He's gone coast to coast.

Clear the runway.

He's coming in.

It's a slam jam.

The pull up from three.

Watch this guy go.

The drive backs it in and gets it.

It's game for late afternoon here in middle Georgia.

Game four of six seven championship weekend on a final day here in Macon.

We take you inside.

It'll be S.R.O., standing room only, the triple-A state championship on the line.

And it's a battle of Savannah here tonight after a late afternoon session.

Before we make way for the evening session here in Macon, we've had an outstanding three days here.

And I'll tell you what, Herbalife, we got an outstanding basketball game in game four.

Well, I don't think there's any doubt about it as well as these teams know each other, I expect this win to go down to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter deal.

All right.

We start with the visitors.

Hey, the atom smashers from Johnson and Savannah and who's going to lead them on her?

One of the all time great nicknames, no doubt about the Adams measures.

And Tim Quartermain is the guy that controls everything just about for these guys.

And he's a six foot five guard.

He's a senior.

He's going to LSU.

He's part of that unbelievably highly ranked recruiting class.

Johnny Jones is put together down there at LSU.

And of course, Quarterman, he did not play in the first game between these two teams.

They've had three opportunities.

This will mark the fourth.

He was set out because of disciplinary reasons.

But I'll tell you what, folks, when he gets on fire, he's a dynamite talent.

As for the Blue Jackets of Savannah, Timmy Jordan, of course, we remember them last year.

They took Milton to then some and more in Gwinnett.

They are back in a different classification.

And you're talking about totally up top their big fella.

We got somebody who will replace him tomorrow night.

Yeah.

Josh Young is going to be stepping in for Chris Copeland.

He's played a lot this year.

He's played a lot off the bench.

He's done a really good job.

They're going to need his size inside to battle these up.

JOHNSON Adam smashes it because they've got two or three guys over six five actually.

So he's going to be an important part of this game tonight.

Let's welcome in the third member of our crew here tonight in Macon, Nicky Noto.

Where have you been?

Glad to see Skal.

Always a pleasure seeing you.

And I think all eyes from Savannah, if they're not yet in this coliseum, we'll be watching this game.

You see these two teams have already met this season most notably in the region championship for Savannah brought home the victory and they were wearing the t shirt then they're wearing the t shirt now and it says to beat us completes your season.

But to win a championship completes our season.

And here we are, Guilford at the state championship.

But get this, both of these teams, they came together this past Thursday and they spent the afternoon reading and entertaining pets at the Hawks Center, Memorial Day care.

And you know what?

We know how friendly they can be off the court.

With that being said, but Gil, we're about to see how they get along on the court when there's a state title on the line.

Mickey Nadeau with the inside stuff.

Let's take a look at our starting lineups here tonight.

We start with Johnson and Savannah.

They're brought to you by regions back curbside.

It's time to expect more.

Yeah.

Look at that lineup.

It's Quarterman, Greg Mortimer, Adrian Barnes, Saadiq, Muhammad and Devin Holmes.

And all of them are guards.

And there's some big guards in that mix.

And on the other side, you're looking at them right now, the Blue Jackets of Savannah.

The starting lineup for them is Starting Point that they've brought to you by Regions back.

It's time to expect more.

Yeah.

Jermaine Williams the only underclassman really sophomore in there you got five here the senior is just a lot and upperclassman junior Jamal Norman is a junior and Josh Young, the senior has a lot of experience on this club.

And of course, the aforementioned Devonte Spivey played in that championship game last year against Melvin Herbalife Unlock Your Keys brought to us by today.

TSG Well let's see prevent open 3.7 is a three point shooting team That's how they've won a lot of their games this year.

So Johnson's got to try to prevent those and they've got to take advantage of their size inside, especially with Coakley out and present Savannah the keys brought to you by text learn more or more.

Well they got a handle Johnson and they've got the pressure defense to Savannah.

Savannah really gets after you and then you get good looks for three pointers.

That's what Savannah's got to look for.

Get their shooters open and get them some good looks.

And our officiating crew here this afternoon, early evening at Macon, Derrick Taylor, Phil McNair and Jean Sherry, an outstanding crew for the Georgia High School Association.

We welcome you to game four of six here today.

And of course, our winners early on.

Bob Helton and Company had a great call in that early game, 6256, Saint Francis over southwest Atlanta.

And of course, the boys for is 5541 Dawson County lost to Saint Pius 7755.

And here we are right now Johnson of Savannah against Savannah High and we'll be ready to tip it up here in Macon and fancy new seatbelts because this has got to be a contrast in styles folks up tempo versus the great defensive strategy employed by coach Jordan and Savannah.

And the trip is controlled by Johnson of Savannah.

That's Quarterman.

He's going to launch the three off them on the rebound taken down by Jamaal Norman that's laden faking it three was spotted bringing it back out is Jamaal Norman spotting up in the corner and cutting loose and the miss was Williams the sophomore and the ball on the floor without the tie up little bit of a surprise Johnson opened up in the zone.

They like to really get after you man to man but I think they're going to try to spread their zone out a little bit and put that on the shooters for Savannah get a little get you to a board and then, of course, close friends with Jim Jordan.

Mr. was an assistant there for three years and good first year at Johnson and getting the job done.

Like I said tonight, the fourth meeting between these two teams is played in December, January, February and here in the month of March, Savannah and the perimeter will in that one 2 to 3 two looked at three man trying to prevent the pass into the post and also keeping a hand up on that shooter out front.

I was lauded over there Norman spotting up for a jumper and the miss right there is Fyvie getting again and cutting Lucy in and out and the follow Miss and the ball fought for again by both these two teams.

If they could have got that flush on that replay, that would have brought the Savannah crowd to their feet.

Get a look at Tate Jordan and of course, drew up in a cluster, cut his teeth and run high school played for the the big four Charles Polk impression by the Blue jackets and the Adam Smashers having some problems with it but they were able to get it in there that would set them the mission.

But let's go from Baltimore.

But you should nick Mohammed in for the follow through.

Nothing.

Johnson Savannah's already fired up three three pointers, so we mentioned that in the opener.

They don't like to shoot them, but they're going to have to get something inside for the Bears.

Wilson tried to force it in, but it's stolen away.

Adam smashes well the other way and foul, and his opponent and defender was Quarterman.

And you see the charge right there?

Contact Victor.

That was an atom smasher right there.

Most definitely.

In the fourth quarter, we headed to LSU four, talking about a tough one to team, unable to break through the pressure and getting down low and going up strong.

And they're going to get caught for footsteps.

And that was Josh Young down low and Josh Young heard footsteps.

He saw the defender coming in and he looked up and Shepard the feet, as you mentioned, entering the game right now sports totally and we talked about him up top.

You know he had that serious head injury list the day of school.

They had a CAT scan deemed it as a concussion and he's in right now entered the ball game early on 13.6 average and they need him big in a big way breaking the pressure as Adrian Barnes to the rack were nothing like that quickly before he can get loose Savannah able to get through with that pressure off the bounce and going up strong with it he Solomon you take a look at Coakley right there as we showed you earlier and at this basketball game suffered a nasty fall, banged his head against the hardwood, was taken to a hospital, got a CAT scan and missed the a few days of practice but is okay and playing here this evening backing it out as quarterback, walking off the bounce in the perimeter and stepping up and shooting one and the miss was Mortimer Adams measures get the rebound the wheel around in the lane no good by Mohammed and the blue jackets bringing the other way That's Lordy drive in the lane and stumbling and fumbling in traffic was the Vontaze five the and they get him on the turnover Well Savannah now with two walking calls and a charge so we'll turn it over way too much three turnovers right now and they turn it over again The Adams smashes on the pull up and knocking it down for Savannah That's something you don't see my teammates like that for like that, you know, I like to see it though It's an effective play.

On the break, stop and clock.

The baseline is quarterback and right here Walker they got on for a walk in and he had Muhammad on the trail and Savannah's over open then a212 as well so get both teams in zone early on All right for late in the first quarter with the score Johnson four and Savannah to action hot and heavy here in Macon Herbalife we'll be right back and middle Georgia after this all right back here making the triple a state championship on the line for the boys.

For Johnson, it's about the atom smasher for 242422 lead over several early on two of six shooting right now for Johnson one of four for Savannah two turnovers for Johnson and four turnovers for Savannah.

Herb Guild I want to give a shout out to somebody.

We saw those two guys that right before the game talking about that great beach team in 67.

It was a high school, the black high school league prior to integration, and it was a black high school in Decatur Trinity High School that turned out a lot of great athletes, won the state football championship in 1966, and a great basketball player from that school is down in Savannah.

Wanted to be here tonight, but his wife thought he might get in trouble if he came up to make them.

So he's sitting there watching the game.

Buck Stevens.

Hattie We love you, man, but wanted to keep him away from you.

That was your trouble.

We're out of school for making it.

As we said earlier, these two teams have met three other times.

Savannah one 5546 Johnson won 54 to 48 back in January, and in February, Savannah won 67 to 58 dramatically in the month of March, with Ole spotting up for a jump in this by a lot.

The smashers go the other way, the alley oop off the line and no good and that's Laughton with the rebound to Norman along the boomers to worry the entry pass and the ball stolen but regained back by the blue jackets lost in the fake in the corner the jumper spider nails it on a finish put on the line They're going to give the truth that ties it up at four.

Savannah loves to play defense, so keep this game in the sixties.

And I'm sure that coach Jeff Gordon, who just took a time out, wants to get it and move it up the floor.

Well, Johnson a little confused on the break in the press right there.

And so far, Johnson's done a good job of that zone that's spread now.

But there you see it.

If you can penetrate just a little on that zone and get the ball in the middle, then you get two men to play.

You're somebody is going to be open.

And that's what we saw there.

But so far, Johnson has done a good job of covering the outside shooters, such a Vontaze by the elevating, and he was the lone starter off of that team that lost to Milton last year.

David Boyd in company winning effort to win that.

That's when I had an opportunity to give be a part of that one seven all but yes it was great Milt great Milton team no doubt about it and the much chronicled repercussions with their coach Boyd following that through 46 of their opening four that's Quarterman by line extended pulls up double pump that hesitation and knocks it down 64 to 34 Now for the opener here here Michael nice when you got a guard he can go in the paint score for you and four for Quarterman.

