By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

(Rankings are from Sandy’s Spiel/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with records)

Saturday
A Private Girls: No. 2 Mt. Paran 54, No. 4 Hebron Christian 59
            From tip to horn, it was close, and Mount Paran made the plays down stretch to hold off Hebron Christian.
            Kara Dunn’s two free throws with 3:32 left in the third put Mount Paran on top for good, but it could expand on a lead that grew to seven in about a minute. That was the largest lead of the game, and the Eagles were able to answer the Lions’ rallies.
            Dunn, daughter of head coach Stephanie Dunn, went for 30 points on 9 of 21 shooting, and 10 of 15 at the line. Hebron Christian had more balance, with Jessie Parish and Aubrey Beckham scoring 15 each.
Box score

A Private Boys: No. 1 Greenforest 61, No. 3 King’s Ridge 52

            The size disparity didn’t play a huge role, but it was a crucial part of Greenforest being able to hold off scrappy King’s Ridge.
            Greenforest’s two seven-footers had only 10 points and did team for 15 rebounds, but the backcourt led the Eagles to the title. Guard Jalen Forrest, son of former Georgia Tech standout James, drove the Greenforest bus with 26 points on 11-of-22 shooting. Florian Tenebay added 17 points. Dhiakuei Manyiel Dut had 11 rebounds.  Isaac Martin had 18 and Michael Hoover 16 for King’s Ridge.
            The Tigers went 10 of 23 from 3 to 0-for-9 from Greenforest, and was sharper from the floor, 52.6 percent to 43.1, but Greenforest racked up 19 offensive rebounds to only two for King’s Ridge, part of a 15-rebound difference.
            Nine points was the largest lead, and the game was tied seven times with six lead changes.
Box score

3 p.m. - AAASP Final: Houston County 32, DeKalb 13

7A Girls: No. 4 Norcross 41, No. 5/6 Harrison 37
            The defenses were good, but the shots just weren’t falling for either team. Then came a blast from Jania Akins, who turned a 23-19 deficit after three quarters to a 27-23 lead at the 6:20 mark of the fourth quarter, setting Norcross up to hold on the rest of the way. Harrison trailed by eight with two minutes left and got to within two on Alisha Foster’s layup with a minute left.
            A free throw and then a putback by Zaria Hurston in a 35-second span put Norcross up by five with 18 seconds left, and the celebration came shortly after that. Akins was a rough 1-for-11 in the first three quarters, during which Norcross scored fewer points than it did in the fourth. Hurston had 15 points and 16 rebounds, while Alisha Foster had 14 for Harrison, runner-up for the third time in six years.
Box score

7:30 p.m. - 7A Boys: No. 8/7 Norcross 58, No. 3/2 Berkmar 45
            Donning a burly beard, with some coloring of age, former Mercer post player Jesse McMillan was a to-watch figure on the sidelines, work his team and the officials. But the final minutes of this meeting with Berkmar, the fourth of the season, were less stressful as the Blue Devils started taking a little control late in the third quarter and a firmer grasp midway through the fourth.
            The game was tied for the 10th time 90 seconds into the third quarter, and Norcross went ahead for good a few minutes later, after Berkmar took the lead for 20 seconds.  Berkmar chased and was close until the Blue Devils’ 7-1 run gave them a 47-38 lead at the 3:55 mark. The margin reached double figures for the first time with 1:47 left. The margins of the first three meetings were one, two, and six points.
            London Johnson had 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting for Norcross, Jerry Deng adding a 14-point/12-rebound double double. Jameel Rideout and Malique Ewin had 13 each for Berkmar.
Box score

Coverage
Wednesday: Good start doesn’t last for Hancock Central
Wednesday: Two thrillers get GHSA Championship Week off to a rollicking start; Hancock Central falls short
For GHSA basketball fans coming to Macon, bring an empty stomach

Friday
3A Girls: No. 1 Lumpkin County 51, No. 3/5 Greater Atlanta Christian 47
          Lumpkin County spent most of the game in a quite unusual position: behind.  Down 14-10 after one, 22-19 at halftime, and 40-32 after three. Finally, the top-ranked team started playing that way, taking the lead with 3:47 left on Averie Jones’ bucket. It was tied at 47 with 50 seconds left, and Kate Jackson’s bucket in the paint 14 seconds later gave Lumpkin County the lead for good. Mary Mullinax had a block, and then GAC turned it over a possession later.
            Jackson had a 15-point/13-rebound double-double, Mullinax had seen assists to counter a 1-for-7 shooting day, and Jones led with 17 points, with 12 from Lexi Pierce. Kaleigh Addie led GAC with 16 points and six steals.
Box score

