Wednesday, March 11

Class 3A-1A Private

#1 No. 1 Hebron Christian 46, #3 No. 3 Holy Innocents’ 42: With three starters fouled out, Holy Innocents’ (24-7) fought till the buzzer and nearly rallied to stun Hebron Christian (30-1) for a second consecutive season, but the Lions survived 13-27 free throw shooting  — 7-13 in the fourth quarter — to clinch the program’s fourth state title. Following a slow start which saw Hebron Christian trail by as many as 10 points in the first half including falling behind 14-6 after the first quarter, the Lions raced ahead with a 20-2 run in the second quarter to gain a 30-24 halftime advantage they would never relinquish. Poor three-point shooting sank Hebron Christian last year in their title loss to Holy Innocents’ going 0-19, but back-to-back threes from Mia Huckaby in the second quarter ended a streak of 25-straight misses from beyond the arc in Macon. Huckaby would finish with a game-high 14 points shooting 3-7 from deep while as a team the Lions would connect on 5-22 from distance. Through three quarters Hebron Christian led 39-29. Fouls piled up on the Golden Bears as Elana McMasters finished with 8 points fouling out at the 3:59 mark of the fourth quarter. Soon to follow on the bench would be Makayla Weaver and Loriel Murray who both scored 10 points before disqualification. With three starters fouled out, Holy Innocents’ would spark a 6-0 run keyed by freshman Parker Smith with two threes. Smith would net 8 points in total, drawing Holy Innocents’ to within 43-42 with 2:53 to play. Hebron would score the final three points of the game, struggling to put the game away from the line. SEC-signees Alanna Beckham (UGA) and Gabby Minus (Tennessee) were held under wraps to shoot a combined 3-24 from the field but Beckham shot 5-12 from the line including two key free throws with 24.9 seconds left to ice it. Beckham had 7 points and 9 rebounds while Minus ended with 7 points and 13 boards. Nariah Nelson chipped in 7 points. In the loss, Aaniyah Branch patrolled the paint to collect 3 points, 16 rebounds and 8 blocks.

#1 No. 7 Darlington 53, #2 No. 1 Holy Innocents’ 50: Down a key starter lost to injury in the Elite Eight — Christian Teasley, Darlington (30-2) still managed to make history, holding on to knock off defending state champion Holy innocents’ (26-4). The Tigers got off to a slow start, just 3-17 from the field. After missing their first seven threes, Darlington caught fire with a 6-13 second quarter and shot 9-26 for the game to turn a 12-6 deficit after one into a 25-23 halftime advantage. Belmont-signee Devin Hutcherson was saddled with three fouls late in the second quarter after Brent Bell drew his third on a charge. He did not return to the floor till 3:18 to play in the third quarter but the Golden Bears had won the minutes 11-8 with him out to take a 34-33 lead. The story of the game was DJ Hall who was the best player on the floor, dumping in 30 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals with just 3 turnovers while shooting 9-17 from the field, 5-8 from deep and 7-9 from the line including a pair of free throws with 23.1 seconds left in regulation to extend the lead to 53-49. The Tigers shot 8-15 from the foul line and just 3-8 from the stripe in the fourth quarter, lifted by Hall’s two clinchers. Before the free throws, Darlington suffered a scoring drought of over four minutes, seeing a 42-38 lead after three quarters trimmed to 44-43 before Hall scored on a drive with 2:54 to push the advantage to three points. DJ once again came up big with 1:21 to play, converting a tough eurostep layup through contact to go ahead 50-45. The closest the Golden Bears would get would be 51-49 at with 25.1 seconds left when Jaden McCullough hit a pull-up three, part of his 12 points. The Tigers missed two more free throws with 6.9 seconds left, but Hutcherson’s coast-to-coast pull-up three was an airball, landing out of bounds with one second left to extinguish Holy Innocents’ chances of a repeat. For Darlington, in support of Hall was Cam Selig who had 9 points and 8 rebounds. His bucket off a Hall assist at the 44-second mark of the third quarter marked the first Tiger other than Hall to have multiple field goals in the game. For Holy Innocents’, Hutcherson led with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Mays was 4-5 from the field with 10 points.

