Previewing the Class AAAAA Championship game: Dutchtown vs Cedar Shoals
Dutchtown (27-4) vs. Cedar Shoals (28-3)
Class AAAAA State Championship Game
8 p.m., Friday, March 6, 2020 at the Macon Centreplex
This game is the by-product of magic. Tournament magic, baby. Buzzer beaters kept both of these programs alive at different points of the bracket. The last-second shots were heard around the internets and now the wizardry meets in Macon.
Not only have these teams had to win with last-second shots, they’ve both sustained two overtime playoff victories. Sure, these are teenagers but this post-season run has aged the most hardened veteran of the game. Toughness has been forged through this process.
The road to this final stage has truly been a journey and here we are at the pinnacle of a wild 5A state championship bracket. Enjoy it.
Nothing but god! #march6otw pic.twitter.com/ObQuxskjZq
— Tyler “Chip” Johnson (@TylerUpNext3) March 1, 2020
Big Time Shot @camb1010 ... Final 4 Bound @DHSDawgsBBball
— OST247 (@ost247) February 26, 2020
(via @AaronBeaver6) pic.twitter.com/HdPZOp8uKt
INSIDE DUTCHTOWN
In Jordan Griffin's first year at the helm of Dutchtown, he has his Bulldogs in the title game. Having a lineup of really good seniors will certainly help push a team to such a stage.
It starts with Jamaine Mann, the Region 4 Player of the Year. He’s one of the most versatile players in the class of 2020. The future Gardner Webb forward posted roughly 17.5 points a game this season.
Mann can beat you inside or out and will certainly be all over the floor on both sides of the ball throughout the game.
His versatility allows a guy like Bryant, a high-flying, transition game stud, to do what he does best. Bryant is one of the best available players in Georgia’s 2020 class. He posted 15 points a game this season.
Senior Kameron Hobbs is a deadly weapon from three. We’ve seen him roll out the points on our HoopSeen stage for years. He has big-game potential.
Senior guard Isaiah Placide and junior guard Cameron Callahan are key pieces to the team’s success, too.
INSIDE CEDAR SHOALS
The 1-2 punch of Quincy Canty and Tyler Johnson has been one of the best tandems in Georgia high school hoops this season.
They’ve won more games in their senior year (28) than they did as sophomores and juniors combined (25).
Canty, the Region 8 Player of the Year, and Johnson, one of the better scorers in the classification, are both headed to USC Aiken. Their college decision should tell you a little something about their chemistry. These two are locked in.
Their inside-outside flurry is hard to stop. Canty is good from block to block but he can also step out and knock down the three-point shot. Johnson is really good off the bounce and can get hot in a hurry.
Sophomore point guard Kashik Brown is a pesky defender and gives the Jaguars a firecracker in the backcourt. His class of 2022 mate Jerdavian Colbert is a hard-playing, over-achieving guard who came up big in the team’s 4OT win against SW Dekalb.
Football players Rickil Willingham and Jaiden Williams have been on the variety roster since their freshmen year and give the club some experienced toughness.
The Jaguars were in the state title game in 2016-2017
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Dutchtown has fought through a tough bracket, beating Ware County (94-47), Riverwood (59-55), Columbia (73-72 OT) and Kell (62-56 OT) along the way.
Cedar Shoals has gone through the likes of Carver (72-47), Wayne County (52-50 OT), Lithonia (50-47) and Southwest Dekalb (4 OT) to make it to the championship game.
POLL
Who wins the Class AAAAA state championship on Friday, March 6 at 8 pm?
— HoopSeen Georgia (@HoopSeenGA) March 3, 2020