The Monticello Hurricanes put forth a valiant effort and stayed with No. 4 Manchester until the final minutes, with the Blue Devils pulling away for a 63-53 victory in a Class AA semifinal game on Saturday at Georgia College.
Now, the Blue Devils (25-5) - a No. 1 seed from Region 5 - are headed to the title game for the first time since 2012, and will be looking to add to their championship trophy collection of one, which came in 2007.
Manchester will play the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between No. 3 Crawford County and No. 2 Pace Academy.
The AA championship will be played March 4 at 4:45 p.m. at the Macon Centerplex.
The unranked Hurricanes - Region 4's No. 2 seed - end their season with a 21-11 record.
Monticello found itself trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, but cut the Blue Devils' lead to 35-31 with 2:32 left in the third quarter. Twice more in the second half, the Hurricanes would cut the deficit to four points, but each time Manchester found a way to regain control.
"We just kept our tempo up - that's it," said senior guard Cardarian Brown, who hit three momentum-swinging 3-pointers during the game and finished with 11 points. "We just kept pushing.
"We're a big, happy family right now and we're just glad to be going (to the title game)."
The Blue Devils were led by Demarcus Addie, who scored a game-high 22 points and was 11-for-13 from the free throw line, including 7-for-9 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. His free throw shooting in the final quarter is what finally put the Hurricanes away.
Jah'Nile Hill was Manchester's third scorer in double digits with 14 points.
"We need to continue to believe," said Blue Devils coach Curtis Noble, who led Manchester to its only title. "We don't know who we're playing yet, so we'll go back to the drawing board and come back with a game plan."
Monticello was led by Ashton Bonner (12 points), RJ Whitlock (11 points) and De'miria Glover (10 points).
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
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