There’s a Region 5 rematch between unranked Douglass and No. 5 Cedar Grove on one side of the boys bracket. The other side features a game between Region 5′s top-ranked Sandy Creek and Cross Creek, the Class 3A defending champions.
In girls play, defending-champion and No. 4 Lumpkin County will face 2008 Class A Champion and No. 8 Calvary Day, and top-ranked and 2021 champion Hebron Christian, coached by Jan Azar, will play 13-time champion and No. 2-ranked Wesleyan, Azar’s former team.
Welcome to the Class AAA basketball semifinals. The cream has risen.
The schedule Friday at Fort Valley State University features Wesleyan’s girls playing Hebron at 2 p.m., Douglass boys facing Cedar Grove at 4 p.m., Lumpkin’s girls playing Calvary Day at 6 p.m. and Sandy Creek’s boys going against Cross Creek at 8 p.m.
The Sandy Creek boys are in the semifinals after a 56-50 victory against No. 2-ranked Johnson-Savannah. Against Johnson, Micah Smith, a 6-foot-8 junior, scored 17 points, and Amari Brown, a 6-3 junior guard, scored 14 points for the Patriots.
Cross Creek beat Hart County 72-65 to advance. Antoine Lorick, a 6-7 senior power forward, scored 15 points for the Razorbacks. Senior shooting guard Isam Anthony finished with 14 points, and 6-7 sophomore shooting forward Jaden Priester added 12. Dontrel Smith, De’Kel Hobbs and Kylen Clark each scored eight points.
Douglass is making its first semifinal appearance since 1999 after beating No. 6-ranked Dougherty 78-73. Douglass is searching for the program’s first state title since 1984. Cedar Grove’s Saints outlasted Long County 94-91 in a double-overtime contest to advance to the semifinals.
E.J. Colson scored 29 points to lead the Saints. Jaylen Adside added 21 points; Manny Green had 16 points with eight rebounds, and Darius Reynolds scored 11 points with eight rebounds and eight blocks.
On the girls side, Wesleyan is in the semifinals after beating Carver-Columbus 78-71. Junior Audrey Ekoue-Bla scored 20 points with four rebounds and three assists to lead Wesleyan. Junior point guard Chazadi Wright scored 19 points with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals; junior Eva Garabadian scored 17 points with six rebounds and two steals, and sophomore Johanna Potter scored 14 points with seven rebounds and two blocks.
Hebron Christian, 30-0, beat Mary Persons 98-25 behind a 27-point effort from sophomore point guard Ja’Kerra Butler. Butler added 10 rebounds and six steals. Sophomore guard Aubrey Beckham scored 20 points with 12 rebounds and 14 assists, and junior guard Amiya Porter added 12 points with three steals. Junior wing Kayla Lane scored 12 points with four rebounds, and junior wing Nickiya Daniel scored nine points with five rebounds.
Calvary Day beat Dawson County 59-32. Senior point guard Hannah Cail hit a buzzer-beating shot at the end of the third quarter to gain her 2,000th career point. Cail finished with 23 points to lead all scorers, ahead of Destini Gooddine (17 points) and freshman Molly Smith, who scored 15 points on five 3-point shots.
Defending champion Lumpkin County is in its third consecutive semifinals after weathering a road victory against 2021 3A champion Cross Creek. Mary Mullinax, a 5-foot-10 senior shooting forward, scored 20 points to lead the Indians. Senior point guard Lexi Pierce scored 19 points; junior shooting guard Averie Jones finished with 15 points, and senior power forward Kate Jackson scored nine points for Lumpkin.
Class 3A
At Fort Valley State University
Boys
4 p.m. -- R5 #3 Douglass vs. R5 #2 Cedar Grove
8 p.m. -- R5 #1 Sandy Creek vs. R4 #1 Cross Creek
Girls
2 p.m. -- R7 #1 Wesleyan vs. R8 #1 Hebron Christian
6 p.m. -- R3 #1 Calvary Day vs. R7 #2 Lumpkin County
About the Author
