MACON — For second-year head coach — and Butler alumnus Chaz Clark — it was an emotional moment to see his team to receive the championship trophy at midcourt. It had been 59 years since his alma mater had won a boys basketball state championship.
After seeing an 11-point third-quarter lead trimmed to one by early in the fourth, Clark’s No. 4-ranked Bulldogs from Augusta held off No. 7 Union County’s furious late rally to win 57-49 in the Class AA boys championship at the Macon Coliseum.
“This just feels so amazing — I love all of these guys in this room, and I’ll probably break down later when I stop to think about all this,” Clark said. “We knew from our scouting reports that Union County wasn’t going to quit when we had a lead on them. ... We knew they’d keep coming at us, and they made a run there in the second half. But our guys didn’t ever flinch, and I’m just so proud of them. There’s a grittiness to south Augusta, and we’ve got some great young men who never quit.”
For guard Marcus Scurry Jr., one of three Bulldog seniors on the team, getting to close out his high school career with a win left him almost at a loss for words.
“Man, you dream of this your whole career. This means a lot,” Scurry said. “It feels special to know we made history. We just trusted all the work we’ve put in this year, and coach told us before the game that he really believed in us, and we believed in him.”
Kwamane Bridges and De’Cori Fleming each had a double-double for Butler (21-8), which finished on a 14-game winning streak after falling to 7-8 midway through the season.
Bridges had 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Fleming scored 11 points and hauled in 14 rebounds. Fleming also blocked four shots.
Union County finished 26-6. It was the Panthers’ first title game appearance since 1971.
Butler set the defensive tone for Thursday’s game early, allowing only two Union County field goals in the opening quarter. The rest of the Panthers’ points came on free throws, as Butler led 22-12 at the end of the period.
Butler’s biggest lead came early in the second quarter, when Devin Strowbridge hit a jumper for a 24-12 edge. At the break, the Bulldogs had a 33-24 advantage, and the biggest lead of the second half came when Scurry scored on a fast-break layup at the 2:25 mark to make it 44-33.
But by the end of the third quarter, Union County began to find its rhythm from the perimeter and cut the gap to 45-38 going into the fourth.
Union County swingman Hayden Hughes led the comeback charge, hitting four 3-pointers in the second half, and his team fed off his energy.
A 3-ball by teammate Houston Henry sliced the lead to 45-44 with 7:02 remaining, but Butler never lost its composure or the lead. Butler allowed just one Union County field goal the rest of the game, and a big 3-pointer from the top of the circle by Bridges gave the Bulldogs some breathing room at 52-47 with 2:45 remaining.
Butler hit five of six free throws in the final 33 seconds to secure the win.
Scurry finished with nine points in his final game for Butler, while senior Zyion Smith scored seven points and senior Destin Bray had six points and nine rebounds.
Hughes led Union County with 17 points, while Henry scored 12 and Vince Marevka added 10.
It was the first basketball state championship for Butler since the 1966 team beat Sprayberry.
Since then, the Bulldogs reached the title game in 2004, 2011 and 2022. Clark was a part of two of those teams — as a player for former coach Cervantes Boddy 14 years ago and as an assistant on Boddy’s staff three years ago.
To reach the summit in this year’s tournament, Butler knocked off No. 3 Columbia in the second round and beat No. 1 Carver-Columbus in the state semifinals.
The state title was Butler’s first in any sport since a 1995 championship in girls track-and-field championship.
Butler is the sixth Augusta boys team in the past four seasons to win a basketball championship. Westside (2022-24) and Cross Creek (2021-22) are the others.
Butler’s victory also mean that seven of the eight Richmond County public schools have won basketball state titles since 2005, and all eight have at least one since 1997, when Richmond Academy won its most recent.
Union County — 12-12-14-11 — 49
Butler — 22-11-12-12 — 57
Union County (49) — Houston Henry 12, Maddox Young 3, Vince Marevka 10, Kaden Combs 5, Hayden Hughes 17, Holden Payne 2.
Butler (57) — Kwamane Bridges 22, Zyion Smith 7, Marcus Scurry Jr. 9, De’Cori Fleming 11, Jamil Walker, Devin Strowbridge 2, Martavious Williams, Destin Bray 6.
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