The suspense at tipoff was, of course, who would win.
The suspense about two minutes later regarded when Vidalia would score. Then, when would the Indians reach double figures.
The first answer came at the 3:45 mark of the first quarter. Thomasville had 13 points by then.
The answer to the second part came with 1:10 left in the first half. Thomasville had 38 points.
The Bulldogs made the trip from near the Florida border more than worthwhile with a dominating performance in every phase, rolling to a 66-31 win Wednesday for the GHSA Class AA boys state title at the renovated Macon Coliseum.
“It was like we were playing the Warriors, playing Golden State,” Vidalia head coach Tommy Dalley said. “They’re the best team we’ve seen or played this year.”
Thomasville finished 28-3 while Vidalia ended up 23-9.
Vonterius Woolbright got Thomasville rolling as the Bulldogs were beating the Indians downcourt from the start. Woolbright had eight points by the time Vidalia finally scored on Tahj Jones’ 3 with 3:45 left in the first quarter, and he gave the Indians no chance to enjoy that accomplishment, speeding downcourt for a layup nine seconds later.
“We wanted 100 percent defense,” Thomasville head coach Benjamin Tillman said. “Offense will take care of itself. We didn’t even run much offense because we played such good defense. We got a lot of transition buckets.”
The Bulldogs shot 66.7 percent in the first half, and ended up at 55.1 percent for the game. Vidalia managed to hit only 25.5 percent of its shots. It was 41-10 at the break.
"I knew my team was good," said Thomasville's 6-8 Reggie Perry, headed for Mississippi State. "We can beat anybody in the country, I feel like. We can beat anybody in the state, any classification."
Thomasville only outrebounded Vidalia by two, but had 20 assists and 11 turnovers to eight and 15 for the Indians.
Perry and Woolbright each had 17 points for Thomasville, while Titus Wright added 11. Nine Bulldogs scored and nine got a rebound.
Jones topped Vidalia with 10 points.
“Stop (Jones) and (Anthony Jones) from scoring,” Perry said of the game plan. “Play together, and we knew we would get a win.”