The atom smasher stay and tucked in that matchup zone and the miss and the follow is up and in by Jermaine Williams six six but they pressures by the blue jackets young smashers are able to bust it and the baseline and what are you going on to the rack was Culver you know heads up play on defense by Jamaal Norman charge him establish that spot right there He was in plenty of time right 23 correct that that was an Antoine maxwell the sophomore and took a bad tumble and got the worse for that one And we're going to take a break 205 here in the first.

We'll be right back and make an app.

It is very important Messages on GPP Quarterman double pumping in the lane and getting it to go knotted up at six.

We'll be right back after this.

back here in Macon, eight six, the atom smashers of Johnson over Savannah, not ready to start the second quarter here.

Quarterman, the leader for Johnson Savannah he has four three players with two to lead the blue jackets right now one of the more interesting stories and we have a whole lot in this series, a friendly neighborhood rivalry, but you talk about brotherly love.

How about twins?

Robert Miller of Savannah Johnson with the atom smasher and he's the senior and his twin brother Richard, who plays for the Blue Jackets.

One wears number four, the other one wears number three.

That adds up to seven, four and 7 minutes apart.

Right, Mickey Mantle, That is right.

I like your math skills right There they are, in fact, fraternal twins.

7 minutes apart.

And like you just said, we know this is a rivalry game, but imagine the in-house rivalry between these two.

I mean, a victory in this state championship is a bragging right.

Well, I guess heading into the senior year, anything can happen in that 12th grade year, Most definitely.

And Herbert, you got to believe the families probably wearing the uniforms one on one side, one on the other.

Right.

They shift them around, move them around, reminiscent of the great Civil War brother against brother.

Right now, this is a battle of Savannah on the line, a state championship in triple play here in Georgia.

The possession of the blue jackets trailed by two spotting up in the corner was lucky.

And we have a whistle and a foul on all of them.

Again, Johnson content to stay in that zone and they're doing a good job with it so far.

Savannah with four outside threes and they haven't knocked any of them down yet.

Nick When they got Muhammad his first ball stolen away and we go the other way.

The Adams matches with the basketball.

That's Adrian Adrian finds working against the law to thwart him in the alley oop intended for Lovett and they didn't connect for him and got a little loft little more loft and Lovett had lift I believe turnover you know most of Savannah the blue jackets in the up for a three missed by Williams the blue jackets regained possession they will get on the perimeter again and driving the baseline straight through the hole up and in is Jamal Norman and that's the move by Norman there and I make a little more of that No gets more open looking outside the pressure file going down for it all that drive into the lane was Daryl Myers.

It's a basket right here.

Very nicely done.

And so Josh Young got more medium shot.

Now, Myers will go to the line and try to break this tie, and he does can't say enough for all the people down here making making We had a wonderful time.

Hospitality's been outstanding.

The people over at the Marriott, the city center, and of course the great folks here in Macon putting this tournament together, done a outstanding job that they had to join it in the 80 centers.

Yeah, they're going to hear the championships, the Georgia High School Association and Macon, you've done good here.

It comes in from Joshua.

And they did give the crowd a crush on the moment to give them a real around.

I mean, getting it rejected was Copeland still with it and staying with it and getting it down is Jamaal Norman, who's had a pretty good first half early on.

If he has two super plays back to back by Norman.

Okay, great body control and all he has four stolen a row by the Blue Jackets.

That's Norman and he opens doing their job in the back way and drive in the lane and the dish and hanging and putting it up and in was Norman and a whistle.

I thought Johnson did a good job get him back.

But I'll tell you what, Norman has got a really explosive first step and he doesn't mind taking it all the way to the rack.

Nice job drawing the foul There.

Let's see it.

I thought Savannah was going to have numbers on this great big what do you say?

The break?

But Norman has really started himself down on the baseline.

So he makes this he'll have the last six points right there as opposed to the free throw line.

You're absolutely right.

You see the numbers right now and Jamaal Norman, an impressive first quarter that's carried over here in the second with five fouls on them, smashes the attacker, completes his second record 12th and ten again the trap obliged but Johnson able to break looked like the intended pass was knocked out of bounds by Savannah and they love to play that defense.

Now thanks to Jordan's Cody Valentine who used it to block Jordan shot Nice job.

This bought a favorite with Ramey on top of the free throw line and that's Mortimer going up strong in the lane and we have a whistle on a hot you're going to get completes his first drop in the team's third 551 until halftime coming up immediately following us here will be the six eight girls and that should be a good one here with more for that and more class, go first.

Lexie Brown versus Diamond this year in that box he's a player.

Season's no more.

I believe the second free throws good will make it 1211 so time and Jermaine Williams slightly off the balance launch so three and another rebound taken down by the Adams emotions were going the other way that's quarter and nice bounce pass in the wing up and in and getting it to go on a nice move is number three for Greg Mortimer they use all the glass on that one.

Johnson had no field goals until that field goal in transition in the second quarter spotting up and the Miss Short and the follow up is Up and good by Jermaine Williams.

Another contested three no good but good job following the ball on the rim and getting the cut back by seven emotions in the half court right now that's Murray spinning bounce pass Nice move off the glass staying with it going up and and it's Devin Holmes the more and more creative spin move and the night leaders they couldn't get it to go down but Holmes stayed with it 15 to 14 and you got a guy from out there on that point he's about six foot five with a wingspan.

You're just not going to get open.

Looks out front, jumped down too closely and he gets hacked.

It looks like they're going to get Holmes on the foul is first again they need all that inside they can get it next look at the distance to here you see Savannah.

They've been playing it up some missed shots.

They've got eight off the boards on offense and five for good.

Adams measures they're going to take a break with the score 1514 the lead one three Adams nice and we'll be right back in Macon but they're being very important messages on the great GPB with the score 1514.

We have 4 minutes and 18 until halftime.

Football Fridays this fall season number three.

Join us every Friday evening starting August 30th with the all access pass pregame show as we kick off the season at North Gwinnett for a doubleheader of the National High School Gridiron Challenge from Ringgold to Valdosta, from Savannah to Lagrange, we got you covered this fall on Football Fridays here in the great state of Georgia, only on GPB, Herb White.

It's going to be exciting.

I know you love that because it's six months away and you're already fired up.

Yeah, I'm fired up.

Any time you say the yard long at any level, I go crazy.

Well, we know how to Friday nights in Georgia high school football.

And it's always fun to bring those out and nobody town We go in, right?

Nobody.

I mean, nobody does it better than the wonderful people at Georgia Public Broadcasting, led by the commander in chief, Jay Ryan.

Chris Coakley at the line.

First opportunity.

This must be short of beyond any trends you're seeing right now.

It was hard despite anything, you zones are doing a pretty good job for both teams holding the scoring down.

And at the end, these teams know each other so well.

And I was telling Nikki she might ask the coaches if they put in any new wrinkles this week in practice just to try to find something they might be able to unveil the surprise.

Yeah, the team hopefully gives us a seven tie of this basketball game and we haven't cleared the first half yet either way.

And hang in the later was Adrian finds that through the end breaks the tie 1715 353 Nice job in the seconds on his own right there and he had a recognition to talk about Rodney to Norman but a lot of stolen away by bonds.

They head to Quarterman.

He leaps and gets it goes straight to the holes, throws it up, and we got to whistle.

I love Quarterman.

Very long Herb Georgia Bulldog Good comparison team for we ended up being a great player in many years in the NBA.

You got to love those shoes he's wearing to all green line.

Do I have to love him?

They're going to blind us First one by Quarterman up and in in the three meetings.

As I said earlier, Quarterman missed the first one the cut there you get a look at those shoes and nice kicks.

Aren't they hurt, They are.

What it was back in the day.

Then You know what it reminds me?

When I used to guard Earl the Pearl Monroe, he used to wear one high top and one low cut.

I think he just did it to try to throw you off guard.

Even with the two free throws, it's now four point lead enjoyed by the Adams Smashers from Johnson and Savannah 326 to go largest lead of the game a four point spread on the pull up and the miss and the foul in the lane after the Norman Miss was Tyreese Rivers and Teresa has been a key reserve for coach Jordan.

In fact during that time that Coakley was out and Rivers came in and has commanded major minutes down the stretch and has really helped them in this playoff run.

The first opportunity around and in Coach Gordon's got to be a little upset with those second chance shots again.

Rivers the miss and that's about his own follow.

But Mohammed said it differently now.

That's Mortimer stepping up and blocking out signals on the way.

It's quarter and then let's just flip the defense shift like he's working against Cookie Shoot 52.

They look for Mohamed down low on the boards, knocked out of bounds.

That was a set play from the get go.

Great command of the middle and trying to draw the zone into the middle and then hitting a quick pass to the baseline.

Rivers is out.

Jermaine Williams in Savannah was up to the task to get a hand on the ball.

The Quarterman will trigger it underneath his own basket after Mortimer drive in the lane to dump down to Quarterman off glass.

And it is just nice great touch by the young man 21 to 16 the biggest lead at five right back for two and a half minutes until halftime tend to pass down low, but quickly it slipped out of bounds for the blue jackets are get to do a three and a miss and the rebound taken down by Johnson that's Quarterman down low to Muhammad Quarterman really sees the floor well and part of that is because he's six foot five and he's bringing the ball up well but usually finds the right guy to get the ball to Muhammad Cole for the offensive charge.

He has to right now, of course, Muhammad six foot eight, averaging over 9.6 a game and takes a seat by coach Gorgeous.

We probably won't see him.

We landed in the second quarter boy to go That's Chisholm to Williams on the wing back to Lawson 21 to 16 a five point lead enjoyed by the atom smasher for the championship on the line the double teamed against Norman stolen away and a lead to Quarterman the lay in.

I thought he was going to flush it early, but he did those things alone.

It's all right for him to forward.

That's all.

Accounts 23 to 16 the lead now seven for the Adams smashes and the Blue Devils need to get them a bucket here big time with all this momentum Stop Savannah struggling in their offensive set yet another turnover but the blue jackets regain it.

The block by Mortimer here we'll see the steal by Quarterman will lay in that corner three and actually Mortimer nice finish and I tell you that Johnson defense collapses as soon as that ball gets into the middle.

They make it tough for you to put the ball on the floor.

