Braves to host Wildcats in Elite 8

Feb. 26—Behind improved performances from the starting unit — plus a major upset that transpired in the southern Atlanta suburbs — Baldwin High's boys basketball team is hosting a GHSA AAAA Elite 8 contest Wednesday in its quest for a second state championship in the past four years.

Three of first-year head coach Ben Smith's starters scored in double figures Saturday in a 20-point handling of the Riverdale Raiders, 66-46, on the James A. Lunsford court. This was in second-round play, on the "Sweet 16," of the five-round tournament.

There were two shocking second-round results, though, in other parts of the AAAA bracket, including one that helped get the quarterfinals to go through Milledgeville. The No. 1 team in AAAA, McDonough High, lost to The Westminster Schools of Atlanta 58-50. So the 21-9 Westminister Wildcats will come to Baldwin High to face the 26-2 Braves.

(Had McDonough won, the Braves would have gone to Henry County due to the GHSA's universal coin toss favoring McDonough's half of the bracket for teams with similar region seeds, both being region champions.)

The other surprise came when defending state champion and No. 2-ranked Pace Academy lost in the second round to Holy Innocents' on the opposite side of the bracket from Baldwin. Pace crushed the Braves in last season's Elite 8 round in Milledgeville.

Baldwin was on the brink of a first-round upset at the hands of Southeast Bulloch on Feb. 21, but with a lot of bench help the Braves prevailed 59-54. Against Riverdale, the Braves pulled away in the first half and led by double figures the entire second half. Senior Isaiah Dennis had 20 points while a pair from the strong sophomore class also registered in double-figure scoring. Forward Omari Woodard had 15 points to go with eight rebounds and Karez Demory had 13 points.

Riverdale's last lead of the game was at 7-5 in the first quarter, and things were looking good for the Raiders' momentum as Baldwin was hit with an offensive foul at 2:26. But an ensuing turnover led to senior Tre Lawrence finding reserve forward Quentrell Wells underneath for a tying field goal.

The Braves ended the quarter on a 7-2 run with Dennis knocking home a 3-pointer and Woodard taking the basketball inside on the dribble.

Up 12-9 to start the second period, Baldwin shared the basketball with another sophomore starter, Deven Nelson, feeding Lawrence on a dribble drive and Demory — saving what could have been a turnover — assisting two more by Wells.

The Brave who probably entered the game with a need to make up for lost time was back-up forward Jaylen King. The sophomore missed most of the last two games with an injury, but was back in the rotation Saturday. In the second quarter, he was quite active getting both a steal and assist in transition to Dennis. King next grabbed an offensive rebound and went outside the arc to score 3.

Baldwin was up by double figures for the first time, 23-11, and got a second straight 3, the next one by Woodard. Nelson scored three the old-fashioned way as the half was drawing to a close, and then Kyle Levester, back-up guard, pushed the ball up ahead to Dennis for a half-ending trey. That made it a 20-10 quarter for the Braves for a 32-19 halftime advantage.

As Smith called for some full-court pressure to start the second half, Baldwin extended a scoring run to 10 in a row highlighted by Demory's 3 and Lawrence's inbound assist to Dennis. The third quarter featured a lot of turnovers from both sides, but Baldwin was more steady on offense with a put-back from Woodard and another Dennis 3-pointer. It was 50-34 after the third.

Woodard added six quick points in the fourth with another offensive board. The full house was looking for an electric play and got lobs from Demory to Dennis and a Demory slam lobbed up by Nelson with 1:40 to play.

The Baldwin-Wesminster winner will play in the 4A semifinals at Ft. Valley State University on Saturday, March 2, with a tip-off time of 3 p.m.