Cedar Grove, the No. 1-ranked Class 3A boys basketball team, is headed to state finals to face Sandy Creek, the two-time defending champion.
No. 1 Savannah and No. 2 McIntosh County Academy, the best Class A Division II boys teams, also punched their tickets to next week’s finals Friday night. They’ll play each other for the fourth time this season, this one for a state title.
And Cherokee Bluff’s girls and Washington-Wilkes girls are in the state finals for the first time. They’d never won a state-tournament game until this month. Cherokee Bluff won Friday night with a shot at the buzzer.
Here’s a look at the semifinal games played in classes 3A, 2A and A Division II. Semifinals in 6A, 4A and A Division I will be played Saturday.
Class 3A-A private semifinal wrapup
Class 3A at Fort Valley State
Girls: Cherokee Bluff, a 7-year-old Hall County school, is in the finals for the first time after beating Jenkins of Savannah 68-66. Bristol Kersh banked in a 17-foot shot behind the foul line at the buzzer to break the 66-66 tie. Cherokee Bluff’s Claire Carlson scored 23 points. Cherokee Bluff will play third-ranked Baldwin of Milledgeville, a 62-55 winner over Fayette County. Kassidy Neal scored 22 points for Baldwin. Baldwin was a champion in 2021.
See Cherokee Bluff’s game winner at the 6:00 mark:
Boys: Cedar Grove, seeking its first state championship since 1997, beat Monroe 53-46. Cedar Grove’s Manny Green scored 18 points and had eight rebounds and six assists. Sandy Creek, ranked No. 3, beat Windsor Forest of Savannah 71-42. Kingston Hawkins scored 18 points. The Cedar Grove-Sandy Creek final will be a rematch of the 2022 final that Sandy Creek won 66-38.
Class 2A at Georgia Southwestern, Americus
Girls: No. 3 Hardaway of Columbus beat No. 1 Josey 65-45 and will face No. 2 Murray County, a 71-66 winner over No. 8 Morgan County, for the championship. Hardaway was the 2024 Class 4A runner-up but will seeking its first state title. Murray County was a semifinalist last year but is in its first state final since the 1960s.
Boys: No. 4 Butler of Augusta defeated No. 1 Carver-Columbus 78-73 in overtime. No. 7 Union County beat No. 10 Tattnall County 54-38. Butler was in the semifinals last year but hasn’t won state since 1966. Union County has never won a state title and last made a state final in 1971.
Class A Division II at Georgia College, Milledgeville
Girls: The finalists, both making their first state-championship appearances, will be No. 1 Wilcox County and unranked Washington-Wilkes. Wilcox beat Screven County 75-47 behind Jailiah Roberts’ 22 points. Washington-Wilkes beat Macon County 66-55. Washington-Wilkes was 8-15 last season and had never won a region title on state-playoff game until this year.
Boys: Savannah defeated Warren County 64-55 while McIntosh County Academy beat Greene County 49-41. Savannah has beaten MCA two out of three times this season. A title would be Savannah’s first since 2001 and MCA’s first in history.
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