You need to turn around and go up with it.

If you get it deep in the paint, the fellows and then Williams the personnel at the end entering the game for the Blue Jackets.

Devonte Spivey and exiting stage left Shakir Chisholm, the sophomore, will run it up again and knock it down.

It's now a five point lead, a lead that was big as set up to the minute.

Mark Quarterman for the Lane floats it up in the air and one Pennsylvania was passing all over the floor.

Good, but somebody forgot to tell Quarterman.

He just went through it and got locked on to reach his second nice crossover ankle breaker, as they say.

Adams smashes it made their last five field goal.

They're getting quality looks and that's the key to making them the lead at eight the biggest so far that's five He shot all two Adams smashes with the basketball look to else number one to the hole and Bravo traveling But he brought everybody to their feet.

He gets in the open floor hurt.

He's lethal.

I'll tell you what.

He's got a long stride on him.

Deal.

He eats up some court when he takes off from the open floor and he'll leave the game right now and in to replace him is.

Love it.

Watch the stride here.

I don't see how many it takes when he just about half court 45 ticks to go two and a half launching a three and knocking it down is Jermaine Williams 26 to 21 and losing control over it and knocking it off his legs was Jamal 11.

So the ball gets turned over or does it freeze it, considering who had the angle?

Let's take a look here.

We all are here.

All right.

Well, I believe it came off totally, but it was really hard to tell.

But a huge three pointer down here for Savannah.

I don't think they'd hit one the whole half.

And Adams smashes probably a little out of control that time.

Well, that's hard to tell from behind, since that official was right on top of the play, though, and he gave it the other way.

So look at our crew, man.

Lord Coakley with the elbow.

Did they not see that?

We're not seeing.

My goodness, they did see it surreptitious.

Yeah.

Because, you know, Smash isn't going to shoot a technical.

No room for that out here.

Elbow to the head.

That's what we call you.

I heard you saw it.

Coach was already suffering from a head injury.

He ought to know how he feels.

Bounds makes the first, and that's who gets toughest in the game right there.

They regain possession turnover.

Yes, they do.

That's a big swing instead of a turnover.

Now you get two free throws in possession.

Made the first.

So this is for the second quarter.

That's Adrian Barnes.

But you see it one more time.

yeah.

I mean that's done with a big D there do no other way to say it and they're going to sit him down to pitch Jordans will have a talk with him and I'm sure that's going to go into the locker room as well.

So this one, you hit a big three and get yourself back within about five points.

And Johnson's lead has been eight.

It is now at 728 to 21 under 26 to go Quarterman with the basketball And on the bounce being defended by Norman Mortimer behind his back the spin and the launch and a follow no good and my goodness at the buzzer Mudder Are you kidding me?

And that takes the lead to nine tied with 12 three run on the Adam snatches the 21 Tim Jordan is not going to be a happy man when he gets in that locker room and I would want to be Christopher going in there because that was a point turnaround on that play.

The referees are going over to make sure he did beat the clock.

He beat it for sure.

Let's go to Mickey now, though, Mickey.

All right, Coach, right now you're up nine points.

And as a former assistant, you know this team a little all too familiar in your new team.

You've played these guys three times throughout the year already.

Are you going to be implementing any new wrinkles into your game plan to expose them a little bit in the second half?

No.

I think most people that know me knows that whatever I do that's working against you, I'm going to do it until the wheels fall off.

So as I said, right now, there's nothing new under the sun that I'm going to try to do.

16 minutes at the same thing then, Absolutely.

All right.

Thanks, Coach.

Good luck to you in the second half.

Mark, I'm sending it to you for halftime.

Mickey, thanks so much for getting ready for halftime here on GPB.

We'll hear from both principals.

We'll also have first half stats and first half highlights.

You're looking at the GHC, Boys and Girls Basketball championships live from the Macon Coliseum, live on GPB Sports right now.

Savannah Johnson, Lady Savannah 3221 at the halftime break in the Boys three game.

We are back with a TV halftime show right after this.

I'm Welcome back to the Macon coliseum.

Welcome back to GPB coverage of the GHC boys and girls high school basketball championships.

We're the halftime the boys three a state championship game between Johnson, Savannah and Savannah High school and we now welcome into the program the principal from Savannah Johnson High School Bernadette Oliver.

Thanks for coming on with us.

Thank you.

Talk a little bit about what it's been like at school this week because everybody I know has to be pumped up about this all.

Savannah, final in triple-A.

I think everybody's been pretty excited.

Coach has been doing a good job of keeping the entire staff and the students calm and so we just wanted to make sure our boys stayed focused and our coach stayed focused.

So we've been excited, but we've been kind of keeping it low keyed and having schools.

I tell you what, the Macon Coliseum is rocking between the two schools and all the fans that Jimbo brought down here.

How is the drive over?

It's pretty good.

We passed a lot of fans coming.

Some had on blue and white, some had on blue and orange.

But we were all pretty excited.

We were all waving at each other and hey, we'll see which one comes back.

A chance.

All right.

Well, time now to play.

Are You Smarter than Your Students?

A question for Mark today in Georgia History program.

So your question is the general left the state of Georgia during the Civil War and was the return until 1972 after winning a federal lawsuit?

Now, was the general was it a had borrowed by Sherman to make him look taller, be a train, see anesthesia used in surgery, or did a secret recipe for Coca-Cola.

I think I'll go with be a train.

You are smarter than your students.

And thank you so much for coming on with us.

And good luck on your behalf.

Thank you.

All right.

In Georgia, history is a joint production of the Georgia Historical Society and GPB.

For more information, just go to the day in Georgia history dot org.

Now let's check in with Claire and Grace in our social media session, guys.

Hey, Mark, you know, this rivalry is so intense that it can't just be contained here inside the coliseum.

It is also going on online.

And remember, you can take part.

Just go to GPB Dawgs Sports.

You can visit our site, see all the coverage streaming live.

Plus you can also chat online about the game.

We are also on Twitter at GPB Sports.

So follow us.

Make sure that you do that because we want to hear from you and tweet us as well throughout the night.

We're also on Facebook.

We are sharing a lot of behind the scenes photos and videos.

You will want to check those out.

And now joining me is our social media expert extraordinaire, and this is Grace Olsen.

And Grace, I know really we are getting into it.

People here are tweeting.

It's a big competition going on.

The conversation is all over Twitter right now.

We have a huge tweeter, a JD Sports fan going by Smashers Nation with tons of ends at the end.

She is an ad smasher fan and she's been tweeting at sports all throughout the game.

The game will be halfway through, but she is all on Twitter.

We need more Blue Jackets fans.

So on Twitter, we want to hear what you have to say.

We're hearing a lot from the fashion, but we need your blue jackets, too.

So join the conversation, get on Twitter and tweet at me these sports.

And again at GPB Sports.

And remember, we're also working to get more Facebook fans.

So like us.

Like us, like us, like us, like us.

Give us the thumbs up by Back to you, Mark.

Thumbs up.

We're all there.

I tell you where at halftime of the boys triple-A game between Johnson, Savannah and Savannah High School.

It's a great game so far.

Joining us now is the principal of Savannah High School, Dr. Tony Jordan.

I want to have you here.

Nice to be here.

Talk a little about what it was like at school this week as everybody gets pumped up for this inner city rivalry that's taking over the whole state of Georgia.

You know what?

I can tell you, this city has been electric.

We've received tremendous support from the Board of Education, from the city of Savannah, from our parents and all of our students.

It's been great.

This is the first time this has happened since 1968.

So we're all excited.

It's really been a great season for your team.

Talk a little bit about the road to Macon.

Yes, sir.

Of course, we went down from 5 to 3 and we we had a great season.

Coach Tim Jordan and his coaching staff have done a great job with our boys and we're excited.

Now we're hoping for a different outcome than we have right now.

We're behind, but hopefully he'll be making some adjustments and we'll turn this around in the second half.

You guys have some of the loudest fans that we've had all week.

I don't think there's anyone left in Savannah right now.

Well, it's time now to play.

Are you smarter than your students?

A question for Marshall and Georgia history.

So dear question is and one of Georgia's great architectural treasures.

And it opened on Christmas Day in 1929, which is one of Atlanta's premier performing arts venues.

Is it, A, The Varsity B, the pig at Richards, C, The box theater, or D, the ever popular Lego land?

I'll go with C, The Fox Theater.

You are absolutely correct.

Listen, thanks for coming on with us.

Good luck there in the second half.

All right.

Thank you.

Okay.

For more information, the Georgia today Georgia History is a joint production of the Georgia Historical Society and GPB.

For more information, just go to the day in Georgia history dot org.

Now, let's check back in with Clay.

Thanks so much, Mark.

It is now time for our career play of the game that's brought to you by the technical college system of Georgia.

You know, despite the changing job market in our state, many Georgians continue to find solid careers in the field of industrial technology.

Careers include machine operators and designers, as well as systems managers and machine tool technician areas of the field that are growing, cutting edge trades like robotics and industrial design.

It takes training and technical skills, but these jobs are available and you can you can build your own career.

That's why industrial technology is our greatest career play of the game.

And that's all brought to you by the technical college system of Georgia.

And if you want more information, Mark, I know you do TSI sg dot edu.

There you have it.

Very good.

You're ready for the second half of this one.

my gosh.

I'm telling you, fans, like, I never like, I've never seen this the three days we've been here, so I'm excited.

Yeah, the whole city of Savannah is hopping on this one.

And we will come back with the second half of this boys three eight championship game live from the Macon Coliseum, live here on GPB.

When we come back after this timeout.

So stay with us.

It's going to be a good one.

3229 Johnson with a nine point lead over Savannah standing by with Coach Jordan of Savannah are Nikki Noto.

Nikki All right.

So coach, this game has been neck and neck the entire way.

What strengths with your team are you going to capitalize on going into the second half?

Well, we got to pick up the intensity a little bit.

They had a little more tenacity toward the end of the close game.

They scored the last six points of the quarter, kind of pulled away a little bit.

So we got to pick up the intensity and try to match the intensity.

The team has up guards, both cities this has got to probably win it.

And Coach, I asked Coach Gordon this going into the half, you know him a little too well.

Are you going to try to expose him and his team a little bit in the second half?

