Day 3 recap: Savannah, Tr-Cities boys, Wilcox County, River Ridge girls win

Big finishes were the story in three of the four final game Friday at the GSHA state championships at the Macon Coliseum.

Savannah’s boys staged a big fourth-quarter rally to win their 12th championship. The River Ridge girls had a huge second half comeback to win their second title in three years. The Tri-Cities boys used a late rally to win their third title since 2019. And the Wilcox County girls won the first championship in school history.

The weeklong event concludes on Saturday with finals in the Class A Division I, Class 6A and Adaptive Sports classifications.

All games can be seen live on GPB-TV or online at GPB.org or on the GPT sports app. Completed games can be watched on demand at GPB.org.

Class 5A girls: River Ridge 52, Hughes 47

Down by 16 points with 3:30 left in the third quarter, River Ridge stormed back by outscoring Hughes 26-5 the rest of the way to win its second state title in three seasons.

Joy Tchamabe came off the bench to lead River Ridge (31-1) with 13 points and six rebounds. Kyla Cantey scored 12, Sophia Pearl had nine points, six rebounds and five assists, and Kayla Cleaveland had eight points and 11 rebounds.

Hughes (29-3) was led by Cornelia Ellington with 12 points, Karrell Greene with 11 points and Kylar Johnson with nine points and seven rebounds. Joceylin Faison had 14 rebounds.

Class 5A boys: Tri-Cities 66, Woodward Academy 55

Jalan Wingfield scored 20 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead Tri-Cities to its third state championship against neighborhood rival Woodward Academy. Tri-Cities broke open a close game with an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter.

Tri-Cities (26-6) also got 18 points and six rebounds from Sean Van Dorn, 14 points from Tre Keith and nine points from Carby Martin. Tri-Cities also won titles in 2019 and 2022 under coach Omari Forts.

Woodward Academy (27-5) was led by Deke Cooper with 17 points and seven rebounds, Jarvis Hayes Jr. with 15 points and seven rebounds, and Zac Foster with 14 points and six rebounds.

It was the fourth time the teams had played. They split during the regular season and Woodward won the region championship match.

Class A Division II girls: Wilcox County 72, Washington-Wilkes 48

Shamauri Martin scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds to help Wilcox County win its first state championship.

The Patriots (28-1) also got 14 points from Carly Miller and 13 points and 21 rebounds from Tyliyah Benjamin. Lezlee Roberts and Zariah Martin each had eight points and eight rebounds.

Washington-Wilkes (14-9) was led by Myasia Lewis with 15 points and Samaria Young, who had 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Kaidyn Porter added 10 points and five rebounds. 

Washington-Wilkes cut the double-digit lead to six points (47-41) with 7:05 remaining when Wilcox answered with a 19-3 run that put the game away.

Class A Division II boys: Savannah 58, McIntosh County Academy 52

Chance Hendricks scored 17 points and had eight rebounds to spark Savannah to a come-from-behind win to win its 12th state championship and first since 1998. sThe Blue Jackets trailed by 10 points with 3:31 remaining and outscored McIntosh County Academy 18-2 to finish the game.

Savannah (27-4) also got 14 points and six rebounds from Maki Joyner and eight points and seven rebounds from Stephon Fox.

McIntosh County Academy (26-6) was led by Jayden Ellis with 11 points and seven rebounds, M.J. Quarterman with 11 points and eight rebounds, and Craig Battle Jr. with 10 points and seven rebounds.