Kareem Sanders grabbed the state championship trophy and hoisted it toward the frenzied Wilkinson County cheering section at the Macon Coliseum. It was the third time in four years that the senior was able to celebrate a state title, the seventh in the history of the storied program.
This one wasn’t pretty. Wilkinson County’s 72-64 win over Turner County in the championship game of the Class A public-school division wasn’t determined until the final seconds of a contest that contained 79 free throws.
“We were more hungry,” said Sanders, who won state as a freshman, junior and senior. “To come back and win it this year says a lot about our program. It means a lot.”
Wilkinson County (27-6) was led by Torrico Simmons with 18 points and Sanders with 10 points and six rebounds. Turner County (26-5) got 18 points and eight rebounds from Shaquil Baldwin and 14 points and 14 points and nine rebounds from Antonio Graddic.
“We had to play team ball tonight,” Simmons said. “They played us hard.”
Wilkinson County led 62-54 with 2:02 remaining when Turner County began to foul in order to force the Warriors to win the game at the line. The strategy began to work. Wilkinson County began to miss, and Turner County crept closer and closer, drawing to within 66-64 with 11.4 seconds left.
Simmons made a free throw to put Wilkinson County ahead by three points with 9.9 seconds left, but Turner County was unable to launch the tying shot and bobbled the ball out of bounds.
Turner County shot 41 percent from the line (16-of-39) and only 31.5 percent from the floor (23-of-73). Wilkinson County made 70 percent of its free throws (28 of 40) to hold off the challenge.
“You’re going to have those ebbs and flows, as long as you make them when you have to,” Wilkinson County coach Aaron Geter Jr. said.
The game wasn’t big on style points. Turner County jumped around on defense and slapped balls away all game, but never mounted a consistent attack on offense. Turner County forced 16 turnovers, but negated them by committing 16 of its own.
Wilkinson County jumped to a 14-6 lead, only to have Turner County score eight consecutive to tie the score 14-14 on Antonio Graddic’s basket. But the success was short-lived. Wilkinson County went on a 15-2 run and led 29-13 at intermission.
Turner County tried to get back in the game on the strength of a 9-2 run to open the third quarter, The Rebels got as close as four points on two occasions, but Wilkinson County used a three-point play from Trey Little and a 3-point basket from Quantavious Jones to push the lead back to double-digits at 43-32 and take command.
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