Well, maybe I need to try to do something for what I've been doing, but the way I work in the first half.

So we will try to pick it up and try to make it a good game.

All right, Coach, good luck.

Thank you, Gill.

All right, Nikki, thank you.

We call it the mentor and the mentoring right now.

The mentoring with the lead.

And of course, you have Gordon and his squad leading by 930 to 21.

Gil Tyree, along with Herb White.

The elevator from Decatur he had hops back in the day.

Let's take a look at some of the halftime statistics right now from our good friends at Georgia Farm Bureau.

Herb, what jumps out at you?

Well, the main thing for me is the three point shooting by Savannah.

There are three.

They like to shoot the three.

That's how they win a lot of games and they're one for eight so far.

And that zone has been very effective.

And Johnson, Tennessee has only taken two three pointers.

So and but the rebounds, there's 11 there but you don't see there's eight offensive rebounds for Savannah and that's actually what kept them in that first half right up until the end.

And those numbers will continue right now to 57% from the field for the Adams Smashers of Johnson Savannah led by Tim Quarterman right now and he has exactly 38 points And then before the Savannah blue jackets Jermaine Williams has nine and Jamaal Norman who had an impressive first half, has six.

And right now we stand at a nine point lead.

Enjoyed by the atom smasher.

One single was Tim Quarterman.

This has two personal fouls so Charlie Brown, a third base, big.

Glad to have you with us as we start the second half here and making coming up a little bit later on John Nelson and Shaun Gordon standing by for the six day girls, which will be an outstanding battle here tonight.

Brooklyn Nets and Blue Devils, of course, a lot of star power in that game.

Coming up immediately after this one.

We got to settle this one first, this one for the triple championship.

Raymond James right off the bat is going man to man and try to up the defensive pressures, talking about seven more to murder for him.

Then they split the defense launching a three and no good with fives the three jackets the other way in transition or knocked out of bounds so Savannah will retain possession.

Let's see if Savannah can shift that momentum around from that last play at the end of the first half.

Kind of took the air out and Williams triggers the inbounds and then he gets it back.

Lost a runner gets the rebound controlled by the outlet to ponds ahead and laying it off the glass and the follow right there often this was shot getting drama Holmes at the miss but Muhammad there to clean it up biggest lead right now 30 to 21 at 11 Adam Smashers trying to get there.

We've had two state championships, the last being in 1992, spotting up and launching a three is no good.

Is Norman a bust out and that's Quarterman Weems lays it up no good gets it back.

Fakes, drives the paint, launches the floater.

No good.

The rebound taken down by Norman 643 in the third.

Johnson content to stay in that zone and why not?

It's been effective so far this whole ball game off the bounce off balance as Norman rebound control by the atom smasher that's Mortimer in the corner as Quarterman fakes it three backs up goes to his buddy Mortimer the wheel around in the lane and he finds Mohammed inside no good The rebound controlled by Jamal own head to Wharton and once again three deep in the corner was Tremaine Williams and that was an open three.

I'm sure that Laden split.

The defense had two players come to him.

Here you go.

Watch him.

Split the defense.

Two guys come.

The kick leaves him wide open, knocks it down, and they needed that dribble penetration, slam that in and out game was 32 to 24.

Right now, six or six with a trip around our great state of Georgia.

In Georgia, travel from the mountains to the coast.

Our traveling team explores the state's most beautiful, exciting and unique treasures.

Nobody does it better than David Belsky, Georgia Traveler on GPB with David Zaleski, a fantastic dude.

He's been hosting that show for years now.

I saw him do a great piece on the city of Macon today.

That's a great city.

And, you know, I wish my wife responded as quickly as our camera crew does.

When you ask for something that's just wonderful.

Second half shooting this game, one of six for the Adams Smash.

He's one of four for 782 to 26.

Morton, looking on the perimeter, drives off the pads and gets it, would go off to a soft kiss by Norman Felicio.

With 24, the lead swells to ten hits by three, something that does feel like your running time trying to find something.

So you get a ten point lead and that seems to work.

You got lot of clock ticking.

A good shot.

It's a dig It spotted Jermaine Williams for the cut and they spotted Mortimer on a foul so that'll send Williams to the line really an impressive sophomore see the numbers 12 points He's got a nice soft skill and a lot of nice spin on the ball from the free throw line.

I'd like to see a big guy with that nice touch to points, five rebounds, nine of those 12 came in the first half Gasol and he now has 14 hits and Mohammadi lost.

It took him completely by surprise.

Jackson took it to the glass and the Nets lost five here we go the other way.

That's Barnes to back it up.

Is it the quarter?

For me?

It would get against five.

It takes him down low, dumps it off and getting the dunk They should be more on it.

He's paying attention that time know how much makes up 36 to 26 for 49 under the five minute mark here making javonte spotting and playing the two man The perimeter in the corner is Williams launches a three he doesn't get it.

The rebound controlled by the Adams smashes Mortimer in the lane hangs lays it up and no good but we have a whistle Nice job by Mortimer to hang and draw the foul And I'd like to see Savannah try to set some high screens out there against that zone.

A lot of people you can't screen against the zone, but it can be very effective, especially in trying to create something.

And right now they're just not really creating much against that Johnson Zone.

The Adams smashes very athletic Mortimer next the first Josh Young enters the game four for the Blue Jackets, as does Shakespeare Chism and a ring for the Adams measures in waiting to come in will be Daryl Myers.

The second opportunity by far Mortimer is good.

Johnson knocking their free throws down.

They were eight for nine from the charity stripe in the first half and they're continuing in that hot free throw shooting their best leaders.

Now at 12.

That's the biggest we've had.

We run an 11, had 11 going after our lead.

Now at 12, really three in the third.

You've got to find some kind of a key to this zone.

You got to figure it out.

The Blue Jackets flying through right now, driving away.

MATTHEWS More hanging.

And that doesn't go for rebound.

Bring it down by the look like Mortimer the alley oop.

and getting it in following Mr. Dunk was Myers for surveying for Savannah players couldn't control the rebound and talking about being above the rim Hello Herb White nice pass for him and really throws that lob pass nicely A lot of touch on it Four time outs the blue jackets in a 12 point hole the Adam Smashers getting it done 3039 in the third We'll be right back in middle Georgia after these very important messages on GPB games right here in making the atom smashers would at one point lead 38 to 26.

Gil Terry Herbalife and Nicky Noto get a look at the beautiful Savannah cheerleaders.

Nikki, what is up, girl?

We have a special treat for you and all of the GPB fans at home.

Right now I'm hanging out with none other than Gator Rivers, a.k.a.

He is known as the what are you greatest ball handler in the world at various He said it up.

Don't believe me.

Just ask me.

Well, we're about to ask you.

And right now he spent 16 years with the Harlem Globetrotters.

But right now he is with the Harlem Legends out of Savannah Gator, we saw you at halftime do your thing, but you're about to do it for everyone in the great state of Georgia.

You got 30 seconds.

When did you get here, guys?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

He was kidding.

He didn't throw it to me, Guys.

Him.

Look at him.

He has still got it.

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

There he goes.

Hey, that was awesome, Peggy.

So much that we're everybody find you these days have Minion Dotcom.

Got my management company, Gator Ball Academy, Harlem Legends.

All right, well, it looks like I'm taking a trip down to Savannah to get some ball handling skills.

What do you think?

Gator.

Thank you, Nikki.

Thank you.

I want to ask you this.

Are white.

Who's better?

Gator Rivers, Marcus Haynes, Meadowlark Lemon, or.

You know what?

I'll tell you what Coach Jordan might want to go get Gator and see if he can get him in there with some of that ball handling gator.

You still got it.

Adam smashes on the end of the tournament successfully driving the lane and hanging in the lane at all classes that Greg Mortimer added to a dangerous stretch in this ballgame.

Now, with 330 to go and a 14 point deficit, Savannah really got to come up with some nice some good looks.

They haven't had a quality shot and Johnson's lead ballooned to 48 or rivers joining us here at press row Gator you've done good getting down low as close to that dump ball on the way in off the dunk was Jamaal Bowman maybe you still playing zone my goodness Gator still got it and still got it.

I'm going to get me a pickup game.

I'm going to get you my first basket.

No ball handlers can keep on playing the guys at the jump and get to me knees and a bad handkerchief for the man with the drive.

No call.

There we go.

The other way.

That's what I'm favoring.

Jackets on.

Too many run.

Well, you're going to tell us.

Have you got a dog in this fight?

Are you going one way or the other?

You just pretty neutral bonds to the whole the Mets and the blue jackets for the rebound and they are on the go to the hole stumbling and falling off glass and getting called for that charge out of control was 75 eight.

Where are you just exactly right about that.

You'll be sure Give him that one up.

He had three guys with him and yep, cause he didn't charge.

But they have cut four points off real quick.

And let's take a look at this fast and furious here and make him spicy.

Just barrels and a quarter man runs him over out of control and a good call there and had Norman on the other wing and Norman's a finisher too from Coakley on the dunk started a little mini run for the blue jackets in your living room and a flush right there and some trash talking.

Well it's always a couple dunks gets the team fired up, gets a little adrenaline flowing and let's see if Savannah can get something going.

For the last 219 of this quarter.

We talked about Coakley, of course, suffered that serious head injury and had a CAT scan.

They determined it was a concussion, sat out an extended period of time, didn't start tonight, but was put in the game, inserted in the game fairly early on and has been somewhat of a factor in this early run data.

What's moved Jackson up through these days?

He's still around the game.

One of the first great players out of Savannah that I remember Savannah with the trip, the atom smasher was able to get it across the timeline.

That's Quarterman off the bounce working and drive and hanging in the lane it up and the end Give it to him and he's going to take over the last eight from Johnson have been inside the paint 43 to 30 the lead now 13 launching a wild shot was lobbed the rebound control by Mortimer and Mortimer should have looked it up.

He had somebody out front there.

He could have given it up for the layup, but tried to drive it up the floor and look at Quarterman again.

I can just brings back shades of Shannon Ennis and he had that same move, that same ability to hang in there and finish looks a little too like Shaun Elliott, formerly the San Antonio and the University of Arizona, and even George Gerhart.

Iceman Cometh.

