Columbia’s Kenneth Hardaway (15) finishes off a steal against Bainbridge’s Dewayne Kyles (14) during third quarter action of the Eagles’ 59-40 Class 5A boys’ Sweet 16 state playoff victory. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Devin Longstreet scored 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Columbia Eagles to a 59-40 Class 5A Boys’ Sweet 16 State Playoff victory over Bainbridge at home on Wednesday night.
Columbia took the lead for good at the end of the first quarter on a Longstreet layup on an assist from D’Kwon Harris for a 12-10 lead.
Mark Taylor pulled Bainbridge within two-points with 3:23 to play in the first half, but Longstreet stepped up to a pass by Donquavious Harrison to hit a three-pointer to start a 9-2 run by Columbia. Kawasiki Ricks took one of six Longstreet assists for a layup and with 31 seconds left Longstreet found Nigel Emile open for another three to push the lead to 29-21 at the break.
Longstreet opened the second half with two free throws followed up by his steal and dunk to extend the Eagles’ lead to 10 (33-23) with 6:50 left in the third quarter.
Kenneth Hardaway had a steal for a layup and followed with a three-pointer as Columbia continued to pull away up 40-26 with 4:28 remaining in the third. Harris pulled down an offensive rebound and put it back in at the buzzer to provide Columbia with a 47-30 lead with one quarter to play.
Longstreet scored five more points in the fourth quarter, four rebounds and two more assists as the Eagles closed out the 59-40 playoff win.
Kawasiki Ricks finished with 15 points to join Longstreet in double figures for the Eagles (18-11). Harris added six points and 10 rebounds for Columbia. Bainbridge (16-14) was led by TJ Tarver with 10 points.
Columbia moves on to No. 2 ranked Dutchtown (25-4) on the road in the Elite Eight on either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Dutchtown defeated Riverwood 59-55 to advance. It is the Eagles first quarterfinal appearance since 2014’s run to a state runners-up trophy.
Class 5A Girls
The Arabia Mountain Lady Rams went on the road to No. 8 Starr’s Mill to win a 57-56 overtime thriller to advance to the Elite Eight in the Class 5A Girls’ State Playoffs on Wednesday night.
Arabia Mountain (24-5) was clinging to a 57-56 lead with 10 seconds to play in overtime with the home team coming out of a timeout with the ball.
Cedar Grove’s Lelah Easterly (15) gets off a shot during first half play of the Lady Saints Sweet 16 loss at the hands of No. 3 Beach. (Photo by Lester Wright)
A Starr’s Mill miss from about 16 feet was rebounded by the Lady Panther’s Jaclyn Hester as time was running and Arabia Mountain’s Mikayla Jamison blocked her shot as the buzzer went off preserving the upset win for the Lady Rams.
Trailing most of the game, the Lady Rams took the lead 41-39 with four minutes to play. They were up 49-47 following a trip to the free throw line. Starr’s Mill got the ball to midcourt and called timeout with just seconds remaining. The ball was inbounded and moved up the court and an open Julia Godown was cutting to the basket for an easy layup at the buzzer to send the game in overtime.
Arabia Mountain trailed 28-16 at the half, but clawed their way back within 38-34 of the Lady Panthers (24-4) at the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Rams move on to play Thursday’s winner between Jackson-Atlanta (20-8) and Woodland-Stockbridge (20-9). Arabia Mountain will have to go on the road to the winner more than likely next Tuesday.
Class 3A Girls
The No. 7 ranked Cedar Grove Lady Saints led most of the game only to fall at home to No. 3 ranked Beach 50-43 on Wednesday night.
Cedar Grove (19-6) led 39-29 heading into the fourth quarter, but could not hold off Beach (20-9) which climbed ahead 42-39 with 2:34 to play.
DCSD SECOND ROUND PLAYOFF RESULTS
Wednesday, Feb. 19
Girls
Class 5A
Arabia Mountain (24-5) 57, No. 8 Starr’s Mill (24-4) 56
Class 3A
No. 3 Beach (20-9) 50, No. 7 Cedar Grove (19-6) 43
Boys
Class 5A
Columbia (18-11) 59, Bainbridge (16-14) 40
DCSD SECOND ROUND PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 20
Boys
Class 6A
Allatoona (18-10) at No. 1 Tucker (25-3), 7:00 pm
Stephenson (18-10) at No. 3 Lanier (22-5), TBA
Class 5A
Griffin (13-11) at SW DeKalb (17-12), 6:30 pm
No. 3 Lithonia (25-3) vs. No. 9 Veterans (25-3), 7:30 pm
Class 3A
Cedar Grove (7-18) at No. 8 Johnson-Savannah (20-7), 7:30 pm