The No. 1 ranked Cedar Grove Saints pulled away from a 28-28 halftime deadlock to down the Harlem Bulldogs 61-48 Class 3A boys’ state tournament win at Cedar Grove on Wednesday night.

Horatio Shaffer’s three-pointer towards the end of the first half knotted the game 28-28 as the Bulldogs would not let the Saints pull away despite going up by as much as five in the second quarter.

After AJ Williams sank two free throws to tie the game again at 30-30 with 6:22 left in the third quarter, the Saints put together a 12-2 run kicked off by a three-pointer from the right corner off the hands of Keith Gillespie.

Dontavious Stringfield got a steal at midcourt as the Saints trapping defense forced turnover to allow Stringfield to score. Another three by Gillespie followed by baskets by Yusef Bowyer and Emanuel Green extended the lead to 42-32 with 4:03 to play in the third period.

Harlem closed within five before the Saints answered with two free throws by Green and a three by Bowyer on a kickout from Green to push back out to a 47-39 advantage. Williams would score just before the buzzer to end the third quarter with the Saints holding a 47-41 lead.

The Bulldogs (13-15) got a quick basket by Liam Thompson to cut the lead to four. The Saints countered quickly with a basket by Gillespie on a feed underneath from Nahzir Mitchell, a layup by Bowyer and a one for two trip to the line by Javonte Floyd.

Baskets by Floyd and Gillespie put the Saints (25-3) up 56-44 before Williams hit four consecutive free throws to cut the lead to eight (56-48) with 2:10 to play.

Cedar Grove finished off the game with baskets from Stringfield and Bowyer and another free throw by Floyd for the final of 61-48.

Four Saints finished the night in double figures led by Bowyer with 18 points, Floyd with 13 (8 rebounds), Green with 11 points (7 rebounds) and Gillespie with 10.

Williams led all scorers with 19 points (7 rebounds) to top off the scoring for Harlem.

CLASS 4A
DeKalb picked up a pair of wins in Class 4A boys’ action on Wednesday night as both Tucker and Southwest DeKalb scored home court victories.

Tucker was the first team to hit the court for DeKalb on the night and used a big fourth quarter to pull away to 72-56 in over New Hampstead (13-16). Jakobe Williams struck for 30 points and dished out eight assists for the Tigers (23-6) and Braedyn Gillespie added 17 points and seven rebounds.

Tucker gets a second round game and hosts East Forsyth (18-11) 69-56 winner over Eagle’s Landing in first round play at 4:00 pm on Saturday.

Southwest DeKalb led throughout its game with Ware County (19-7) and held off a late charge to advance to the Sweet 16 with 60-53 win at Southwest DeKalb. The Panthers (26-3) had three players in double figures led by Messiah Mergen with 18 points, Jackson Ushery with 16 and Kelvin Peek III with 12.

The Panthers go on the road on Saturday to take on the McDonough Warhawks (23-5) in a 4:30 pm contest.

CLASS 2A
The Columbia Lady Eagles and Eagles both claimed first round victories on Wednesday night in a doubleheader.

The Lady Eagles (22-5) led from wire-to-wire in 52-26 win over Burke County (7-14) and clamped down on defense in the fourth quarter allowing just two points. Kerserlin Anderson fueled the Columbia win with 14 points, five steals and four rebounds.

Columbia is set to host Appling County (19-8) on Friday at 5:00 pm. Appling County escaped Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe 58-55 in the first round.

The Eagles (23-4) jumped out to 28-10 first quarter lead on Thomson (12-12) in cruising to a 96-34 win to advance to the second round of the boys’ state tournament. Jace Smith and Carlin Jacobs both score seven points in the big opening quarter for the Eagles. Jacobs carried his momentum over into the second quarter with 10 more points, including a pair of three-pointers, on the way to a 54-21 halftime lead. Tristan Horton added 12 points off the bench for the Eagles.

Columbia must go on the road on Saturday to face Butler (17-8) which knocked fellow DeKalb foe Miller Grove (8-19) out of the playoffs with a 57-30 win at home. Game time is set for a 3:00 pm tip.

Two other DeKalb teams lost on Wednesday night as the Lakeside Lady Vikings (14-12) fell 60-28 in Class 5A girls’ play at Langston Hughes (26-2) and Towers (16-10) lost their Class 1A Division 1 opener 72-45 on the road at Vidalia (21-6).

DCSD STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS RESULTS
Wednesday, Feb. 19
CLASS 5A
GIRLS FIRST ROUND
Langston Hughes (26-2) 60, Lakeside (14-12) 28

CLASS 2A
Columbia (22-5) 52, Burke Co. (7-14) 26

BOYS FIRST ROUND
CLASS 4A
Tucker (23-6) 72, New Hampstead (13-16) 56
SW DeKalb (26-3) 60, Ware County (19-8) 53

CLASS 3A
Cedar Grove (25-3) 61, Harlem (13-15) 48

CLASS 2A
Butler (17-8) 57, Miller Grove (8-19) 30
Columbia (23-4) 96, Thomson (12-12) 34

CLASS 1A
Vidalia (21-6) 72, Towers (16-10) 45

DCSD STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
GIRLS
Friday, Feb. 21
CLASS 2A QUARTERFINAL
Appling Co. (19-8) at Columbia (22-5), 2:00 pm

Saturday, Feb. 22
BOYS
CLASS 4A QUARTERFINAL
SW DeKalb (26-3) at McDonough (23-5), 4:30 pm
East Forsyth (18-11) at Tucker (23-6), 4:00 pm

CLASS 3A QUARTERFINAL
Luella (18-9) at Cedar Grove (25-3), 5:00 pm

CLASS 2A QUARTERFINAL
Columbia (24-4) at Butler (17-8), 3:00 pm