Welcome to Macon, Georgia for the GHSA boys two AA state Championship game presented by Breda Pest Management, the official sponsor of high school basketball.

As we step inside the Macon Coliseum, where today the number two seed Butler Bulldogs at 20:05 and for.

Take on the number five seed in 25-6 Morgan County Bulldogs.

And good afternoon, I'm Matt Stewart, joined by former Georgia Bulldogs point guard McDonald's High school All-American and college basketball coach Shaun Golden.

We got two Bulldogs playing today.

This is just your kind of game.

I tell you what.

Butler going for their second straight state championship after winning it last year.

Head coach Chaz Clark says they've gone from being the hunter to being the hunted.

And for Morgan County, they're going for their fourth overall state championship, but first since 2019, when they won their third in six years.

Head coach Cody Anderson says a fan told him this year that he's their worst coach ever because he hasn't won a state championship yet.

Well, everyone wants to win.

That's the thing.

Everyone wants to be a champion and you can only have one.

Both of these teams got back to back opportunities.

You got one team going for the fourth.

But today these two have a chance to close that chapter and cut down the nets and win a championship here in Macon, Georgia.

Butler, led by their senior guard Kwame Bridges, who's averaging right at 20 points per game.

His 733 pointers this season.

Six foot two guard kid averaging almost 20 points a game with his coach, says about him is one of the biggest compliments ever.

Almost 2 hours a day in the gym working on his shot.

He's a leader.

He sets the standard at 3.9 GPA.

Academically.

He's the.

He's the epitome of a student athlete.

And Morgan County, led by their senior guard Zeki Locus.

He's been with Coach Anderson since day one.

Coach Anderson in his fourth season, averaging right at 14 points, 8.5 rebounds per game.

Six foot guard, 148 for the season.

But the thing that I like about him the most is the compliment on his behalf is he's the heart and hustle of the team over a career 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 800 assists, the back to back Region Player of the year.

So looking forward to this one.

Butler 1-3 all time in the state finals.

And there's their head coach Chaz Clark.

What a great job he's done with the program.

Meantime Morgan County this is their eighth straight finals appearance 3-4 all time.

And there's the young Cody Anderson came to Morgan County after coaching at Longwood.

And before that he was a student assistant with the Georgia Bulldogs.

Go Dawgs.

It is a dog themed day as I'm sitting next to.

A d d. There you go.

Sean Golden and here we go.

Butler in the black trimmed in gold will start on offense.

Ahmad Anthony passes the ball out of bounds.

Miscommunication right there.

And Carter went cutting inside and Anthony thought he was going to stay outside.

So Morgan County now in White on offense.

The starters for Morgan County Simmons, Jefferies, Locus Carter and Ward in the first shot of the game off the mark.

An offensive rebound underneath and the put back up and in by Kobi Jefferies.

Jefferies senior wing averaging nine points, 8.5 rebounds per game.

The defensive pressure by both teams is a lot of excitement here.

And you talk about the energy and the passion.

This is going to be a good game, but it's going to be a time where both teams have to settle down and get into some type of rhythm.

There was no foul called on that play, just knocked out of bounds.

So Butler retains possession and now 14 on the shot clock Anthony lobs it up top inside has it stolen away.

It's on the floor.

Scramble for it and four on the shot clock.

Got to do something with it.

If they can get their hands on the ball and they can't.

And that's going to be a shot clock violation.

What a wild scramble in the paint.

No loose balls are part of the game.

When you get whoever gets the loose balls usually is the one that wins the game.

And Morgan County did a great job of being effective, getting deflections and now causing a turnover.

Now with the offensive possession.

That scramble for the ball in the lane lasted about 15 seconds.

Ate up the shot clock.

And here's Morgan County they throw it out of bounds.

Drake Carter the freshman guard who coached Anderson, says it's going to be one of the best in the state by the time he's done threw that ball out of bounds.

Jon we've seen freshmen have some tough days here in the finals.

Well, it's challenging because experience overcomes that youthful mindset.

In the paint and an air ball out of the hands of bridges.

And here comes Morgan County ahead to Carter.

And he can't run it down.

There's a tempo we talk about as coaches, man.

There's fast and there's out of control.

And sometimes you want to be quick, but not in a hurry.

I think both teams are playing too fast, too out of control and they just can't get into an early rhythm in the game.

Almost 2 minutes before or after the start.

You heard what Cody Anderson said the fans said to him this season.

Expectations and anticipation runs deep at Morgan County when it comes to boys basketball.

Jamil Walker going to drive to the paint, loses the dribble.

Butler still hasn't had a shot.

They've had one shot in the game inside the bucket.

Zeki Locus.

Good penetration in transition.

Zeki Locus with a reverse layup.

Morgan County has lost only one game this season since they got their core together, that core being Locus.

Simmons.

And Jefferies.

They didn't have them all together at the start of the season.

Right there inside the elbow jump shot by Jefferies.

He has both their buckets.

He's got two buckets.

Yeah.

Senior wing averaging 9-8 for the senior for the season.

Soft touch.

6-0 lead for Morgan County.

They went through that stretch back in the 2010s late 2010s where they played in the finals.

Five years out of six.

There's the drive by Anthony the scoop across the lane, tied up jump ball, and we've got a time-out.

449 to play in the opening half.

Morgan shutting out Butler 6-0 here early going in.

Macon.

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You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

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Morgan County out to a 6-0 lead.

They're riding an 18 game winning streak.

Here's their road to the finals.

First three rounds, all of them blowouts.

Silver Creek, Tattnall County, and Thompson and then a tight win over Farrell 69 62 to reach the championship game.

But so far in this game, Sean, we've had six total turnovers between the two teams and only three buckets.

Is this nerves or are the two teams over executing?

I think that over executing.

Here's what I mean by that.

Players aren't playing loose.

And I would think that the offense needs to slow down when it comes to transition basketball.

It's off missed baskets and also turnovers.

Spin move in the paint.

Nice move.

And the bucket.

Kobi Jefferies has scored six of their first eight points.

And that's just off of a set offense.

Being patient under control making your move, being creative to get the easy deuce.

Jefferies transferred into the program, got off to a little bit of a rocky start.

He was suspended until December, but Coach Anderson knew they were going to be okay when the team accepted him back unconditionally.

When he came back and was ready to play.

And they've only lost one game since that time and the shot was blocked.

They're going to call it goaltending on that.

But the advancement of the basketball, that was a beautiful offensive transition segment attacking the rim.

Yeah, that was an offense that was defensive goaltending.

But you know good basketball by Morgan County in that possession.

Yeah ball was on its way down and it was over the cylinder.

So a 2-0 lead here for Morgan to start this game.

And a turnover.

Another turnover for Butler.

They've got five turnovers now in the first 4 minutes of the game.

But see here's here's some of the issues Matt when you're trying to repeat there's more pressure on those that are trying to repeat.

So you're trying to make every play the right play.

The hunted instead of the hunter.

Exactly.

There's the three-point shot and the miss and Butler's got the rebound.

Bridges first time we've called his name.

Touches the ball, brings it up the floor, stops at the foul line and hits Ali Khamenei starting to make his presence felt.

Good.

Move on his behalf in transition.

Under control wasn't fast.

He talked about the gym rat.

I'm sure he's worked on that transition basket at the free-throw line, often doing that two hour stretch of working out after the after practice.

Coach Clark believes he's one of the best mid range shooters in the entire state.

Ball gets swept away by bridges.

Bridges on the step through and layup.

Bridges back to back buckets with the steal and a rebound thrown in that mix as well.

It's 104.

Doing it with his defense.

Trey Carter stops at the elbow dish on the baseline running the baseline.

Zeki Locus for the layup.

Talk about Trey Carter and how he can develop as a point guard.

When the top freshman.

That was a great pass for the back door.

Ahmad Anthony, the six foot 170 senior guard on the dribble for Butler got to get the ball to bridges and he's back there on the three point line and got knocked down.

We talked about bridges and under control.

He is six foot two averaging almost 20 points a game.

Big time basketball big time player.

And when you can score off your defense now you're even more effective and more confident in his play.

Scooping it up for the layup.

And bridges will be at the foul line shooting three after Kobi Jefferies fouled him on the line.

And that's free throw number 170 6% free-throw shooter.

Coach Clark says getting back to the finals this year started with bridges.

And he's got a nice stroke.

I'm watching his stroke, his follow through.

Is there.

I know he has some recruitment going on.

Be interested to see where he ends up.

You say my college but the young man he looks really good this afternoon and he's playing well.

He's starting the first quarter.

He scored all six of their points.

It's a 126 game.

The drive in the left hand is scoop and the rebound.

Offensive rebound was blocked by bridges.

Man bridges is impressive.

Well you talk about the heart of a champion.

The gym leader you know it carries over.

And his teammates start to develop that mentality as the game continues to go.

Mod Anthony all the way down the floor quickly now stops, gets it up top.

Stanley pardon me that's Fleming to Corey Fleming.

Now Jamil Walker sets a screen and hands off and a traveling call on Fleming.

I tell you what, if at all possible, I would make sure bridges touches the ball on offense on every possession.

Yeah, he's playing very well here in the first quarter.

Traveling.

That's tight defense by bridges.

That force that travels that won't show up in the box score.

But he forced that travel.

Well that's the way it does show up in the box score.

That's called a W. That's called a win.

There you go.

When you set the tone defensively your best player is defending well.

His teammates are going to start doing the same thing.

Rebounds comes to Anthony and now he'll slow the pace 126 lead for Morgan.

95 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Fleming hanging in the air and puts it up and in.

He's long and lanky.

Fleming that was a great move.

Great to get to the rim young fella.

Way to get to the rim 34 39 points versus Columbia.

His length his length makes him look a lot bigger than 63.

Like you said long and lanky.

He looks a lot bigger than that.

Those long arms and the block by Wright.

Dribble around pass back into the paint is deflected by Anthony.

Now they give the ball to.

You can hear Coach Shah Clark saying.

Horn's explaining what horns means.

Horns is pretty much a double scream.

Up top.

There's a high.

Low depends on where the ball screen happens.

The screener goes a little bit opposite forward flies high, so it's called a double screen.

Horns high, low action.

Bridges takes advantage of that double screen to get his eighth point.

