By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com
 

          Fort Valley State's Health and Physical Education Complex workers better get ready.

        And buy a lot of stuff.

          That's where fans of Upson-Lee on Friday and Warner Robins on Saturday will be for GHSA boys semifinal games. And also without a bad drive, the fans from Baldwin who will follow the Braves on Friday.

          FVSU hosts the Class 4A semifinals on Friday and 5A on Saturday, and got a financial boost with wins Wednesday night from Harris County, Americus-Sumter, Henry County, Carver-Columbus, Spalding, and Sandy Creek, all of whom have quite tolerable drives.

          Friday's finale with Upson-Lee and Sandy Creek? Fans may be in place before the start of the 6 p.m. girls game between Carver-Columbus and Spalding.

          A look at Friday's Central Georgia action.

 

FRIDAY

Class 4A Boys

Baldwin (24-6) vs. St. Pius X (27-3)

4 p.m., Fort Valley State

          One of these is used to this stage, and the other isn't.

          Baldwin has made steady progress under head coach Buck Harris, and brings balance into the game, with four players getting between 8 and 14 points a game.

          Region player of the year Rodney Walker is third in scoring with 10 points, first in rebounds with 7.2, and chips in 2.2 assists and a block. Brenden Robertson leads with 14 points a game, adding 5.4 rebounds. Donte Justice is the perimeter threat with 13.4 points, and Torez Hicks is capable of leading the way, adding 8.5 points and 3.8 assists.

          The Golden Lions lost to Upson-Lee in last year's championship, and have six seniors - led by 6-2 guard Everett Lane - and a slew of juniors. So this is an experienced team and a hungry one that hopes to hang around to watch the other semifinal.

          The Braves need to step it up inside and hold their own in rebounding - Kennedy Willis goes 6-7 for the Lions - and they can't afford to let mistakes compound mistakes against a contender. Playing under control and handling the press is also huge for the Braves.

 

Upson-Lee (28-0) vs. Sandy Creek (25-5)

8 p.m., Fort Valley State

          It's mighty impressive, Sandy Creek's 14-game winnng streak.

          And it's half of what Upson-Lee has managed this season en route to 61 straight wins. But 14 in a row is 14 in a row, and only one has been by single digits, although there are others in the 10-15 range, indicating some free throws late added to the cushion.

          The Patriots have some balance, with four players averaging between 8.3 and 16.9 points. Jarred Godfrey leads in scoring with 16.9 points and adds 5.9 rebounds, third. TJ Bickerstaff almost gets a double-double with 15.7 points and 9.1 rebounds. Xavier Brewer adds 11.1 points and 6.5 boards, and Julian Alexander is at 8.3 points.

          Chris Porter has tried 100 3-pointers and made 38, and Godfrey - similar in build to Upson-Lee's Tye Fagan - tops the Patriots with 4.1 assists.

          Bickerstaff is 6-8, 200 pounds and Brewer about the same size, but don't camp out in the paint. One or both going inside and matching up with Upson-Lee's Travon Walker (6-6, 250) will be a focal point - including for officials.

          The Patriots have a depth advantage, with more players getting decent minutes.

          There will be scores of matchups to watch, and it'll be a chess match. The Patriots have to do what teams haven't done in 61 games: weather the Knights' inevitable storm. Upson-Lee had sluggish stretches in the first two games and easily took care of business against LaFayette, which couldn't handle the uprising.

          Neither team has had too many challenges in the fourth quarter, so handling late-game, tight-game pressure is something to watch, and perhaps behold.

 

Class A Private girls

Holy Innocents (28-1) vs. Stratford (26-2)

2 p.m., Columbus State

          Stratford knows what it's in for against a team that has scored 924 more points than opponents, and a team that pretty much reloads each year.

          Holy Innocents' is making its fifth straight Final Four trip, finishing second last year and winning it all in 2015-16 after two straight runner-up finishes.

          Kaila Hubbard is headed to Georgia and Kennedy Suttle to Penn, and Holy Innocents has a clear size advantage.

          The Bears' lone loss was to Buford in November, 57-45, and their last single-digit win was 54-47 over Wesleyan on Feb. 10. Before that? 53-48 over Hoover, Ala. on Jan. 13. Two more game against Class 7A programs.

          Stratford has been steady, and adjusts to the opponent. The Eaglettes had a chance to gain control of Prince Avenue Christian in the quarterfinal, and ended up having to sweat it out a little bit.

          Stratford is on a 22-game winning streak that started after falling 51-40 to Class 2A Washington County on Dec. 9. The Eaglettes have beaten bigger programs and hammered teams along the way.

          But Holy Innocents' has held eight teams below 30 points and a few more in the teens, while cracking 75 points a dozen times.

