A four-point rally in the final 23 seconds of regulation helped propel the Tucker Tigers to an 86-80 overtime win over the Jonesboro Cardinals in the Class 4A boys’ high school state quarterfinals at Tucker on Wednesday night.

The No. 4 ranked Tigers (25-6) trailed by four points (73-69) late in the fourth quarter to the No. 3 ranked Cardinals (22-9). A basket pulled the Tigers within 73-71 and the Cardinals tried to inbound the ball the length of the floor only to have Tucker’s Jordan Burton intercept with 17 seconds to play.

Junior guard Jakobe Williams took it to the rim for a game-tying layup with just seconds to play. Jonesboro’s late shot was no good and the teams prepared for overtime.

The Tigers would go on to out score Jonesboro 17-7 in the final 23 seconds of regulation and the four minutes of the overtime period. Braedyn Gillespie came up big for the Tigers in the overtime with five points, including three-point play, as the Tigers held on for the win.

Jonesboro came into Tucker to find a different Tiger team from the one they defeated 83-66 back on December 10 at Jonesboro as the Tigers jumped out to a 24-12 lead after a quarter of play Tucker went on to take 43-36 lead at the half.

Jonesboro tied the game at 54 by the end of third quarter before Tucker took a 67-66 lead into the final 2:30 of the game. Jonesboro went on a 7-2 run to take the 73-69 lead with 23 seconds to play.

Williams scored 25 points to lead the Tigers and has averaged 27 points per game over the first three playoff games. Austin Walker hit for 19 points and Dylan Rivers balanced things out for Tucker with 19 points.

Tucker advances to its seventh state semifinal under its 500-win coach James Hartry and first since a 2019 Class 6A runner-up finish to Tri-Cities.

Hartry meets a familiar foe and longtime friend in Pace Academy’s Sharman White with whom he battled during White’s seven state championship run at DeKalb County’s Miller Grove. The No. 4 ranked Tigers and No. 1 ranked Knights (26-4) clash at 3:00 pm on Saturday at Ft. Valley University in the Class 4A semifinals.

White’s Miller Grove teams defeated Tucker and Hartry for three consecutive years in the quarterfinals on the way to three of the seven state titles. The pair got to coach together at the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game as White chose Hartry to be on his staff for the game.

DCSD STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Feb. 26
BOYS
CLASS 3A
Cedar Grove (27-3) 56, Baldwin (23-8) 49

CLASS 4A
Tucker (25-6) 86, Jonesboro (22-9) 80

DCSD STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 28
CLASS 3A SEMIFINALS – FT. VALLEY UNIVERSITY
Cedar Grove (27-3) vs. Monroe (21-9), 7:00 pm

Saturday, Mar. 1
CLASS 4A BOYS SEMIFINALS – FT. VALLEY UNIVERSITY
Tucker (25-6) vs. Pace Academy (26-4), 3:00 pm