The Jenkins boys and Effingham County girls became the first Class AAAAA teams to earn No. 1 seeds for the state basketball tournament next week when they won the championship games in the Region 3-AAAAA tournament Friday at Richmond Hill.
Region 3, made up of schools in the Savannah area, was the only one in Class AAAAA that was unaffected by the inclement weather in Georgia this week and was the first to complete its tournament.
The fifth-ranked and top-seeded Jenkins boys (24-2) won the championship with a 72-68 victory over No. 2 seed and ninth-ranked Effingham County. Brenden Carter had 18 points and scored the game-clinching basket with a layup in the closing seconds. Bradwell Institute beat Richmond Hill 61-56 in the consolation game to claim the No. 3 seed.
Effingham County’s girls (26-2), also ranked fifth and seeded No. 1, beat third-seeded Ware County 43-41 to capture the championship. It was the second consecutive two-point victory for Effingham County, which beat Richmond Hill 35-33 in the semifinals on Thursday. MaKayla Robinson scored 13 points to lead Effingham County. Ware County’s NeNe Howard led all scorers with 26.
Richmond Hill beat Glynn Academy 34-22 in the third-place game.
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