He's got three baskets and a couple of free throws in this game.

He has all but two of their points.

Final 20s of the quarter.

Locus attacks lost the dribble on the deck.

Butler jumps on top of that loose ball with 8 seconds left in the quarter, and it will be a jump ball.

Possession.

Arrow is pointing in favor of Butler, but only eight tenths of a second left in the quarter.

And that's something where if you're if you're you're Morgan County, you got to realize Butler had two, possibly three players on the floor for the loose ball, and they had one.

And that is the end of the first quarter.

So after falling behind 10-0 Butler rallies and it's a 1210 lead for Morgan after one quarter of play here in Macon Kloi main Bridges, putting on a show for the state champions, defending state champion Butler Bulldogs.

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You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh hey, what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

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Today's game is brought to you by Breda Pest Management.

With Breda, you don't have to be afraid of bugs, but if you're Morgan County, you got to be afraid of bridges.

Here's the road to the title for Butler and the Bulldogs carry a 20 game winning streak into.

Today's action blew out Pierce County in the first round.

Then they went through some of the best in Atlanta in the next three rounds.

Salem in the second round, Columbia in the quarters, then Kipp in the semifinals to win 50 41 and get back to the state championship game.

Bridges is a dynamic player.

He's showing why he's averaging 24-1 a gym rat, but he's playing physical not just offensively, but he's creating turnovers defensively.

When your leader works just as hard on the defensive end, man, you're talking about lighting a lighting a spark with your teammates.

We'll see what happens on this defensive possession.

First 8 minutes bridges has eight points one rebound one block two steals.

And pass.

Morgan County loses the ball out of bounds.

Pass from Simmons intended for Jefferies.

Hit him in the back.

Is the same action with double high points.

13.

Bridges, stops, jumps off the back.

Iron rebound controlled by Walker but stepped out of bounds.

Jamil Walker couldn't stay in bounds.

They got some nice length on this Butler team.

They got great length.

Great athletes and a fantastic coach.

Trying to become the second Augusta team.

We win here this weekend.

And the Georgia high school basketball state championships.

Cross Creek did it earlier this week in the three a title game and a traveling call on Dreylon Brown.

That Odoms.

Excuse me.

It was stowbridge defensively, to help him recover in that possession was beyond beautiful.

It was textbook and that's how they created the turnover.

Stourbridge just came in the ball game.

That's another long, very lengthy guy.

Settles out there on the right wing.

Bridges on the dribble.

Run in traffic.

Gets a screen from Walker.

Missed the pick and roll kick to the left corner.

Now Stourbridge double team has to do something with it.

9 seconds defense fell off of him and he banks it in.

He said he's a junior six foot tall but he's a strong high IQ guy, a coach on the floor.

Yeah.

Devin Strowbridge with the basket.

We're tied at 12.

Morgan County with a dry spot here.

They led 10-0 But now they're tied up 12-12 Dreylon Brown still plenty of time to get the offense going here.

9 seconds.

And the ball gets tipped out of bounds.

Sean what do you think about the 35 second clock.

Obviously in college you got 30 in the pros.

You got 24.

You got to get these kids more education and education means hey play with the shot clock.

I love it.

I think it's a great tool for high school basketball.

In your home state, South Carolina, they still don't use it.

They still don't use it.

And I don't understand why not because it's a disadvantage for those players.

Go to the next level collegiately.

You don't understand the pace of the game, the tempo of the game.

Here's the way I look at it.

You go to high school to get educated, to prepare yourself for the next level, whatever that may be.

If you're in math, if you're in choir, whatever it may be, same thing ought to apply in basketball.

So play by the rules that you're going to be playing at when you go up 11.

Exactly right.

You're exactly right.

Bridges gets in the paint and the kick out.

There's a long three pointer by Strowbridge.

Listen this young man has come in the game.

He's been electrifying defensively offensively back to back possessions.

Stepping up as a junior.

And the answer back by Simmons to tie the game at 15.

Jacoby Simmons first bucket for him today.

Simmons is another one of those guys that has been with Coach Anderson from day one, along with Zeki Zeki Locus.

Now bridges pump fake jumps off the iron rebound controlled by Lucas.

Spin move Lucas up.

Air ball retained by Morgan County.

Simmons misses the three ball.

Bridges gets the long rebound.

Races down the floor.

Bridges all the way through.

Out of control.

That's going to be a blocking foul.

Call on Morgan County.

That was the right call.

Simmons called for the block.

And a time-out on the floor with 437 to play in the half.

We got a good one.

Morgan and Butler tied at 15.

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All set.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh hey what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel.

But the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

Back in Macon, Butler and Morgan County tied at 15 in the two.

A state championship game this year, the 60th anniversary of the Butler Bulldogs 1966 state championship team.

A lot of great memories.

You know, we got a tie game with 15, 15, 15, 37 going the first half.

Madden what we're looking at is both of these teams are playing fast.

And when you hear the word play hard, that doesn't mean you need to speed up with your feet.

That means you need to speed up with your mind, play hard, play smart, play together.

Play hard means I want to get on the floor for loose balls, take charges, do those little things.

Climbing bridges at the line and misses the first free-throw attempt.

He's now two for four at the line.

And you already referenced it.

He's the hardest working guy on the team.

Stays after practice.

Two or 3 hours with his dad and and Coach, Clark says.

It's just kind of ingrained.

And I finally had to tell him, going home, man, I need your body fresh for the finals.

Great ball movement, great defense.

In the paint.

Got his man in the air.

Do we have a traveling call?

Yep.

But that was a great offensive possession.

And that was a great defense.

Defensive possession.

Both teams should have been rewarded.

There's some kind of way on that possession.

How well they both executed.

Morgan County started this game on a 10-0 run, but now it's 16 15 Butler and they're back on offense.

And the miss by Fleming that time rebound, spin, move and put up and in by bridges who's now in double figures.

There he is again.

We talked about the gym rat the leader on the court offensively and defensively.

Bridges.

Bridges now has 11 of their 18 points.

Baseline jumper in and out.

Fleming the rebound.

To the baseline it goes.

And Walker got tied up.

How about Locus.

Just reach in there and yanking the ball away from him.

See Fleming is doing a good job of getting to the rim, but he's a second too late for making that pass.

Bridges the floater.

Man this kid can.

Play 13 now for Fleming.

Bridges.

He is impressive.

I like him.

Locus backing in to the foul line.

Kick out and a foul is going to be called on Morgan County illegal screen on Kobi.

Jefferies physical basketball game.

The screens, the cuts, the movement.

But you still have to be wise and smart about how physical you are.

You gotta give the defense one step to get past that screen.

Good defense.

Morgan County has now gone over 2.5 minutes without scoring.

And Butler on a 20-5 run.

And now we have another illegal screen right here.

And this one's going against Butler.

And that's going to be called on Strowbridge.

So when you're playing fast that's your tempo.

Offensively, it's very hard to scream.

You probably need more cuts and more movement to eliminate those unnecessary fouls.

That has happened the last two possessions for both teams.

Sean, what's the key to avoid the illegal screen?

A lot of times we'll see guys barely stop and then go, but what's the difference?

Well, contact and if you don't have that one step for the defense, you kind of put yourself in a position position where offensively the foul will be called.

Strowbridge knocks it down.

He's come in off the bench and give him a real spark.

That's his third bucket.

And he's got eight points and a time-out is called.

30s then close out on.

Him.

A great great nine close out because the nun closeout is what opened it up.

But the pass, the movement, the speed, the quickness that Butler is playing with.

Everyone spoke.

The speed of the game is north south.

The quickness is east and west.

But let me ask you, why didn't Lucas get out there and close out on that three?

It's confusing because when the ball is moving, as good as the ball is moving, you kind of get stuck there in quicksand.

And so ball movement, penetration, cuts, movement.

You didn't know where to go, didn't want to close out.

He'd say, I give you the three-point shot.

But that young man there is playing well.

Snow bridge.

Devin Strowbridge, six foot 150 junior guard.

He's three for three coming off the bench.

He's only played 6 minutes.

Has eight points.

Morgan looking for a shot.

Stepping in between two defenders and losing the ball.

Trey Carter there was a foul called on the play.

Yeah.

Anthony with the reach in and that is the one thing from a coach's point of view.

That was a beautiful defensive possession by Butler.

But the bailout with the reach negates all the hard work that his teammates put in to get stops and.

Trey Carter hits the first free throw that ends a drought for Morgan County, as they're now down seven points.

With both of those free throws and Morgan County finally gets back on the board.

Under 2 minutes to play here in the first half.

Fleming kicked to the corner and Strowbridge right back where he was.

And the rebound is yanked down by Morgan and Locus ahead.

It comes in the paint.

Reverse layup attempt.

No good.

Maybe should have set his feet and passed out of there.

Didn't really have a shot all the way through.

Anthony and a foul is going to be called on Anthony.

That's going to be an offensive foul.

Well, that was a great offensive call, but the tempo of the game was out of control somewhere at some point in time.

Should be calming everyone down.

B the peace within the storm.

So what was the difference this time?

He he draws the charge instead of getting called for the block.

What was the difference?

The defense was set.

There was no movement.

Great officiating.

Is there such a thing as getting set too quickly?

Great spin, move and bucket there by Locus.

Well, you can't get set too quickly because the eurostep can be used and once you see the eurostep use, you shift and it's a block.

Yeah.

Three pointer from the wing and off the mark by bridges.

Rebound Locus and the foul is going to be called on Butler in the backcourt.

This one is going against Wright.

Right.

But what Butler is doing offensively mat against the press.

They're passing over top of the press.

But they're not attacking.

Once they get over the top of the press.

Last two possessions have been three point shots and zero opportunities.

No outcome for a layup.

When you get on top of the press then there's a three on two, two on one opportunity.

Final 43 seconds of the half as Locus walks it across.

There's a difference of 14 seconds, game clock and shot clock here in the first half.

Locus turns to look at his bench and get the sign now.

15 seconds on the shot clock.

When do you initiate the offense?

7 seconds.

Here they go with eight.

You're almost right on the money there.

Locus fouls going to be called.

Locus gets to the foul line.

60.

Eight.

One of the things I love about the state tournament in all the games is the seventh state boys championship game.

We've called over the last four days with one more to go is there's a lot of big guys out on the floor, a lot of great athletic looking guys on the floor.

They're not necessarily the stars of the game.

Well, it's about skill development.

And just because you're big and you're athletic, if you don't have the skill 1-2 doesn't go together, you've got to be able to possess both.

Just because you're fast and you're speedy.

Sometimes you want to be more smart up top as a basketball player than have all that big time athletic skills.

23 20 Butler can play for the final shot here, and a time-out is going to be called by Coach Clark.

10.8 so let's break it down a little bit because it's a tight ball game like this.

This final possession in the second quarter might play out to be a very big possession in the final score.

So if you're Butler right here what are you looking for.

You're going to have the ball in the front court because you called the time-out.

Once you got across the half court line.

Going to get to work in the half court set here with 10.8 seconds.

Where are you trying to go?

Well, you hear him say horns.

Look for the double horns up top for the ball screen, but depends on who's the ball handler.

How well does he turn the corner?

Does he turn the corner to go score, or is he turning the corner to create the second action, which is the high low?

The high low action comes if there's help from the wing, you kick it to the wing to the corner for the three-point shot, so it's cat and mouse games with this one.

Set horns with a double ball screens up top.

Butler has bridges.

Strowbridge, Flemming, Wright and Walker on the floor.

Clock is running as it comes into bridges.

Looks like ISO him now.

3 seconds and bridges breaking it down.

Stop and a wild three pointer.

Not a good shot.

They had 10.8 seconds to work with.

Didn't get a good shot.

Well you know you got the best player here in bridges playing really good basketball.

That's okay because you didn't give the ball back to Morgan County.

It's halftime in Macon the two a state championship game.

Butler leading Morgan 23 20.

From ninth grade through graduation.

Georgia Futures provides tools to help you plan and pay for college, as well as prepare you for your career beyond high school.

Create your account today and explore the possibilities at GA futures.

Half of the nation's opioid overdoses happen right at home because people don't understand the dangers of taking an oxy or perc with a glass of alcohol for stress or to sleep.

Learn how to protect your family from opioid overdose at opioid response.

Dot info.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh hey, what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

Brad Delp pest management knows it's the bugs inside that you want gone.

That's why Breda works to protect the inside and outside of.

Your home.

Welcome to the GPB Sports Studios.

We're live from the 2026 GHSA Boys and Girls State Basketball Championships.

I'm Hannah Goodin.

We're at the half of the double a boys game between Morgan County and Butler.

Let's take a look at what you've missed in the first half on the GPB championship scoreboard.

It's the battle of the Bulldogs Morgan County started on a 10-0 run, but Butler tied things up, then took the lead.

There you see it, 23-20 in the first half and we need to get right to it.

Jon Nelson is at Macon Coliseum with both principles and Jon.

We got to get their takes on this first half.

Yeah, we're going to get their takes here in a second.

It's with Dr.

Valerie Kelly from Butler and Melanie Seigler from Morgan County.

And I'm going to come over here to the first timer.

Even though Butler is going after a back to back.

Let me start over here with the doctor.

Kelly.

Nothing like a good first year, huh?

It's nothing like your first year.

So you're playing for a championship?

I am, and I am so excited because I'm also alumni from Butler.

So I am very excited about it.

And then you had Chaz win it last year.

Yes.

Him being an alumnus.

Yes.

Being an assistant coach, being the head coach, getting that championship for the first time in almost six decades.

What is that?

What is this last 360 something days been like for campus?

I tell you, the like I said, it is just so exciting for us because, you know, decades had not won.

So Chaz has just done a phenomenal job just building the community.

These guys, they're, they're ready.

They, they're on, they're on the hunt.

And it's just so important for our community, just the whole community.

It's really great.

Okay, so what else is going on there at Butler folks need to know about?

Okay, well, we also just named our culinary teacher was just named as the ten.

We're going.

To talk about that.

She's in the top ten finalist for the state of Georgia.

So we're very, very excited, excited about that.

So that's, that's a great thing.

And I am, like I said, a first year principal there, but also alumni from Butler.

So just really a whole community, just a full circle moment for me.

Okay, so let me come out and talk to the two of you for a second.

And this is where I turn to, to, to Miss Sigler.

Okay, so the whole culinary arts story, you've got to break this down because they were talking about it before we came on.

So the culinary arts connection break that down for me.

So our teacher, Rachel Kinzel, is the Georgia teacher of the year.

She was named last year about this time.

So they invite past winners of the Georgia teacher to go to each of the ten teachers that get named this year.

So she was invited yesterday to tag along.

She showed up at Butler, not even thinking about us playing them today.

She went into the culinary arts and they were preparing lunch for the basketball team for their sendoff.

She said, hey, who are y'all playing?

They said Morgan County.

She went, my boys.

So then she, you know, she was texting us and letting us know where she was.

All right.

So it was pretty funny.

So what else is going on at Morgan County folks need to know about these days?

We've got so many things going on and so many things to be proud of.

Our volleyball team was back to back state champs this year.

Our softball team had one last year.

They were first runner up.

This year.

We've just had a great run with our athletics, but also our fine arts are just amazing.

Rachel Kenzie up for the top.

She's in the top five for National Teacher of the year.

Wow.

That's exciting.

Just a lot of things.

But one thing about our basketball team, two of our coaches were on past state championship teams in 20 16-20 19.

So they were thrilled to get to come back.

They wanted everything to be the same.

The itinerary, everything.

So they're bringing back their memories and the way they did things.

So it's really been fun to watch them.

No doubt about it.

Champs in 14, 16-19 champs last year.

Dr.

Kelly, Miss Sigler back to Hannah in Midtown as everything continues here in a very tight game with two sets of Bulldogs.

Send it back to you.

What else is on your mind?

Hannah?

Thanks Jon both great programs athletically and academically, and the T-shirt game is strong today.

I need one of those Butler T-shirts as well.

All right, stick with us on the halftime show.

We have more.

We're going to let you know what you've missed and what's to come right here on GPB.

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Welcome back to the halftime show.

We're at the half of the AA boys matchup between Morgan County and Butler.

We have been watching some amazing talent all week long.

It is day for you guys.

We've already crowned one winner.

Looking to crown another 1-13 So far so much talent across the board.

But what about talent?

All season long we voted on our GPB boys all star team.

Here it is.

Here's a look at your GPB all stars on the boys side of the ball in 2026.

Pops Dunson from Alexander.

He's heading to Colorado State.

Manny Green from Cedar Grove heading to Tennessee.

Jarvis Hayes Jr., one of the five juniors on the list from Woodward Academy along with teammate Bentley Lewis.

At six foot 10 " tall, Chase Lumpkin from McEachern also has a year to go.

Asa Montgomery from Hillgrove, the same up McLean road, Harris Reynolds from St.

Pius.

He's heading to Clemson.

Kevin Savage of the junior class at Wheeler.

He's got a year to go.

Jalen Winfield from Tri-Cities.

He's heading to the flats.

AJ Williams the only sophomore on the list from Eagles Landing Christian.

He's got two years to go and the player of the year.

Colben Landrew from Wheeler.

He's heading to stores.

That is the GPB All Stars on the boys side in 2026.

Two.

And the Boys Player of the year.

Congratulations to Wheeler forward Colben Landrew.

He's committed to UConn and will suit up for the Huskies next season.

He helped the Wildcats earn a state title last year and could do it again tonight at 7:30.

You don't want to miss that.

Before we preview that game, we're going to take a look back at what you missed yesterday on the GPB championship scoreboard.

East Lauren's got their first ever state title in program history with a 60-3 to 55 win over Elbert County, then in single a Division one boys.

Raven County also got their first state title in program history with a win over Southwest Macon, 52-43 That is amazing.

Congratulations to them for Co-Ed 3-Point Contest Walton Raiders took that home.

Ben Holland and Karina Barton and the five a girls Creekview beat Milton 45 43, also making history for the first title of the day.

What a what a day for basketball and five A boys.

Alexander beat Woodward Academy 81-67 So we have more.

We have 16 more minutes of Butler versus Morgan County.

It's the AA boys game with Matt and Sean promise more awesome action on GPB right after this.

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Welcome back.

Start of the second half of the Macon Coliseum and Butler.

Trying to repeat.

Go back to back with the state championship.

They lead Morgan County 23 20.

As we get ready to start the third quarter.

Matt Stewart joined by Sean Golden Morgan, jumped out to a 10-0 lead in this game.

They've been outscored 23-10 cents.

What's happened.

Well Morgan they started to play very fast playing a lot of adrenaline which is fine.

But what happens once the game slows down?

Butler comes in and Kwame Bridges started to do his thing.

He starts to score inside.

He starts to score outside.

Turnovers starts to happen.

Butler having eight, Morgan County having 11.

So is this the journey of the game?

It started to pick up in favor of Butler County.

But what happens is we have a second half and both teams have to come out here and start playing a little bit more poised and controlled basketball.

And you saw Zeki Locus right there.

He's their leading scorer from Morgan County.

He has seven points.

Look at the halftime stats.

What jumps off the page at you.

Any indicators looking ahead to the second quarter.

Well I'm going to talk about turnovers.

That's the thing you have Morgan County with 11 Butler with with eight.

And so that means that Butler has three more possessions of the basketball.

That was positive in points.

That's important because the more you turn the ball over, the less possessions you have, the more you put yourself in the chance to lose this game.

So here you go.

We are 16 minutes of court time away from crowning a new champion and too-a.

Will it be the same champion as 2025 as Butler tries to go back to back and win their third all time state championship, Morgan County trying to win their fourth all time state championship, but their first since 2019.

They have a foul on the floor in the first 10 seconds of the third quarter, and it's going against bridges.

That'll be the second on him.

Pulling up just inside the paint and just inside the elbow.

And Trey Carter with the jumper.

Well we haven't had a chance to talk about him.

People say he's one of the top freshman point guards.

But you know he's got to pick it up a little bit.

But that was a great pull up jump shot mid range for him.

One point lead for Butler.

Their first offensive possession of this third quarter.

Anthony gets in the paint and puts it in.

Carter kind of take over the game.

Left handed layup and Trey Carter opens up the third quarter with consecutive baskets.

He's slightly young.

Alpha on the team.

He's that young bulldog.

All region all state two points two baskets back to back each possession.

Butler's lead is only one.

Like we said earlier, we've seen some highly touted freshmen come in here in the finals and kind of struggle a little bit.

But Carter is starting to assert himself Locus on the drive.

He gets in there, shot a wild shot, got his own miss, goes back up with it instead, dumps it off inside.

Bunny missed Jefferies had a point blank look and couldn't get it.

Couldn't get it to go down and out of bounds off of Morgan.

Well, they say it's one of the top 50 freshmen in the nation.

Point guard wise.

He's strong.

He's got great body control, good Spann can get to the lane, finish with his left hand and his right hand.

He shows some flashes about being consistent with the way he's playing this afternoon.

Reverse.

The call will be Morgan's ball spin out on the jumper by Jefferies.

Look at Trey Carter and if we didn't tell you he was a freshman, you would not think that he's a freshman.

Now, I'll tell you one person I really like just from looking at it, and that's the Cory Fleming point guard, number ten from Butler.

Long lanky has length in the size.

I like to see him a little bit more getting downhill and using that link to his advantage.

Yeah.

Fleming has only two points in the game so far and only one assist.

He's one for four from the floor in 17 minutes.

Fleming is a guy that averaged 15.5 points per game during the regular season.

Shot was blocked underneath and out of bounds off of Butler.

Great defense by Jefferies.

Opening 2 minutes.

Butler up one.

Morgan walks it across.

Lucas dumps it off for Jefferies missed.

Got to convert on those great opportunities like that.

Bridges behind the back stops being guarded tightly and too tightly as Garrett Ward is called for the foul.

Bridges is hard to defend.

Matt.

And the reason why I say that he can play in all directions.

North, South, east, West.

He can shoot the three.

He can pull up and you know when he gets the ball, he's going to have young skates out here.

He just saw that that last possession he was able to pick up a foul on Morgan County.

And the new shot clock.

So Butler inbounds right in front of us.

20s on the shot clock.

So plenty to work with here as they're playing with the one point lead.

Leah Fleming you were talking about him just a few moments ago and there's bridges off the back.

Iron rebound Walker.

Jamil Walker sticks it up and in.

Nice strong move by Jamil Walker.

Started as a sophomore last season.

Now he's stepping up as a junior.

That was his first bucket of the game.

Lead pass comes to Anthony Anthony layup.

Butler up five.

Basketball is a game of runs.

All of these state finals showing have been played in such a tight score window.

Big shot by Ward Garrett Ward his first bucket of the game.

He's a sophomore at six foot two, it's a solid play on the court for the Morgan County Bulldogs.

That was his first shot that he's taken in the game.

Under five to go here in the third quarter drive and right through the wicket.

Walker.

Great pass by Anthony but Walker wasn't ready for it.

A little too low.

Got to go down and get that 426 to play in the quarter.

Butler up by three.

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29 26 Butler on top.

426 to play here in the third quarter of the two, a state championship game.

So like I said a few moments ago, Sean, this game, like most of our finals games, has been played in such a tight score window.

What's it going to take for someone to really kind of take control of this game?

Well, we're still early man.

It's 426 in the third quarter, but it's about maintaining composure.

Don't get caught up in the hype.

Stop playing fast pace.

Get a rhythm.

Not one team has consistently for entire quarter a Spann got in rhythm, so it'd be interesting to see what team comes out here and establish themselves offensively.

Here's the.

Scoop up by Locus little wild Butler got the ball and a foul is going to be called on Morgan County on the reach in.

And this one is going to go against Kobi Jefferies.

Jefferies now has three personal fouls.

He's the first guy to get in anything close to foul trouble.

Is distended pressure 221.

Blown away by Butler.

Hard to create momentum when you throw the ball out of bounds.

Well, you had the wrong person inside the middle of the press.

You had Walker, which you should have had bridges.

Because bridges is a playmaker.

Get it to the playmaker and let him make plays.

Ward at the elbow.

Merritt Ward.

Looks good.

I mean that's two strokes but that's sophomore and he's made them both.

Coach Clark says guys speed it up.

Let's get across the half court line and run an offense.

Walker comes out to set the screen.

It's effective, but they missed the pick and roll to the corner.

It goes.

And the three point miss over there in the corner by Carter.

Ward tries another.

That's a three pointer from the wing.

Long outlet ahead to bridges.

Bridges lays it up and in.

That's a strong move by bridges.

Great outlet.

Fantastic finish.

Bridges now has 15 of Butler's 31.

Ward man he's feeling it.

At least he thinks he's feeling it.

He missed the three-point shot.

Yeah but he's still shooting the ball.

Well that wasn't a bad shot inside out with the rim.

Butler up 32.5 minutes to play here in the third quarter.

Anthony nearly lost the dribble.

They are able to contain it.

Fleming on the dribble seven on the shot clock.

Got to do something with it now.

Fleming the mid-range rebound.

Morgan County Simmons got it.

Brings it up.

Nobody can break away from the other.

On the floor.

The drive foul.

And that's going to put Trey Carter at the line.

You can hear us talking about rhythm and getting into some type of continuity on both sides.

Offensively it's ISO basketball.

I know that's an identity for both teams.

When you.

Have a championship, there needs to be an extra one, maybe two passes.

Use your use your shot clock, but use your teammates.

Trey Carter at the line.

He has a team high eight points as a freshman, leading them in scoring.

And he's now three for three at the foul line as he cuts the Butler lead to two.

And it's 2 minutes left in the third quarter.

And this is the first time we've mentioned his name.

And he's leading the team in scoring.

He should be touching the ball every time down the floor.

Nice free throw right there.

Touched every portion of the rim and the backboard.

It's 31 30.

Fleming on the track.

Gets it out of there.

Lob ahead comes to Walker and now Fleming at the logo.

Reaches back to grab his shoes.

But he should be more effective.

Play North south big guy.

Penetrate the gap.

Pull up.

He does just inside the elbow.

Misses the jumper.

Walker got the offensive glass spin move.

Had his shot blocked.

Rebound Butler Foul's going to be called.

And Jerry rice going to the foul line.

And all that started with Fleming.

Fleming under control.

Pull up at the right spot.

But when he pulled up matte what it did is it allowed his teammates to get him off his rebounding position.

And now they got a chance to get two from the charity stripe.

So that's the fourth team foul on Morgan County.

Next one will put Butler in the bonus, but we only have 90s left in the third quarter and Wright misses the free throw.

The foul, by the way, was called on Walker.

I'm sorry.

That's not correct.

Odoms was called for.

Still waiting for that to pop up.

They don't keep track of the fouls here in the arena.

Ball scramble, four guys sliding all over the floor and it's out of bounds.

It will be Butler's ball.

And the person who ignited the defensive right there was bridges.

The guy that's everybody in scoring.

And also with steals and deflections.

He's just playing a complete game this afternoon.

1 minute to play in the third.

Bridges calls for the ball.

Rises up for the three and misses it.

Rebound.

Simmons here comes Morgan to Locus.

Locus through.

Traffic goes up.

Strong foul.

That was a great defensive stance with Morgan County.

Defending well getting out what we call box Boynton run.

Great attack to the rim.

Locus with a chance to get two from the strike.

Same thing you love about Locus is he's so strong, assertive going to the rim.

Chance to tie the game with a couple of free throws here.

And he cuts it to one.

So you talk about a two headed monster with Locus and Simmons.

The way they play on the perimeter.

He's the other one that Morgan County is going to need to actually step up here.

The second, second half, big free.

Throw missed by Locus right there.

He could have tied the game.

Fleming brings it across for Butler.

Fleming to the lane whips it out to the corner.

Three ball.

Air ball.

Simmons with 33 seconds to play in the quarter.

Morgan take the lead.

Locus gets in the paint, fires it to the corner and it's knocked out of bounds by Fleming.

I go back to the offensive possession by Butler and Fleming.

If Fleming ever gets his legs underneath him and he spins at the free-throw line, he will pull up right there.

Every time.

He will average almost 18 19 points a game because he's got that length and he's long and he's got a nice shot.

28 seconds to play in the quarter.

Morgan can take the lead with a score on this possession and head to the fourth quarter with the advantage.

Locus dribbling at the logo 13 seconds.

Guarded by bridges.

Lucas goes right at him.

Passes to the three ball.

Long rebound.

Morgan's got it.

1 second to beat the horn and that is the end of the third quarter.

And Butler leading Morgan 32 31.

The Butler Bulldogs of Augusta seeking their second straight state championship.

They've got the lead as we head to the fourth.

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No need to be afraid of bugs and we head to the fourth quarter in Macon.

Matt Stewart, Sean Golden, Sean we've got a one point game.

One of these teams wins the state championship at the end of 8 minutes.

Who steps up for these two teams?

Morgan County it's a two headed monster between Locus and also Trey Carter.

Trey Carter ten points right now.

Freshman leading the team in scoring the Locus.

He has the pedigree to get it going, and it's going to be important for him to really step up because they're going to need the Morgan County Bulldogs.

They're going to need his presence on the court to win a championship.

Quarter starts Butler has the ball.

Three pointer.

These two teams are collectively one for 12 on their three pointers in this game.

And there's the put in by Flemming.

You heard me talk about him about three possessions ago.

He can be effective.

He's long.

He can knife through the defense.

And that was a great reverse layup for his pass.

The lead is three for Butler spin move.

Locus left it short rebound offensive rebound tie up.

Jefferies got the rebound then got tied up.

He called a time-out after getting tied up.

When Flemming realizes how good he can be, you'll see more of that.

You see more of the pull up.

You see more of a jump shot and six foot three, but he's got an arm length about six foot seven.

He's long, he's athletic.

He's got to use his body and his skills mat to get into position a little bit more.

Coach Clark echoed those sentiments when we talked to him prior to the championship game.

He said, look, he might be the most God gifted, talented kid on the team.

He says, we've got alumni calling me and telling me this guy is different.

He's different.

He's a special kind of player.

He's the tallest player on the perimeter.

He's got the ability.

He's got a demand and willing himself in a position, and the kid can be really, really good down the road.

Clark went on to say that he'll be the next great Butler point guard.

Will he be great in these last 7 minutes and get Butler another state championship?

