Jaylen Brown and Te’a Cooper aren’t finalists for the Naismith Award as national basketball players of the year for nothing.
The senior star players led their respective Cobb County teams to state titles on Saturday in Macon. Brown’s Wheeler boys team and Cooper’s McEachern girls are ranked No. 1 in the final Atlanta Journal-Constitution rankings.
Brown, who has not made his college choice, scored 22 points and had nine rebounds in a 59-58 victory against Pebblebrook in the Class AAAAAA final. He made two free throws with 0.5 seconds left for the lead.
It was the sixth state title for Wheeler and coach Doug Lipscomb, the first since 2009. Lipscomb is the third coach to win six state titles in the highest class and the first since Don Richardson of Southwest-Macon in 1989.
Cooper, who has signed with Tennessee, scored 26 points in a 58-51 overtime victory against Norcross. McEachern defended its 2014 title despite the December season-ending loss of Caliya Robinson, a 6-foot-3 forward who is signed with Georgia. McEachern was the runner-up in Region 4-AAAAAA and ranked ninth entering the state tournament.
In AAAAA, Brunswick’s boys won the first state title in any sport for their coastal Georgia school. Stephenson’s girls, seeded only third from their region, were a surprise champion. They extended the streak of at least one DeKalb County schools champion each year since 2004.
Jonesboro’s boys defended their championship in AAAA. Buford’s girls won their fourth title in the past seven seasons.
In AAA, Jenkins’ boys of Savannah and Laney’s girls of Augusta won their first GHSA state titles. Each school had won only one other GHSA champion in any sport: Jenkins boys golf (1968) and Laney boys basketball (2012). Laney’s girls basketball program did win titles in the Georgia Interscholastic Association in 1956 and 1961.
Seminole County’s boys won their first title since 1998 in AA. With Georgia coach Mark Fox in attendance, Georgia-committed junior Jordan Harris scored 41 points and had 11 rebounds in a 76-71 victory against Crawford County.
Wesleyan (AA) and Taylor County (A public) both won their 11th state championship in girls basketball, a girls state record. Wesleyan had been 0-3 against Holy Innocents’ (31-1) until a 45-31 victory.
Their coaches also moved up in the record books. Wesleyan’s Jan Azar’s 11 titles are first among girls coaches all-time and second to Selby Buck’s 12, all won through 1951 at Lanier High of Macon. Taylor’s Matt Troutman won his sixth state title.
The Class A public-schools boys champion is Calhoun County, which won its 20th consecutive game and first state title since 1997.
St. Francis swept the boys and girls state titles in the A private-school division. One school has won both titles 16 times in state history. This was the first since Norcross in 2013.
BOYS
Class AAAAAA
1. Wheeler (29-2)
2. Pebblebrook (27-5)
3. Shiloh (28-4)
4. Tucker (29-3)
5. Norcross (27-4)
6. Pope (24-6)
7. Douglas County (22-8)
8. Tift County (26-2)
9. Alpharetta (25-6)
10. McEachern (21-8)
Class AAAAA
1. Brunswick (29-2)
2. Allatoona (29-3)
3. Warner Robins (25-5)
4. Miller Grove (26-4)
5. Cedar Shoals (23-9)
6. M.L. King (24-6)
7. McIntosh (29-1)
8. LaGrange (22-8)
9. Jones County (21-10)
10. Gainesville (25-5)
Class AAAA
1. Jonesboro (32-1)
2. Carrollton (29-3)
3. Johnson-Gainesville (29-1)
4. Liberty County (24-5)
5. Americus-Sumter (26-6)
6. Cairo (20-12)
7. Lithonia (27-3)
8. St. Pius (25-5)
9. Burke County (24-4)
10. Upson-Lee (19-10)
Class AAA
1. Jenkins (29-3)
2. Morgan County (24-8)
3. Laney (29-2)
4. Rutland (27-4)
5. South Atlanta (27-5)
6. Cedar Grove (20-5)
7. Callaway (20-5)
8. Blessed Trinity (24-6)
9. East Hall (24-6)
10. Calhoun (22-4)
Class AA
1. Seminole County (28-3)
2. Crawford County (27-4)
3. Vidalia (23-2)
4. Pace Academy (27-3)
5. Swainsboro (21-10)
6. Greater Atlanta Christian (19-10)
7. Holy Innocents’ (24-6)
8. Model (23-5)
9. Manchester (21-9)
10. Thomasville (22-9)
Class A
1. St. Francis (29-3)
2. Greenforest Christian (27-2)
3. Athens Christian (29-1)
4. Calhoun County (30-2)
5. Greenville (28-3)
6 Hancock Central (25-3)
7. Whitefield Academy (22-10)
8. Wilkinson County (25-5)
9. Treutlen (27-2)
10. North Cobb Christian (19-10
GIRLS
Class AAAAAA
1. McEachern (24-6)
2. Norcross (28-5)
3. Parkview (26-4)
4. Osborne (27-3)
5. Archer (26-6)
6. Mountain View (25-6)
7. Westlake (28-3)
8. South Forsyth (25-5)
9. North Forsyth (25-5)
10. Woodstock (27-2)
Class AAAAA
1. Stephenson (27-5)
2. Mays (27-3)
3. Forest Park (27-5)
4. Sequoyah (27-4)
5. Southwest DeKalb (23-8)
6. Brunswick (28-1)
7. Salem (22-9)
8. Woodland-Stockbridge (23-7)
9. Dutchtown (18-14)
10. Loganville (23-8)
Class AAAA
1. Buford (30-3)
2. Carrollton (24-8)
3. Veterans (30-2)
4. St. Pius (27-4)
5. Jonesboro (28-2)
6. Fayette County (20-11)
7. Americus-Sumter (29-2)
8. Marist (23-5)
9. Griffin (22-6)
10. Monroe (21-10)
Class AAA
1. Laney (29-3)
2. Beach (26-6)
3. Dawson County (29-1)
4. Decatur (29-3)
5. East Hall (20-11)
6. Kendrick (27-3)
7. Calhoun (25-5)
8. Central-Carrollton (25-4)
9. Peach County (23-4)
10. South Atlanta (27-2)
Class AA
1. Wesleyan (25-7)
2. Holy Innocents’ (31-1)
3. Pelham (29-2)
4. Lovett (21-9)
5. Vidalia (25-5)
6. Model (26-3)
7. Manchester (25-3)
8. Armuchee (20-8)
9. Darlington (22-8)
10. Putnam County (23-6)
Class A
1. St. Francis (27-3)
2. Taylor County (31-0)
3. SW Atlanta Christian (28-4)
4. Turner County (28-3)
5. Calvary Day (22-6)
6. Savannah Country Day (27-3)
7. Tattnall Square (27-3)
8. Stratford Academy (22-7)
9. Mitchell County (20-7)
10. Randolph-Clay (19-11)
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