Boys Three-Point Contest

1. Trace Adcock – Rabun County (23)
2. Ryan McCord – Chamblee (20)
3. Andrew Connell – Tift County (14)

Class 3A

#2 No. 7 Heritage-Catoosa 65, #4 No. 2 Sandy Creek 62 OT: Heritage-Catoosa (28-4) trailed by 10 points with 4:46 to play in the third quarter but the Generals’ champion DNA (three-peat in softball) shined through, forcing overtime on a Georgia Gracy three with four seconds left then outlasting Sandy Creek (25-7) once five-star guard Morghan Reckley fouled out with 2:35 to play in overtime. Reckley, who finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals, fouled out after creating an And-1 for sister Madison to put the Patriots ahead 62-60, bumping Gracy after the fact. Sandy Creek wouldn’t score from the field after her departure, USC Upstate soccer-signee Deyla McCoy netting a free throw with 1:35 to play to wrap up the Patriot offense and finishing her night with 22 points on 6-7 shooting from the field. The Generals took their first lead of the second half on Paisley Collins’ cut to the rim with 22 seconds to play, the game-winning basket. Collins finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists while Ema Tanner led the Gens with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Tori Epps had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Gracy, who sent the game to overtime and baited the foul out of Reckley, finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds.

#2 No. 1 Cross Creek 56, #17 No. 6 Harlem 51: For a fourth-time, Cross Creek (27-5) found a way past Harlem (23-10) in order to capture their third state title. Frashad Tisby scored 14 points after halftime to finish with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks including two timely threes, one to give the Razorbacks their first lead since the 4:22 mark of the third quarter at 43-42 with 3:54 to play and then with 1:11 left to make it 53-49. Dontrell Jackson scored 14 points in the first half but had a scoreless third period before dumping in 11 fourth quarter points to close with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Derrick Shine added 11 points. Harlem saw leading scorers (20.4 ppg) Ty Shine go down with a left ankle injury after just eight minutes of play and no points. AJ Williams carried the Bulldogs with 28 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. Christaan Gandy tacked on 12 points and 5 rebounds in support. The Bulldogs entered the fourth quarter up 38-32 after closing on a 12-0 run.

Thursday. March 12

Class 1A D-II

R4 #1 No. 1 Wilcox County 48, R8 #1 No. 2 Washington-Wilkes 39: A Tyliah Benjamin-fueled third quarter helped Wilcox County (29-1) repeat as state champs, beating Washington-Wilkes (21-8) for a second consecutive season in the big game. Benjamin, who had 13 points, 21 rebounds and 5 blocks in last year’s 72-48 title game win posted 20 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, piling in eight points, five rebounds and one block in a decisive third quarter which extended a 20-13 advantage at the half to 35-23. Shamauri Martin finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals and 1 block. The Tigers cut the lead to 44-39 with 2:22 left with a 6-0 run but Wilcox County would respond, scoring the final four points to keep Washington-Wilkes at bay. Samaria Young led the Tigers with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Alaina Walton added 8 points.

R2 #1 No. 5 Clinch County 63, R3 #1 No. 7 Portal 43: Clinch County (29-4) closed the first half on a 9-0 run to pull ahead 28-24 at the half and saw the run extend to 16-1 to make it 35-25 midway through the third quarter, giving the Panthers control en route to their first state title since 1989 and third in school history. The Panthers raced past Portal (26-6) with a 16-6 third quarter. Traviian Miller paced Clinch with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks while Kamarion Johnson added 15 points and Jakyri Posley totaled 15 points and 7 rebounds. Clinch County outscored Portal in the paint 38-16 and pounded away to shoot 13-21 from the foul line while Portal shot 3-22 from beyond the arc. David Thomas led Portal with 16 points and 6 rebounds. KJ Hunter had 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Girls Three-Point Contest

1. Madison Bennett- Trinity Christian (21)
2. Courtney Bray  – Warren County (14)
3. Ava Thompson – Towns County (11)

Class 4A

R5 #1 No. 1 Marist 58, R6 #1 No. 2 Kell 50: North Carolina-signee Kate Harpring closed her illustrious career in fashion, breaking the All-Time Career Scoring Record in the state of Georgia with 3,434 points, piling in 40 points (15-25 FG; 10-19 FT), 16 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals as Marist (30-2) jumped out to an 11-0 start but had to fight to hang on, claiming the program’s third state title and Harpring’s second.  Kell (25-6) missed their first 14 shots and went 1-16 from the field in the first quarter whereas Harpring shot 6-7 for 13 points. The Longhorns got off the mat in the second quarter, outscoring Marist 18-11 to get back in the game, down 26-21 at the break. At the 6:05 mark of the third quarter the Longhorns took their first lead of the game on a Lyric Watson corner three to make the score 28-26. After Harpring’s supporting cast shot just 1-8 from the field in the first half, Emily Morrison (7) and Azalia Shell (3) combined for 10 points in the quarter while Harpring had just four to give Marist a 40-35 lead after three. Morrison, a sophomore, was critical in the win, finishing with 13 points, 11 coming after halftime. Kell trimmed the lead to four points at 46-42 with 6:09 to play but from there Marist would slowly inch away. In the loss, Lyric Watson recorded 10 points and 6 rebounds while defending Harpring. Howard-signee Kennedy Deese finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks. Asiah Thompson had 12 points and McKenzie Green netted 9 and 7 rebounds.

