Class AAAAAAA
(SATURDAY At Buford City Arena)
R7 #1 Norcross 86, R8 #1 Newton 66: The Blue Devils held Newton scoreless for over 5 minutes to take control of the game and race their way into the state championship. Brandon Boston scored 23 points followed by Kyle Sturdivant’s 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. JoJo Toppin had 15 points, 17 rebounds and 3 assists. Kevon Eskridge netted 17 points. Dre Butler led Newton with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Ashton Hagans was held to 13 points and 7 assists.
R7 #2 Meadowcreek 57, R8 #2 Grayson 55: Jamir Chaplin and Cory Hightower scored 18 apiece for the Mustangs. Grayson got 25 points from Nick Edwards.
Class AAAAAA
(SATURDAY At West Georgia)
R8 #1 Gainesville 102, R3 #1 Heritage-Conyers 86: Rafael Rubel led a high-octane attack as the Red Elephants finally put away a relentless Heritage team. Rubel had 22 points while Xavier Bledson collected 18 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Jarrel Rosser (16), Jarred Rosser (13) and Kajuan Hale (10) all hit double figures. Josh Archer carried the Patriots with a game-high 30 points and 5 rebounds. Trelan Scott added 14 points and 6 rebounds. Josh Guilford finished with 13 points.
R5 #1 Langston Hughes 69, R4 #2 Jonesboro 49: Virgina Tech-commit Landers Nolley poured in 27 points and 6 rebounds to lead the Panthers to a state title defense next week. Tyler Smith had a loud 11 points — all in the fourth — with a handful of powerful dunks. Tyrel Morgan added 10 points and 7 rebounds. Jonesboro was powered by Jamari Smith’s 20 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks. Miles Black netted 11.
Class AAAAA
(SATURDAY At Fort Valley State)
R5 #3 Miller Grove 54, R7 #1 Hiram 41: Maurice Harvey (11), TJ Stargell (10) and Terence Edwards (10) helped Miller Grove squeeze out enough points to end Hiram’s Cinderella run. Lorenzo Anderson added 9 points. Hiram was led by Nathan Presnell and Arshard Crepsac’s 8 apiece.
R1 #1 Warner Robins 77, R8 #2 Clarke Central 57: Georgia State-signee Nelson Phillips poured in a game-high 32 points while Trevon Williams (13) and Jaydon Norman (12) both cracked double figures.
Class AAAA
(FRIDAY At Fort Valley State)
R8 #1 St. Pius X 66, R3 #1 Baldwin 61: The Golden Lions held off the Braves in a classic. Up 58-57 after a Brenden Robertson free throw, Baldwin saw the game slip away in the blink of an eye. Everett Lane came down and buried one of his seven threes to regain a St. Pius lead and on the ensuing inbound, Niko Broadway came away with a steal and dished to Troy Stephens who missed the first layup but got his own rebound and finished with a foul. Stephens missed the free throw but the Golden Lions went up 62-58 and restored order. Lane finished with 25 points and 3 blocks while Stephens posted 11 points and 4 rebounds. Patrick Snipes scored 8 points, Broadway 7 and Zach Ranson 6 while Matt Gonzalo handed out 8 assists. The Braves were powered by Robertson’s 16 points and 5 rebounds off the bench. Baldwin trailed 13-1 before Robertson and 6-foot-6 Justin Webb made an impact off the pine. Webb scored all 7 of his points in the second quarter. Donte Justice finished with 12 points and 5 assists. Region 3 Player of the Year Rodney Walker added 11 points and 8 rebounds.
R2 #1 Upson-Lee 52, R5 #1 Sandy Creek 51: 62-Straight. No.1 Upson-Lee clawed their way to the long awaited rematch with No. 2 St. Pius in the state title game at McCamish Pavilion. Upson-Lee trailed 37-30 at the half to an upset-minded No. 3 Sandy Creek team that received 11 second quarter points from 6-foot-4 point guard Jarred Godfrey to pave the way. Godfrey scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the first half, scoring over the smaller Knight guards. Unsung hero Jacorey Smith led Upson-Lee at the break with 10 points, finishing with 14 on the night.
