The Class 3A basketball season will end Wednesday when the Sandy Creek boys play Cedar Grove at 7 p.m. and the Cherokee Bluff girls face Baldwin at 5 p.m. at the Centreplex in Macon.
Two-time defending boys champion Sandy Creek (28-3) had never won a state championship before beating Cedar Grove 66-38 in the 2022-23 state championship game. Since that victory, the Patriots have lost just six games – three of them last season before a 74-49 state championship victory against Johnson-Savannah, and three this season. In the Patriots’ 71-42 victory against Windsor Forest in the semifinals this year, the Patriots were led by senior guard Kingston Hawkins, who scored 18 points, senior guard Jared White, who tallied 15 points, junior forward Avohn Florence, who added 14 points and junior guard Amari Latimer, who finished with 10 points. Through the playoffs, Sandy Creek has beaten Monroe Area 84-32, Westover 60-47, Cross Creek 53-52 and Windsor Forest. Head coach Jon-Michael Nickerson – who played college basketball at Kennesaw State — led the Patriots to the semifinals in his first season at the helm in 2017 and coached the team to the championship game in 2021 before losing to Cross Creek 57-49. A second-round loss in 2022 was unacceptable, according to Nickerson, and the team responded with two-straight championship victories and an opportunity to win a third-in-a-row. Nickerson has helped build Sandy Creek into a playoff power by scheduling extremely difficult pre-region games of higher-classed in-state teams and uber-talented out-of-state schools, which has proved beneficial.
Cedar Grove (28-3) enters the state championship game riding a 20-game winning streak and have given up just three losses this season – to Class 6A finalist Wheeler 75-54, Class 6A semifinalist Grayson 71-49 and the Villages Charter (FL) 68-58 in overtime on Dec. 14. Cedar Grove is trying for the team’s second overall title and first state championship since 1997. The Saints are outscoring opponents 2,130-1,449 and four players are scoring in double-figures, leading the team into the title game for just the second time since 1997. Junior forward Emanuel Green leads the team with 19 points per game. Senior guard Keith Gillespie adds 14 points per game while senior Yusef Bowyer adds 13 points per game and junior Javonte Floyd adds 11 points per game. Through the playoffs, the Saints have beaten Harlem 61-48, Luella 56-50, Baldwin 56-49 and Monroe 53-45 in the semifinals at Fort Valley State. In the semifinals victory against Monroe, Green led with 18 points and nine rebounds while Bowyer scored 13 points with nine assists. Gillespie and Javonte Floyd scored eight points each. Cedar Grove will need to break a trend to secure the title. The Saints lost to former Region 5 rival Sandy Creek twice last season – 65-49 on Jan. 23 and 84-45 on Feb. 9 – and four times in 2022-23.
Bristol Kersh’s running bank shot lifted Cherokee Bluff (24-8) past Jenkins 56-55 in the semifinals and into the program’s first-ever state championship game. And to upend the defending champion Baldwin Braves at the Macon Centreplex, the Bears will have to retain that momentum gained at Fort Valley State. Kersh, a 5-foot-7 sophomore, finished with 17 points in the semifinals and highlights a talented roster headed to the championship game. Team captain Claire Carlson scored 23 points for the Bears against Jenkins and can score from beyond the arc with relative ease. Carlson and Kersh each tallied 21 points in the quarterfinals victory against Monroe. A young team, senior power forward Brooklyn Phillips is the only senior on the roster alongside four juniors – Carlson, shooting forward Audrey Graham, shooting forward Mackinley Warren and 6-1 center Halle Wilson. Cherokee Bluff was created in 2018 and the girls team has only advanced to the playoffs once – a first-round loss to Sonoraville 63-40 in 2019 – prior to this season. This season, Cherokee Bluff moved through the playoffs beating North Clayton 71-45, Dougherty 56-40, Monroe 63-54 and Jenkins in the semifinals at Fort Valley. The Bears are 24-8 on the season and outscoring opponents 1,832-1,423 and have not lost since Feb. 7 when the Bears fell to Jefferson 63-54 in overtime.
The Class 4A defending-champion Baldwin Braves (25-6) are back and trying for the team’s fifth state championship after outlasting Fayette County 62-55 in the semifinals at Fort Valley State. Baldwin won three-straight championships from 1986-1988 under head coach Janet Allman. In the past three years, Baldwin has advanced to the semifinals in 2022, the championship game in 2023 and a championship victory last season. Now that Baldwin reclassed to 3A, the Braves have not let off the gas. The team is outscoring opponents 1,943-1,121 and has only lost six games this season, including three-straight losses from Jan. 20 to Jan. 25. Since that streak of losses, Baldwin has won 12 games including playoff victories against Adairsville 60-52, White County 62-47, Heritage-Catoosa 50-49 and Fayette County. Baldwin features three players scoring in double-figures and a pair of seniors carry the weight. Kassidy Neal leads the team in scoring with 17 points per game along with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals per game. Senior Janaye Walker is scoring 16 points with a team-leading 15 rebounds per game along with three assists and two steals. Sophomore Suri Clark is scoring 11 points per game with eight rebounds and two steals per game.
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