Southern – Savannah [Armstrong State]}

R8 #3 Hart County 71, R7 #1 Dawson County 56: Rex McCord scored 28 points, Jordan Langston had 19 and Shone Webb added 12 as the Bulldogs’ quickness flustered Dawson County from the opening tip. In the defeat, Luke Chism finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Jasper Gibson had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Ahmad Kamara contributed 12 points.

R8 #1 Morgan County 80, R3 #1 Windsor Forest 63: Austin Peay-signee Alec Woodard led Morgan County with 23 points, while Tyrin Lawrence scored 21 and Stevin Green added 18. Windsor Forest saw Shamar Norman (14) and Zim Fields (9) combine for just 23 points.

Class 2A

(At Georgia College)

R6 #2 Therrell 57, R8 #1 Elbert County 47: Therrell erased a 34-20 halftime deficit by outscoring Elbert County 19-4 in the third quarter. Robbie Armbrester had 17 points and 10 rebounds while Cam Fortson had 13 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Zyquan Morton nailed three threes and finished with 11 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Ra’Sean Frederick hit the dagger at the 1:06 mark to make it 50-45. Frederick finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. In the loss, AJ James had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block. Jaqirus Harris and Ty Hill scored 11 apiece. Jamison Syphore added 7 points and 11 rebounds.

R2 #2 Vidalia 53, R4 #1 Laney 44: The magic number once again was 46, as the Indians held Laney below the highest point total they have allowed all post season. Xavier McClendon had 16 points — 14 in the second half and 10 rebounds. Antrell Williams had 9 points and Johnathon Moody and Anthony Jones scored 7 apiece. Jarvis Washington finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds for Laney. Matthew Jones had 10 points.

Class A-Private

(At North Georgia)

#1 St. Francis 65, #4 Mt. Bethel 63: Xavier-commit Dwon Odom had 19 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists while CJ Riley hit 5 threes en route to 19 points. Chase Ellis posted  11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Seth Hubbard scored 8 points. Mt. Bethel was powered by Stanley Eze (27), Coleman Boyd (17) and Jordan Meka (15).

#2 ELCA 60, #6 Christian Heritage 44: Kamari Smith netted 19 points to pace ELCA. Kelvin Jones had 11 points and Jordan Smalls added 8 points. College of Charleston-signee Trevon Reddish scored 15 points. Christian Heritage saw AJ Kent score 20 in the loss.

Class A-Public

(At Valdosta State)

#1 Calhoun County 77, #5 Wilkinson County 69 2OT: Bryan Smith scored 30 points as the Cougars dethroned the three-time defending state champs.

#2 Treutlen 74, #3 Irwin County 72: Treutlen advanced on a layup with 2.1 seconds left from Arkavias Lovett. Lovett ended the game with 17 points while Ka’Sabian Mitchell led the Vikings with 20.