Pretty good combination there for Elliott and right, Gator and Anderson Anderson in the lane and falling away with the jumper was Jamaal Norman and he's really working hard to get close.

He was fouled on the play from Daryl Myers his second team second set the stage right now we're in the third quarter, the triple AA state championship battle of Savannah Blue Jackets.

Adam smashes with the Miss by Jamaal Norman Norman been one of the few bright spots for Savannah today.

He had six in the first half and I think they need to look for him a little bit.

Wilkes-Barre head of white Gator Rivers and Mickey Noto again the story of this one's been that Savannah zone defense just in that look Adam smashes on defense.

They just haven't given up anything easy.

Mortimer breaks the bridge, cuts off, gets it over to his buddy.

Quarterman splashes to split double team and we have a foul called and it looks like they're going to signal Jermaine Williams came through Jamari love it And at the basketball game right now putting Adams snatches it over the inbound sideline right by quarterback for Mortimer working against Shakir Chism.

These two teams know a whole lot about each meeting for the fourth time this year December, January, February here in March.

Quarterman at the free throw line goes over to love it Back out top to Mortimer closing in on a minute Mark Mortimer loses it still has it Baseline hangs in the air no good Follow by Myers off glass 44 to 31.

Adams measures taking over this game right now good with their athletic ability and size inside they just stick and everything back they missed Jermaine Williams.

It's a lot to sustain Chism he struggles on the baseline and throws it off a defender and slipped by Mortimer negotiating baseline and made a clean it up off glass and get it up and in is Daryl Myers back That's an offensive foul frustration on the part of the blue.

yep I'm wondering how much zone that Copeland Johnson played against Savannah in the other games Erskine Gator he didn't see it but I mean it looks like Savannah hasn't seen this defense before because they are not able to do anything with it.

And you would think of the other way around because of the blue jackets coming with that defensive mindset.

But Quarterman and Company are having none of it.

Yeah, they've just done a great job.

As I said, they've extended that defense out wide and a lot of people like the Packers zone in sometimes, but they've really extended that zone and they really cut out the three point shooting except for one in this half for Savannah.

They'll get it in the hands of quarterback, by the way, and hangs on the Miss Mortimer with the rebound third quarter minutes buddy he lays it up no but stays with the no good the rebound controlled by Copley elbows swinging but a foul was called and we're going to go the other way.

No more second chance attempts there but yeah they couldn't get it to go down.

But again, that's been the story of the second half foul on Holmes, his first see the clock.

That's what's left in the third quarter, 4431 And we have a turnover against the Blue Jackets and with seven ticks to go Quarterman will inbound it right in front of Herb White and Gator Rivers and they deferred it now so it'll be Holmes only inbounds.

QUARTERMAN Working against Williams, struggling with a two drive in the well bad foul there Fordham is going to get two with time no time showing on the clock for Moses for number two.

Here you see it.

Nice aggressive play by Quarterman in the Reach by Chism.

So Quarterman will go to the line the lead now at 13 and they're going to put 4/10 of a second back on the clock.

They'll, as Herb just said, 4/10 of a second added on your clock at the top of your screen.

QUARTERMAN I'm really impressed with this young man.

I take the first one no good.

Yeah.

Johnny Jones At least you got him a good one here.

Yes, sir.

A lot of impressive talent in these championships.

We saw it early in the St Pius game.

We've seen it here in this one, and I'm sure we will see it later on tonight.

Quarterman makes the second that makes it 45 to 31.

At the end of three, they heave no good at the buzzer.

So we head to the fourth.

The atom smasher is 8 minutes away from bringing their first title back since 92.

A little old school with Gator Rivers.

How about the New Age with the guys playing above the rim?

We're having a great time here in Macon.

We're glad to have you with us on three people.

Back after this.

The guidance measures with a 14 point lead at the start of the fourth here in making the triple play state championship on the line.

And how did we get to making Herb White sponsored by Georgia EMC lighting the way we start with the Adams matches.

Well they took care of rock Mark Carver of Columbus and a close one then Tannehill County in North Fall and for the Blue Jackets of Savannah.

How did they get here?

The road to the championship It's Georgia EMC lighting the way in Chapel Hill, Dodge County.

You see Washington County in Buford.

And if Savannah's not careful, they're going to be the final cobblestone in and the atom Smashers road to the championship.

So they've got Jordan's got to come up with something.

They've got to get more aggressive.

They got to make sure they don't get the Adams measures in Johnson any more.

Second chance points.

Easier said than done with their length and leaping ability.

But it's time to get this thing cranked up.

Savannah really needs to get off and get a little run going to begin this fourth quarter.

Get a look at Coach Jordan, of course, a championship in 98 then they are a long time to get to the state championship.

Last year they lost to Milton and they're here again and they're trailing now against their arch rivals.

JOHNSON The Blue Jackets with the basketball as well in the corner recognizes the double team finds self and Williams goes around the horn gets down to the baseline I'm losing against Muhammad and coming in here to help was Quarterman.

There was a bad foul by Mohammed.

He had Johnson's bad shot there.

They got Quarterman his third, I think.

And look at those points in the paint.

Yeah, well, that zone is just shutting down any inside game that Savannah has had throughout the season so far, they've just not been able to get into the into the paint to anything and say that they're two for 12 and three point distance.

That's a recipe for disaster.

First line by Williams, who was good he missed the second 45 to 32 Savannah turning up the heat defensively and we got a turnover.

It looked like it was Adrian Ponds with the clear out for the ball goes back to the blue jackets and inbounding sideline to right will be Jermaine Williams so you start the scrambling pressure all over the floor deal like you need to get you back in the game or get you out of the game in a hurry as the other teams can get some easy layups.

So let's see what happens.

Jump ball from arrows going the other way.

I don't believe it.

No, he did fall out of the three that was missed by a lot and Quarterman got the rebound and was hacked.

That's the second foul.

And Quarterman will go to the line.

Gabriel here on some kind of character for me.

Gail, you two together?

Can you say troubled?

I would love to have him throwing me some passes back in the day.

Got him on the first.

It's good.

You know, I've heard the weird Claire Simms and Grace Olsen trying to get those numbers up on our Facebook page.

The like.

It's hurt.

We got to get it, man.

You know, I'm calling a shout out to my peeps down in Fort Valley.

Montezuma and Fitzgerald, you got to come to work for us.

Okay?

In addition to everybody down in Savannah like us, said GPP right now.

Yeah.

How about the folks in Decatur to cater to Metro Atlanta?

Shout out.

You want to get 5000 before we leave this building tonight?

47 to 32 deleted 15 and getting down low and throwing that foul was Norman against Quarterman and he's got to be careful.

The technical foul referee look long and hard.

Adam Quarterman walks away.

That's a smart move to get away from this at the Quarterman And he's going to yeah, he's going to sit down for now.

He's going to do he told Coach Gordon, I'm to play with it.

All right.

All right.

You ever been in a situation where you go play with 40 minutes, protect yourself?

I'm 90% of my career.

I had four files on the deal.

It felt like you don't have to be a rocket scientist to believe that the strategy for Jordan will be to come at him and try to draw that fifth and get him out of here, because he's been a whole lot of trouble to this.

I might put him on the other side of the zone away from Quarterman because Quarterman knows how to get in and draw the foul.

Just a reminder, coming up, the six day girls state championship North and North Cross, they're going to get Quarterman out of here.

Yeah.

And to replace him is home.

That's the right play.

Sit him down for a lap.

Maybe the last 4 minutes or so.

Unless this thing starts to get out of hand and get a comeback and then get him back in.

But he can keep the lead in double digits.

No need to bring him back too quickly.

Break the pressure beyond mismatches getting across the time line.

That's fine for Mortimer.

And coming over the back was Copeland.

He had telegraphed that stealer Savannah pulling out all the stops, wanting to score, hopefully in foul trouble now at four and they'll replace him and get Josh Young in here immediately and that's eight fouls on Savannah.

So two more and they'll be in the bonus double bonus started things this morning here on GPB.

Good but Bob Halpin with the call along with D.J.

Shockley 6256 Southwest Atlanta Christian a loser to Saint Francis in overtime and we had and four it's 5541 Olympic green college basketball Yeah and then the same price 7755 over Golson County you're here right now and at three eight Johnson Savannah against Savannah Adam Smashers leading 48 to 33 and of course John Nelson in company with Norcross and Morris Fournette after this and then Hill Grover Norquist tonight for the boys in six and we'll wrap it up with yours truly and Herbalife and steal you get some VIP's doing the games for us notice Bob Helton, the president of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.

Saint Francis defeated Southwest Dublin 62 to 56 in overtime.

I think I got it out right the first down.

But my man in my ear, Steve Graham.

I love him.

He'll keep you straight.

most definitely.

And of course, we're glad to have a steeper ramp back.

He was ill this morning and soon got Devin Holmes on the reach in the cell, but his daughter Hannah, nursed him back to the good stuff.

We got Steve GREENE back here tonight.

Well, you got to get these free throws here.

Jermaine Williams down 15.

Some people.

We got a lane violation, the ball out of bounds.

It's out of bounds.

So the Blue Jackets will retain possession in a big hole, a 15 point hole.

It's 627 here in the fourth, it's Williams Ingram and backing in is Jamal Norman and a travel so the Adam Smashers did it right back Well I'd really love to ask you about this defense by coach Gordon and how much he's used it this year because they have started at the opening tip and maintained it.

I know they play defense man to man, voiceover work to perfection.

Really.

They're entering the game for the Adams Moses the short Morris and blowing that ship right there was Jermaine Williams staying with it still are the Blue jackets and they get the rose and that was normal.

Their first field goal in the fourth quarter.

Herb And we're right now at 611.

So they're going close to 2 minutes without getting the basket and they had to work their tails off this with brown and drop through that was Chism and I look what I found being an emotional crusher and I come away with points after those two easy looks.

For the third year in a row, Georgia Public Broadcasting will proudly bring you every pass.

Ron Black and tackle the 2013 Georgia high school football season kicks off in the Georgia Dome with a 22nd annual Corgi Tale classic.

Five Big game, five great matchups, a full day of high school football, representing teams from all over Georgia, beginning from breakfast until midnight.

Don't miss the 22nd 40 Cal Classic, taking off quite an early 9 a.m. for a daylong high school football palooza here on GPB 48 235.

