Class AAAA
BOYS
Grady 54, Westover 52: Avi Toomer hit a contested reverse lay-up as time expired to lead Grady past Westover 54-52 in the Class AAAA boys quarterfinals. Westover tied the game at 52-52 with a little less than a minute on the clock, forcing Grady to answer. They would. With seven seconds remaining in the game, Grady was forced to inbound the ball into the backcourt. Toomer got the ball with three seconds remaining, charged down the baseline reversed the game-winner. “I knew I needed to get the ball,” Toomer said. “Coach (Brian Weeden) said go to the basket no matter what. I couldn’t pull up because they were pressing pretty hard. It was kind of easy to get to the basket. They had somebody on ball-side so it was easy for me to go for the reverse” After hitting a game winning shot, Toomer said he was disappointed with aspects of his play and the overall play of his team. “I’ve got to stay out of foul trouble,” said Toomer, who finished with seven points. “As a team, we just can’t play timid. We need to play our game. We didn’t play our game today, we played timid. But I think if we play our game, we will be fine.” Grady’s Javier Russell scored 15 points, and D.J. Brittian scored 13. Westover was led by Alec Williams with 17 points and Jordan Brown with 10.
Jonesboro 57, St. Pius 37: Intensity. That was the mantra of the Jonesboro squad going into this game, and they brought it. The Cardinals stayed strong defensively and took advantage of poor shooting from St. Pius to pad the lead and put away the game 57-37 in the Class AAAA quarterfinal game. “We need to match their intensity” said Jonesboro head coach Daniel Maehlman, “We need to handle the pressure and take care of the basketball.” His team did just that. Jonesboro amassed a 29-13 lead at halftime to apply pressure and force St. Pius to answer offensively, which they could not. Pius shot 1-for-8 from behind the arc in the first half and did not improve in the second half. Pius put together a 10-4 run to open the fourth quarter. The run was fueled by a man-to-man full-court press, however Jonesboro answered with solid perimeter shooting and a fury of offensive rebounds that kept their lead safe. “I thought our kids executed well” said Maehlman. “Sure, we had breakdowns. But for a 32-minute period to hold a team like that, (who are) really good within their scheme, it’s hard to guard. It’s very hard to guard. To hold them to 37 points, I feel we did a fantastic job.” Jonesboro was led in scoring by Walker Jr., who finished with 18 points, and Jamari Smith who scored 14. St. Pius was paced by Chrisitan Merrill and Kerney Lane, both with 10 points. “Intensity”, James Walker Jr. said, reiterating his coach, “Our intensity is what drives our team. We are really big on intensity and defensive stops.”
GIRLS
Buford 53, Arabia Mountain 25: The Buford Lady Wolves used an effective trapping press and got scoring from nine players to move past Arabia Mountain 53-25 in the Class AAAA girl’s quarterfinal game. Arabia Mountain never found rhythm as Buford enjoyed a 32-7 lead at halftime. Arabia Mountain did not hit double figures until the middle of the third quarter. At one point, Buford’s constant trapping at half-court had created more Arabia Mountain turnovers than points. Coach Gene Durden was pleased to win, but didn’t want his girls to get too comfortable. Did he wish all games were as easy? “We like to be in dogfights.” said Durden, whose team has won four state championships. “I’m happy that we were able to move on, but the next one is not going to be that easy. The next games will be about whoever executes and whoever plays the best game.” Buford was led by Marissa Bruce, who scored 13 points. Rachel Dobbs added nine, and Audrey Weiner scored eight. Arabia Mountain, which entered the tournament as a No. 4 seed from Region 6, was led in scoring by Samantha Pringle, who scored 13 points.
Class AAA
BOYS
Cedar Grove 58, Westside-Augusta 40: Sometimes home court advantage doesn’t work out, just ask No. 3 Laney and No. 9 Westside-Augusta, both eliminated in the Elite Eight. Even the Laney girls fell close to home to rival Morgan County. No. 8 Cedar Grove did exactly what it had to do: take the home crowd out of the game. The Saints did it early by racing out to a 15-5 lead in the first quarter. Cedar Grove elected to slow things down and went four corners with three minutes left in the second quarter and took a 25-15 lead into the half. While Elijah Brown battled with foul trouble inside for the Patriots, Westside continued to play hard and entered the fourth down 36-27. A lack of outside shooting ultimately did in the Patriots. Christian Robinson hit their first three of the game with 4:10 remaining but it was too late as Westside was already down 51-33.