Ward misses the three, gets his own miss underneath.

Great pass Simmons to find Locus underneath for the bucket.

I mean that was a great play by Jacoby.

Simmons.

And believe it or not, that's his first assist of the game.

Flemming starts to come to life.

Back to back bucket.

Flemming he's the one we haven't been talking about, but he's starting to step up.

Three point lead.

Jefferies gives it up.

Simmons gets it to Ward.

Ward inside the elbow and missed the shot, but he got fouled.

Ward came out of nowhere.

Matt and now he.

In the fourth quarter he's starting to assert himself.

He hit his first two jump shots.

If he hadn't mentioned him that much.

But then since he hit his first two, he hasn't hit one since.

But you know he's got a nice stroke.

And you know he could be someone who can step up as well.

Yeah 62, 170 sophomore wing and starting to field some calls from D2 and D3 programs.

Got a long way to go though.

He's still a young man.

Rim out on that second free-throw attempt.

And Morgan still down by two.

Flemming trying to take over the game.

Missed it this time.

Goes for the offensive rebound.

Walker couldn't get it.

Locus pushes it up the floor to Anthony the Simmons pardon me.

Ward pump fake miss to the corner.

It goes and rebound.

Jefferies Jefferies holding the ball looking for Ward to come around and help him out.

Mid jumper.

Garrett Ward playing well.

He is.

He's playing well.

Last two possessions two free throws and now a jump shot.

Third bucket of the game for Ward.

We're tied at 36.

Madison Georgia starting to make a lot of noise across the way from us in the paint.

Shot blocked.

Foul is going to be called no.

They're going to call a jump ball.

No foul.

Jump ball possession arrow.

Morgan's ball.

Great defense by Kobi Jefferies right there to get the block.

Jump ball and a time-out with 5:32 to go in the two.

A state championship game.

We are tied at 30:06.

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Their job is as honorable as it is rigorous.

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36 36 what a great defensive play by Kobi Jefferies.

As we went to the time-out to force the jump ball.

Great officiating, isolation play all ball, very clean.

That was a clean block.

The official was in the right place.

It was a clean block.

And I like what you said right there.

That was good officiating.

A lot of times that official's got that whistle in his mouth and he's ready to call a foul.

This time.

They waited to see how the play materialized and saw all ball.

I'd rather I'd rather a late whistle than the wrong whistle, if that makes sense.

Yeah, no, it's.

Exactly.

Sometimes you got to see what actually happens as the official.

And you may anticipate, but you got to make the call on what what actually happened.

Just two.

A state championship game is going down to the wire at the Macon Coliseum.

Morgan's got the ball and a chance to reclaim the lead.

It's been a while for them.

Jefferies gives it up to Anthony.

Pass is thrown away by Anthony.

And it comes to Butler.

Bridges being guarded by Anthony.

Bridges backing into the paint.

Spin move.

Turnaround jumper.

Money.

Money.

Amor.

There goes that man.

Bridges now has 17.

Butler back on top by two.

Hanging in the air.

Locus will go to the foul line, incumbent upon him to hit these free throws.

Whenever you have a scoring guard such as bridges, you know he just wields his his his his his his self to get a point.

He knew that his team needed two points in that possession.

That was a great.

Move, you know, and Sean I mean that's a great shot right there.

That's a professional shot.

The step back to buy yourself space.

It's almost undefendable and.

Very much undefendable.

But it's the way that he's playing the game today.

He's scoring in layups.

He's shooting threes isolating back and back down.

He's just stepping up to the plate and playing well.

He has.

Had a tremendous game 17 points, three rebounds.

Locus makes it a one point game with the free throw made.

Now jazz Clark tells his guys let's slow it down a little bit.

Nice little basketball.

One on one up top.

Good shot.

Flemming.

Too hard off the backboard.

Bridges gets the long rebound.

Came right to him.

Here's the screen.

Got poked away by Locus.

Huge steal by Zeki Locus.

And the easy layup.

Morgan County on top with 4 minutes to play.

He picked his pocket clean.

Yes he did.

Great defense by Zeki Locus.

We talked about him.

He needed to step up and he did it in a big way on the defensive end.

Time-out called by Butler.

We talked about Zeki Locus and what he can do on the offensive end.

But here he is defensively showing his skills, getting to the rim for a nice easy layup up.

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348 left in regulation Morgan County leading Butler.

39 38 in the two way state championship game.

What was the technique by Lucas on the steel?

You see, you're trying to do what we call a flat ball screen.

He didn't run the defense into his defender.

Instead of going north south, he went east and west.

He just got his pocket picked and as a result, Zeki Locus was able to get two easy points in transition.

That was a huge play.

3:48 to go.

How many more huge plays in this game to win the championship?

You're going to have a lot more 3 minutes and 48 seconds.

There's a lot of time left and every possession that happens within those minutes.

But more importantly, it's the defensive energy and the effort that needs to actually rise to the top.

Butler needs to score in this possession to maintain their composure and not get frustrated.

Anthony gets the ball into Fleming.

Here comes that high ball screen.

Fleming gets it up, however, gets the bridges.

Bridges step back three.

Yes!

Time shot.

By Aiden Bridges with a huge three pointer to put Butler back on top.

Wow what a game.

3:00 to go.

A little bit more than that as Locus holds the ball out there by the logo.

Rising up three-point shot hits the iron rebound controlled by Butler.

Anthony brings it across, gets to Fleming.

Bulldogs had the lead.

They had the ball.

There's my guy.

Fleming with the ball.

There's that high ball screen.

Fleming takes it himself and it rims out.

That was a great move by Fleming.

That was the right play.

Tough break for Fleming.

Ball off the foot and Morgan County.

That's an over and back.

Trey Carter couldn't save him from crossing halfcourt.

But what happened is you put the worst person to handle the ball on the perimeter in a bad situation.

Kobi Jefferies isn't a ball handler.

He's a screener.

He's a defender, but he's not a ball handler.

So inbounds right in front of us.

Mott Anthony Fleming and bridges out here as his options for the inbounds.

Instead it comes to Walker.

Walker doesn't want that ball.

Gives it up exactly.

He's smart on doing that.

I'll be your safety net.

But let's let the point guards and the guards make wise decisions on offense.

Another pickpocket by Locus Locus going up against Fleming got fouled second time.

Locus has taken the ball right out of the hands of Butler's best players.

As a 64 point guard.

Myself, the one thing that I never do is cross over in front of a sharp point guard because he's got the size and he's got that low gravity that it's going to be tough to get past him.

Use your body, big fella.

Get by the point guard and maybe pull up at the rim and make a play offensively to your teammate.

Second time.

Locus uses those long arms to reach in there and get the ball clean, but he's.

One of those guys that's quick.

He's effective.

He's down low.

So you got to protect your body a lot more.

Better than exposing the basketball in front of him with crossovers.

Yeah, he's short at six foot but he's got long arms longer arms than you might expect for a six foot guard right in that low center of gravity.

Can't hit those free throws though man.

That's going to kill him if.

And there's the basket on the putback and one.

Locus missed the free throw but then gets bailed out by his teammate.

Simmons does a tremendous job of tipping that ball.

And then Ward is there to stick it in.

Ward a chance at a three point play and a chance to give Morgan the lead with 210 left in the game.

Free throw check out that is the most important thing that every coach needs to practice on a daily basis.

Free throw check outs.

And I'll tell you what, Simmons made that play.

But he didn't get the rebound.

But he's the guy that deflected the ball and Ward was the guy that picked it up for the easy deuce.

One point lead.

Morgan 2:00 to go.

Walker comes out to set the screen and missed the pick and roll.

And now they do get it to Walker and he goes up strong but missed it.

Rebound foul on the floor.

As he was going against.

So it's going to go against Jacoby Simmons.

And so this will be bonus for Butler.

No it will not.

Pardon me.

That's only the second team foul on Morgan.

Butler is the one with 14 fouls.

So this is inbounds on the baseline for Butler.

Anthony holding the ball.

Nice.

Patience gets it to Fleming 15 on the shot clock.

1:36 to go.

Bridges wants it now.

Seven on the shot clock.

Fleming's going to be there and takes it.

Stops and puts it in.

That is exactly what I've been speaking about.

What he can do with his height.

He didn't try to cross over too close, but once he got once he got Locus on the side mat, he was able to use his long length and his height gives it to his advantage and cost him a three point play.

Corey Fleming has made a big impact in this fourth quarter.

Now a chance at the three point play.

And Butler has a two point lead.

A time-out called by Butler.

That's a great time-out by Coach Clark because when you're trying to go against an offense that can get it and go off of a free throw, that's very hard going.

That offense going against a set defense.

Now, Matt kind of gives Butler an advantage because they can dictate the tempo of the game on the defensive end, whether they want to do a controlled press, which is a two, two, two or a three quarter court man to man, somehow they want to control the tempo of the game.

On the defensive strategy coming out of this time-out.

Bridges have been doing it all game long.

He's got a game high 20 points.

Fleming's come to life here in the fourth quarter.

He now has nine points.

And Butler has a two point lead with 1:26 to go.

What's the message in that Butler huddle.

Well the message is number one.

You have to box out whenever there's a shot goes up.

You gotta you gotta box out.

You have to defend well in the half court, but you have to box out, secure the rebound and just meet your passes.

Now, if you're Morgan County, be patient.

It's only a two point game.

You don't have to play so fast that you're out of control.

You take bad, ill advised shots.

Slow down Morgan, run a good set, be patient and good things will happen.

And you look in that Morgan huddle.

Head coach Cody Anderson, his entire assistant coaching staff, alumni of Morgan County.

So they're invested.

It means something.

It's not just a job.

This is their alma mater.

All three members of his assistant coaching staff, Devorious Brown Alec Woodard, Brian Green.

And now Morgan has the ball.

They're down two 1:20 to go.

To the paint shot.

Rejected.

Anthony gets a huge block.

This is.

We need to slow down.

If you Butler.

Don't rush.

Take your time.

Anthony gets it back after that huge block.

Now kicks to the wing and Fleming plenty of time on the shot clock under a minute to go on the regulation clock.

Fleming almost had a push on.

Fleming misses the three rebound.

Morgan County they got ball.

They're down two and it comes to Ward.

He's had the hot hand here in the second half on the wing.