I know Mark Harmon is going to be excited about that, waking up with Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and more of them are doing a good job breaking the press and the pressure.

That's Mortimer working against Chism.

They try to double them up.

He was able to get it over to Bonds and they tied him up.

But it goes off a Blue jacket and the atom smashers retain possession leading by 1348 to 35.

Now imagine Johnson's not going to be in any big hurry to.

Throw a shot up now they want to work and take their time and more to the fourth Mortimer.

The quarter quarter man who's playing with four fouls and comes out to get in and he gets it over to Bonds, who drives the lane and puts it off class and lays it up in and the lefty like we saw with DACA the other night look at me they just spread the floor, took what the defense gave him and got the easy layup Norman minutes to worry about this out of his matches with a rebound that's bonds immediately foul by Jermaine Williams.

I don't know about the foul in that scene It might be a little quick.

He got 515 to go in this ballgame knowing that you're going to put your ninth foul.

One more in there in the double bonus So don't like that foul there.

Here's a stat I want to throw at you.

Herbalife 34 points for Johnson in the paint to 12 for seven okay well that says it all right there That's a 22 point differential and a lead at 15 with an opportunity to increase it to more in the hands of one Adrian bounce touch of Georgia Bulldogs through to you had to ask them you know I got to get it from you I want it out there over in T to him Coleman Townsend crossing the last second shot from what I hear came back down seven with about 2 minutes to go get back tied up and Alabama made a guess it was a three at the buzzer just a heartbreaker.

The dogs have lost a lot of close friends history of course Georgia Tech and Boston College then that'll wrap up the SCC and HTC and get ready to the tournament in Nashville and Greensboro respectively but the follow on getting it up and in was Jamaal Norman at the 502 minute 51 to 37 try to traffic he's always around and gets away with it to Jamaal I love it and going to the hole and laying it up on him and off the mark was Mohammed.

That might have been the quickest spin I've ever seen on Sprint that ball of the floor.

That was just amazing quickness there and he's getting the low five from his teammate for a nice dish.

Should Mohammed get a good look at him?

Six foot eight, a senior.

This one is good was averaging just close to ten points per game coming in.

See his numbers all the night.

Let's watch and see after Savannah gets the ball how long it takes him to get up a shot against this zone defense bill because that's been one of the main problems for Savannah in the second half.

It's just having to run time off the clock to get a decent look against that zone.

They haven't gotten many votes.

1837 related 15 at eight of the biggest of the night you pass them by Norman goes off for that I'm smashing love it so the blue jackets retain possession Spicer I thought that is good by Jermaine Williams on the wing and quickly coach Jordan calls the timeout.

Well it's a nice move and a nice shot and they work well for it but it took him 20 seconds to get that shot off.

So you said what did you just say?

look.

Yeah, you got to take a long time.

You absolutely have to make them and make sure it's a three if he can.

So that was a big basket for Johnson, for Savannah right there to cut this to 12 points.

But the way that defensive and extending them and pushing them back in deep threes in the fourth yeah I think that's maybe their third maybe three of the night they've probably launched 18 or 20 maybe it's been a rough night.

And again, it's not a close shooting night because they're just cold shooting.

It's because Savannah or Johnson of Savannah has extended that zone defense with long arms and good athletes and unfortunately not giving them any good looks deal every curve wide and with grace with the lovely Mickey note of Nikki.

Well, girl, I have already graduated high school, but I like to learn a little bit.

So I spoke to Johnson, Savannah's principal, Mrs. Ball.

Oliver, and got the skinny on what exactly is an atom smasher.

Okay.

And yep, that was your assignment.

It sounds your science lesson today, boys and girls.

Is that an atom?

Is An extremely strong unit of matter and an atom smasher is anything that.

Well, you guess it can smash an atom.

And that is no easy feat.

Gil.

Nikki you got an A, and then you got an A-plus.

Plus, for the extra credit, she went beyond the call of duty, crushed those crayons and protons and neutrons and morons.

You know, I thought the red elephants of games, like the person that made the atom smashers may have won.

Yeah, I love saying it should be a Twitter question.

We ought to give that to grace.

Also let it trend.

What's a better nickname?

Atom smasher already, Not even close.

I'm sure the people down in Savannah will disagree with that.

Well, all right.

Tim Quarterman headed to LSU.

And you talked about Johnny Jones as a goody.

This kid, as Lance creates his own shots and has been a factor in this basketball game and playing with 4000 and I want to add another person on that list that we talked about, comparisons of a Penny Hardaway, Anfernee Hardaway, Willie Anderson he also you said yeah well he answered changing hands and it's an alien chant and we're brothers right had similar games as well and you know 6526 range that they can get out and you know the thing I like about him and he's not showy he doesn't do any wasted motion.

Everything is smooth.

He's under control all the time.

Yes.

And he just makes petty plays.

And let's see what we got here.

Georgia, over Kentucky, you know, women's basketball.

Okay.

Georgia, up 24, 19 at the half.

You see the numbers on quarter, man, 18 points, two assists, three rebounds.

And like I said earlier, playing with four fouls.

And I imagine that's playing through a tournament that's up in Gwinnett.

Yes.

One of the reasons why we're down here in Macon and enjoying it is again spreading the floor.

That's Mortimer.

The quarter Adam Frazier burning that clock.

Nice entry and that's going up in the air It's Mohammed that was a slick pass there and fouls on Jason Lawton it's third Let's watch this kind of a little behind the back.

yeah between two defenders and late in paying attention to that day when you got a great passer, you never know where it's coming from right now at 4 minutes to go, the last championship that Johnson in Savannah one 1992.

But Gator Rivers appreciated that pass for you.

Imagine traveling with the Globetrotters for 17 years.

How many countries have you seen?

Wow, a lot of sights points going into know the four Washington generals related 1464 to 41 LAWTON In this three matches with a rebound the advance differential which in the person of five is in a Mortimer against Lawton that's love it the double team comes over and we have a foul on Williams and maybe Williams is fifth coach Gordon has got some ball handlers in the ball game.

He's got three guys who can get it on the floor and keep it away from the defense and they're doing a great job of it very little Savannah can do but fouled and Jermaine Williams that's a big loss He's out that's his fifth gave it everything he had continued good free throw shooting Adrian Barnes now with 1956 to 40 and they've been to the line quite a bit this evening as well that's Chisholm and that's Copeland doesn't follow his own Miss ball on the floor and the Adams smashers with numbers more and more ahead and coming over and climbing over the top and spotted for the foul is Jamal with 16 point lead our largest of the game like 56 to 40 that climb to 15 but it's now at 16 so it's going to take a miracle now again coming up immediately after postgame show and all the championship celebration will be our six day state championship game for the girls, North Gwinnett and Northwest.

Who do you like a toss up?

But I tell you what, I never would have thought one of these teams would win by 15.

That really surprised me as often as they were playing each other three times and knowing it.

And you just got to credit to Johnson's defense man.

Look at these guys.

I mean, there's absolutely nothing there.

We're going Savannah had won twice.

Johnson had won once, but this one for the whole enchilada and going up strong as Coakley Antoine finally worked the ball around and got something inside for Coakley.

But I'm afraid it's going to be too little, too late.

This third team, Ice century nice strong move by Coakley going up strong with two hands.

You can even see it too.

Fired up about making it.

He knows what the score is.

They got Muhammad on the foul.

That'll send Coakley to the line and that's nine fouls on Johnson now.

So in a double bonus on the next one take a look at the Savannah bench and of course they were here in the championship last year but at a different classification they lost to Milton, the Eagles.

A game was up and too loose, I tell you, I know how tough it is to lose a state championship, but to lose back to back state championship, I got a feel for the kids.

And of course, at the conclusion, like I said at this basketball game, Mark Harmon I see Kat Carney coming in for some primetime.

Good to see Kat.

Great debut last night.

We got it for the ninth time, giving us some of the flavor here and making that's more smaller.

We're going against spicy bulls to throwing away and struggling with it on the glass.

But that's not to go.

Yeah, they're going to get fined for riding him on a drip isn't right for Johnson to do this.

Well, it's not going to make much difference probably, although still has 13 board games.

So you knock down a couple of free throws here.

It's still doable, but Barnes should not foul there.

Make the guy make the shot.

Don't put him on the line.

In the biggest part.

Don't stop the clock.

And Savannah can capitalize on the one and one and hold on now that was the 10th foul and foul.

Okay.

So it should have been two two, Right?

And that's why we will bring it back.

I think I mentioned that a moment ago.

The next foul was its 10th team.

I guess the officials didn't hear me.

You got to love it.

Her wife worked the elevator from the table.

I'm not great that often.

Deal.

I have to remind you, when I am, that's why I call you Swan that that business.

So, Quarterman, with the rebound, we'll move it ahead in the fancy.

Working against Norman and that clock Mortimer on the bounce.

We're going around the horn against five here.

That's Fox trying to get the blue jackets to foul them right now.

Not a fun position to be in, I can tell you.

I've been there trying track down guys who can handle that.

The crowd right there on Norman.

We're talking about a parade to the free throw line Johnson 20 of 46 to look charity struggling white Savannah 12 of 19 from the free throw line Yeah what a big difference that again the other big difference in this game is that zone defense by the Johnson Adams smashers just totally dominated their end of the floor on Defense Avenue Smasher nation starting to feel it right now many of them making the trek and you know Mark talked about it Mickey talked about it coming up from Savannah by and so a lot of tailgating.

I thought we were at a football game.

Yeah, well, we love neighbors breaking bread.

Yeah.

Come up and have a good time.

Beautiful day here in Macon.

I went for about a two mile walk this morning along the river.

So all the little critters.

It was nice to wake up call with John Golden.

He and I worked out a little bit.

yeah.

The treadmill.

Yeah, we get the treadmill.

That's running, so maybe I will be able to get you on that zip line next.

Yeah, that's going to be one of my, what do you call them?

Resolutions to get on a zip line because the 1843, that's the second time we've seen that of this tournament of three launched and they get stuck.

Well, that's pretty much the story of Savannah shooting threes tonight.

They're ugly and it makes it tough.

And there's a big hand in your face.

You know, we talked about excluding somebody going back, losers.

This was last year and they hung in there tough against Milton.

