Class 5A semifinals: Hughes girls, Woodward boys advance

“It’s been a goal for eight years,” Trice said. “It’s our third final four so we’re happy to get over the hump. It’s great for the community, for the kids, for everybody that puts something into his team.”

Hughes got off to a sluggish start and the game was tied 7-7 midway in the first quarter before the Panthers began to click on offense. They used a pair of late baskets from Jocelyn Faison to take a 15-8 lead to end the first quarter and Karrell Greene opened the second period with a pair of 3-pointers to get Hughes was off and running.

Greene came off the bench to lead the team with 24 points, including four 3-pointers and provided the spark.

“I’m happy for her because she’s been going through a lot,” Trice said. “She came out and gave us a spark we needed off the bench. She stepped up huge when the starters got in foul trouble. That whole second unit was amazing.”

Faison, a University of Georgia commit, had 12 points and did a nice job distributing. Faison isn’t one to overtly look for her shot and is willing to get others involved in the offense.

“She sees things that I don’t see. She’s a coach in the floor,” Trice said. “She doesn’t have to score. She just does whatever you need for us to win

Hughes also got 10 points from Savannah Robinson-Holmes, nine points from Kylar Rae Johnson and eight from Cornelia Ellington.

“We have five or six players that can really play,” Trice said. “So they know it makes their job easier the more they pass to other people.”

Bradwell Institute (26-4) was led by Parri Parham with 20 points.

Boys: Woodward Academy 63, Hughes 58

Zachary Foster scored 18 and Jonas Hayes Jr. scored 17 to lead No. 2-ranked Woodward Academy to a 63-58 win over No. 9 Hughes in the Class 5A boys semifinal at Georgia State.

The win puts Woodward (27-4) in the state final for the first time since 2020, when the War Eagles won it all. Woodward will play the winner of the Lee County-Tri-Cities game for the championship on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum.

“We were locked in from the very beginning, all the way down the bench,” Woodward Academy coach Anthony Thomas said. “We were excited for each other and when it came down the stretch, even though one of our top guys goes down with foul trouble, nobody blinked. That was a big thing for us.”

The game appeared to be finished after Aaron Jackson buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give the War Eagles a 58-47 lead with three minutes remaining. But Hughes, aided by some shaky Woodward free throw shooting, got to with two points of the lead thanks to a 3-pointer and a three-point play from Shamar Madden. The War Eagles responded with 9.9 seconds remaining when Cooper converted a three-point play to quell the comeback.

“We talk about resilience,” Thomas said. “We’ve played some opponents. Look at our schedule, right? We’ve been put in that position several times, so I give credit to that and to us for just continuing to believe and continuing to work.”

Woodward played some heavy hitters from out of state -- that’s where three of their four losses came from. The only in-state loss came from region rival Tri-Cities.

Woodward distanced itself from Hughes with an 11-0 run to close the first half, which gave the War Eagles a 30-20 lead at the break. Hayes -- the son of Georgia State assistant coach Jarvis Hayes and nephew of GSU head coach Jonas Hayes -- had three baskets during the run, including an impressive steal and breakaway dunk, and Payton Waites finished it with a 3-pointer.

“That was huge,” Thomas said. “We’ve talked about pushing tempo. We were able to get some defensive turnovers, get on the glass and get out on transition. That’s what we do.”

Woodward Academy (27-4) also got eight points from Jackson, who picked up the slack when Deke Cooper got in early foul trouble.

Hughes (24-8) got 20 points from Ethan Carter, who fouled out late in the game, and 10 points apiece from Jaron LaMelle and Madden.