MACON — Cross Creek won its second consecutive AAA state basketball title Friday over Savannah’s Windsor Forest 60-53 in a hard-fought game at the Macon Centreplex.
Razorbacks’ head coach Lawrence Kelly said Windsor Forest had a good team who played hard. Going in, his team knew that it wouldn’t be a breeze to victory.
“We came out on top,” he said.
The team had worked hard all season, and it showed when it counted, he said.
The game was tight from the beginning with Windsor Forest scoring first. The team led for most of the first quarter. Cross Creek tied it at 14 with about 2:30 left in the quarter, but Windsor Forest charged ahead to lead after the quarter by two 18-16.
Cross Creek took control in the second quarter and took the lead early on. The Razorbacks never looked back, leading at the half 30-21.
The Knights opened the second half with seven unanswered points, closing to within two. Cross Creek ended the third quarter up 41-35.
The final quarter was marred by fouls with a total of 15 committed just in the final eight minutes.
The last point of the game came with Ahmad McClain at the free throw line.
As the final quarter kicked in, the already loud Razorbacks faithful kicked it up a notch with chants of “CC” and “Repeat.”
Wearing her “back-to-back-to-back” T-shirt, Tascha Herbert hasn’t had a player on the Cross Creek team since 2020, the first time the Razorbacks went to the state game but lost. That didn’t matter to her as she but joined in the loud contingent of Razorbacks’ fans.
“They become like your kids,” said Herbert, who didn’t miss a regular season home game. “I’ll keep on supporting them.”
The Cross Creek supporters worked hard to drown out the Knights’ fans, and as the clock ticked down, they won the cheering war.
Joining in with the boisterous fans was Richmond County school board member Shawnda Griffin, who said she was excited to be able to introduce the team and its coaches as the state champions at the next board meeting.
“It’s the second in a row. They played hard,” she said.