But, you know, it was just a little too much in the end.

Evan Nulty and that bunch and go on to give David Boyd and the Eagles a championship.

man that incredible JOHNSON And can he fly a plane at Auburn now And when they asked me in that poll of the great dunkers a few weeks ago, I told them I thought Zach Johnson was the best I've ever seen.

You in school in Georgia.

Were you at a no?

Because that's what we call you.

Was the elevator from Decatur because you had back in the day and stuck permanently on the first floor?

Now, that's not what I've been told.

The legend of Herbalife.

Well, I know it hurts to see that That film right there, you lost last year in the finals.

You lose this year in the finals.

But and they don't want to hear this.

The fans don't want to hear it.

For Savannah, the players don't know Coach Jordan.

No, but it's a credit to your program when you can get to the championship game back to back years and you just run up against great teams when you get to the Wow.

That Milton team was one of the best teams in Georgia.

High school basketball over the last few years, just loaded with talent.

And I tell you what, this atom smasher team has played probably their best game of the year.

I bet if you ask Coach Gordon, he'll tell you it's their best game of the year.

Quarterman is fouled by Spivey.

Matter of fact, if Nick is listening in, I'm like for her to ask the coach that after the ballgame.

Yes.

Nikki, did you hear that?

I know our student production crew did they can the message to Nikki Yeah, I mean, that's be interesting because I'd also like to know about that zone.

But we don't he won't want to talk about that.

He's just going to want to celebrate you.

Jeff Gordon, Of course, was an assistant for Tim Jordan for three years and then went over to Johnson.

Savannah.

You know, those two talked about this.

They had dream.

They said they the two were going to meet in the state championship.

They had all this planned out.

Well, it turned out to be a nightmare for Coach Jordan, two great friends they embraced before tonight's game.

And I'm sure they'll do at the end.

Right now, the atom smasher with a 16 point lead equaling the biggest of the night, driving the lane and putting it off which Chism, the miss, gets his own follow.

No good tap up.

No good.

Still with it is Coakley.

He gets up in the air and he's hacked.

Well, there you saw again the type of shots that the Savannah's getting.

They're just throwing up prayers.

And, you know, it's not just at the end of the ballgame where they're throwing up these prayers, trying to get something going.

That's been the kind of shots for the most part, they've gotten this whole ballgame.

Bill Quarterman, 21 points, two assists, five rebounds and playing wood for fouls.

And he's had four since the start of the fourth.

Well, when you got the lead, it's a lot easier to play with four fouls because you don't have to worry about really getting out and playing tough defense.

All you want to do is take care of the ball and maintain that lead, get good shots and he's certainly done that for his club.

At fact, uniform in his freshman year went to Savannah, so this is really sweet for him.

We talked about it earlier.

I mean, these kids play, you know, the rec center.

They the playgrounds.

They know each other.

I mean, they hang out.

And I asked Coach Jordan about, you know, he mentioned Quarterman had been at Savannah and, you know, there was no bad feelings about that.

He says wherever kid wants to go to school and, you know, that's up to him.

So no bad feelings in the between the coach and the players as well.

He'll leave Johnson and over to LSU and they'll love him in Baton Rouge.

I'll tell you that Coakley on the short term but in this that's like he's got to launch a three year counter, maybe too little too late, way too late, 59 to 47.

That's Mortimer.

That's Muhammad going to Four Corners.

He'll get it in the hands of bombs and spread it out right now.

And it's going to be a parade for the charity stripe.

And look at Adams smash relation.

I tell what the city of Savannah was represented here in Macon.

Yes, they were.

Yes, they were.

And again, what a tradition out of that Georgia City man.

They have put a lot of great teams and a lot of great players into high school basketball in the state of Georgia.

Jim, I love it.

For the first opportunity, as good.

I know I don't make it 60 to 47.

And you know what I believe, Joe, be right.

Play to Johnson of Savannah and jobI was a great high school player, went on to play at Indiana, play with the Pacers and was a great college coach as well.

Savannah has held their opponents under 60, right?

Yeah through this tournament.

Right now it stands at 61 four for Johnson, pretty much beating them at their own game straight to the rack was Norman with 38 seconds to go and well, actually Johnson has held 12 of their opponents under 50 points this year and they they probably threw that zone at him like good to have thought he's going to answer the bench class at let some of the reserves take some of this Buggs all along the sidelines Adam smashes you have done good 31 to go the missed land by Hudson in transition and making the basket was Norman cut the lead down to 10 to 20 seconds left again it'll take a miracle and coach Jordan's going to let him know we don't even need to shoot the ball unless we go to the free throw line.

I think that's what he just told his guy.

Right.

And he's right.

That was missed by Woodson, who was driving one of their reserves and at the break, happy, happy Joy Johnson for Adam's imagination.

Believe it or not, nuclear physics wasn't my strong suit.

What was my minor?

Not my.

I tell you one thing, you know history.

Well, you know, when you get to be about 64, guilty, you got a lot of history.

You can talk about.

There's a lot of history in that.

My not only about basketball, but just from there, I think the state of Georgia.

Scott, I was a history major in college and loved reading history loves talking about history and the history is made here tonight, as it always is.

And the Georgia high school basketball championships, I mean, good company.

I got you for history.

You got melee for writing and dancing and yeah, Gangnam Style.

We got to do that.

We got to do the Harlem Shake.

Well, maybe we'll more time beat Island Trip, 20 seconds remaining for a championship.

We'll do it on a Savannah with a Johnson.

Adam Smashers don't care it's Jordan getting to wondering why stuck us in the globe dress you tough Gordon I don't know who's a better dressed man Shaman White, are you Jeff Gordon?

8 seconds one.

Look, Close it out and that's it.

61, Just 51.

The savannah for Johnson.

Savannah, Adam Smashers get the championship.

They win the triple a state title 61 to 51.

Well, I think it meant a lot to him to win the state championship and a lot to win the city championship.

You these two teams know a lot about each other.

The embrace of Coach Gordon being hugged by Jim.

I love it.

And then two good friends meeting and Coach Jordan and Coach Gordon.

You a couple of players hugging each other out there.

That's like we said, up top.

So you see these teammates, Two teams know a whole lot about each other.

Well, secrets, yeah.

They couldn't have competed against each other any harder than they did, and yet they're hugging after the ballgame.

And man, that's a that's a wonderful thing to see in sport.

In between all of that is our Nikki Noto, who is standing by where you Jeff Gordon, the best dressed coach on this night.

Mickey Noto look out, Coach.

Right now.

He's in the middle of hugging some of his former players.

I know he's excited for them.

Coach, you have to be excited.

We knew one thing coming into this game, that hardware was going home to the city of Savannah.

Now it goes from the john to savannah.

Adam Smashers, how excited are you and how proud of you are you of that zone defense that was played today.

And as much as I'm trying to give this cool facade right now, inside I'm glowing like the sun.

The only thing I want to say is I just feel great that the last team that won in 92, I knew all of those kids.

And so not only for the city of Savannah, but for that team from 1992, all the people in the community, that is Savannah and all of the people that have been close to me.

I'm just thankful and I'm thankful that we were able to pull it off.

Well, congratulations, Coach.

Go hang out with your team and celebrate.

You're not fooling anyone.

We know you're excited to get her back to you.

Nikki.

Thank you, Coach Gordon, Thank you.

61 to 51.

Back with the championship trophy presentation and a whole lot more that Johnson, Savannah, Adam Smashers or kings of Tripoli.

We'll be right back after this.

Time now to make the presentation of the class triple Boys State championships.

And for that, we go to Ernie Yarborough of the HSA.

Coach, on behalf of Dr. Ralph Swearingen and Georgia High School Association, we want to congratulate you and your team on a great season and a great championship victory.

Congratulations, Coach.

Coach on behalf of the Georgia Farm Bureau and Chatham County Farm Bureau, we'd like to congratulate you and all the Adams Masters on outstanding seasons congratulations.

Coach, raise that trophy high and proud and tell us what it means for you to win this championship.

well, like, like I mentioned before, there was a team in 1992 that I coached against while I was at Beach high school.

And it's not only for those ballplayers from the 1992 championship team, but the people that Savannah that supported me, both at Savannah High, Johnson Beach, all of the schools in Savannah.

So we're very proud to be able to represent the city as Savannah as state of Georgia champions in three eight.

Congratulations.

Let's talk to Greg Mortimer.

You've got the big trophy on top of your head, right?

come over here.

Tell US what it means to you as a senior to win the champion.

It means a lot to me and my team.

You know, we've been working hard out here.

No, we deserve it.

So, yeah, that's about it.

Congratulations.

How about you?

What do you think about winning the state championship over the Savannah High School?

You know, as a senior, it's a great way to go out there because that the Savannah High, my twin brother, the time the kid had a number one eye baby.

All right.

Well, congratulations to Johnson.

The atom smasher nation.

They are number one, the three state champions.

And now it's time for the GOP tailgate party with Kat Carney.

Kat.

So we congratulate the boys three state champs.

And we are getting ready for the girls six A's state title game.

And you know what?

The energy isn't just here in the Coliseum.

The energy is also online.

You know, you can join in an online chat by logging on to WWE, GPB Dawgs Sports, and you can chat with fans literally from all around the world.

But I want to ask you this.

Have you heard of Smasher Nation?

It's all over Twitter.

And you know what the woman sitting next to me knows?

She's Grace Olsen, our show social media correspondent, going on.

Great.

What's up with Smash or Nation?

Smasher Nation is the term right now on Twitter.

By halftime, the atom smashers had been all over Twitter using the term Smasher Nation.

I thought it was awesome.

So I gave a call to action those Blue Jackets fans to start joining the conversation on Twitter.

We want to hear what they had to say too.

So now we have both Smash and Nation going.

And Blue Jacket Nation.

The conversation was awesome.

Our Twitter feed was buzzing with tweets from both teams.

That was a ton of fun to interact on Twitter and I just love those terms.

I can't get over it.

And you know what?

We're not just, you know, on Twitter, we're also on Facebook.

And you're getting a lot of touching stories, really moving stories on Facebook.

I am.

That's right.

I wanted to hear about, you know, why you're watching who you know, on the court tonight.

I talked to a woman on Facebook named Joi Brown.