Simmons hits it.

Nice shot.

Time.

Morgan County game tied at 40:04.

What a huge shot by Jacoby Simmons.

Kobi Simmons under control.

He didn't force it.

Good patience.

Jefferies did a great job of realizing he needed to get it to someone who was more effective with shooting a jump shot.

Sean.

He had the three.

He stepped in and hits the mid-range.

Well, because it's not a rushed shot, Matt.

You know, just because you have the three, it's a two is a two point game.

You take you take a good shot.

And instead of doing that, you make that good shot a great shot.

Great shot fake great pull up.

We're tied at 44:31 0.8 seconds on the clock.

Butler has 14 fouls.

That means the next one puts Morgan in the bonus.

Morgan has only two team fouls, so they have fouls to give.

If they get into a fouling situation, try to stop the clock and Morgan has three time-outs remaining and Butler has two.

Might not be bad for Morgan to go ahead and take one of those fouls.

If not two of them, maybe one of them just get it out of the way.

Because you're going to need that foul.

Perhaps put him on the line.

Yeah.

Stop the clock and put him on the line.

Perhaps that may happen.

Maybe.

I would say I would say you go ahead.

Go ahead and get two fouls.

The guys go ahead and foul quick foul quick foul quick.

But that does is when you need to foul it becomes more effective versus possession of the ball out of bounds.

Butler going for their third all time state championship and their second in a row.

Morgan trying to win their fourth all time state championship.

Their previous three came in 2014 16-19 And here we go.

Morgan crowd rises to its feet across the way from us.

So here's the full court pressure by Morgan.

Inbounds shot clock off so Butler can play for the final shot.

Do you do that here Sean.

Well, you can either hold it or you can wait.

Here's the foul we talked about.

Yep.

Here's the foul we talked about.

You've got two more to go which is a wise decision by Morgan.

Now there's a cat mouse situation here because easily Coach Clarke can call a time-out himself.

Once the clock gets down to maybe 10-8 seconds.

Be interesting to see what happens.

You don't have to do anything.

Make sure you.

16 seconds time-out called by Butler.

That'll leave them with one.

Wasn't a bad time-out.

They saved the turnover.

Understand what the young fella was trying to do?

Position himself.

Get some time off the clock.

But realizing you hold that ball without dribbling the five second count starts.

So if you're Morgan on this inbounds coming out of this time-out, do you commit that next foul.

Oh yeah.

Maybe disrupt the offense a little bit.

Get it out of the way in case you might need it.

But you go for the steal first.

If you can get a steal off the inbounds right here.

Now you can possibly come down and score.

You got control of the game.

But at the same time if you do not you initiate a quick foul.

And now you just play the clock out.

Yep.

And the reason you want to do that is because if you get into a spot where you need to put Butler at the line, your two fouls away from that.

Exactly, go ahead and get that one foul out of the way.

Now Butler has one time-out left.

Here we go.

Final 15.2 seconds in this two way state championship game.

What a day.

What a way to get our Saturday started.

Our next game coming up at 730 tonight.

On the boys side we'll have Wheeler and Pebblebrook, clash of Titans.

Clash of Titans.

But let's say let's say Butler scores and there's 4 seconds on the clock.

I'm calling a time-out if I'm Butler.

Why?

Because I'd rather the offense goes against a set defense versus a helter skelter situation.

And usually that winds up with a score by score by Morgan County.

Anthony the Inbounder and then stolen by Lucas.

He stepped out of bounds.

Locus got the steal, but he stepped out of bounds.

See?

Now you need a screen for him.

You need someone else to screen for him to get the ball in.

14 seconds even.

And I'm getting the ball to bridges.

And the ball is stolen by Lucas.

Just what's the call.?

Out of bounds.

But the question is why bridges is not getting the ball.

Bridges should have control of the ball.

He's a primary ball handler when it comes to making plays.

I don't think I've ever seen that where we've had two steals in a row at both times.

The defender stepped out of bounds.

Very fortunate because he didn't do that in the middle of the court, because that could have been a layup.

Yeah.

So now 12.2 seconds and Butler will try again to get the ball inbounds.

And this time it's way down there by the Morgan County bench where they have to inbound it.

He's going to come get that ball.

Bridges comes into the backcourt and the ball comes ahead to Walker.

Walker 10 seconds they use their final time-out 9.4.

So these last 5 seconds for Butler have been a little bit of an adventure.

It has been.

And if you're Morgan you have a quick foul.

That's the standard right now.

Quick foul.

If you.

Morgan just make sure they're not in the act of shooting.

Correct.

But they're high school kids, so eventually it doesn't matter.

Foul foul, foul.

That's the first thing.

Second thing for Morgan is full denial on the inbound pass.

And you've seen that the last two possessions and they have possession of the ball just you know Locus stepped out of bounds.

Now Butler go back to your top player receiving the ball.

And that's going to be bridges.

The bridges gets the ball.

He's going to ISO.

He's going to go one on one.

I would say a quick screen for bridges because it would create space for him to make a more effective offensive decision.

Full day of basketball here on this final day, the final of four days in Macon with the Georgia High School Association Basketball Championships, we have two more girls and boys finals coming up later this evening.

In the six a bracket, the highest classification, but first things first, we have 9.4 seconds left in this two a state championship game and Morgan County and Butler are tied at 40:04.

And Butler will once again try to inbounds the ball.

They've had some difficulty here the last few seconds doing this and this is smart.

They shifted out of bounds.

To line up in a stack right there at center court.

That's perfect.

That's perfect.

Now they shift it down as the ball is closer to the Butler bench comes to bridges with 8 seconds.

Bridges with a chance to win the game.

5 seconds.

Bridges with 3 seconds, gets to the paint and the basket bounces.

Out at the buzzer.

It goes down and pops out and we're headed to overtime.

That was a correct call.

You got it to the right player.

Unbelievable.

That was an absolute heartbreaker for bridges.

He was dead on the money.

That thing was going down and it popped out.

Tough shot for bridges.

Great move.

Great shot.

Just couldn't get it all the way down.

And absolutely tough heartbreaker right there for bridges.

The consolation of course is game's not over now.

We got overtime.

Unbelievable.

What a great finish to this game.

Great basketball.

Team.

And we got a four minute overtime coming up here in Macon.

Tied at 40:04.

What a fantastic two.

A state championship game in the arena.

Still buzzing after all that.

This is our fourth day of broadcast and the consistency of great basketball here in the state of Georgia is unbelievable.

Basketball, high school basketball's finest.

They are putting on a show.

Butler has led by as much as eight in this game and for 18 plus minutes, Morgan has led by as much as ten in the game.

They started the game on a 10-0 run.

They've led for close to 10 minutes.

The game has been tied for 3.5 minutes.

We've had five lead changes and five times we've been tied.

This being the fifth time sends us to overtime.

And Morgan will start on offense here in the first overtime.

To the paint.

The Miss Jefferies got the rebound.

The kick out.

Stepping inside the three point line.

And this time Simmons can't get it.

The ball.

The foul is going to be called as Locus got the rebound and the put back.

He's going to the line to shoot two.

He's got to hit these free throws though.

Simmons pardon me.

Locus has not been good at the free-throw line today.

And he's not a great free-throw shooter.

He's on the 59.9%.

He's three for eight today.

But the thing about Locus all day long he's been in the right place at the right time.

Oh man.

He's made so many big time plays.

Free throws haven't been among them.

That's a big one right there.

And see that's the thing about great players.

Good players.

They always make the right pass and they always make the right shot at the right time.

He gets one more.

I don't think he's hit two in a row today.

But now he has 46 44.

Anthony races up the floor and Foul's going to be called on Simmons.

He was riding him with the body.

And go back to what you were talking about with Locus.

It's about pressure, you know, great players really rise to the top when there's more pressure.

And that could be a result.

As a result of just his competitive edge.

It's a competitive spirit.

Anthony gets to the Bates dribbles through it.

By the way, that foul was the fourth team foul on Morgan and Anthony.

That's going to be the fifth team foul.

And now they're shooting free throws.

And Simmons called for the foul.

He's now got four personal fouls.

Apparently he just fouled out.

So our scoresheet was behind our score.

Monitor was behind.

So that was the fourth.

And then the fifth foul.

And Simmons is done.

A nice addition to the basketball experience here would be to post the fouls in the arena.

Something to think about going forward.

These are the times where the cream rises.

To.

This this.

Season.

Eight, 4-5 in these knocked down one of these free throws.

Anthony there's the free throw.

Locus brings it across.

Coming up on the three minute mark here in overtime.

So you got one primary ball handler with Morgan County.

That's Zeki Locus.

You got to see if you were to double team, who would you double team off of?

If you're the Butler Bulldogs.

Locus is the best score on the floor and best playmaker on the floor.

Not a great pass, but it went right through the hands.

Apparently.

And that is going to be a turnover.

Butler did not touch it.

So we have a foul away from the ball.

Shamar basketball.

And Odoms who just came into the game.

Simmons fouled out, picks up the foul.

So I kind of watched that entire exchange and Odoms was trying to play physical even before the play actually started.

Once the ball was inbounded.

Wants to cut happened, bridges was able to draw the foul.

So both teams are now in the bonus bridges free throw made game tied at 40:06.

Carter back in.

Wright comes off the floor for Butler.

So Butler's got bridges.

Anthony, Fleming, Wright and Walker on the floor right now.

Back to back free throw makes by Khamenei Bridges.

He's got 22 points today.

Will it be enough.

Butler up one 2:45 to go in this overtime.

The unsung hero could easily be Trey Carter for the Morgan County.

Bulldogs Locus gets in there and draws the fouls and now he'll go to the foul line.

Locus is penetrating, not the pass, just to shoot.

Yep, Walker is called for the foul.

Jamil Walker picks up that foul and that will be the second.

Make that the third personal foul on Walker.

So Locus taking foul shots here.

He's hit two in a row for the first time today.

Make it three in a row.

He loves pressure.

Back to back region player of the year thousand point club.

And Morgan County.

That's a rare feat at that high school.

Team leading 15 points here today.

It's five of ten at the line.

Has ten rebounds.

So he's got a double double.

Just that second free throw.

Jefferies got the rebound.

His shot was deflected.

