Macon — Terrance Lewis scored 16 of his team-best 20 in the second half to lead No. 2 East Laurens to a 66-63 win over No. 8 Lovett in the Class AA semifinals.

Though they trailed the entire fourth quarter, the Lions (23-9) had their shot late. They scored six straight in the final 2 minutes to pull within 3 with 40 seconds left. After East Laurens' Jimmy Williams missed two free throws, Lovett had the ball with a chance to tie with 27 seconds on the clock. But an Andre Hicks 3-pointer bounced off the rim at the buzzer to end the game.

After the teams traded barbs for much of the contest, East Laurens (30-1) finally took the game over early in the fourth quarter, making the game's first consistent defensive stops and continuing to convert scoring opportunities on its own end. After a basket by Lovett's Shaun Scott opened the fourth quarter to close the Lions' gap to 50-49, the Falcons went on an 8-0 run to stretch their lead out to 58-49 and held on late despite Lovett's late rally.

The game was played at a blistering pace that allowed for little substitutions for either team. With so few stoppages of play, the Lions looked tired as their shots stopped falling during the middle part of the fourth quarter. The first second-half timeout didn't come until the 3:35 mark of the fourth quarter, only the second timeout taken by either team the entire game up to that point.

The break didn't give the Lions the breather they needed. While their offensive execution improved afterward, they still gave up too many easy baskets. All but two of East Laurens' 16 fourth-quarter points came on layups, and the other 2 were free throws.

The first half was just as wild as the second; it was completed in fewer than 30 minutes, real-time. It featured seven lead changes, five ties and seven 3-pointers, as both offenses ran quickly up and down the court.

The momentum swung early and often in the first half. Lovett controlled much of the first quarter, and East Laurens stayed in front for the majority of the next three, eventually swelling its lead out into double digits during the fourth quarter.

Lovett's Alex Elam led all scorers with 24, including five 3-pointers, the last of which sparked the Lions' late rally. His teammate Scott had 18, and East Laurens' Williams had 14.