 

SEMFINALS

Locations with Central Georgia teams

Class 5A

at Fort Valley State, Saturday

2 p.m.: G-Villa Rica vs. Buford

4 p.m. B-Hiram vs. Miller Grove

6 p.m.: G-Harris County vs. Flowery Branch

8 p.m.: B-Warner Robins vs. Clarke Central

 

Class 4A

at Fort Valley State, Friday

2 p.m.: G-Americus-Sumter vs. Henry County

4 p.m.: B-Baldwin vs. St. Pius

6 p.m.: G-Carver-Columbus vs. Spalding

8 p.m.: B-Upson-Lee vs. Sandy Creek

 

Class AAA

Armstrong Atlantic, Saturday

2 p.m.: G-Greater Atlanta Christian vs. Franklin County

4 p.m.: B- Greater Atlanta Christian vs. Morgan County

6 p.m.: G-Johnson-Savannah vs. Tattnall County

8 p.m.: B-Westside vs. Jenkins-Savannah

 

Class A Public

at Valdosta State, Saturday

2 p.m.: G: Telfair County vs. Greenville

4 p.m.: B- Montgomery County at Calhoun County

6 p.m.: G-Terrell County vs. Marion County

8 p.m.: B- Wilkinson County vs. Central Talbotton

 

Class A Private

Columbus State, Friday

2 p.m.: G-Holy Innocents' vs. Stratford

4 p.m.: B-Holy Innocents' vs. St. Francis

6 p.m.: G-St. Francis vs. Wesleyan

8 p.m.: B-Aquinas vs. ELCA

 

QUARTERFINALS

Results with Central Georgia teams

For a full look at brackets: https://www.ghsa.net/2017-2018-championship-brackets

 

BOYS

Class 5A

R1 1 Warner Robins 67, R5 1 Lithonia 64

          Jaydon Norman steal with 12 seconds left in a 1-point game was followed by two missed foul shots. But he got the rebound on the second one, and was fouled again. This time, he hit both for a sliver of breathing room as the Demons held on in a game that was never separated by more than two possessions. The Demons also survived foul trouble from Nelson Phillips, but got key plays down the stretch. Phillips and Jacolbey Owens each had more than 20 points.

R8 2 Clarke Central 73, R4 2 Stockbridge 52

R5 3 Miller Grove 70, R4 1 Dutchtown 56

R7 1 Hiram 47, R3 1 Starr's Mill 35

 

Class 4A   

R3 1 Baldwin 64, R52 Cartersville 52

          The Braves led pretty much from the start, and looked a few times like they might ease away only for Cartersville to come back and then fail to take advantage of chances. Baldwin led 40-34 after three quarters, and finally got the lead to double digits with just less than 3 minutes left.

R8 1 St. Pius 77, R1 3 Carver-Columbus 65

R5 1 Sandy Creek 64, R3 2 Burke County 44

R2 1 Upson-Lee 70, R6 1 LaFayette 40

          Upson-Lee took led at halftime and took control in the third quarter en route to the rout, its 29th straight win this season and 61st over the past two. The defending champs got a double-double from Travon Walker with 10 points and 13 rebounds, plus 5 blocks. Tye Fagan got going in the second half and had 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Point guard Zyrice Scott added 13 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals, while JaCorey Smith had 6 rebounds.

Class 3A

R7 1 Greater Atlanta Christian 75, R3 1 Johnson-Savannah 61

R8 1 Morgan County 51, R4 1 Central 37

         The Chargers stayed with the hosts, trailing 33-30 after three in a defensive battle. But Morgan County, looking for its fifth straight trip to the championship, stepped up the defense and disrupted the Central offense to slowly pull away.

R3 2 Jenkins-Savannah 72, R5 1 Cedar Grove 65

R4 2 Westside 55, R8 2 Hart County 53

          Westside apparently got off the bus after a ride of about 2.5 hours and had mighty fresh legs, bolting to a 6-0 lead, and 20-9 after a quarter. They kept rolling, and led 31-20 at halftime. Hart County had a good halftime talk and started coming back. A 9-point margin quickly dropped to 6, and all of a sudden, Hart County had a 48-47 lead. The Seminoles regained the lead at 50-48 with 1:16 left, and held on.

 

Class A Public

/Central-Talbotton 73, 7/Macon County 61

3/Wilkinson County 67, 6/Manchester 63

1/Calhoun County 60, 8/Woodville-Tompkins 50

5/Montgomery County 81, 4/Lanier County 74

 

GIRLS

Class 3A

R3 2 Johnson-Savannah 52, R5 1 Lovett 46

R2 1 Tattnall County 59, R6 1 Haralson County 46

R3 1 Beach (27-2) at R7 1 Greater Atlanta Christian 55, R3 1 Beach 45

R8 1 Franklin County 53, R4 1 Peach County 44

          The first half was Peach County's, but the second half and the game belonged to undefeated Franklin County. The Trojans led 19-18 at halftime, but the Lions won the final two quarters 35-25.

 

Class AA

R7 1 Model 79, R3 1 Dodge County 63

          The visiting Indians were with the Blue Devils early, but were outscored 29-14 in the second quarter and trailed 60-38 after three quarters. Destanee Wright went off for 41 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 steals for Dodge County (25-5), but the Indians couldn't get any more offense going.

R4 1 Laney 54, R8 1 Banks County 38

R1 1 Fitzgerald 70, R8 3 Rabun County 65

R3 2 Josey 57, R6 1 Douglass-Atlanta 39

 

Class A Private

1/Holy Innocents 86, Christian Heritage 49

4/Stratford 44, 5/Prince Avenue Christian 34

          Stratford looked early on like it might be able to pull away, but Prince Avenue didn't let that happen. The Eaglettes led by only a bucket in the fourth quarter and kept the Wolverines, who missed a selection of second-chance opportunities and lost some oomph when Ansley Hall fouled out in the final minutes with 14 points. Nadia Reese led the Eaglettes with 18 points. The semifinal is 2 p.m. Friday at Columbus State against Holy Innocents'.

10/Paideia at 2/St. Francis 89, 10/Paideia 41

6/Wesleyan 60, 3/Calvary Day 20