Savannah area teams advance to the GHSA Elite Eight
The New Hampstead basketball team had a turning point in its season back in December after a loss to Greer of South Carolina.
"The guys were bickering as they came off the court, and we had a meeting where we talked about coming together to reach our goals as a team," Phoenix Coach Jeff Williams said.
The Phoenix have reeled off 16 consecutive wins since that moment — with the most important coming on Saturday night as New Hampstead beat visiting Cairo 66-46 to punch its ticket to the Class 4A Elite Eight for the first time in school history. New Hampstead (23-5) will be on the road to face North Oconee (27-3) in a quarterfinal matchup set for Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m.
Sophomore Ja'Cari Glover had 17 points while dominating down low, and freshman AJ Williams, Jeff Williams' son, had 15 points. Toland Daughtry, the senior guard who was recently named the Region 3-4A Player of the Year, had 10 points while blocking five shots. Ra'Shawn Truell had 10 points and Antoine Youmans added eight in a balanced attack for the Phoenix.
"It's tournament time, so we needed to come out with intensity because there are a lot of upsets at this point in the season," Daughtry said. "I think our strength is our depth. We've got one of the best big men in the state (in the 6foot-5 Glover) and we have guards that move the ball around well. We can count on each other to get baskets when we need them."
In other Class 4A action, Benedictine knocked off visiting Westover 66-52 as the No. 2 seed Cadets advanced to the quarterfinals. BC (16-7) is set to host Seckinger (23-7) on Wednesday.
Junior guard Caleb Jones led the way once again with 26 points, five rebounds and five assists in the win. La'Don Bryant had 15 points and eight
rebounds, while Houston Jackson had 10 points and four assists for the Cadets.
"Westover plays scrappy defense and we've been working on settling down and having more patience in our offensive sets," BC Coach Frank Williams said. "We executed that well, which allowed us to get good looks."
In Class 3A, Johnson, the No. 2 seed out of Region 3-3A went on the road and walked away with an impressive 61-56 win at Cross Creek in Augusta.
Senior Favion Kirkwood had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, while his classmate Josh Quarterman had 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. Junior Kadin Davis played a huge role with 15 points off the bench and Cormari Jones had 10 points, six assists and five steals for the Atom Smashers (18-11).
"Cross Creek is a tough place to win, but my guys were locked in after a good week of preparation," Johnson coach Chuck Campbell said. "They had some length with 6-foot-8 and 6-6 guy, but we knew who they were and never let them get open. We did a good job boxing out."
Johnson is set to host Hebron Christian (25-3) on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 6:30 p.m.
Savannah Country Day, the Region 3-3A champion, saw its season come to an end in a 52-47 loss to visiting Carver. The Hornets, who made a memorable run to the region title as a No. 7 seed, finished the year with a 15-16 record.
In Class A Division I, Savannah High beat visiting Heard County 75-61 behind 24 points from Maki Joyner, as Jermontae Brown also had a big game with 16 points.
The Blue Jackets improved to 21-8 and are set to host Darlington (24-5) on Wednesday at a time to be announced.
On the girls side, Bryan County is the last team from the Greater Savannah area standing as BC rolled to a 63-49 win over Heard County.
Junior Ashanti Brown had a dominating game with 29 points and 19 rebounds. Kayley Wedlow had 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Jasmine Mikell had 13 points, four steals and four assists.
Bryan County (26-3) will be on the road to face Rabun County (23-6) on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at a time to be announced.
GIAA
St. Andrew's, the two-time defending Class 3A champion, punched its ticket to the state semifinals with a 6564 overtime win over Dominion Christian.
Junior guard Zayden Edwards led the way for the Lions with 30 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals in the win.
The Lions (22-7) are set to face Lakeview Academy (24-5) in a Final Four matchup at Georgia College & State University with tipoff set for 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28.
In GIAA Class A action, defending state champion Memorial Day edged Harvester Christian 53-51 behind 22 points from 6-8 senior Matas Aidietis to advance to the state semis.
Memorial Day (13-8) is set to meet up with Monsignor Donovan (15-9) at Brewton-Parker on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 in a semifinal matchup.
SCISA
Bethesda Academy played in the SCISA Class 2A finals on Saturday at the Sumter Civic Center in South Carolina and the Blazers finished as state runner-up after a 74-43 loss to Cathedral Academy. Senior Ashton Wright and his younger brother, Israel, a junior, led the Blazers with 11 points each in the setback.
It was an impressive run for the Blazers under first-year coach Clyde Wormley, as Bethesda finished the season with a 21-7 record.
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN