Macon – With 10 seconds left, Tri-Cities standout Tre Keith retreated to the other end of the court while a teammate shot free throws. The sophomore was fidgeting like never before, not because of nerves but because of championship anticipation.
Tri-Cities was seconds away from winning the Class 5A title and Keith, as well as teammates Carby Martin and Jalan Wingfield, could barely contain their exuberance, pulling the tops of their black “The City” jerseys and trying to suppress smiles. In a couple of minutes the entire Bulldog roster, cheerleaders and community could celebrate together in the wake of a 66-55 victory over No. 1 Woodward Academy at the Macon Coliseum.
“That feeling is different,” said Tri-Cities standout Tre Keith. “I’ve never been in that situation before because I’m only a sophomore. When the clock is actually double-zero and you have one more point than the other team, it feels great.”
The title was the third for coach Omari Forts, who guided the team to the championship in 2019 and 2022 and had two other teams finish second.
The game was tight for most of the night. The first half was dead even. Neither team led by more than three points and there were 11 lead changes, with Woodward Academy ahead 27-25 at halftime. Tri-Cities had a 44-40 lead after three quarters the game was tied 46-46 with 5:54 left.
That’s when the Tri-Cities machine kicked in and took control. The Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run and Woodward never got any closer than six points.
“It was a commitment to doing the little things right,” Keith said. “Just staying together, the team trusting the game plan. That’s really it.”
No. 3-ranked Tri-Cities (26-6) wound up with 20 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks from Jalan Wingfield, the son of former professional Dontonio Wingfield. Sean Van Dorn had 18 points and 16 rebounds. Keith had 14 points and Martin scored nine.
“Just the will, just an eye on the glass,” Forts said. “Rebounding, defensive rebounding and not playing with fear, not waiting for the opportunity we talked about taking,” Forts said. “And as men, when opportunity presents itself in life, you have to take it.”
Woodward Academy (27-5) got 17 points and seven rebounds from Deke Cooper, 15 points and seven rebounds from Jarvis Hayes Jr., and 14 points and six rebounds from Zac Foster.
It was the fourth time the schools – only about five minutes apart – had played. They split during the regular season and Woodward won in the region championship game.
“It was toughness,” Forts said. “I think when people say it’s hard to beat a team three times, from a coaching perspective it’s very hard to get your team to focus when you’ve already beat a team multiple times. For me it was very easy.”
Forts actually prepared a scouting test on a Google Doc that the players take about the next opponent. They took the test at noon at their hotel and everyone passed. Tri-Cities then applied the report to the court – and passed again.
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