The two programs that won state basketball titles in Georgia’s highest classification in 2020 extended their championship reigns after moving down to 6A in the most recent GHSA reclassification.
Westlake became the seventh program in state history to win four consecutive girls championships when the Lions defeated Carrollton 64-46 in the Class 6A final on March 12 at the Macon Coliseum. Wheeler’s boys won their second consecutive championship, and eighth overall, with a 71-61 victory over Kell later that evening. Westlake and Wheeler had both been ranked No. 1 all season.
Westlake was tied with Carrollton 25-25 at halftime and led by only four, at 40-36, with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter but outscored Carrollton 10-0 over the next seven minutes, going up 50-36 on a layup by Raven Johnson with 3:12 left in the game.
Carrollton never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way. The Trojans (30-2) were the only girls team in the state that finished with 30 wins.
Ta’Niya Latson led the Lions with 24 points. Camerah Langston had 12, Brianna Turnage added 11 and Johnson scored 10.
The championship capped a dominant run through the playoffs that included previous victories over Northside-Warner Robins, Brunswick, Kell and River Ridge. The Lions’ average margin of victory in the playoffs was 33.6 points, and only one game – a 55-46 win over Kell in the quarterfinals – was decided by fewer than 18 points.
Top-ranked Westlake did not lose a game played in Georgia during its four-year run, and the Lions (20-0) finished this season as the only undefeated girls team in the state. Westlake won its previous three championships in 7A.
“To say it was easy would be a lie,” Westlake coach Hilda Hankerson said. “The whole thing is that those seniors that were here for the very first championship really dug in, and that’s only two of them [Johnson and Turnage]. … Those two said they were not going to let us down, and they led us to the promised land.”
The boys final marked the fourth meeting of the season between Cobb County and Region 6 rivals Wheeler and Kell. Wheeler won two close contests during the regular season, but Kell won in overtime in the region championship game.
Kell’s Aaron Smith made a layup less than 20 seconds into the state final to give his team a 2-0 lead, but Maxwell Harris made a 3-pointer a minute later to put Wheeler up 3-2. Kell never led again. Wheeler was ahead 22-17 by the end of the first quarter and gradually added to the lead the rest of the night.
Isaiah Collier led Wheeler with 16 points. Jahiem Hudson had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Kaleb Washington and Harris scored 12 points each. Scoot Henderson led Kell with 29 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.
“It’s special for the guys,” Wheeler coach Larry Thompson told the AJC’s Stan Awtrey after the game. “These kids came to work every single day. After they won the first one last year, the guys who were going to be seniors wanted to do it again … and now we’re here.”
Westlake’s Johnson and Kell’s Henderson were among the athletes selected by coaches over the past month as region players or co-players of the year.
Girls players of the year included Lee County’s Jakailyn Poole and Valdosta’s Essence Cody in Region 1, Statesboro’s Jamiah Jones in Region 2, Rockdale County’s Danielle Carnegie in Region 3, Johnson in Region 4, Carrollton’s De’Mauri Flournoy in Region 5, Sprayberry’s Flau’jae Johnson in Region 6, River Ridge’s Mataya Gayle in Region 7, and Buford’s Ashyia Willis in Region 8.
Boys players of the year were Lee County’s M.J. Taylor (Region 1), Richmond Hill’s Jaeden Marshall and Effingham County’s Keion Wallace (Region 2), Heritage-Conyers’ James White (Region 3), Westlake’s Gaddis Heath (Region 4), Douglas County’s Omarion Smith (Region 5), Kell’s Henderson (Region 6), Chattahoochee’s A.J. White (Region 7), and Lanier’s Andrew McConnell (Region 8).
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