Jenkins 84, Calhoun 78: No. 2 Calhoun (27-1) used a furious rally to close the gap with defending state champion No. 5 Jenkins (27-4) but the Warriors made just enough plays to hang on for a wild 84-78 victory and a trip back to the Final Four. Calhoun trailed 25-16 in the second quarter and trailed at the half 41-37 after Zion Williams of Jenkins made two free throws just before the buzzer. Trevion Lamar, one of the top juniors in the state, led Jenkins with nine first half points. Calhoun hung around thanks for senior Ray Reeves’ big first half, netting 13 points, 11 of which came in the second quarter. Early in the third, the Warriors caught fire from deep as they sank four three-pointers in a row sparked by Williams’ three during the stretch to take a 54-42 lead. The lead grew to 62-49 but Calhoun would not fold. Even after Jenkins outscored the Yellow Jackets 27-19 in the third, Calhoun kept its composure down 68-56. Coach Vince Layson’s veteran group sparked a wild 17-4 run capped by Jireh Wilson’s three-pointer to take a 73-72 lead with 4:28 left. Staggered but not knocked out, Jenkins turned to Lamar to steady the course. The junior scored 19 points, six of them in a row for Coach Bakari Bryant to regain an 80-75 lead with 46 seconds remaining. Before Lamar’s final bucket, Wilson and Malik Lawrence had a miscommunication up top resulting in a costly turnover with 1:12 left. Williams sank two free throws to make it 82-75, but Kaelan Riley drilled a straight away three to give Calhoun life with 26 seconds left down 82-78. Brian Brannen was sent to the line and coolly sank both free throws to put the game out of reach. Williams led all scorers with 21 points while Dimetri Chambers added 11. Lawrence and Chapin Rierson both netted 16 points for the Jackets. Riley finished with 15 in his final game.
GIRLS
Beach 58, Kendrick 51: Beach (27-4) used a 21-12 fourth quarter advantage knock off Kendrick (27-3) and move onto the Final Four as the Lady Bulldogs look to take care of unfinished business from last year after they lost in the title game to Laney. Beach jumped out to a 6-0 lead early but the Cherokees stormed back with a 15-4 run to take a five point lead into the second quarter. At the half Kendrick looked to be in control up 29-21, but the Bulldogs had some bite left in them. A 10-0 in the third quarter gave Beach a 36-35 lead with 2:18 to play in the third. Heading into the fourth quarter Kendrick regained the lead 39-37. Coach Olufemi Gordon’s Bulldogs pushed back ahead 47-45 midway through the fourth quarter and closed the game on an 11-6 run to continue their march to Macon.
Jackson-Atlanta 65, West Hall 53: The Jaguars raced out to a 23-8 lead in the first quarter and held on against a scrappy West Hall team. Keimeshia Walker came out on fire, draining four three-pointers. The Lady Spartans woke on in the second quarter and outscored the Jags 19-13 to enter the half down 36-27. Macy Passmore and Anna McKendree started the comeback and had the Spartans down 45-41 heading into the fourth. Jackson-Atlanta used a 7-0 run to put the game away after a valiant West Hall effort paced by McKendree’s 32 points and Passmore’s 13 points and 11 rebounds. Walker was too much to handle, scoring 25 points. Erica Gibbons scored 17 and Kayla Mayfield 10 in the win. The Jaguars now play Beach in the Final Four.
Class A-Public
BOYS
Hancock Central 75, Taylor County 66: Hancock Central broke open a 41-41 tie and outscored Taylor County 34-25 in the fourth quarter to advance to Saturday’s Class A-Public semifinals where Turner County awaits . Hancock Central led 30-25 at the half before Taylor County tied it with a 16-11 advantage in the period. Alex Brooks was one of four Hancock players that finished in double-figures as he paced the Bulldogs with a team-high 22 points. Teammates Devojia Tucker netted 14 points, Martravious Smith finished with 13 and Phillipe Scott chipped in 12.
Turner County 69, Calhoun County 47: Turner County boys and girls head coach Tasha Kimble led her undefeated Lady Rebels to the semifinals yesterday with a 56-42 win over Telfair County. Kimble made sure the weekend remained historically busy as the Turner County boys battled past Calhoun County 69-47 Friday night at Valdosta State to also advance to the A-Public semifinals on Saturday. Calhoun County gained control early and took a 20-16 lead at the end of the opening quarter. Reggie Ross picked up a third foul midway through the second quarter, however and the Cougars fell apart before the half. Calhoun County went scoreless the final 4:20 of the half and saw the lead evaporate and turn into a 35-25 halftime deficit. Turner County held a 46-40 lead at the end of the third quarter and piled on a 23-7 scoring edge in the final frame.
GIRLS
Terrell County 42, Calhoun County 29: The Terrell County Lady Greenwave jumped to a 23-17 halftime lead in Friday’s quarterfinal clash with Calhoun County at Valdosta State and punched consecutive tickets to the Class A-Public semifinals where they’ll face Greenville. Terrell County led 36-28 at the end of the third quarter and outscored the Cougars 6-1 in the final frame. Terrell County swept its three-game series with Calhoun County this season after a similar 41-29 outcome on Jan. 8 and a 47-39 win on Jan. 30. Terrell County sits two wins away from its first state title since 2005 and fourth in school history (1985-86).
Greenville 48, Taylor County 45: In the teams fourth meeting of the season, Greenville forced the clichéd rubber-match by evening up the season series (2-2) with a 48-45 Final Four clinching victory Friday at Valdosta State. Defending champion Taylor County sent Greenville home in the first round of last year’s playoffs with a convincing 57-30 victory and won all four contests with last year’s Patriots by a 32.8-point average margin of victory. Greenville took its season opener with Taylor County 47-41 on Dec. 5, but fell 69-45 on Jan. 19 and 34-33 in the Region 4-A tournament on Feb. 13. Greenville can book its first ticket to the finals with a win over Terrell County on Saturday.
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