3A Boys: No. 7/5 Cross Creek 60, No. 3/6 Windsor Forest 53
          Windsor Forest will have nightmares about the second quarter. In the other three quarters, the Knights outscored the Razorbacks 50-44. But a three-point second quarter was the difference in opening the door for Cross Creek to defend its title. After leading for about seven minutes in the first quarter, Windsor Forest was 1 for 11 from the floor in the second quarter, missing all six 3-pointers and losing the lead for good at the 6:40 mark en route to a nine-point halftime deficit. Cross Creek’s bench was a spark with nine second-quarter points.
            Windsor Forest got within 30-28 at the 6:16 mark of the third, and then both teams hit a funk, going scoreless for nearly three minutes. It was a one-point game with 1:56 left, and the Knights were within one midway through the fourth quarter, but the Razorbacks steadied and led by at least four most of the rest of the way.
            Ahmad Hunt led a balanced Cross Creek attack with 14 points, while D’Ante Bass had 22 and 10 for Windsor Forest.
Box score

6A Girls: No. 2 Lovejoy 54. No. 8/7  Sequoyah 38
          It was Lovejoy’s night from tip to buzzer en route to its second title. Sequoyah struggled from the floor, cracking 30-percent in only the fourth quarter while stumbling to a 3-for-16 game on 3s. The Wildcats were beastly on the boards, with more offensive grabs than defense, 27 to 26, for a 53-35 advantage.
            Layla Hood had a double-double on points (14) and offensive rebounds (11) alone, 16 rebounds overall. Bryana Hardy had 11 and 11, and La’nya Foster had 11 rebounds. Susanna Rogers had a double-double for the Chiefs with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Box score

6A Boys: Unranked/No. 8 Grovetown 66, No. 5/4 Buford 59
          Just when it looked like Grovetown might pull away, Buford battled back, but the Wolves spent the game battling back only to come up short. After an even first quarter, Grovetown got in gear and won the second quarter 20-7, leading 32-19 at halftime. But Buford outscored Grovetown 24-15 in the third quarter after trailing by 14 early, and was down 47-43 entering the fourth. The margin went from two to nine in a little more than two minutes, and Buford crept to within three with 1:11 left and within two with 27 seconds left, but that was it.
            Frankquon Sherman was too much for Buford, with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 13 rebounds. Alahn Sumler had 17 for Buford.
Box score

Thursday
No. 2/3 Elbert County 52, No. 1/2 Rabun County 44
          Elbert County got the lead for good in the second quarter, and spent the rest of a foul-plagued game holding off region rival Rabun County to win its first state title. The teams combined for 56 fouls, with two players from each fouling out, and shot 64 free throws. Elbert County didn’t have a great shooting game, at 37.2 percent, but it was a chunk better than Rabun County, which muddled through a 23.9-percent game, 11 of 46. Long-distance shooting was rough, 3 for 14 for Elbert County and 2 for 15 for Rabun County.
            The Blue Devils closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run for a 12-9 lead. 25-19 lead. They gave up the lead for less than a half minute early in the second quarter, getting up 14-13 with 6:23 left. The final few minutes were rough shooting for both, and Elbert County took a 25-19 lead into the locker room. The lead grew to 32-21 with 4:34 left in the third, and was in double figures most of the quarter. But the Wildcats crept with an 8-0 run in the final 1:09, cutting it to 39-35 after three. The game remained a foul-fest with shooting issues, and Rabun County never could find any stops-and-scores to get any closer than four.
Box score

AA Boys: No. 4 Westside-Augusta 64, No. 3 Butler 55, 22-6
          Butler got off to a great start, doubling up Westside after one and still leading 38-32 at halftime. But Westside got it in gear after intermission to win the third quarter 19-7 and continued on to win the final battle of the season of Region 4 rivals. Jalexs Ewing led Westside with 16 points, half coming at the line, while Amauri Tillman had 14. Khalon Hudson had a 10-point/11-rebound double-double. Gemaurean Belton, Elijah Martinez, and Chance Finklin teamed for 33 points for Butler.
            Each took out a Central Georgia team along the way. Westside handled Northeast 73-55 in a semifinal at Georgia College, and Butler eliminated Washington County 51-41 in a quarterfinal in Sandersville. Westside hadn’t been this far since 1996.
Box score

5A Girls: No. 1 Woodward Academy 72, No. 2 Forest Park 44
          The rematch of regions rivals and last year’s finalists wasn’t much of one. They split the regular-season meetings, Woodward 55-42 and Forest Park 70-64. Woodward dominated in the region tournament finale 55-33, holding Forest Park to 13 points in the middle quarters.
            In the first meeting, Forest Park managed only 12 points in the middle quarters. This time, Forest Park had trouble in the first two quarters, trailing 38-17 at halftime, and taking a hit when Jayda Brown got her fourth foul halfway through the second quarter. State Gatorade player of the year and Georgia signee Sydney Bowles finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Woodward won last year’s title 62-59.
Box score

