By RICK HEAD Publisher
CANEY BAY — Brantley County finally kicked through the championship door surviving against third-seed Bleckley County to claim its first-ever state championship trophy Saturday winning 3-0.
The Herons went up 2-0 with a sweep of the doubles action. All three tighthly contested singles matches went to a deciding third set.
The clinching third point came when No. 1 Rohan Davis executed a drop shot for a 6-4 victory ending a grueling near 2-hour, 45-minute match for the win. Both the No. 2 and No. 3 matches were halted.
The match and victory were the firstever Georgia High School Association finals hosted and won on the Caney Bay campus.
BCHS had been 1-9 against private school powers in semifinal appearances dating back to its first trip in 2008. Brantley County ended an 0-for-7 run in 2022 knocking off Greater Atlanta Christian 3-0 before dropping a 3-0 decision to Westminster in the Class AAA finals.
Westminster denied the Herons three other times (2012, 2016, 2018) in the semifinals en route to championships. BCHS lost to Wesleyan in 2008, Blessed Trinity in 2011 and St. Pius X in 2013.
Brantley County was ousted the last two years in the semifinals by private school eventual Class AA champions Mt. Paran (2023) and Landmark Christian (2024).
The top-seed Herons advanced through the Class A Division I bracket posting four consecutive 3-0 victories including in the Wednesday, May 14 semifinals against visiting fifth-seed Model from Rome.
BCHS ousted 32nd-seed Coosa, 17thseed Commerce and eighth-seed Rabun County in the first three rounds.
see HERONS, Page 2B The Blue Devils reached the semifinals knocking off 20th-seed Pepperell 4-0 in the ‘Elite 8’. Model won its first two matches 5-0 (28thseed Putnam County) and 4-0 (12th-seed Bremen).
Bleckley County, which won its only state title in 2017 in the Class AA division, also won 3-0 in all four rounds against 30thseed Central-Macon, 14th-seed Region 1 member Bacon County, sixthseed Region 1 member Jeff Davis and seventhseed ACE Charter en route to the finals.
Championship No. 1 Herons...........3 No. 3 Bleckley Co. ...0
Brantley County clawed its way to the championship with the three set victory by Davis.
The No. 1 doubles team of Tucker O’Quinn and Jayce Chapman were first off the court winning 6-0, 6-0 over Jack Trip and Reagan Scott. The No. 2 team of Evan Payne and Jett Florey followed posting a 6-3, 6-2 decision over John Teston and Bo Yearty.
Davis, No. 2 Patrick O’Quinn and No. 3 Owen Spradley began their quest for the last victory. Davis was next beating Wycliff Herrington 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
O’Quinn was tied at a set apiece (3-6, 6-4) and trailing 5-6 against Deacon Farrell when the match ended. Spradley was also tied at 1-all (6-3, 3-6) and leading 4-3 against Drew Floyd when play ended.
Semifinals
No. 1 Herons 3 No. 5 Model 0
Wins at No. 1 singles and doubles and at No. 3 singles propelled the Herons against Model and a spot in the Class A DI finals.
Davis posted a 6-1, 6-1 decision knocking off Patrick Sands. Spradley captured a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Harrsion Silver. Patrick O’Quinn was within one game of a twoset win leading 6-2, 5-2 at No. 2 over Elijah Ely.
Tucker O’Quinn and Jayce Chapman turned back Orgil Adams and Lndry Lawing 6-1, 6-0. The No. 2 duo of Evan Payne and Jeff Florey were in a deciding third set tied at 2-apiece with Braiden Holder and Marlon Kinnebrew after splitting the first two sets 4-6, 6-0.