R5 #1 No. 1 St. Pius X 54, R4 #1 No. 3 Pace Academy 51: St. Pius X (33-0) got over the hump in dramatic fashion, finally securing a state championship with a perfect season. Clemson-signee Harris Reynolds finished with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocks including a 4-0 personal spurt to put the Golden Lions ahead 49-44 with 1:32 to play after Pace Academy (24-8) had trimmed the lead to one. The Knights, who never led in the second half and last held the lead at 16-15 in the second quarter, knotted the game up at 49 after Gavin Fountain drilled a corner three following a basket-saving block from Georgia Southern-signee Hayden Clay. The decisive blow came with 38 seconds to play when Reynolds found Westin Keppen for three to pull ahead 52-49, part of Keppen’s 13 points and one of just four Golden Lion threes after they hit 12 in the Final Four against Jonesboro but managed just 4-20 against Pace Academy.  Reynolds iced the game with 6.6 seconds remaining as he knocked down a pair of free throws. The foul line was a deciding factor as the Golden Lions shot 8-12 while Pace Academy went 13-24. St. Pius X took control of the game with a 13-2 run to go up 28-18 at the half and led for 26:38 compared to Pace Academy leading for just 1:18. As long as St. Pius X led, they never could extend the lead past 10 points. Penn football-signee Jaydon Avery led Pace Academy with 19 points on 4-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Clay rebounded from a rough first half to double-double with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. Fountain chipped in 10 points and 7 rebounds.

Friday, March 13

Class 1A D-I

#3 No. 8 East Laurens 63, #12 No. 9 Elbert County 55: East Laurens (28-4) led for 26:46 and managed to hold off a furious Elbert County (22-9) comeback to win the program’s first state title. The Falcons built up a 14-point first half lead and carried a 42-33 advantage into half time. Freshman Garyunna Mitchell scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half and added 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. The Falcons shot 9-15 from the foul line over the opening 16 minutes and 18-28 for the game. East Laurens had just four turnovers at halftime but the Elbert County defense ramped up their pressure and forced 12 second half miscues to get back into the game. The Falcons led 50-46 through three quarters before Elbert County took their first lead since 14-13 at 55-54 with 2:51 to play on an Audrey Lunsford drive but it was a brief advantage as the Falcons would score the final nine points of the game. Deanna Lowther finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Jameria Bing had 12 points. Elbert County was paced by Kaylen Rucker’s four threes en route to 16 points. Lunsford and Tiyah Turman scored 12 apiece, Turman adding 7 steals.

#2 No. 1 Rabun County 52 #4 No. 2 Southwest-Macon 43: In a long awaited bout between No. 1 and No. 2 in the state, Navy-signee Huey Blalock’s refuse-to-lose mentality carried Rabun County (30-2) to their first ever state title in any sport as the Wildcats led wire-to-wire over hometown Southwest-Macon (27-7). Rabun County got off to a hot start leading 17-5 after one quarter as the Patriots settled for jumpers, shooting 2-16 from the field and 1-11 from three while the Wildcats went 8-11 from the field. Rabun County’s lead evaporated, tied at 19 as Southwest went on a 14-2 run behind Chase Dupree who went for 20 points and 4 rebounds, but the Wildcats answered on a 6-0 run to enter the break up 25-19. Blalock nearly single handedly kept the Patriots at bay as runningmate Hayes Free picked up his third foul at the 5:22 mark with the Wildcats up 31-23 and sat the rest of the period. Blalock, who finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals faced foul court double teams as he managed to provide the Cats with offense while turning the ball over only three times. After three quarters, Rabun led 37-35 as the Patriots started to attack the rim. Free throws killed Southwest as they fought back all game long, shooting 13-26 compounded by just 4-24 from beyond the arc. The Patriots cut the lead to 38-37 with 5:57 left as Caron Howard scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half. With Rabun up 45-37 with 3:04 to play, Free fouled out with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, putting all the pressure squarely back on Blalock to deliver as Landan Bedingfield was the next leading scorer with 5 points and 7 rebounds. With Free on the bench, the Patriots went on a 6-0 run to make it 45-43 with 1:37 remaining. Blalock responded with a leaning mid-range jumper to extend the lead then immediately drew an offensive foul on the next possession. With 46.5 seconds, Blalock was fouled on a deep three and hit 2/3 from the line to put the game out of reach as the Wildcats closed the game on a 7-0 run. 

