The closing day of the GHSA basketball state championships at the Centreplex in Macon will see the ending of the seasons for Classes A Division I and 6A with the AAASP Wheelchair championship also. This file will be updated throughout the day after each game goes final.
Class 6A Boys – Wheeler 61, Newton 56
Key free throws, defensive prowess and quality clock management protected and expanded Wheeler’s lead in the final minutes to help secure the program’s 10th state championship and fourth for head coach Larry Thompson.
For Thompson, his mind went to his mom when the clock struck zero.
“The simple fact that, the last time we were here, my mother had an illness and passed out in the tunnel and that was the last state championship game she was able to see me coach,” he said. “These guys have been nothing but great, man, but I have been overcome with emotion thinking about my mom.”
It was a back-and-forth affair in the final minutes to decide the Class 6A championship game. Wheeler was nursing a 55-52 lead with 1:05 left in the game when sophomore guard Kevin Savage III brought the ball down, caught his defender misjudging his stance, and drove to the basket and converted a contested lay-up to expand the lead.
“Kudos to Newton,” Thompson said. “Those boys came out to play today and we had to dig deeper to find just a little more toughness. We were playing a little scared. We were scared to make mistakes instead of going out to win the game.”
Newton narrowed the margin on a 3-pointer from senior guard Zach Harden with 48 seconds left and a defensive stop allowed the Rams a fast break on which Bryce Jackson was fouled at the rim with the shot being blocked by another player with 19 seconds left.
Jackson converted the first of two free throws, and Wheeler got the rebound, was fouled, and made both free-throws to put Wheeler ahead 59-56 with 14 seconds left. On the inbound play, Newton tried for an immediate 3-pointer and on the rebound, there was a jump-ball with five seconds left, giving the ball back to the Rams.
Newton inbounded the ball and, again on the rebounds, a jump-ball gave the ball and the momentum to Wheeler, helping to secure the victory.
Savage and Colben Landrew each scored 19 points to lead the Wildcats.
“It was a good game, we just fought,” Landrew said. “A lot of things happened and we just fought. Everybody was fighting at the end and we were getting a little nervous but we have fought through adversity before.”
Wheeler previously won titles in 1994, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2023.
Newton was paced by 26 points from Harden and 16 points from Jordan Green.
Class 6A Girls – Newton 59, Grayson 56
Grayson’s girls had only lost two games since last year’s 65-44 victory against North Paulding in the Class 7A state championship game. They entered this year’s championship game against Newton, a team they’d beaten three times this season, with all the confidence of a team bound for a second-consecutive title.
Newton, which was beaten by North Paulding in last year’s second round, didn’t care about Grayson’s record and it paid little attention to the 0-3 regular season drought against the defending champions. As the saying goes, Grayson won the battle, but Newton won the war.
And a defensive stand with 15 seconds left in the game while nursing a 59-56 lead was the decisive blow that did Grayson in, giving Newton its first-ever title.
“These girls worked their butts off all season long,” said Newton head coach Jawan Bailey. “I am so proud of them. Thank you to the Newton High School community for the support.”
Newton entered the fourth quarter leading 48-44 and a 3-pointer from Grayson’s Liyah Williams cut lead lead to one point. A lay-in from sophomore guard Mya Perry expanded the lead to 50-47 and a 3-pointer from sophomore guard London Smith expanded Newton’s lead to 53-47.
Junior Coco Randolph’s 3-pointer narrowed the Grayson deficit to 53-50 but key free throws from senior Camille Files put Newton ahead 55-50. Senior Tatum Brown narrowed the margin with a lay-up but a free-throw from Smith kept Newton ahead 56-52 with 3:36 left in the game.
Randolph converted two free-throws to narrow Grayson’s deficit to 56-54 but a free-throw from Smith and senior forward Desiree Davis made it a four-point game with 1:38 left. Brown converted a lay-up to cut into the 58-56 deficit with 1:26 remaining but a free-throw with :15 seconds left kept Newton ahead for good.
Smith scored 23 points with 11 rebounds and three assists for Newton and Files added 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. Perry tallied eight points with six rebounds and two assists while Davis had seven points with four rebounds.
Grayson – which was trying for the team’s second state championship — was led by Brown (16 points, six rebounds), Randolph (15 points, six rebounds) and Zoie Lofton ()11 points, two rebounds, three assists).
Class A-D1 Boys – B.E.S.T. Academy 62, Southwest-Macon 56
It took a 12-1 run in the waning minutes for BEST Academy to claim its first-ever state championship while sending the local crowd Southwest-Macon fans home heartbroken in the second game of the day at the Centreplex in Macon.
“This means everything,” said BEST head coach Brian Weeden. “Our guys were relentless. We have been on the road since the first week. So this is nothing new to us. We have seen the fans, we’ve been the only ones in the gym for us. All of this pays off. Everything we do in the dark is going to come to the light in front of a crowd.”
BEST led 14-11 after the first quarter before weathering a 17-10 effort from Southwest in the second quarter to trail 28-24 at the half. Southwest pushed the advantage to 45-37 entering the fourth quarter.
Brothers Josh (16 points) and Jacob Mickell (15 points) alongside Nicholas Dozier (14 points), Xion Evans (9 points) and Alexander Barrett (8 points) did the scoring for BEST.
Southwest – which packed the Centreplex with its fans in hopes of the program’s sixth title and first since 1989 – was paced by a 31-point effort from junior guard Caron Howard and a 10-point effort from junior Chase Dupree.
Class A-D1 Girls – Fannin County 51, Banks Co. 42
Fannin County’s path to its third state title took 26 years but after trailing 17-14 after the first quarter and 23-20 at the half, the Rebels outscored Banks County 31-19 in the second half to secure the victory in the opening game of the GHSA’s final day in Macon.
Junior shooting guard Maggie Ledford scored 22 points with seven rebounds and two assists to lead Fannin while junior center Reese Lewis had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Banks County – which was trying for the program’s first-ever title – was led in scoring by Ryleigh and Reese Murphy, who each scored nine points. Sophomore forward Marleigh Dale had five points with 11 rebounds for Banks.
Slam Dunk Contest
Winner – Trion’s Sam Mobbs
Runner-up – Bradwell Institute’s Jalyn Sweat
Third – Druid Hills’ Olurermi Guerro
AAASP – Houston Sharks 37 Clayton Eagles 34
The Houston County Sharks won the program’s 11th overall state championship.
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