The unranked Woodville-Tompkins Wolverines are in the semifinals for the first time in a program that dates to 2011 after they rallied from an early 20-point deficit on the road to narrowly beat Model 54-51 in overtime.
The Wolverines (18-10), a No. 2 seed from Region 2, trailed 28-8 in the first half before mounting their comeback, and senior guard Lukas Platauna led the way with 22 points.
The Wolverines will play the No. 3 Butler Bulldogs (21-6) 8 p.m. Friday, and in the other semifinal the No. 8 Northeast Raiders (21-9) take on the No. 4 Westside Patriots (26-3) at 4 p.m.
All semifinal games for the Class 2A tournament — boys and girls — will be played Friday at Georgia College.
The Bulldogs also needed a rally to defeat No. 7 Washington 51-41. They trailed 15-3 after the first quarter, 24-10 at halftime and 31-23 after three before erupting for 28 fourth quarter points to win by double-digits. They’re in the semis for the first time since 2011, when they were runners-up in 3A.
While the Wolverines have played just one ranked opponent thus far — No. 10 Rabun County in the second round — the Bulldogs, in addition to Washington County, beat defending state champions and top-ranked Pace Academy in what could be described as the biggest upset of the 2A tournament.
The Raiders beat No. 5 Vidalia 67-53 to reach the semifinals for the first time since 1987. The Indians were 25-1 coming in. The Raiders won with a balanced scoring attack from seniors Milandre Pettigrew (17 points), Travion Solomon (16) and Zion Odoms (16). Solomon and Pettigrew combined to go 11-for-13 from the free throw line, Solomon had seven assists and Odoms had 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks.
The Patriots beat unranked Early County 77-36 after beating No. 2 Columbia 82-72 in the second round. They’re in the semis for the first time since 2018, when they were in 3A. Should both the Patriots and Bulldogs advance, it would make for an all-Region 4 championship.
On the girls’ side, the final four is the No. 6 Josey Eagles (24-5) vs. the No. 3 Elbert County Blue Devils (26-4) at 2 p.m., and the No. 4 Northeast Raiders (23-6) vs. the No. 2 Rabun County Wildcats (23-5) at 6 p.m.
Since I ate crow with the boys predictions, I’ll acknowledge I picked the girls’ final four correctly.
Across all classifications, Northeast becomes the fourth school to have its boys and girls teams in this year’s semifinals, joining Marist in 4A, Sequoyah (6A) and Norcross (7A). The Raiders soundly defeated No. 10 Laney 85-52 in the quarterfinals and are in the final four for the first time since 2011.
The Wildcats return to the semis for the first time since their runners-up finish in 2017 after beating unranked Chattooga 73-39.
The Eagles beat top-ranked Fannin County 61-53 in a rematch of last year’s championship, with senior Aqoyas Cody contributing a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. It’s the third time since 2018 that the Eagles have reached the final four under coach Juwan Bailey.
The Blue Devils end the longest semifinals drought among the field, returning for the first time since 1960. They beat No. 7 Callaway 73-43 in the quarterfinals. They’ll play Josey for a second year in a row after the Eagles beat them 46-44 in last year’s quarterfinals.
Should the Blue Devils and Wildcats win, it would set up an all-Region 8 championship.
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