She graduated from Norcross in 1971, and both her brother and her sister played on state championship teams in the seventies for Norcross.

So she said they're getting together tonight for an early dinner and then to watch both the girls and the boys team play for a possible state title.

So I thought that story was very touching.

I love that stuff.

Keep it coming.

I want to hear why you're watching and who you know here.

So keep those stories coming.

Well, you know what?

We're going to check in with you a little bit later to see what the fans of the next game coming up.

So we're going to check in with you a little bit later, but I'm going to see what Mark Harmon talking about.

Okay.

Well, you know, Norcross High School has a chance to win the boys football championship.

The girls basketball champ, Jeff and the girl and the boys basketball champions.

So it could be quite exciting for Norcross High School.

I'm glad I'm here for it.

All right.

Enjoying the boys and girls high school basketball champions here on GPB.

We are GPB Sports are already working hard on the upcoming football season.

Here's Jon Nelson with a look at Football Fridays in Georgia this fall at season three of Football Fridays in Georgia.

Join us each Friday evening starting August 30th with the All-Access Pass pre-game show as we kick season off at North Gwinnett High School for a doubleheader with the National High School Gridiron Challenge that we continue every Friday all the way on the road, the dome.

And finally the 2013 GHC Championships from the Georgia Dome on and off the field.

GPB Sports showcases the best of high school football, starting with the all access pass pregame show a live full half hour that takes you behind the scenes of the towns and high schools we feature each week.

They're all catching the spirit.

We'll show you how they made it to the semifinals last week at Fillmore East.

But it is winning Time live on GPB, and that's followed by the kickoff of one of the best high school matchups in the state.

Shovel pass and pick it up and they're going to take it in for a touchdown.

We bring you rent check, checking in with the parents here for a segment we like to call Rich.

Let's play some rent check and see how well you know Trey as well as are you smarter as we celebrate the school and community all night?

Well, you are right.

You are smarter than.

Your students say Football Fridays in Georgia, from Ringgold to Valdosta and Savannah to Lagrange this year, three of Football Fridays in Georgia, along with the All-Access Pass.

All season long on the great GPB and our football coverage will actually kick off August 24th with the quirky Cal classic.

Ten great teams, five great games from 9:00 in the morning til maybe after midnight.

Who knows?

But we're talking basketball right now.

And we welcome into the program Tim Quarterman, one of the outstanding players for Johnson Savannah.

Congratulations.

And hold that trophy up because we haven't had a trophy on the set here yet.

Talk about winning that thing today.

It feels good because just knowing that they'd beat us twice in the regular season and then in a region championship and we just wanted to get them back.

So it's good to win it.

That's why I let it go.

Yeah.

Talk about what it was like because you're playing an inner rival for the state championship.

It was good.

Didn't knowing that know something about Savannah.

And it was a lot of fans that came up there to support.

And just knowing that we bring in to Johnson, it feels good.

And we haven't won it since my old one in 1992.

So I just wanted to represent them.

Well, you know what?

You mentioned your fans.

What did it mean to you to have all of your fans here today cheering you on?

It felt real good.

It was a great boost.

And they boosted us from warm up.

Soon as we came out, it was loud.

It was ten our night, so I felt good.

You know, you really took charge there in the second half after a pretty close first half.

Talk about that play in the last 16 minutes.

I just felt like I wanted to let her down.

And I'm a senior and have a lot of seniors on the team, so I just felt like we couldn't lose.

So I just stepped it up a little bit.

Not that wants to know about those green shoes that you have on.

I think they match.

My shirt.

Yes.

They're very vague or something.

Thoughts?

Tell us a little bit about that.

Actually, we had a practice yesterday and I was planning the same shoe, the whole play offs.

And they really saw like, and it was just so everybody kept saying, like my like might be like my best.

So I would like, coach, take me to the mall.

We got to get some shoes and that's how the green with our like cares money we got to get those so well they're they're brand new and they're lucky shoes now.

Yes sir.

You need to put them in the Hall of Fame.

They won't be worn again.

There you go.

I'm not taking them to LSU because you're going to go on to your college career at LSU.

And good luck down there.

Thank you.

All right.

Congratulations on winning the state Senate, Bridget.

Congratulations.

And you know what?

The girls six, eight championship game is up next.

So for a what to expect Regions Bank game preview, let's check in with Jon Nelson and Shawn Golden.

Thank you very much, Kat Carney.

I am this is Shawn.

And there are a lot of players on both of these rosters coming up for Norcross in north Gwinnett who because a lot of trouble on their own but going to have them all on the same court at the same time coming up here in just a little bit.

But, John, this is a special game tonight.

Anyone that understands high school basketball and at this level, the six, hey, championship is it for the state of Georgia, the Final four, pretty much the national championship game.

This is it.

You talk you got four top players on, the court, three, McDonald's all-American and one and Delaney and DeShields as a national played over a year.

And you talk about Diamond DeShields, your catches look at her you'll get a look at Lexie Brown and Peyton Whitted from North Gwinnett.

You also look at Shayla Cooper heading to Georgetown in about 20 seconds.

Angie Henry's nervous.

All coaches are nervous.

You know why?

Because they're competitive.

If you're competitive and you want to win it.

Coach Hembree hadn't won at this level since 2010, and this is her last year with her star player.

She wants to go out with a bang.

Now you're talking about this matchup, Norcross, North Gwinnett, just around the corner.

Let's send it back over to the best seats in the house and mark in caps.

Don, thanks so much.

We're now going to welcome into the program the executive of the DHS, Dr. Ralph Swearingen.

And you know, we've proud for champions on Thursday.

For more on Friday for more so far today, we got two more to go.

Talk a little bit about what it takes to put on an event of this size.

It takes a lot of planning before it goes for months before it actually happened.

A lot of behind the scenes with our volunteers.

And you know what we go through just to make sure that all the stuff is covered and is as smooth as it can possibly be.

Because we want the fans, we want the players, the coaches to make it as easy as possible on this.

Talk a little about the enthusiasm, because the crowds have been great all three days and especially right now.

I mean, Savannah brought down a whole ton of people and now you've got people from the Atlanta area down here for the six day games.

It's been very gratifying for us to see large number of people the way they've enjoyed themselves, the way they behave themselves, too.

It's been a great, great experience.

You know, the quality of play has been just great.

The excitement level as you see teams winning championships and you handing out a championship trophy, This is great.

It really is.

I'm prejudiced, there's no question.

But I think the play, the players, the coaches in Georgia are all unparallel.

We've got great coaches.

They work hard with the kids, great athletic ability.

We're just really proud of it.

Now, this is the first year that we've had 15 state championships.

If you include the wheelchair championships, three days overall, how's it all gone in Macon?

Because in the past it's been up in Gwinnett Center and then down here it reminds us of the old days.

Back in the old days, we used to have semifinals and finals here.

We played five straight days for games a day.

So it's been good.

It's been no problem for us.

And it's in a central location in the state, so we think it's pretty good deal.

Well, Dr. Sturgeon, thank you again so much for coming on.

Was another great event.

We got two more state champs to crown.

That's right.

All right.

Dr..

Elsewhere in June, the executive director of the G8, S.A. And now let's check in with Cat Connie.

Cat.

Sorry.

Sorry.

I was taking pictures of some of the fans the way you got at Georgia Public Broadcasting.

We are so proud of our local programing.

We've got the day in Georgia history, Georgia outdoors.

Updated southeastern Georgia to this season on Georgia Traveler.

We've taken you through the all terrain trails of the Durham Town Plantation.

What's that?

Whatever Lake River he throws in discovered mountaintop views from A treasured B and B and made the country's best pizza with one of America's few pizza maestros.

Being from Naples, there's there's a pride of that.

The world's most popular food comes from our town.

We journey the enchanted trails of Rock City and Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Join us The View of seven states from the on firing Lover's Lake Step Back in time aboard the Land and Legacies Tour at Cumberland Island and discover the world of the column Okie Indians, who once ruled South Georgia and constructed these impressive mounds that have stood the test of time as the oldest and largest in the South in the United States.

Explore Georgia every week with Georgia Traveler on GPB.

I'm loving this show.

the I think there's a story behind this ring.

Your name is Kendal, right?

Yes.

And this is the state championship ring.

The Norcross boys won 2011.

Repeat it tonight.

Let's go down.

But the ring isn't the only thing styling here.

We've got some style going on in the stands.

Tell me about your your outfit here.

We have a lot old track uniforms down in the student council.

I've had this for a while, and it's just I like being spirited.

I like being proud and going across.

Let's take a picture together and let's tweet it.

Okay?

Okay.

So what you want?

She's going to tweet.

You're going to take the picture.

Then she's going to tweet it to everybody, like log on to see it.

Okay.

Here we go.

All right.

Three pretty is a picture cars pretty as a picture as always.

Time now for the Georgia EMC scoreboard.

We've had four champions crowned already today.

We started early this morning.

The girls won a private school and the Lady Saints of Saint Francis win 62 to 56 final there in the boys private class AA it is green force over Saint Francis 55 to 41 in the three AA class in the case of the at Saint Pius the winner over Dawson County 77 to 55 and the boys class double AA the one that's Jason Johnson of Savannah.

The atom smashers they are the champions knocking off Savannah by ten points.

And coming up next, a great game.

Two great rivals Norcross takes on North Gwinnett.

This will be the fourth time these two teams have met.

North gwinnett has won two of them.

Norcross is one one.

We'll see what happens there.

And then in the boys classic, say, Hillgrove in the finals for the very first time, taking on the blue Devils of Norcross.

Norcross with a chance to win the football championship, the girls championship and the boys basketball championship all in the same year.

And that's never been done in a season and in a school year.

Really?

Well, you know what?

I'm still stuck on the shoes, the ring.

I mean, this is a very fashionable group.

You know, your style and profile and looking pretty good.

Thank you.

You know what?

I got to get on Twitter because I got to see that picture on Twitter.

Well, go down.

Go, go.

Tweet yourself.

That's not how you do it.

You check your feed.

You check the feed, check the GPB sports feed on Twitter and check out Kat.

We're coming up.

It's going to be the girls six day state championship game, North Gwinnett and Norcross.

It's a humdinger.

It's coming up for the Coliseum live on GPB.

Stay with us.

The action is just heating up, folks love