No matter how the games play out on Wednesday, two of the top four boys and girls basketball teams in the state will come from Region 2-AAAA and two of those teams will be Fayette County. The Tigers and Lady Tigers punched their tickets to the Class AAAA Final Four with two nail-biting wins at Fort Valley State on Saturday. It is the first time in school history that either team has made the state semi-finals.

The Tigers took on the Jonesboro Cardinals and won 45-43. The Cardinals defense held Fayette’s leading scorer, Noel Johnson, to 11 points but Johnson led the Tigers with 15 rebounds. Cuincy Carruthers was Fayette County’s leading scorer with 14 points, several of which came in the final minutes, while Brandon Boykin added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists and Terrence Turner scored seven points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Fayette County (22-9) is now 8-2 over their last 10 games and have won three games in a row. The Tigers will face the Miller Grove Wolverines at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Gwinnett Arena.

The Wolverines (26-5) have won seven games in a row and are 12-1 over their last 13 games. Their last loss was a triple-overtime defeat at the hands of Marist on Feb. 5. Miller Grove is led by Mfon Udofia, a 6’2” guard, while Justin Allen, another 6’2” guard, Stephen Hill, a 6’5” forward, and Obataiye Edwards, a 6’6’ center, have all contributed greatly to the team’s success.

The two teams are evenly matched on offense, both averaging over 69 points per game, but Miller grove has the defensive edge, allowing an average of 56.4 points per game to Fayette’s 60.
The winner of this game will meet the winner of Westlake and Columbia in the final.

The Lady Tigers (25-5) edged out Northside, Warner Robins 43-42 to make the Class AAAA semifinal. It was their closest margin of victory since a region tournament win over Woodward Academy (41-38). Anma Onyeuku led Fayette County with 14 points, while Sasha Sims added eight points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and four assists. Kristene Walker and Tessah Holt both scored six points.

The Lady Tigers have won nine in a row and only two of those wins were by margins in the single digits. Their opponent tomorrow night at 7 p.m. is the Madison County Lady Red Raiders (25-6). Madison County is 7-4 over their last 11 games and are a relatively young squad with only three seniors on their roster. They also have some good size with four players 5’10 or taller and two freshmen over 6’.

Madison County is averaging more points a game (60.3 to Fayette’s 46.9), but the Lady Tigers are allowing much less than the Lady Red Raiders (35.4 to Madison’s 46.9).

The winner of this game will meet the winner of Westlake and SW DeKalb in the final on Friday.

Sandy Creek’s Lady Patriots (23-6) missed their chance to make the Class AAA final four when they lost to Monroe Area on Saturday, 56-49.
The Lady Patriots trailed the Lady Canes 12-9 at the end of the first quarter, but a 12-1 run in the second quarter helped Sandy Creek to a 27-16 lead at the half. Monroe Area’s defense stepped up in the second half, as did their shooting. They scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and sealed the victory with some big shots and free throws at the end of the game.

Morgan Toles finished with 18 points for Sandy Creek, while Kenneshia Rich added nine.

Sandy Creek will return all but two players from this year’s squad: Jaquaye Okai and Lillia Stokes.

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