And Butler's got the ball.

We're tied at 40:07.

Bridges stops fires three pointer.

Way off the mark.

That time.

Loose ball.

Locus has it goes right by bridges all the way and lays it in.

Zeki Locus.

He is ready.

Up the missed shot.

Loose ball.

Oh behind the back attacking the rim in overtime.

A three point play.

Zeki Locus has been as good as advertised behind the back in the open floor to get by bridges.

What a play.

Then slams into the stanchion.

Still got the bucket.

He's a big time energy big time effort by Zeki Locus making plays on the defensive end, rewarding himself offensively.

At the same time.

He'll try to complete the three point play right here with 2:12 to go.

Doesn't do it though.

White got the rebound for Butler.

Ball to Anthony.

Falls for Walker to come up and set a pick.

That's going to be a foul on Walker.

I think.

Yes.

Odoms no, they called it on Odoms defense played well.

He turned his back to the offense as as as Walker was trying to move.

You still got to give the offense some space to move around.

So Jamil Walker, the junior forward at the foul line.

Has the bucket make it a one point game.

First free throw of the game for Walker and now Butler is nine for 13.

Collectively as a team at the line.

Takes a deep breath, meditates.

Let's go.

Here he goes.

Game time.

Nice stroke, nice stroke.

49.

49.

Locus walks it across.

He's going to make the last big play in this game.

Locus kicks to the corner.

Nothing to do there.

Goes inside.

Jefferies no, that was Odoms.

Odoms on the cut and that was a beautiful pass coming from Carter.

Two point lead.

Morgan.

Fleming spins, gets to the paint.

And goodness there's my guy again using that length, that size that ability.

To Corey Fleming remember the name.

What a play.

Spin move foul.

Banks it in.

Three point play.

Gutsy play big time.

Play.

He's getting better every second on the court this afternoon.

Butler up one 1:15 to go in overtime.

Jefferies comes up to set the high ball screen.

Locus with 10 seconds on the shot clock attacks.

Spin cycle.

Missed it.

Foul.

Bottled up in the air and Fleming's got it.

Butler the ball.

The lead.

46 seconds to go.

16 on the shot clock.

Fleming attacking again.

The floater.

Missed rebound.

Locus has it.

Shot clock off 26 seconds left in overtime.

Locus attacking and bounces out.

Rebound underneath and the putback still alive.

Locus has it 15 seconds.

Time out called Morgan County.

Wow wow.

That ball just didn't want to fall through.

14.9 seconds Morgan has the ball.

One point lead Butler.

The ball just didn't want to go in.

One too many attempts.

We had two.

On that possession two times point blank range.

They had the ball on the rim.

So Morgan County down one.

Where's the ball going here Sean.

Well you're going to go to Locus.

But looking looking at what they're saying is okay we've got side out of bounds.

Okay.

You can put him on the weak side of the offense.

You're going to set a double baseline screen.

Looks like he comes to the baseline.

You get it there.

And hopefully he can just go to work penetrate and make plays.

Talking about Zeki Locus.

And how's Butler defending this.

You got to go man to man.

But you got to go underneath the screens.

Force the jump shot, take away the drive, the dribble drive penetration.

14.9 left in overtime.

Trying to decide the two.

A state championship here in Macon.

Okay so it looks like Zeki Locus is taking the ball out.

Look for the double stagger screen.

He can either go for Ward the shooter on the weak side, and if not, his baseline screen coming.

Jefferies clock is running 11 seconds, ten Locus has it 8 seconds.

Locus spin move.

Foul's going to be called.

They called a foul.

They're gonna have to check the clock.

I think time ran out the clock to.

From the time the official blew the whistle, I think they had time come off the clock.

That's a questionable call.

Locus at the foul line.

That's a question to call because there's been more contact on the perimeter than that all night long.

The guys are going to play more.

Better defense, a bit tougher defense.

You got to let the players make the plays.

Now we don't have replay review in high school basketball here in Georgia just yet.

I say that we have replay in the state championship games in football.

But we don't have it yet in the state finals in basketball.

I think if they had it, they'd probably go back and look to see how much time they need to put on the clock.

I think they lost some time there on that call.

Locus one more to try to give Morgan the lead and he does.

Time out.

Morgan County now they have the lead.

6.3 the last time we were in this situation, Butler had the ball for the final possession at the end of regulation, bridges had that ball touch every ounce of the rim and pop out.

Do they go back to bridges?

Here you.

Go, Fleming.

You're going back to bridges.

But he's got to play north.

South.

He's the best North-South player you have.

Jeff Fleming is more of an east West guy.

Wants to use his hips and his body to get into the defense.

So what we call it, Matt, we call it a Moon.

Basically, you got a deep outlet or you can move it around so he can have a running start to go north, in transition.

So you really want to get to your best player going towards the goal versus catching it with his back to the to the basket.

You don't want that because you'll probably run an extra two points for him to square up and actually make a play in transition.

6.3 Morgan County up by Butler up on Butler by one.

Now it also depends.

Matt, how the defense plays because if they a sagging defense, then you definitely have a chance for a running start.

But if they're going to pressure pressure, you can throw it over the top as well to.

So full length of the floor, you don't have the opportunity here in high school basketball to bring it, advance it into the frontcourt like you do in some other levels.

Now there's a one, two, two, three quarter court press, more of a containment press.

Here's the new here's the runout right there.

You got him.

Here's Fleming, 5 seconds.

Fleming across half court.

Fleming runs towards the basket, gets it.

Up there.

And it rolled out.

Morgan County wins the state championship for the first time since 2019.

An absolute heartbreak for Butler.

Twice in this game at the end of regulation and again in overtime.

They had a ball on the rim.

Either pop out or roll out.

Morgan County the champion.

Georgia basketball at its best.

That is.

An absolute crusher for Butler.

But if you're the Butler Bulldogs, you hang your heads high because you fought a great fight all the way down to the end.

Look at this.

Just a tremendous job by Fleming, who had a fabulous fourth quarter to get to the rim.

He was.

Right there.

Right there.

That just breaks your heart into 1 million pieces.

I mean, it was a centimeter away from going down.

Just one little extra.

Amazing finish to this game.

Morgan County.

And they don't get to tell Cody Anderson anymore.

I was thinking the same.

Thing in program history.

Cody Anderson you're the worst coach to win a state championship.

Congratulations.

Coach.

They love their basketball and Morgan County.

And now for 365 they get to celebrate a championship.

I love this young man.

He's he's a star in the making here in the state of Georgia because he taught the great talk to us.

The way he communicated about his team, how much he works out with his team and encourages them on and off the court, but more importantly, I go back to what you were saying about with Jefferies Kobi Jefferies.

He saw something good in the young man and we want to give him a second chance.

A lot of coaches need to take that, that that understanding where young people, they don't understand the decisions they're making each and every time.

And so when he was able to make something positive about Jefferies and do the right thing, he embraced him, got him back in the court.

And here we go.

Our coaches interview is presented by Breda Pest Management, the official sponsor of high school basketball.

And here's John Nelson.

Thank you very much, Matt Stewart.

It is time to present yet another trophy.

Took a little longer than 32 minutes to get there, but it was worth every single second.

And to do it.

The executive director of the Georgia High School Association, Dr.

Tim Scott, confirmed some great pest management.

Hey guys, let's give both teams a great round of applause.

What a great game.

Congratulations Butler High School on a great season.

And now to present the state championship trophy.

Great.

A pest management will present the 2026 state championship trophy to Morgan County High School.

You had.

To earn this one, didn't you?

Yes we did, yes we did, but that's what these kids have done all year long.

They've earned it.

And we talked about like an ocean wave after wave after wave.

And that's what these kids, the most consistent group I've ever coached.

But I want to start with this.

It's amazing what God can do with ordinary men and incredible young men.

With you.

One of the tenets and one of the things that you've always hung your hat on has been defense.

It was tenacious once again all day.

I think the quote is if the other team doesn't score, then you've got it made on the other side.

Paraphrasing that defense today, once again, stout when it had to be.

Defense travels.

And I'll tell you what else travels Morgan County travels.

Morgan County travels.

He's stealing my material.

I was going to point to everybody from Madison and everybody in red here that gets the state championship trophy, heading back to Morgan County.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Gordon.

Let's send it back to Matt and Goldie.

Catching up with the coach.

I tell you.

What, how about Zeki Locus?

He ends up being the star of this game for Morgan County.

He played his butt off.

He's the guy that's been with Coach Anderson now all four years from day one.

And he played his heart out and led them to a state championship.

Well, he gained his trust being with someone for four years.

He's seen the ups, the downs, the highs and the lows.

And the young man has earned everyone's trust.

And now he's a state champion.

Four state championship in Morgan County history, their first since 2019.

In just a fabulous, fun game to watch here to tip off our Saturday afternoon in Macon.

Fabulous performance by Morgan County and Butler too.

I tell you what, both these teams just played their hearts out.

Yeah, it's a great basketball game.

Overtime game is a heart and hustle.

No one can go off this court today and say, I did not give it my all.

Fantastic game.

Hats off to both teams and both coaches.

53 52 the final Morgan County beats Butler.

We got a lot of basketball coming up here today at Macon.

Sean and I'll be back tonight for Wheeler and Pebblebrook and the six a final, but stick around.

We got a lot coming up here from the Macon Coliseum.

Congratulations to Morgan County.

Now for my partner Sean Golden and our entire GPB team.

I'm Matt Stewart.

So long from now, we'll be back tonight.

No matter the season, Breda works to protect the inside and outside of your home.

Breda Pest Management.

They handle bugs and critters.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh, hey, what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

Half of the nation's opioid overdoses happen right at home because people don't understand the dangers of taking an oxy or perc with a glass of alcohol for stress or to sleep.

Learn how to protect your family from opioid overdose at opioid response.

Dot info.

From ninth grade through graduation.

Georgia Futures provides tools to help you plan and pay for college, as well as prepare you for your career beyond high school.

Create your account today and explore the possibilities at GA Futures.

I said I never joined.

Never knew how strong I was joining the Navy.

Sounds crazy.

Saying never actually is.

Welcome into the GPB Studios in Atlanta.

We are live for the 2026 GHSA Boys and Girls State Basketball Championships.

I'm Hannah Goodin.

