A week after posting one of its biggest wins in school history, the Southwest DeKalb boys narrowly avoided an upset.
The Panthers rallied in the final minutes to defeat Heritage 70-64 in Saturday's first round of the Class AAAA basketball tournament. Last weekend, Southwest DeKalb knocked off Miller Grove, the two-time defending state champions, in the Region 6-AAAA championship.
Saturday's game was much closer than the final score, with Heritage carrying a three-point advantage and tons of momentum with 5:34 left in the fourth quarter.
"I'm thinking we were so high from the Miller Grove win that we came out a little passive," Southwest coach Dwayne McKinney said. "We played timid. The only thing I'm really pleased about is that our guys found a way to pull it out in the end.
"We haven't been to the state playoffs since 2004. Our guys don't realize the intensity of the state tournament. These teams we play have nothing to lose, and can beat us if we don't come to play."
Southwest led by 10 points at halftime, but could never put away Heritage. The scrappy team from Conyers took a 55-54 lead when Dezan Gibby drilled a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. There was hushed silence over the Southwest crowd.
Heritage let the chance at an upset slip away when it scored only one point during a five-minute stretch in the final quarter.
"We had the opportunity to win," Heritage coach Shane McFadyen said. "We caught them off guard. Their big win was Miller Grove. They climbed the mountain with that win.
"But these are kids, high school kids. We're all human, and they had a letdown against us. We anticipated the letdown.
"We knew we could play with them for a few minutes at the start. Then we stayed close for quarter, then until half, and then until the final minutes of the game."
Southwest's Jordan Price had a game-high 23 points, while teammate Shaq Goodwin finished with 21. Gibby led Heritage with 21 points.
"We learned a lesson," McKinney said. "We've been playing to the level of our competition all season. You can't do that in the playoffs or you're going home. I think we'll be in better shape for our next game."
Southwest (23-5) is the only Georgia team to defeat Miller Grove this season. The Panthers lost twice to Miller Grove in the regular season before pulling off the 61-56 upset last Saturday.
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