Welcome to the class, Cross Creek.
The Razorbacks swept the Class 3A basketball championships at the Macon Centreplex and earned boys and girls first-ever basketball titles. The feat is the first time one school has won both 3A championships since Morgan County’s boys and girls won the 3A titles in 2016.
The Cross Creek boys defeated Sandy Creek 57-49 after finishing runner-up in Class 4A last season. The victory could have been viewed as an upset against the top-ranked Patriots – also featured in Class 4A last season -- but according to coach Lawrence Kelly, it was a continuation on last season’s successes.
“Those guys (last year) laid the foundation,” Kelly told AJC writer Stan Awtrey in Macon. “It made us realize we’re good enough to be here, that we were good enough to play on the big stage, and today it showed.”
Cross Creek faced a formidable challenge with Sandy Creek’s 6-foot-10 Jabari Smith, a 5-star recruit who signed with Auburn. Cross Creek held him to 19 points, four points below his season average.
Cross Creek’s 6-5 sophomore Anthoine Lorick shouldered the responsibility of guarding Smith, and his performance bodes well for the program’s future.
“We had a conversation earlier in the week, and the goal was for him to guard Jabari the whole game,” Kelly told Awtrey. “That young man has a lot of potential. He’s only a sophomore, and the sky is the limit.”
On the girls side, the Lady Razorbacks defeated Greater Atlanta Christian, the 3A defending champions, 56-44. Jordyn Dorsey, a North Carolina A&T signee, led the way with 30 points. But one statistic – Cross Creek outrebounded GAC 44-24 – was too much to overcome for the Spartans.
“That was our thing -- control the boards, control the ball and run the floor,” Cross Creek coach Kim Schlein told Chip Saye, who covered the game for the AJC. “Jenna did a great job down there today. I’m so proud of her. She had a big task, and she did really good down there. The whole team did great. That’s all I can say. It was a team effort.”
Here are the final 3A rankings:
Boys
1. Cross Creek (25-4)
2. Sandy Creek (28-5)
3. Windsor Forest (12-4)
4. Hart County (24-4)
5. Johnson-Savannah (15-3)
6. LaFayette (22-2)
7. Salem (20-6)
8. Americus-Sumter (16-5)
9. Thomson (15-7)
10. Greater Atlanta Christian (17-12)
Girls
1. Cross Creek (23-2)
2. Greater Atlanta Christian (15-8)
3. Upson-Lee (23-1)
4. Lumpkin County (25-5)
5. Sonoraville (23-5)
6. Johnson-Savannah (12-3)
7. Stephens County (19-7)
8. Pierce County (19-7)
9. Westminster (17-3)
10. Americus-Sumter (15-5)
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