Sandy Creek nursed a slim lead almost the entire third quarter, withstanding a nine-point frame from MTSU-signee Tye Fagan. Zyrice Scott came away with a steal and a layup just before the horn to give the Knights their first lead of the second half at 43-42.
Upson-Lee pushed their lead to 49-44 at the 5:26 mark, but a minute later Cameron Traylor picked up an intentional foul, sending Godfrey to the line where he sank both attempts. Still with the ball, Godfrey made it a 4-point possession when he nailed a jumper, cutting the lead to 49-48. Julian Alexander sank a three at the top of the key to knot the game up at 51 with 2:34 to play. Sandy Creek had a chance to go ahead, but Fagan elevated to swat a layup attempt out of bounds.
With 30.3 seconds remaining, Fagan split a pair of free throws to give the Knights a 52-51 advantage. Following a defensive stand, Traylor was sent to the line with 8 seconds left. Traylor missed the front end, giving the Patriots one last opportunity to race the ball down. TJ Bickerstaff ran into Travon Walker and didn’t get the whistle as his fading shot fell off the mark. Fagan finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks while Walker tallied 11 points, 13 rebounds an 4 blocks. In the loss, Bickerstaff posted 11 points.
Class AAA
(SATURDAY At Armstrong Atlantic)
R7 #1 GAC 73, R8 #1 Morgan County 71: Hunter McIntosh drilled six of GAC’s 13 threes en route to 30 points as the Spartans shocked No. 1 Morgan County. Ben Sheppard scored 16 points followed by Roy Dixon’s 11. The Spartans saw Branden Harris and Chris Hinton score 8 apiece. Stevin Greene carried the Bulldogs with a game-high 34 points as the Spartans elected to key on shutting down Tyrin Lawrence, who finished with just 6 points. Alec Woodard had 18 points and Anthony Cooper added 13 in the loss.
R3 #2 Jenkins 52, R4 #2 Westside-Macon 49: Tre Mays finished with 15 points and Lamont Sams had 14. Tyrone Scott tossed in 10 and Sai Fisher netted 9. Westside-Macon was led by Greg Holloway’s 23 points. Omar Jones and Javian Mosley each scored 9 points.
Class AA
(SATURDAY At Georgia College & State)
R2 #3 Vidalia 49, R4 #1 Laney 45: In a battle of guards, Vidalia shook off an early deficit to push past Laney. Anthony Jones scored 13 points while Tahj Jones added 10. Toriun Mull chipped in 7. Donald Henley led Laney with 14 points followed by Maurice Paige’s 13.
R1 #1 Thomasville 74, R4 #2 Glenn Hills 57: McDonald’s All-American Reggie Perry wrecked the Glenn Hills frontline with 27 points while Vonterious Woolbright chipped in 19. John Whitehead scored 16 to led Glenn Hills. Timmy Sellers mustered just 6 points.
Class A-Private
(FRIDAY At Columbus State)
#4 St. Francis 83, #8 Holy Innocents’ 54: The Knights built up a 40-18 halftime lead and never looked back. Dwon Odom had 20 points followed by Sam Hines’ 16 and Chase Ellis’ 11 while Caleb Snyder tossed in 10. Matt Meadows ended his career with 26 points for the Golden Bears. Josh Smith netted 17.
#6 Aquinas 47, #2 ELCA 41: Daniel Parrish scored 12 points and Tre Gomillion added 11 as the Irish clamped down on ELCA for the second time this season. Jamaine Mann had 13 in the loss. Mekhi Cameron scored 10.
Class A-Public
(SATURDAY At Valdosta State)
#5 Montgomery County 80, #1 Calhoun County 78: Shaw Robinson dumped in 22 points to pace a balanced Montgomery County attack. Daveaun Coglin netted 18. Jahleel Wilson scored 14 and Darique Williams had 11. In his final game, USF-signee Rashun Williams scored 26 points for Calhoun County.
#3 Wilkinson County 61, #2 Central-Talbotton 60: Raequan Smith shocked the Hawks with a last second layup to send the Warriors to another title game.
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