The Decatur girls ended South Atlanta’s dream of an undefeated season, while the South Atlanta boys showed why they should never be counted out of a game. The result for each team was a Region 4-AAA championship.
Decatur (26-2) avenged a regular-season loss to South Atlanta and handed the Hornets their first defeat of the season. The Bulldogs won 56-38 and their first region title in a generation.
South Atlanta (25-4) trailed by 18 points in the third quarter to No. 3 Cedar Grove before mounting a miraculous comeback in a 56-54 win.
Decatur got 21 points from Jayla Morrow, 18 points and 10 rebounds from Kayla Thomas and 10 points and 20 rebounds from Janay Williams. South Atlanta (27-1) was led by Kierra Johnson-Graham with 18 points.
“I’m so glad we got to play them in the regular season,” Decatur coach Sarah Coleman said. “It gave them a lot of motivation. I’m not sure we win this game if we’d won the first one.”
Decatur led 30-21 at halftime and never allowed South Atlanta to mount any sort of comeback. The Bulldogs kept stretching the lead and were the dominant team on the boards.
In the consolation game, Douglass upset Westminster 44-43. The Astros (13-13) had lost the two regular-season meetings to the Wildcats (21-6).
The boys game appeared to be a cakewalk at halftime. Cedar Grove got behind 12-4 before using its vaunted defense to spark a comeback. The Saints used a 9-0 run at the end of the first period to take the lead and continued to pour it on. Cedar Grove had a 13-0 run that started midway in the second quarter and did not allow the Hornets to score a basket in the period. Cedar Grove led 34-15 at halftime.
South Atlanta began to peck away when Dexter Swift scored seven quick points and cut the lead to 16. The momentum began to shift and Devonta Pullins drained a pair of 3-pointers to cut the lead to 45-30 after three quarters.
Tyreek Baisden scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to get South Atlanta to within 10 points. The lead continued to shrink and the Hornets tied the game 52-52 on a trey by Orlando Bebee with 1:51 remaining. The Hornets went ahead to stay on a 3-pointer by Pullins.
“Our guys played with tremendous heart and determination, like they always do,” South Atlanta coach Michael Reddick said. “They never think they’re out of a game.”
Cedar Grove had plenty of chances, but lost the game at the free throw line. The Saints missed 13 free throws.
Bebee led the Hornets with 12 points and Baisden scored 10. Chris Fredrick led Cedar Grove with 18 points.
Blessed Trinity (23-5) hung on to beat North Clayton 50-48 in the consolation game.
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