Co-Ed Three-Point Contest

1. Ben Holland & Karina Barton – Walton
2. Brandon Flint & Reagan Mulligan – River Ridge
3. Trace Adcock & Millie Southards – Rabun County
4. Maki Mitchell & Kenyanna Jackson – Commerce

Class 5A

R6 #3 No. 7 Creekview 45, R7 #1 No. 1 Milton 43: The depth of Creekview (27-5) paid dividends as the Grizzlies’ bench outscored the Eagles 12-0 en route to winning their first title. Payten Day, who had 6 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks had a key And-1 with 21.3 seconds left to go ahead 44-40 in support of Brenau-signee KK Hamby who finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. An 11-0 run to end the third quarter gave Creekview the lead for good, taking a 31-25 advantage into the final quarter. Milton (27-5) tied the game at 38 at the 2:48 mark on a pair of Grace Musselman free throws but Hamby quickly sunk a three to regain control with 1:45 to play. Finley Howard and Brenley Matthews scored 6 points apiece while Kylee Herrick had 5 points. The Eagles got a late flurry from Deyva Davis who had seven of her 11 points in the final frame. Aaleanna Milord scored 12 points. Milton shot 14-23 from the foul line compared to Creekview’s 6-12.

R5 #1 No. 2 Alexander 81, R4 #1 No. 3 Woodward Academy 67: Alexander (30-2) went on a trademark second half surge to race past Woodward Academy (25-7) for the school’s second title. Down 39-32 at the half following a Myles Hayes dunk right before the buzzer, Alexander ripped off a 24-16 third quarter capped by Pops Dunson three-pointer from just inside halfcourt at the buzzer to take a 56-55 lead. The Colorado State-signee had 11 points in the third quarter and finished his career with 25 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal.  Georgia Southern-signee Jayden Crawford hit his first three threes of the game and ended with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Christian Moore provided 15 points and 5 rebounds. The Cougars landed the knockout blow in the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run to move ahead 75-62 with 1:10 to play. All five starters for Woodward Academy scored in double figures but their bench was outscored 12-0 as the Cougars came at them in waves. Myles Hayes (17), Jarvis Hayes Jr. (14), Bradyn Elder (13), Bentley Lusakueno (13) and Donovan Johnson (10) provided the offense for the War Eagles.

Saturday, March 14

Class 2A

#2 No. 4 Murray Count 51, #5 No. 5 Hardaway 48: Murray County (27-4) avenged last year’s title loss to Hardaway (23-9), winning the rematch for the Indians’ first state title since 1965. The Indians came out of the gates red-hot hitting 7-9 to start the game, gaining a quick 12-point lead. Murray County would miss their final two shots of the quarter but took a 20-12 lead into the second quarter. A 16-2 run from Hardaway led to a 18-7 quarter and a 30-27 advantage at halftime as Rhianna Boynton began to take over. The 6-foot-1 junior would finish with 23 points and 21 rebounds. The Hawks led 38-35 through three quarters and had a chance to extend the lead but free throws killed the defending champs shooting 8-22 and 4-10 in the fourth quarter. Murray County wasn’t great from the line either at 10-20 but guard play carried the Indians as Callan Ledford scored 19 points and Blaklee Ledford had 13, nine coming in the fourth quarter. The Hawks outscored Murray County in the paint 38-16 but had 22 turnovers to 13.

#2 No. 2 Butler (25-4) vs. #5 No. 7 Morgan County (25-6), 1:00

Slam Dunk Contest

Kolton Kaylor – Fannin County
Oluremi Guerrero – Druid Hills
Cordell Simmons – Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe

Class 6A

R5 #1 No. 1 North Paulding (29-2) vs. R4 #4 Grayson (22-10), 5:30

R5 #1 No. 1 Wheeler (26-6) vs. R3 #3 No. 5 Pebblebrook (23-8), 7:30