Trailing by 15 points at halftime and nine in the final two minutes, No. 1-ranked Woodward Academy shocked No. 2 Milton 58-56 on Jarvis Hayes Jr.’s 18-foot shot at the buzzer Saturday night in a Class 5A second-round basketball game.
Norcross, Monroe, Fannin County, Hebron Christian and Paideia also had nice wins in the final day of the round-of-16.
Woodward’s comeback was best of show. The War Eagles, playing at home, trailed 31-16 at halftime and 56-49 in inside of two minutes and scored the game’s final nine points.
Hayes, a son of the former Georgia and NBA star Jarvis Hayes Sr., scored 15 points and had seven rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Hayes is a 6-foot-5 guard rated the No. 36 sophomore prospect nationally by 247Sports.
Woodward’s Deke Cooper had 15 points and six rebounds. Zac Foster had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Milton had been ranked No. 1 most of the season but fell to No. 2 after suffering an upset in its region tournament.
In Class 6A, the highest, four top-10 teams were knocked out, with Norcross earning the most impressive belt notch. The Blue Devils, ejected from the rankings for finishing second to Peachtree Ridge in its region tournament earlier this month, defeated No. 3 McEachern 63-60 on the road.
Miles Clanton scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds for the winners. Norcross is in the quarterfinals for the eighth time in nine seasons.
Also in 6A, No. 6 Etowah beat No. 8 Buford 64-61; No. 4 Newton beat No. 10 Peachtree Ridge 73-51; and No. 9 Pebblebrook beat No. 7 Lambert 85-59.
In Class 4A, No. 9 McDonough beat No. 4 Southwest DeKalb 78-70. McDonough’s Zion Greene scored 31 points, and Zaiden Greene had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Monroe, an Albany school, had the best win in Class 3A with its 63-58 victory over Pickens, which lost two of its last three games after starting 27-0. Monroe is in the quarterfinals for the fifth time in six seasons while denying Pickens its first quarter since 2000.
In Class A Division I, Fannin County made history again with a 74-53 victory over No. 7 Dublin. Fannin (20-9) had never won a state-tournament game until last week’s victory over Brantley County. Now Fannin, a Georgia mountain school, has its first road playoff victory and its first berth into a state quarterfinal.
Two unranked Class 3A-A private schools bagged top-10 opponents.
Paideia of Atlanta beat No. 6 Christian Heritage 61-45. Paideia was the 2024 Class A Division I runner-up but finished fifth in its region this season.
Hebron Christian of Lilburn beat No. 5 Walker of Marietta 73-59. Hebron has made one other quarterfinals, which was last season. Josiah Deagle scored 17 points.
The eight No. 1-ranked teams won handily.
Those include Class 6A’s Grayson, which beat Meadowcreek 76-38. Caleb Holt, the state’s No. 1 junior prospect, scored 19 points and had 17 rebounds.
Class 3A-A private’s Holy Innocents' defeated Landmark Christian 88-62. Caleb Wilson, the state’s No. 1 senior prospect, scored 31 points and had 13 rebounds.
Class 3A’s Cedar Grove beat Luella 68-60. Manny Green led the Saints with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Pace Academy of 4A beat No. 3 Kell 80-50 in Friday night.
The quarterfinals are Tuesday and Wednesday and the semifinals next weekend. The finals in the eight classifications are May 5-8 in Macon.
Boys second-round scores:
Class 6A
Cherokee 60, East Coweta 58
Grayson 76, Meadowcreek 38
Wheeler 76, Chapel Hill 56
Norcross 63, McEachern 60
Pebblebrook 85, Lambert 58
Walton 66, Westlake 50
Newton 73, Peachtree Ridge 51
Etowah 64, Buford 61
Class 5A
Winder-Barrow 56, Lakeside-Evans 47
Woodward Academy 58, Milton 56
Alexander 61, Houston County 58
Hughes 81, Lanier 53
Dutchtown 85, Sequoyah 72
Lee County 69, Rome 52
Tri-Cities 89, Sprayberry 71
Habersham Central 72, Brunswick 60
Class 4A
Union Grove 78, St. Pius 59
Pace Academy 80, Kell 50
Tucker 62, East Forsyth 59
Jonesboro 85, Cambridge 69
Westminster 65, Midtown 52
McDonough 78, Southwest DeKalb 70
Mays 74, Allatoona 34
North Oconee 79, Marist 61
Class 3A
Sandy Creek 60, Westover 47
Cross Creek 82, East Hall 71
Windsor Forest 73, Douglass 59
Dougherty 64, Calhoun 57
Cedar Grove 68, Luella 60
Baldwin 60, Upson-Lee 57
Monroe 63, Pickens 58
Jefferson 65, Peach County 45
Class 2A
Carver-Columbus 75, Burke County 54
Spencer 51, Crisp County 49
Franklin County 61, Salem 54
Butler 64, Columbia 51
KIPP Atlanta Charter 64, Morgan County 48
Union County 75, Westside-Macon 33
Laney 48, South Atlanta 38
Tattnall County 43, Sumter County 41
Class A Division I
Southwest 79, Banks County 41
Temple 87, Swainsboro 61
Toombs County 71, Woodville-Tompkins 67
Vidalia 50, Worth County 46
East Laurens 73, Model 59
Putnam County 72, Commerce 63
Fannin County 74, Dublin 53
B.E.S.T. Academy 72, Rabun County 59
Class A Division II
Warren County 51, Randolph-Clay 38
Hawkinsville 65, Chattahoochee County 58
Early County 58, Turner County 38
Savannah 65, Manchester 49
McIntosh County Academy 48, Taylor County 35
Mitchell County 51, Clinch County 41
Bryan County 58, Mt. Zion, Carroll 57
Greene County 76, Calhoun County 75
Class 3A-A private
North Cobb Christian 76, Mount Bethel Christian 64
St. Francis 67, Calvary Day 52
Greater Atlanta Christian 59, Darlington 54
Greenforest Christian 57, Providence Christian 43
Holy Innocents' 88, Landmark Christian 62
Hebron Christian 73, Walker 59
Mount Paran Christian 73, Lovett 54
Paideia 61, Christian Heritage 54
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