5A Boys: No. 3 Tri-Cities 67, No. 1  Eagle’s Landing 59
          The defending champs got off to a nice start, leading 11-6 after one. But the lead was gone for good at the 4:40 mark of the second quarter on Simeon Cottle’s layup for a 15-13 lead. Tri-Cities, the 2019 6A champ, got 11 points off turnovers and six more points in the paint to take a 25-19 halftime lead. Eagle’s Landing improved on its 2-for-10 second quarter and stayed pretty much within three possessions until the margin started hanging around 10 or 11 for the final two minutes of the third quarter for a 46-35 lead heading to the fourth.
            But Eagle’s Landing didn’t let the Bulldogs pull away, even after the margin again reached 12 at the 4:49 mark. It got down to two with 40 seconds left, and Eagle’s Landing then missed the front end of a bonus and a putback on the play to miss a chance. Ryan Mathieu made it a four-point game with two freebies five seconds later, and the free-throw parade – after a 3-pointer from AJ Barnes – was on.
Box score

Wednesday

A Public Girls: No. 3/1 Lake Oconee Academy 45, Hancock Central 29
        The scoreboard after a quarter looked pretty good for Hancock Central.  The Bulldogs led one-loss Lake Oconee Academy by three points, albeit only by a 7-4 margin.
            Certainly the teams would get going in the second quarter. One did, and it wasn’t Hancock Central.
          Lake Oconee made six more shots in the second quarter and grabbed seven more rebounds to take control en route to the win in the first tournament game of the week.
          Hancock Central had a rugged afternoon from the floor, shooting an icy 18.7 percent en route to its lowest point total of the season by seven points (against 4A semifinalist Baldwin and AA second-rounder Washington County). Jameria Lawrence and Sonovia Reynolds each had eight points, and they teamed for 16 of the Bulldogs’ 35 rebounds.
          Lake Oconee didn’t light it up, either, connecting 30.6 percent of the team. Long-range wasn’t a good idea for either team. Hancock Central was 1 for 16 on 3s to 2 for 23 for LOA.
Box score

A Public Boys: No. 2/1 Drew Charter 51, No. 6 Warren County 50
          The Screaming Devils seemed set to take the trophy home, leading by four at halftime and charging out to a nine-point third-quarter lead.
          Drew Charter cut it to a possession, and the fourth quarter was a one- or two-possession quarter. Warren County led 50-46 with 23 seconds left. Kenyatta Bennett nailed a 3 from the left wing four seconds later to make it a one-point game. After a timeout, Drew Charter’s Cedric Taylor deflected a lazy inbounds pass and was fouled on his shot in the lane with 13.2 seconds left. He hit both.
            Warren County got it in easily, but then overthrew it down the sideline right in front of its bench with 8.6 seconds left. Cam Johnson went to the line with seven seconds left, and missed the front end, giving the Screaming Devils another chance. They got it downcourt, into the lane, but the clock went off before a shot attempt that likely would’ve drawn a whistle for a foul. Warren County outshot Drew Charter 42-24.7 percent, but was outshot from 3, the winners making five more shots.
Box score

4A Girls: vs. No. 5 Marist 56, No. 1 Luella 54, 2 OT
          Luella will burn the video of this heartbreaker, in which they led the vast majority of the time, like from the 2:25 mark of the first quarter until, well, the end of regulation, more than 32 minutes overall, and have nightmares about Avery Fantucci. They led by 11 midway through the third, but Marist chipped back to make it a one-possession game inside the final three minutes. The Lions executed a sweet inbounds play and got a layup from Trinity Layton for a 3-point lead with three seconds left, only for Fantucci to drain a buzzer-beater from a step shy of halfcourt to tie it at 46.
            Neither team was overly sharp in the first overtime, with only one bucket in the final 2:32. Fantucci wore the cap again, though, Marist had the heroics again, though. Luella had the ball in the halfcourt and played for the last shot;. Milani Smith drove down the left side of the lane and Fantucci reached in and got a piece of the ball. Smith lost it, Lauren Kim grabbed it and threw it down court to a streaking Fantucci, who got the ball off before the horn for the game-winning layup.
            Fantucci finished with 19 points in 39 minutes, while Alex Norris had 14 rebounds and Lexy Faklaris 13 to go with 19 points. Five Marist players went almost the distance, with at least 36 minutes. Smith had 20 points and 10 rebounds in 39 minutes for Luella.
Box score

4A Boys: No. 5/3 Spencer 62, No. 3 /4 Westover 42
          Spencer saw two games earlier in the day in which a team in some level of control found a way to lose, and made sure not to repeat it. The Greenwave trailed 3-0, and then again in the third quarter for at was it. The teams muddled through the first and second quarters, Spencer taking a 20-16 halftime lead as they both struggled from the floor.
            The Greenwave did cough up the lead for about two minutes in the third, regaining it with 3:53 left and outscoring Westover 15-4 the rest of the third quarter for a 43-30 lead entering the fourth. The margin peaked at 24 points with 3:08 left. Nine Greenwave scored, led by 12 from Randall Dicon and 11 each from Tony Montgomery and Tycen McDaniels. Spencer improved from 9 of 29 in the first half to 16 of 27 in the second half from the floor. Anthony Milton led Westover with 12.
Box score