The third day of the GHSA basketball tournament at the Macon Coliseum was a good one for first time champions. Three of the four titles went to schools who had never before won a state championship.

The River Ridge girls and the Alexander and Sandy Creek boys both came away with crowns for the first time. The other winner was Hebron Christian, a winner for the second time in three years.

The weeklong basketball celebration will conclude on Saturday. The day begins at 11 a.m. with the Class A Division I girls game between St. Francis and Galloway and the boys game between King’s Ridge and Mount Pisgah Christian at 1 p.m. The Adaptive Sports championship, which matches Gwinnett vs. Houston County, will be played at 3 p.m., followed by the boys slam dunk contest at 5 p.m. The Class 7A championship complete the festivities, with the Brookwood and Norcross girls meeting at 5:30 p.m. and the Wheeler and Cherokee boys playing at 7:30 p.m.

Here are Friday’s results:

Class 3A girls: Aubrey Beckham and Kerra Butler each scored 16 and Hebron Christian finished as the only unbeaten team in the state. The Lions, who finished second a year ago, came back to win the program’s second championship.

Butler added 13 rebounds and Beckham had six rebounds, six assists and two steals. Amiya Porter scored 12 and Nicky Daniel added 11 for Hebron (33-0).

Lumpkin County (26-5) was led by Averie Jones with 20 points and Mary Mullinax had 21 rebounds.  The Indians were the defending Class 3A champions.

Class 3A boys: Sandy Creek 66, Cedar Grove 37

The Sandy Creek defense shut out Cedar Grove in the second quarter, went on a 21-0 run, and easily secured the school’s first state championship. It was the fourth time this season the Patriots have beaten Cedar Grove.

Micah Smith led Sandy Creek (26-6) with 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. P.J. Green added 16 points, Vic Newsom scored 14 and Amari Brown added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Cedar Grove (20-10) was led by Emmanuel Green with 11 points and eight rebounds and Darius Reynolds with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Class 6A girls: River Ridge 68, Lovejoy 50

Mataya Gayle had 25 points, nine rebounds and five assist to lead River Ridge past defending state champion Lovejoy to win its first state championship.

The Knights (27-6) also got 15 points from Kayla Cleveland and 11 points, four rebounds, three assist and five steals from Sophia Pearl.

Lovejoy (26-6) was led by La’nya Foster with 16 points and 12 rebounds and Bryanna Preston, who played most of the game in foul trouble and scored 13.

 

Class 6A boys: Alexander 64, Lee County 42

Braeden Lue scored 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting and added 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks to lead Alexander to its first state championship.

The Cougars (27-5) broke open a tied game by scoring the final 13 points of the third quarter. Noah Melson scored 15 points with six rebounds and Jay Quan Nelson added 11 points.

Lee County (28-4) was led by Ousmane Kromah with 14 points, nine rebounds and two steals.