Next weekend’s pairings for the state finals at the Macon Centreplex are set. Here’s a look. Many thanks to fellow AJC High School Sports Blogger Adam Krohn for his coverage of the games in Milledgeville!
Public Girls: No. 1 St. Francis vs. No. 2 Holy Innocents, 2 p.m., Wednesday
The Skinny: The St. Francis Lady Knights finally conquered a familiar foe and, in the process, ended a remarkable run for the Wesleyan Lady Wolves, coasting to a 75-61 win in the Class A Private semifinals on Friday at Georgia State College and University's Centennial Center.
Before Friday, St. Francis had lost to Wesleyan in the semis in the last two seasons.
For the No. 4 Lady Wolves (22-6), their run of consecutive championship game appearances ends at 16. In addition, they'd made 18 title game appearances in 19 years and won 13 of them since 2001 — all under coach Jan Azar, who left Wesleyan following last year's runner-up finish to take the head coaching job at Hebron Christian.
Led by near perfection from their star Mia Moore, the Lady Knights took a 7-5 lead with 5:15 in the first quarter and never relinquished it, extending the margin to as many 23.
Holy Innocents' (26-5) rode 6-foot-4 junior Jillian Hollingshead to a 52-48 victory over Hebron Christian (31-1) and a return to the state title game with a chance to repeat as champions
Hollingshead, who holds a ton of Power 5 offers, scored a game-high 20 points to lead the No. 3-ranked Lady Golden Bears.
It was a disappointing end of the season for the Lady Lions (31-1), who were chasing perfection with long-time Wesleyan coach Jan Azar in her first season with the program. It was their first semifinals appearance since 2005 and they came close to reaching the first title game in a program history that dates back to 1999.
The Lady Lions appeared to tie the game at 51 with 7.5 seconds remaining when junior point guard Carly Fahey hit a baseline 3-pointer, but the shot was waived off when she was called for traveling. Hollingshead was fouled immediately on the ensuing inbound pass with 5.7 seconds left and made one of two free throws to put the game out of reach.
Private Boys: No. 1 St. Francis vs. No. 2 Greenforest, 4 p.m., Wednesday The Skinny: St. Francis outlasted Region 6 rival Mt. Pisgah, 63-58, to put the Knights one win away from repeating as state champions.
Entering the fourth trailing 48-35, Mt. Pisgah went on a 16-5 run to pull within 53-51 after JoJo Peterson's 3-point play with 2:44 remaining. However, the Patriots would go 1-for-6 from the free throw line the rest of the way while the Knights went 10-for-12 to hang on for the win.
The Knights are now in the championship for a third consecutive year and sixth time in the last seven. They're seeking their fourth state title and third under sixth-year coach Drew Catlett, who also guided them to championships in 2014, 2015.
For the Patriots, it was the closest they've played St. Francis this season, losing to them three other times by scores of 64-49, 74-59 and 79-50. Since the 2011-12 season, they're 0-20 against the Knights. Still, it was a historic season for the Mt. Pisgah program, which previously never made it out of the second round in a program history that dates back to 1986. They were led by Chase Tucker's 17 points, which included four 3-pointers.
No. 2 Greenforest (21-10) is back in the championship game for the first time since 2017, when the Eagles won their third title in program history, after a 52-47 win over Trinity Christian.
Jalen Forrest scored a team-high 17 points for the Eagles, including three free throws in the final 1:12 that gave them the lead for good. It's the Eagles' second close win this season over their Region 5 rivals. They also beat the Lions 54-53 on Jan. 14.
Greenforest trailed 41-37 after three quarters and scored all but two of their fourth-quarter points from the free-throw line, going 9-for-11. Trinity Christian had the chance to tie inside the game's final 10 seconds, but turned the ball over on an inbound pass following a timeout. Eagles guard Chase Comier hit two free throws with six seconds left to seal the win and bring the score to its final margin.
The No. 5 Lions (20-11) were led by Isaac Brito's game-high 18 points.
Public Girls: No. 1 Central-Talbotton vs. No. 3 Wheeler, 6 p.m., Wednesday The Skinny: No. 1 seed Central-Talbotton led 33-32 with 4:50 left in the third quarter before sparking a game-changing 11-4 run that put the Hawks up 44-37. The Hawks closed out the victory to extend their winning streak to 20 games and improved to 28-1 overall. Central-Talbotton is set to make its first state championship appearance since 1986 when the program captured its third-straight state title.
No. 3 seed Wheeler County took a commanding 23-9 lead over No. 10 seed Turner County after the first quarter. The game marked a rematch of the 2016 semifinals when eventual state champion Turner County defeated Wheeler County 57-44. Turner County trailed 40-22 at the half before a 26-14 edge in the third quarter brought them within six points (54-48) heading into the final frame. Wheeler County responded with a 27-18 edge in the fourth quarter to run away with the 15-point victory and advance to the state championship for the first time in program history.
Public Boys: No. 1 Treutlen vs. No. 3 Hancock Central, 8 p.m., Wednesday
The Skinny: No. 1 ranked Treutlen is heading back to the state championship for the second consecutive season after toppling No. 4 Terrell County 68-63.
The Vikings jumped out to a 40-30 halftime lead and held a 61-55 lead with 3:06 left to play before celebrating the win. With the victory, Treutlen improves to a perfect 30-0 and is back in the finals after last year's 67-65 heartbreaking loss to Calhoun County.
Hancock Central exploded to a 52-29 halftime lead over Wilcox County and closed out a dominant 24-point victory by preserving the lead in the second half. This win followed the Bulldogs’ 68-53 victory over the defending state champion Calhoun County Cougars in the quarterfinals. Now, the Bulldogs are positioned one win away from the program’s first-ever state championship.
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