Towns County denies defending champs

Towns County dominated the paint and survived a second-half 3-point barrage by defending champion Hancock Central for a 64-60 victory in the Class A Public boys championship game Saturday at the Macon Coliseum.

Jake McTaggart scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Towns County finish with a 44-18 advantage in points in the paint.

The victory gave Towns County (25-3) its first state championship in boys basketball. Hancock Central came up short in its bid for a third state title and finished 15-2.

“It means a lot to the whole community, to Towns County, to Hiawassee, to Young Harris, to all of them,” Indians coach Rob Benson said. “We’re just so proud of these boys and what they’ve accomplished.”

Hancock Central got 18 points each from frontcourt players Leroy Wilson and Marquavious Lawrence, but much of their work came from the outside. Wilson made three 3-pointers in 13 attempts, and Lawrence made a living on free-throw-line jumpers.

McTaggart had four points in each of the first two quarters but scored 14 in the second half, mostly on layups, putbacks and short jumpers near the basket. He also got plenty of help. Kolby

Moss had 14 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Collin Crowder had 12 points and nine rebounds, while Kyle Oakes and Aidan Berrong scored eight points each.

“I really do think we have the best big man in 1A basketball,” Benson said of McTaggart. “I can pretty much confidently say that, maybe even in some of the other classifications. He’s a great big man, so we’re going to feed him. … We knew our strength was in the paint. We knew that’s where we had to get the ball.”

There wasn’t much separation between the teams until late in the first half, when Towns County outscored the Bulldogs 7-0 in the final 1:35 to take a 31-24 lead into halftime.

Five minutes into the third quarter, the lead was still seven points until Hancock Central’s Wilson converted a four-point play, adding a free throw after being fouled while making a 3-pointer, to cut the deficit to 39-34. It was the first 3-pointer of the game for Wilson, who missed his first eight attempts, and it got the Bulldogs warmed up.

Hancock Central made seven 3-pointers in the second half and finished the game 9 for 40 from long range, but the Bulldogs never got closer than three points.

Jamal Taylor made four 3-pointers, including one with 11 seconds left that provided the final points of the game, and finished with 16 points.