Morgan County’s clutch free throws yield state championship

MACON — Even though Zeki Locus had enjoyed marginal success at the free throw line all afternoon, there wasn’t anyone else on the roster that Morgan County coach Cody Anderson wanted to see at the stripe with the game on the line.

Trailing by a point with 6.3 seconds left in overtime, Locus dropped in both free throws and Morgan County prevailed 53-52 over defending champion Butler in the Class 2A title game at the Macon Coliseum.

After calling timeout, Butler’s De’Cori Fleming rushed the ball up the court, shedded a defender and drove for the possible winning basket. The ball rattled around and spun out at the end as the horn sounded.

“It was crazy,” Morgan County senior Kobi Jefferies said. “Because I didn’t know if it was going in or not, and there was a ring on the line. I’m just glad it came out and we became state champions.”

Locus, who was the Region 2 Player of the Year, has been the team’s point guard since Anderson, a former assistant coach at Georgia and Longwood University, become the head coach at Morgan County. He was confident in Locus, even though he was 6-for-13 at the line until the decisive moment.

“When I got here four years ago, he was my point guard,” Anderson said. “And that young man has been through so much and to see him do what he’s done for four years on a national stage, and to be able to do it when it mattered the most, means more to me than honestly to win a championship.”

Locus finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds and two steals. Morgan County (26-6) also got 10 points each from Trey Carter and Garrett Ward.

Butler (25-5) was led by Kwamane Bridges with 22 points and Fleming with 12 points and six rebounds.

Morgan County scored the first 10 points of the game, only to have Butler battle back to close the margin to 12-10 at the end of the first. Butler took its first lead on Devin Strowbridge’s 3-pointer that gave it a 15-12 lead and grew to eight points on another Strowbridge 3-pointer for a 23-15 advantage. Butler led 23-20 at halftime.

“We had a good start, and they threw a big punch and then I thought it was back and forth the whole game,” Anderson said. “It was just wave after wave after wave.”

Butler had a chance to win in regulation. With 9.4 seconds remaining, Strowbridge took the inbounds pass, dribbled and drove for a pullup jumper. The ball bounced around the cylinder, threatening to go in, to the point where Jamil Walker smartly avoided a tip-in for fear of goaltending. The final bounce fell away at the horn and sent the game to overtime tied 44-44.

The win was the fourth state title for Morgan, the most recent in 2019.