Finals Set In Georgia HS Playoffs

The finals are all set for Friday and Saturday in Macon, and surprisedly there were very few close games.

AAA

Mitchell-Baker 93 Gainsville 77

No contest as the south Georgia school goes for it's 4th title in five years against Cross Keys today.

Cross Keys 69 Liberty County 64

Cross Keys used good free throw shooting to help them down Liberty County. Lance Willis led with 16 points and Michael Banks chipped in with 15.

AAAA

Westlake 61 Cedar Grove 47

Coach Darren Rogers' Westlake program is one of the most successful in Georgia. They won the state title in 1999 and lost in the semi-finals in a close one last year. They used a balanced attack led by 6'2 senior Earl

Calloway with 18 points. Westlake has a big front line with 6'8 senior Jonathan Walker and 6'8 freshman Courtney Abbott.

Two sport star Adam "Pac Man" Jones scored 15 points despite having played the game with a dislocated jaw, caused by an accidental hand to the face. Westlake will play Creekside Saturday for the title.

Creekside 64 Central Gwinnett 51

AAAAA

Lakeside, DeKalb 66 Jonesboro 50

Lakeside continued their improbable run to the title by overpowering Jonesboro. After stunning USA Today's #13 Marietta and ending their much hyped undefeated season, Lakeside showed they were for real. 6'2 Senior Anthony Register led with 19 points and played a very smart floor game. 6'8 junior Bradley Strickland scored 15 points and

had 8 boards.

Strickland caught several alley-oops and converted them into 3 point plays as he was fouled. We spoke with Lakeside's coach Randy Gowen and asked him how it felt making it to the championship in his first year.

"I don't have any words for it, I'll probably start crying," the jubilant

coach said.

Wheeler 68 Morrow 52

Coach Doug Lipscomb's veteren Wheeler teamed ran it's way to victory and returned to the state finals for the first time since 1994 when Shareef Abdur Rahim led them to the title.

This year it's his younger brother

Muhammad Abdur Rahim (13 points, 8 boards) who will be in the title game. Last night though, it was 6'5 senior Quennell Green that had the hot hand. Green was unstoppable and collected 26 points and 10 rebounds. He used a variety of drives to the basket and hit several from downtown as well.

Diminutive 5'8 senior point guard Shoko Crowly used his quickness to score 13 points and dish out five assists. He also had five steals. Morrow hung close until late in the third quarter but they finally ran out of gas. Senior guard Rod Venner tried his best to carry the team with 24 points but

Wheeler had too many weapons. Wheeler and Lakeside will play for the title Saturday night.