The Cedar Grove Saints face another Region 5-3A team for the fourth time this season as they take on the Sandy Creek Patriots in the Class 3A Boys’ Basketball State Championship game at 3:00 pm on Friday in the Macon Coliseum.

Cedar Grove (20-9) defeated Region 5-3A foe Douglass (16-14) 61-45 in the semifinals in the two teams’ fourth meeting of the season. Region 5-3A had three of its four teams reach the Final Four in both basketball and football this school year.

Friday a state title is on the line as No. 2 ranked Sandy Creek (25-6) faces No. 7/8 ranked Cedar Grove for the state championship trophy. The two schools also faced off in the Class 3A football state title game last December with Sandy Creek coming out the winner.

The Saints have marched to Macon with wins over Lafayette (73-53), #4/3 Monroe Area (62-55), Long County (94-91 in 2 overtimes) and Douglass (61-45) in the semifinals to reach the title game. Cedar Grove is averaging 72.5 points per game while allowing 61.0 points per game along the way.

Freshman Emmanuel Green leads the Saints in scoring with 15.6 points per game in the regular season followed by senior Jaylen Adside (14.5), senior Darius Reynolds (13.7) and sophomore EJ Colson (12.0). Reynolds leads in rebounding with 10.7 per game and Green is pulling down 8.3 rebounds per contest. Adside is averaging 4.4 assists per game and Colson is averaging 1.4 steals.

Green and Reynolds were All-Region 5-3A picks this season.

Sandy Creek defeated Ringgold (100-57), Wesleyan (68-22), #1 Johnson-Savannah 56-50 and #3/4 and two-time defending state champion Cross Creek 54-35 to earn a trip to the title game.

Region 5-3A Player of the Year Micah Smith (6-8, JR) leads the way for Sandy Creek along with First Team All-Region selections Vic Newsom (6-0, SR) and Amari Brown (6-3, JR).

This is the Saints second state title game appearance and the first since 1997 when they defeated Greene-Taliaferro 88-65 to claim the Class 2A championship.