Upson-Lee headed to title game

Upson-Lee went on the road for Saturday night’s Class 4A semifinal against Henry County, but it might as well have been a home game.

Chants of “U-L” reverberated throughout Christenberry Fieldhouse as the Knights kept their undefeated season intact with a 74-59 victory over the Warhawks.

Upson-Lee will play St. Pius X, which defeated Sandy Creek 87-68 earlier Saturday, in the championship game Friday at Georgia Tech.

“It was a tough win,” Upson-Lee coach Darrell Lockhart said. “We had some guys in foul trouble, but the other guys stepped up.”

Upson-Lee (31-0) led 17-9 after the first quarter, but Henry County (24-6) fought back and trailed only 34-28 at the half.

The two teams played even in the third quarter, but Upson-Lee gradually pulled away. An early 3-pointer gave the Knights some breathing room in the fourth quarter, and they continued to play up-tempo as their lead stayed in single digits.

A three-point play by Zyrice Scott, who was fouled on a fast-break layup, gave Upson-Lee an 11-point advantage with just over four minutes to play.

A fast-break dunk by Travon Walker a minute later would have brought down the house, but it bounced off the rim as he was fouled on the play.

Henry County erased a 16-point deficit in its last playoff game against LaGrange, but it couldn’t pull off a similar rally against Upson-Lee. The Warhawks got within eight, but Walker put back a miss, was fouled and made the free throw to give Upson-Lee a double-digit lead again.

“We watched the film, and we knew that was what they were trying to do,” Lockhart said.

The loss snapped the Warhawks’ 18-game winning streak.

Lockhart said the championship game should be another battle.

“They’re great shooters and well-coached,” he said of St. Pius X. “It’s going to be a tough game.”

Scott led Upson-Lee with 18 points, while Walker added 16 and Tavias Fagan contributed 14. Henry County’s Javon Greene led all scorers with 24.