ALBANY, GA -- Madness. That's the best way to describe the action at the 1-AAAA region tournament at Albany High School on Tuesday. With berths to the GHSA state tournament on the line, every game was a heavyweight fight that went down to the final minutes. There were game-winning buzzer-beaters, incredible comebacks and a peak at some of South Georgia's next wave of players.

AN ENDING ONLY MADNESS CAN WRITE

Down by six with 7.9 seconds left to play, Americus-Sumter could have easily accepted fate that the season was over. Bainbridge held the lead all game and all but packed things up for the night. But A-S senior guard had other plans. Senior guard Dwight Harris drilled a corner three in the closing seconds, cutting the lead to three. Bainbridge turned the ball over on the in-bounds pass and Harris lofted up another corner three but was fouled on the shot with 0.8 seconds left to play.

The senior toed the foul line, put the silencers on and didn't hear the raucous crowd and calmly sank all three freebies. Tie game at 49-49. No one in the gym could believe it.

Then the unimaginable happened. Bainbridge made a cross-court pass only to sky high above every player and bounced out of bounds with no one touching the leather. Americus-Sumter had the ball right under its own basket.

Big man Mekall Yancie cut right up the middle, took the inbounds pass on the bounce and tipped home the buzzer-beating 51-49 game-winner for Americus-Sumter. It was as wild of an ending we've seen all season long.

 

Sheer madness. Americus Sumter was down 6 with 5 seconds to go. They won at the buzzer. Welcome to the postseason. Down goes Bainbridge.

A video posted by HoopSeen (@hoopseen) on

Feb 10, 2015 at 3:55pm PST

SYRUPMAKERS POUR IT ON DOWN THE STRETCH

Cairo was behind the eight-ball against Worth County for 30 minutes of action on Tuesday night and with a berth to the GHSA on the line, the Syrupmakers made a frantic comeback against a talented Worth County club.

Down by as many as 17 at halftime and nine points going into the fourth quarter, senior guard Trey Sparrow used the green light to shoot and led his club back down the stretch. The 6-foot scorer hit his sixth three-pointer of the game with 1:39 left to play in the game to give Cairo a go-ahead 65-64 lead.

Cairo hit some key insurance free throws shortly thereafter and helped the team hold on for a  76-71 win. Sparrow finished with a team-high 25 points.

Worth County had a tremendous game from senior Brandon Moore. The 6-foot-5 junior post used his non-stop motor for 30 points and 10 rebounds. Senior point guard Jamon Moore added 20 points, seven assists, three steals and three rebounds for Worth County.

FLOYD FINDS FOURTH QUARTER ZONE

Westover and Monroe locked horns in an opening round match-up that set the tone for a terrific day of basketball. Both teams traded buckets throughout the match-up.

Then Westover senior guard Jordan Floyd took things over. The 6-foot-2 sniper went into a zone, scoring 14 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter. He was a perfect 4-4 from the field and 5-7 from the foul line in the last eight minutes of the game. Floyd was not letting his team end the season early on Tuesday. His pull-up three-pointer with 1:42 to play tied the game at 46 and Westover responded defensively down the stretch.

Westover big man Andre Kennedy finished with 16 points and eight boards for Westover. Junior point guard Alec Williams added seven assists in the win.

For Monroe, the big man tandem of Deonte Young and Nap Harris were tough inside. The two combined for 33 points and 14 rebounds.

SENIORS SHINE FOR ALBANY

Tyler Cheese, Malik Dungee-Ali and Jordan Young - the three-headed monster of seniors for Albany High - wouldn't let their Indians end the season early. Playing in front of a great home crowd, the trio helped AHS come back against a promising young Dougherty team for a 69-59 win.

But it wasn't easy. The seniors combined for 47 of their team's points and all three players made big fourth quarter plays to secure the win and GHSA playoff spot.

All three players gave the host of colleges that were on hand something to think about. Cheese is a power combo guard that punished the young Dougherty guards with the dribble drive. Dungee-Ali is a smooth shooter while Young uses his impressive bounce to score at the rim.

Remember this name: David Quimby of Dougherty. The 6-foot-2 point guard finished with 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals. He was the most impressive underclassmen we saw in Albany on Tuesday.

NEXT UP

Thursday, Feb. 12 at Albany High

5:30 p.m. Westover vs. Americus-Sumter
8:30 p.m. Cairo vs. Albany