The South Cobb boys basketball team finally ran out of magic.
The Eagles, who finished in last place in nine-team Region 4-AAAAAA during the regular season but won three games in four days to reach the tournament final, came up short in their quest for a championship when they lost to top-seeded Pebblebrook 72-58 on Wednesday at McEachern.
South Cobb, which is 8-21 heading into the state tournament, won just three region games in the regular season but matched that total in the tournament with victories against No. 6 seed Kennesaw Mountain, No. 3 McEachern and No. 2 Hillgrove.
Pebblebrook (21-5) led 15-14 after the first quarter and gradually added to it but couldn’t pull away until the fourth. The lead was 51-43 going into the final period, but South Cobb outscored the Falcons 6-2 over the next two minutes to get within four points. That was as close as the Eagles got, however, as Pebblebrook’s Ty Hudson took control of the game. He made nine free throws and scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the quarter, and the Falcons stretched the lead back to 17 points before South Cobb’s Henry Makori made a 3-pointer in the closing seconds for the final margin.
Forward Derek Ogbeide provided much of the offense early for Pebblebrook, scoring seven points in the first quarter and adding eight in the third. He finished with 19. Ogbeide got a good battle inside from South Cobb’s Milique Johnson, who led the Eagles with 17 points.
Kevin Murph scored 14 points and Chris Nelson added 12 for Pebblebrook, which will host Rockdale County in the first round of the state tournament this weekend. South Cobb will be at home against Lovejoy.
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