WARNER ROBINS — Ware County captured its first region title in a quarter century here Friday with the top-seed Gators knocking off Wayne County 67-44 in the Region 1-AAAA title game.
The February 13 victory at Warner Robins High School was the first for WCHS program since 2001. Ware County entered the tournament as the top-seed beating fifth-seed Benedictine and the third-seed Yellow Jackets en route to raising the championship trophy.
The MaxPreps 11th-ranked and topseed Gators (24-3) completed the trifecta against fifth-seed BC (6-19), who entered having three of its last four games, winning 65-56 Wednesday, February 11.
Ware County beat the Cadets 72-46 in Savannah January 16 and 55-49 at home January 30.
The Gators posted a ninth consecutive victory while clinching the region title Friday, February 13 beating Wayne County (17-10) 67-44 for a three-game season sweep.
Ware County blasted the Yellow Jackets 66-33 at home January 13. They notched a 77-56 victory January 27 in Jesup.
The Gators will have 11 days off as they await the state tournament slated to begin Wednesday, February 25 hosting the Region 8 fourth-seed. Two-time Class 4A champion North Oconee resides in Region 8.
Semifinals No. 11 Gators ............................65 Benedictine..............................56
Masiyer McKoy and Isaiah White combined for 41 points and nine three-pointers in helping Ware County foil the Cadets’ upset bid.
McKoy (three treys) scored 16 of his team-leading 22 points over the final eight minutes. White drilled four of his six threes in the first half on his way to a career-best 19 points.
Damion Jones and Kevin Ramsey each netted eight points. Elan Jones contributed five points. Travis Story and R.J. Munford chipped in two points and one point respectively.
Benedictine got off to a fast start with Kyree Richards (four treys) scoring 10 of his game-high 26 points in the first period sparking the Cadets to a 19-14 lead.
Ware County flipped the script during the second stanza trippling up BC 15-5 to claim a 29-24 halftime advantage.
The Gators added one point to their margin over the third quarter outscoring Benedictine 11-10 extending the margin to 40-34.
The final stanza turned into a track meet. McKoy scored 16 points outpacing the 12 points of Richards as Ware County closed with a 25-22 scoring advantage over the final eight minutes to get the win.
BC’s Ca’Ron Hall and Gage Copeland chipped in 10 points apiece.
Championship No. 11 Gators ............................67 Wayne County..........................44
The Gators pulled away from a sixpoint halftime lead outscoring Wayne County by 17 points in the second half to win the title.
Four Ware County players reached double-figures led by the game-high 22 points of Davion Jones (two treys). He scored eight points in the first period and 14 over the final two quarters.
Kevin Ramsey bagged six of his 12 points in the second period. Masiyer McKoy netted six of his 10 points in the opening stanza. Elan Jones also scored 10 points.
The Gators took a lead it would not relinquish at the end of the opening eight minutes at 16-10. Both Ware County and the Yellow Jackets scored 12 points each in the second stanza with the Gators holding a 28-22 halftime lead.
Ware County used a 21-11 scoring blitz in the third period to push the margin out to 49-33. The Gators outpointed Wayne County 18-11 in the final quarter for the final 23-point margin.
Ja’Londi O’Hara and Isaiah White (trey) were next in the Ware County scoring column scoring six points and five points respectively. Travis Story canned two points.
Wayne County was paced by the 12 points of Gavin Hilton and 11 points by Dwayne Smith.
