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.

This story was originally published March 4, 2017 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Upson-Lee headed to title game."