Wheeler basketball

A two-point loss early in the season to Milton was on the minds of Wheeler players as they took the floor in Buford Saturday for a rematch.

But there was much more riding on this one, in the Class 7A Georgia High School Association boys semifinals.

The Wildcats led from wire-to-wire, and by double digits for most of the way, in exacting revenge on Milton in a 59-47 win.

In doing so, they now have a chance to win the seventh state title in school history.

Next Saturday, Wheeler will play either Grayson or McEachern in Macon.

Later Saturday afternoon at Fort Valley State, the Kell girls remained undefeated and reached the state finals for the first time ever with a 60-55 victory over Eagle’s Landing.

After reaching the Final Four for the first time since 2015 on Wednesday in a quarterfinal win over Berkmar, Wheeler can end a five-year trophy drought with one more win.

Sam Hines Jr. scored 19 points for the Wildcats, who once again played stifling defense in holding their opponent to under 50 points for the second game in a row.

Bruce Thornton had a game-high 28 points for Milton, but Wheeler had more contributors on offense.

Wheeler pulled away in the second quarter. Hines scored on a dunk to make the score 22-14, then A.J. Burke and Prince Davies made 3-point shots for a 28-16 score.

Later in the quarter, Hines cut to the baseline, took a pass and threw down another dunk to give Wheeler a 32-20 advantage.

He had 12 points at halftime, and scored only two points in the third quarter, but the Wildcats got a 3-point basket from Maxwell Harris to lead 43-26.

Milton trailed by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter, but never put together enough of a run to threaten Wheeler from there.

The Kell girls were 31-0 on the season coming in to Saturday’s game, led from the opening moments, built a double-digit lead in the second half but had to hang on in the closing seconds.

Kell’s freshman star, Crystal Henderson, tossed in a desperation shot at the halftime buzzer to give the Lady Longhorns a 27-24 lead.

Eagle’s Landing hung around for much of the third quarter, but Henderson provided a spark when she headed down the court on the break, dribbled between her legs and passed to Amaya Moss for an easy basket.

Kell’s lead was 37-32 at that point, and Henderson drained a 3-point shot, followed by Makyah Favors with another 3, and the score was 42-34.

After Kell missed a free throw, Henderson got the rebound, put the ball back up and in the basket for two more points for a 47-34 lead.

Eagle’s Landing called timeout after that, and climbed back in the fourth quarter.

Kell nearly squandered its lead as Eagle’s Landing fought back to trail 57-55 with 40 seconds left.

Then Henderson was fouled, and she made one of two free throws. The Eagles nearly tied it up the other way, but the shot rimmed out and Kell got possession.

Henderson made two free throws with a second left, for a game-high 25 points, to clinch the win for the Lady Longhorns.

Next Friday, Kell will play Buford for the state title, also in Macon.

In the Class 5A boys semifinals on Saturday, Kell was playing in its first state semifinal game, against Dutchtown, also in Fort Valley.

The Longhorns couldn’t hold on to an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter and were forced into overtime. Then Dutchtown got the upper hand early in the extra period and held on for a 62-56 win.

Kell’s best-ever season ended with a 26-6 record.

 

 

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The high school basketball season will extend into the weekend for three East Cobb teams when they play in the Georgia High School Association Final Four.

The Wheeler boys led the whole game Wednesday, then fought off a late challenge from Berkmar, to advance with a 53-43 win at Wildcat Arena in the Class 7A tournament.

At the same time, the Kell boys went on the road and downed Buford 57-45 in Class 5A. On Tuesday, the Kell girls remained undefeated with a 64-54 win over Jones County.

On Saturday, all three teams will compete in the semifinal rounds on neutral sites. The Wheeler boys face Milton in Buford at 4 p.m.

Also at 4 p.m. Saturday, the Kell boys will play Dutchtown in Fort Valley, followed by the Kell girls against Eagle’s Landing at the same venue.

For the Wheeler boys, it’s their first trip to the Final Four under third-year coach Larry Thompson.

“It feels great; this is a place that’s rich with tradition,” he said. “This is what people expect here.”

Thompson succeeded the legendary Doug Lipscomb, who guided Wheeler to six state championships between 1994 and 2015. The last was when the Wildcats’ star was Jaylen Brown, now playing for the Boston Celtics in the NBA.

These Wildcats are built around defense. In the playoffs so far, they held Etowah to under 50 points, scraped by Shiloh with a 65-64 overtime win and also wanted to hold Berkmar under 50.

“That was our game plan,” Thompson said, and for the first half Wheeler didn’t give the Patriots too many good shots.

Wheeler got some key 3-point shooting to build a 31-18 lead, but Berkmar fought back in the third quarter. An alley oop slam dunk cut the Wildcats’ lead to 39-34, and Wheeler led 41-36 going into the fourth quarter.

“We knew they’d make a run,” Thompson said. “I just told our players to persevere. Play tough.”

He had to call a couple of timeouts early in the fourth quarter before Wheeler regained a double-digit lead with 4:20 to play when Prince Davies fed Ja’Heim Hudson for a dunk.

That brought the Wheeler students to their feet, and they remained standing and jumping for joy with the players, as the clock expired.

The Wildcats will be facing Milton for a second time this season, after losing to the North Fulton school 64-62 in late January.

The Final Four experience will be new for both Kell teams, which will be making their semifinal debuts.

The Lady Longhorns are 31-0 and have been rolling for most of the season, with only two close calls since region play began. The Kell boys are 26-5 on the season.

The state championship games will be played next weekend in Macon.

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The Wheeler and Kell boys needed some late dramatics in their second-round games of the Georgia High School Association basketball playoffs this week.

The Kell girls moved on with no problem.

They’re all headed for the Elite 8 next week, with the Wheeler boys and Kell girls playing at home in the quarterfinals.

In the Class 7A boys tournament, Wheeler came into its game Wednesday ranked No. 6, playing host to second-ranked Shiloh, and it lived up to the billing.

The Wildcats topped Shiloh 65-64 in overtime, as Sam Hines made all six free throws in the extra session, to lead Wheeler with 23 points.

Wheeler, which is 21-7 under third-year coach Larry Thompson, gets to stay at home for one more game. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Wildcats will play host to Berkmar, which advanced over Kennesaw Mountain.

In Class 5A, the Kell boys had to travel to Warner Robins, and held on for a 60-53 win on Wednesday that sets them up for a quarterfinal road game on Wednesday against Buford at 6:30 p.m. The Longhorns, who 25-5 on the season, have lost only once since late December.

The Kell girls, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, crushed Lithonia 58-26, running their record to a perfect 30-0. The Lady Longhorns will play at home at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Jones County.

The Sprayberry girls got to play at home in the second round of the Class 6A tournament on Thursday, but fell to Forest Park 66-55. The Lady Jackets ended their season, which included a region championship, with a 19-10 record.

 

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