The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Meadowcreek clinches first state title
Mustangs put an end to reputation as perpetual losers.
Since it opened in 1986, Meadowcreek athletics has been the punchline of many bad jokes. In Gwinnett County, where state titles seem to be minted by the dozen, Meadowcreek was the exception. The Mustangs were always the homecoming opponent, the perpetual last-place team.
That changed on Saturday night.
The Mustangs, thanks to a tremendous defensive fourth quarter, defeated rival Norcross 56-43 to win the Class AAAAAAA boys basketball championship at Georgia Tech. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, coach Curtis Gilleylen turned his tall body toward the Meadowcreek crowd and raised his arms in triumph.
It was the first state championship in school history.
The powder-blue clad Mustang students seated in the end zone erupted in delight, even more so when the players and Gilleylen approached them afterward to celebrate the moment. The bedlam lasted quite a while, until players had finished hugging all their parents, relatives and close friends and retreated into the quiet of the locker room.
“We’re going down as legends ... everybody,” said Meadowcreek senior Jamir Chapman. “This is our night. It was fabulous.”
Gilleylen said, “This is fulfilling. All the hard work ... all the naysayers ... everybody who doubted us.”
This was the fourth time the two Region 7 foes had played. Norcross had won each of the previous meetings, but two games were decided on buzzer-beaters, causing Meadowcreek to believe it had a chance. On Saturday the game was tied at 36-36 in the fourth quarter when the Mustangs went on a 13-1 run and took command.
“We knew we had to come in and execute at the end of the game,” junior Amari Kelly said. “The last three times we played them, we were up in the fourth quarter and made some bad decisions,
missed free throws. We knew we were the better team. We just had to finish out the game strong.”
Meadowcreek (26-6) was led in scoring by Dequarius Nicholas, who had 16 points and eight rebounds. Chapman added 13 points and five rebounds and Kelly had 12 points and eight rebounds. Cory Hightower had a gamehigh 11 rebonds.
Norcross (28-4) got 14 points and seven rebounds from Kyle Sturdivant and 13 points from Brandon Boston, who fouled out with 6:10 left in the game. It was the second straight year the Blue Devils have lost in the championship game.
“For us the key was slowing the pace,” Gilleylen said. “If we’d got in a running match, we’d definitely got blown out. We were getting the ball inside and we knew most of their sets and we were trying to limit them from going where they wanted to go. We were successful with that.”
“It feels good,” Gilleylen said. “This is for the Meadowcreek community. We’ve been an underdog community for so long. This is going to put Meadowcreek on the map.”
BOYS
AAAAAA / Langston Hughes 85, Gainesville 78: Hughes beat Gainesville in the final for the second straight year. It helped that Hughes had Landers Nolley on the roster. The 6-foot-7 Virginia Tech signee finished his career in style, scoring 34 points – including 17 of 20
from the line — and adding 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and a blocked shot. It was the third straight year Nolley has been part of state championship team; he won a title in Chicago before moving to Fairburn for his junior season.
AAAAA / Warner Robins 67, Miller Grove 64: Jacolbey Owens drained a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to give Warner Robins the 67-64 win Thursday over Miller Grove for the GHSA Class 5A state title at the Macon Coliseum. “We really didn’t have a game plan,” said Owens, who finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting. “We were gonna call timeout, but I got him up in the air, I shot, and it went in.”
AAAA / Upson-Lee 70, St. Pius 54: Despite having three regulars arrested earlier this week and unable to play, Upson-Lee was able to eventually wear down a game St. Pius team and come away with its second straight state championship. Upson-Lee senior Tye Fagan, the reigning Class AAAA player of the year, led the Knights with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.
AAA / GAC 67, Jenkins 53: Greater Atlanta Christian clawed back from a 25-20 halftime deficit and took the lead for good midway through the third quarter en route to the title. Hunter McIntosh led GAC with 19 points. AA / Thomasville 66, Vidalia 31: The Bulldogs made the trip from near the
Florida border to Macon more than worthwhile with a dominating performance in every phase. “It was like we were playing the Warriors, playing Golden State,” Vidalia head coach Tommy Dalley said. “They’re the best team we’ve seen or played this year.”
A Private / Aquinas 65, St. Francis 60: When coach Harrison Zeigler arrived at Aquinas a year ago, his goal was to snag a state championship within three seasons. On Friday the Fighting Irish cut a year off the timeline. It wasn’t easy. Aquinas led by 11 points with 7:07 remaining, but St. Francis cut the lead to one point on Dwon Odom’s 3-pointer with 48.7 seconds left. After making a pair of free throws to push the lead back to three points, the Irish breathed a sigh of relief when St. Francis missed a couple of 3-pointers that would have tied the game.
A Public / Wilkinson Co. 71, Montgomery Co. 68: Two free throws each in the final 28 seconds from Raequan Smith and Brandon Mayes
sealed the deal as blue-collar Wilkinson County held off Montgomery County for its third straight title, and 10th under head coach Aaron Geter.
GIRLS
AAAAAAA / Westlake 60, Newton 45: A three-point play by Newton’s Jurnee Smith cut Westlake’s lead to 45-41 with less than three minutes to play, but the Lions outscored Newton 15-4 in the final 1:45 to pull away and claimed their first state title in program history. AAAAAA / Lovejoy 57, Harrison 41: Top-ranked Lovejoy broke open a close game with a 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter and went on to claim its first title in program history. Harrison lost in the final for the second consecutive season. AAAAA / Buford 60, Flowery Branch 49: Led by Tory Ozment, Buford defeated its region rival for the fourth time this season and successfully defended its Class AAAAA championship.
AAAA / Spalding 58,
Henry County 46: Spalding used hot 3-point shooting to build a lead in the first half and a strong defensive effort to make it hold up. The Jaguars won their final 17 games of the season en route to the first state title in program history. Spalding had never advanced past the quarterfinals before this year. AAA / Johnson-Sav. 62, GAC 50: The Atom Smashers (23-6) never trailed and led by as many as 15. In last years’s title game, Johnson lost to Beach, its Savannah neighbor and main rival. “It feels much better,” junior J’Maya Cutter said.“We don’t have to go back with a runner-up banner, a runnerup trophy.”
AA / Laney 63, Josey 40: Laney(32-0) capped an undefeated season by beating its Augusta rivals for the fifth time this season and giving coach Otis Smart his third title in the last four years. All five losses for Josey (29-5) came against Laney, which extended its winning streak to 62 games. A Public / Greenville 73, Marion County 52: The Patriots dominated fom the opening tip, beating Marion County for the third time this season, this one for their first state championship. Greenville won the two regular-season meetings between the two teams, but Marion County claimed the Region 4-A title when the teams met for the third time. A private / Wesleyan 61, Holy Innocents’ 44: The third-ranked Wolves avenged three earlier losses to topranked Holy Innocents’ with the victory and earned their 13th state title in 16 years. It was the fourth consecutive meeting between the teams in the championship game, with Wesleyan winning three of the four.
ScoreAtlanta