Class AAAAAAA Semifinal Results from Buford Civic Center

Wheeler will play Grayson for the boys championship at 7:30 p.m. on March 7 at the Macon Coliseum.

Girls: Westlake 62, Cherokee 33

The Westlake girls earned the opportunity play for their third straight state championship on Saturday with a 62-33 runaway win over Cherokee

The Lions (29-2) were too quick and opportunistic for Cherokee (28-3), which suffered from a poor shooting night and saw its 16-game winning streak come to an end.

“We don’t take it for granted,” Westlake coach Hilda Hankerson said. “We know it takes a lot of hard work, takes a lot of great athletes, takes a lot of time. It is not always easy. We have some tough practices when the team is looking at me like, ‘We haven’t lost in a while. Why are you working so hard?’ But one thing for sure, they love the success. They really do and they want to win.”

Westlake, winners of 14 in a row, did a lot of damage by driving to the basket, where Ta’Niya Latson (19 points), Raven Johnson (16 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Carly Hooks (13 points) had great success. Most missed shots were corralled by center Brianna Turnage, who had a team-high nine rebounds, and Lydia Freeman, who had seven rebounds and scored eight points.

Cherokee’s top scorers were Kate Johnson with nine points and Ashlyn Andrus with eight.

Westlake used a 9-0 run in the second quarter to earn separation from Cherokee. The Lions trailed 11-10 before feeling off nine straight points, the final bucket on a fast-break conversion by Hooks to take a 19-11 lead. Westlake had another stretch where it outscored Cherokee 10-2 and the Lions led 31-17 at the half.

“There’s a lot of nerves in the moment and that’s expected,” Hankerson said. “Just want them to settle down and once they settle down, do what Westlake can do and blew it open.”

Westlake snuffed out any hopes Cherokee may have had by scoring the first 11 points of the third quarter and took a 49-34 lead into the final quarter.

“It takes a moment sometimes for each of them to feel like it’s OK for me to step up now,” Hankerson said. “Then, by the second half, they really realized their roles and started to play in the moment.”

Boys: Wheeler 59, Milton 47

Wheeler got 19 points from Sam Hines and held off feisty Milton to reach the championship game for the first time since 2015.

“It feels great (to get to the final),” coach Larry Thompson said. “Especially with a group that’s starting to buy in and understand what it takes to win it all at that level. The opportunity to play for a state championship is always great.”

Wheeler (23-7) broke the game open with a 7-0 run in the second quarter, culminating with a 3-pointer from Prince Davies to claim a 25-14 lead. The Wildcats went on to lead 36-24 at halftime and never allowed Milton to get closer than six points.

“That run was real big for us because it kind of calmed the jitters down, let us settle down and play a little,” Thompson said. “We were trying to force feed it inside and take advantage of our size and our sheer strength that we have. That run helped guys settle down.”

Hines, the Region 2 player of the year, scored 12 of his points in the first half. Wheeler also got 11 points from Maxwell Harris.

Milton (26-5) didn’t have enough Bruce Thornton to go around. The sophomore, who was the Region 5 player of the year, scored 28 points and kept the Eagles close with his court presence and effort. Hurst added nine for Milton.

Wheeler will be trying to win its sixth state championship. The Wildcats last won it all in 2015

Girls: Collins Hill 54, Campbell 37

Colllins Hill relied on its defense to shake off a slow start and wear down Campbell and reach the championship game. The Eagles trailed 13-11 after one quarter, but gave up only 24 points the remainder of the game.

“I think their defense rattled us some and made us turn the ball over and do things out of character,” said Collins Hill coach Brian Harmon said. “It wasn’t the best start, but it’s all about the finish.”

Collins Hill (31-0) was led by Eden Sample with 18 points and Asjah Inniss with 11. Purdue signee Sacha Washington scored all her eight points in the second half.

Washington’s first basket came with 3:40 left in the third quarter and gave the Eagles an 11-point lead at 33-22.

Campbell (23-8) had three girls with nine points: Sarah Taub, Laila Battle and Nia Bozeman, who got all her points in the second half.

“Campbell has always been a scrappy team,” Harmon said. “They play extremely hard. They trap and get after you and that’s not what we usually play against. It’s just one of those schemes you have to play against and work your way through.”

Collins Hill will be trying for its sixth state championship and its first since 2007.

Boys: Grayson 82, McEachern 76

The No. 1-ranked Rams used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to break open a close game and eliminate the defending state champions. McEachern led 35-34 when Grayson went on its run.

After a McEachern basket, Grayson’s Deivon Smith threw down a monster dunk and was given a technical for excessively hanging on the rim. Two baskets later, the second a driving dunk by Smith, and the Rams were on their way to the final. Grayson outscored McEachern 30-13 in the third quarter and that proved to be the difference in the game.

“We just had to come out with a different game plan,” said Smith, the Region 8 player of the year. “I felt like we all played hard and I feel like we all just held each other and we got the win.”

Smith, who has signed with Mississippi State, scored 22 points to lead Grayson (30-1), which has won 22 straight games. Caleb Murphy, a South Florida signee, added 18, and Toneari Lane scored 16. Josh Smith and Ian Schieffelin each scored 11.

“We all feed off of each other,” Smith said. “We knew we had to go home if we didn’t win. This was reality. We had to grab each other and hold each other accountable and play Grayson basketball.”

McEachern (22-6) was led by Israel Palmer with 22 and Auburn signee Sharife Cooper with 21. Cameron McDowell added 17 and Randy Brady scored 12.