KENNESAW — The Effingham County boys basketball team rolled through the first three rounds of the state playoffs, beating their opponents by an average of nearly 29 points a game.
The Rebels were finally tested in the Class AAAAA semifinals against Gainesville Saturday night, and Effingham responded with a spirited comeback to take a late lead.
But Gainesville senior Tray Harrison blew by a defender from the top of the key and converted a left-handed layup with 2.3 seconds left to lift the Red Elephants to a 63-62 win over the Rebels at Kennesaw State University.
Gainesville will face the winner of Northside-Columbus/Miller Grove next Friday in Macon.
“A lesser group of kids would have backed down when we were down by 11 points,” Effngham County coach Donnie Arrington said. “But we went to the zone press and made a lot of plays to take the lead. At the end, we tried to deny No. 4 (Deshaun Watson) and No. 23 (Shaquan Cantrell), but No. 3 (Harrison) was able to make a play.”
Effingam (27-5) started out hot on a 9-0 run, but Gainesville came on strong in the second quarter, outscoring the Rebels 20-12, including a 3-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer to give the Red Elephants a 32-30 lead at the half.
Gainesville extended the lead to 48-37 with 1:37 left in the third quarter. But Effingham cut the deficit to 48-41 at the end of the third.
The Rebels started the fourth quarter on a 17-6 run to take a 58-54 lead with about 3:30 left.
Junior star Jakeenan Gant was a huge factor, converting all 12 of his free throws, while scoring a game-high 29 points.
“Jakeenan is a great player; he is the best I ever coached,” Arrington said. “He tried to put us on his back and carry us.”
Senior guard Jay Wright missed a breakaway dunk at the start of the fourth quarter, but made up for the miscue by scoring six straight points on the run — two of the buckets coming on acrobatic drives to the basket.
T.J. Johnson also drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and Gant made a highlight reel-worthy spin move leading to a spectacular baseline dunk, converting the and-one three-point play as the Rebels seized momentum and took a four-point lead.
But Gainesville’s Watson, better known as the top quarterback prospect in the country, swished a trey from the left wing, and Caleb Hayman had an important putback as Gainesville fought back.
Harrison had a left-handed drive to the basket to cut the Effingham lead to 62-61 with 48 seconds left.
After a charge call on Gant, Cantrell missed a 15-footer and Jakeel Bartley got the rebound for the Rebels and was fouled. He missed both with 19.4 seconds left and was defending Harrison on the game-winning basket.
Cantrell and Watson each connected on three 3-pointers for Gainesville, which had eight treys compared to four for the Rebels on the night.
Cantrell led the Red Elephants with 17 points and Watson added 14. Chase England hustled on both ends of the court and scored 10 points for Gainesville before fouling out late in the game.
“That was the toughest shooting team we’ve faced all year,” Wright said. “They seemed to hit every shot they had a chance to hit … The last two minutes killed us. But we played our hearts out as a family, and we broke a lot of records at our school.”
Wright knows his history — the Rebels had never advanced to the state semifinals until this year.
It was a tough loss for seniors Wilkins, Wright, Johnson, Bartley and DeAundray Rhett, who have played significant roles putting the Rebels on the basketball map in Georgia.
“It was tough to see the kids (seniors) who have put this program where it is lose a game like that,” Arrington said.
The players were emotional and quiet after the game. Wilkins said Arrington told them what a special team it was in the locker room afterward.
“Coach told us we raised the bar for the rest of the teams that will come through,” Wilkins said.
GAINESVILLE (63)
Hayman 9, Harrison 7, Deshaun Watson 14, Maddox 4, Ruff 2, Shaquan Cantrell 17, Chase England 10.
EFFINGHAM (62)
Wilkins 6, Jay Wright 16, Jakeenan Gant 29, Johnson 9, Lee 2.
Halftime—Gainesville 32-30. Records—Effingham 28-4; Gainesville 23-9.