We just crowned our second title winner of the day, 14th overall this week.

It is day number four.

We just ended a nail biter, a heartbreaker.

Let's take a look on the GPB championship scoreboard at what just happened.

Morgan County started on a 10-0 run, but Butler tied things up, then took the lead again.

It was back and forth all the way through overtime.

Morgan County finally pulled it out 53-52 and Bulldog Nation was showing out big in red.

They're in Macon and let's check in with John, who's with Coach Anderson and our player of the game.

And John, I think my heart rate is just now coming down from that game.

I can't imagine how you feel and coach feels.

Check in with them.

Yeah, yeah.

They're their heart rate.

Okay, so let me let me ask one at a time.

So how's your heart rate, Cody?

Now it feels good.

I'd say the last minute of the game in overtime.

It was moving.

It was moving.

But when you've got kids like this, young men like this.

Excuse me.

Dude, they've done it for four years now.

And so I have seen them be challenged.

I've seen them just every day show up.

And so yes, my heart rate did rise, but I am not surprised.

Not surprised.

He says he's not surprised.

He.

Hey, I don't blame him, you know.

I'm glad that we had the outcome that we had we played together as a team.

Defense is the main factor of winning the state championship.

So we, our team was built on defense and that's how we that's what we lived at.

So I love it.

You've also got the four C's that are a part of this connection, competition, composure and consistency.

But then there was a fifth one that kind of creeped into the conversation.

It had to do with capabilities.

Yeah.

And seeing those four come together and that fifth, one of what they're capable of doing.

You've known that since they were ninth graders.

First time into this program with this group of seniors.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, Zeke and Jacoby sat in our freshman academy.

I was zooming from Virginia.

I had just taken the job and they got on there and a crazy white guy told him all kind of wild stuff that we were going to do.

And we did it.

We did it.

I'm grateful, I'm grateful.

I mean, it's just amazing to see what you guys have been able to do.

Take me through the end of regulation and I'll pause right there.

So just take me through the fourth quarter and then we'll talk about the rest of it.

What was going through your mind?

So the main thing that I was telling them is I'm going to get their best player and I'm going to get stops.

So I got two stops back to back and that's where our engines came on came from.

So in my mind, it was just get stops and worry about next play when it comes.

But until then, don't worry about offense.

Worry about defense getting stops every single time.

So worry about defense literally first things out of his mouth.

His defense is defense is the first thing out of his mouth.

So then get into overtime.

For me, what was what was the defense like in overtime.

Even though we know the end result, what was it like out there?

My thing was takeaway number ten.

Number one.

And we going slow the pace down, slow the pace down of the game.

And we're going to get the shots that we like and the shots that they for us.

So we got the best shots from Oregon and we had a great outcome.

Cody I want to ask you there's a lot of red in this building.

Yeah there was a lot of red the last couple of times that Morgan County has been chasing after championships.

You got to mention it a little bit.

But now to the rest of humanity, when everybody's looking at Morgan County Morgan County travels and it's always cool to see Madison show up.

Morgan County show up for anything.

But to have that kind of vibe and that kind of strength behind you.

Obviously, it speaks volumes to what's going on.

It does.

And you know, we I text our addy, our principal and our superintendent after we had left.

And I mean, they it won't compare to the parade that will happen when we get back.

But I mean, they rolled out the red carpet, shut the city down just for us to leave, to have a chance.

And I text him afterwards, you know, there's a lot of places that you can coach basketball.

There's only one Morgan County.

And man, I think Coach Harbaugh said nobody has it better than me.

Nobody has it better than me.

Nobody has it better than me.

And I'm sure you'll ask this, but I've got to take the chance.

This guy right here has been through a lot.

And if there's one part of his game that everyone, whether it's a college coach, whether it's a fan, he can't shoot, he can't shoot for four years now he's done nothing but win.

And Zeke in free throws.

I knew they were going in.

I knew they were going in.

But no I can't say enough about Morgan County.

I can't say enough about our administration, the fan base, the support that we have, the resources that these guys get.

And that's why we've been able to build a championship team, build it.

And we have one person on our roster that did not play middle school basketball at Morgan County.

And that is something I'm very, very proud of.

Very, very cool across the board.

Cody Anderson Zeke, by the way, are you going to hang on to the basketball.

Where is the trophy by the way.

Is it hidden.

But you got the basketball so you're gonna have to trade that out.

I'm keeping this.

I'm keeping it.

He's our player of the game.

That's the coach who just won a championship.

It's heading back to Madison.

Hannah, what else is on your mind back in midtown?

Well, he's got to find the trophy.

Thanks, Sean.

Thanks, guys.

Wow.

That interview will give you chills.

Congratulations to Morgan County and all of those Bulldogs fans in the stands.

All right, we have to take a quick break.

But coming up next, we'll be getting you ready for the rest of the day.

Two down, three more to go.

Plus the slam dunk contest.

Stay right here on GPB.

We'll be right back.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh hey what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

You've seen what your electric cooperative can do for your home, your workplace, your weekend.

What lights us up is empowering your local community and economy.

Georgia's EMC support 15,000 jobs and invest $16 billion in infrastructure annually.

And because we operate at cost, any extra revenue is reinvested into your co-op or return to members investment with impact.

That's the electric cooperative difference.

Georgia's EMC, so much more than electricity.

Half of the nation's opioid overdoses happen right at home because people don't understand the dangers of taking an oxy or perk with a glass of alcohol for stress or to sleep.

Learn how to protect your family from opioid overdose at opioid response.

Dot info.

Welcome back.

It's countdown to tip off time, which means we'll be getting you ready for the next match up in just a minute.

But for now, we're still celebrating with Bulldogs fans.

We crowned our number 14 champion of the week.

Second of the day, Morgan County won it and they have been amazing all season long.

You saw the talent, you've been watching the talent all week, but what about the GHSA basketball talent throughout the entire season?

Well, we voted on our GPB All Star team and here are the boys.

Here's a look at your GPB all stars on the boys side of the ball in 2026.

Pops Dunson from Alexander.

He's heading to Colorado State.

Manny Green from Cedar Grove heading to Tennessee.

Jarvis Hayes Jr., one of the five juniors on the list from Woodward Academy along with teammate Bentley Lewis.

At six foot 10 " tall, Chase Lumpkin from McEachern also has a year to go.

Asa Montgomery from Hillgrove, the same up Mcclure Road.

Harris Reynolds from St.

Pius.

He's heading to Clemson.

Kevin Savage of the junior class at Wheeler.

He's got a year to go.

Jaylon Winfield from Tri-Cities.

He's heading to the flats.

AJ Williams the only sophomore on the list from Eagles Landing Christian.

He's got two years to go and the player of the year.

Colben Landrew from Wheeler.

He's heading to stores.

That is the GPB All Stars on the boys side in 2026.

Yes, and congratulations one more time to that player of the year.

Colben Landrew.

He's committed to UConn and will suit up for the Huskies next year.

He helped the Wildcats earn a state title last year and could do it again tonight at 730 against Pebblebrook.

You do not want to miss.

That is our marquee six a matchup of the week.

It is time now to check in with our friends at USA pharmacy, because football will be just around the corner.

We're in spring practice.

There are things happening.

Coaching carousels and the football talent across the state is outstanding as well.

We have Pike County football standout here and you save it did a spotlight on him.

He's coachable.

You tell him something.

He's got it.

He's the kid that you want.

Everybody else to be.

He comes to work.

Perfect attitude every single day.

I think the wrestling and football kind of complement each other.

You know mental toughness is a real ingredient in both.

Combined, his athleticism along with his relentless effort.

That just makes a really, really talented football player.

He's a worker and on the defensive side of the ball, you've got to have that relentless effort.

He's not the kid that makes the same mistakes over and over again.

He corrects things and that's huge.

I don't care what sport you're playing.

Thank you to our friends at USA pharmacy.

All right, one more quick break in the show and then we're going to be getting you ready for what's to come.

It's the adaptive wheelchair championship slam dunk contest.

And the six A games tonight.

That's all next right here on GPB.

No matter the season Breda works to protect the inside and outside of your home.

Breda Pest Management.

They handle bugs and critters.

From ninth grade through graduation.

Georgia Futures provides tools to help you plan and pay for college, as well as prepare you for your career beyond high school.

Create your account today and explore the possibilities at GA Futures.

Georgia's 41 electric cooperatives are anything but static.

Since the flip of the first light switch, we continue to innovate as the demand for energy increases.

MCs draw from a wide variety of resources to generate electricity, from natural gas to nuclear power and renewables, so that we can reliably power.

Tomorrow.

We're harnessing the current to satisfy the future.

Georgia's MCs so much more than electricity.

Sir.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh hey, what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game.

Oh hey, what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team.

Jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game when you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up Georgia.

You've seen what your electric cooperative can do for your home, your workplace, your weekend.

What lights us up is empowering your local community and economy.

Georgia's MCs support 15,000 jobs and invest $16 billion in infrastructure annually.

And because we operate at cost, any extra revenue is reinvested into your co-op or return to members investment with impact.

That's the electric cooperative difference.

Georgia's EMC is so much more than electricity.

Half of the nation's opioid overdoses happen right at home because people don't understand the dangers of taking an oxy or perc with a glass of alcohol for stress or to sleep.

Learn how to protect your family from opioid overdose at opioid response.

Dot info.

Welcome back to countdown to Tip Off.

It is day number four of championship action.

And if you're just now joining us, we want to get you caught up on what happened earlier today and what's to come on our GPB championship scoreboard.

The AA girls team got us started off at 11:00 A.M.

Murray County won their first state title since 1965, taking down Hardaway 51-48 Then it was the AA boys championship, the nail biter down to the wire in overtime, where Morgan County beat Butler 53-52 Coming up next, we have our adaptive wheelchair game between West Georgia and Houston County.

The Sharks are the dynasty winners.

They have won 12 of the last 13.

Then we have our Slam Dunk contest, followed by the 68 girls and six AA boys matchups this evening.

You are not going to want to miss a minute of it, so stick right here on GPB and follow us on social media at GPB sports so you don't miss any of today's action.

That's it for this countdown to tip off show.

We will be back during halftime of the Adaptive Sports Wheelchair Championship.

I'll see you then.