GISA REGION 3-AAA BOYS TOURNAMENT: Deerfield-Windsor boys claim region crown

ALBANY — Deerfield-Windsor coach Gordy Gruhl was much more relaxed Saturday night. One night after his team squeaked out a win over Brookwood in the Georgia Independent Schools Association Region 3-AAA semifinals, it coasted to a 67-50 victory over Valwood in the championship game at Darton State College.

The win means DWS will host Trinity Christian on Wednesday in the first round of the state tournament. With a win in the opening round, DWS would also be at home for the second round.

“You get this game right here and it means so much,” Gruhl said. “You get to host the first and second if we win. That is huge instead of going to Augusta or somewhere like that.”

The Knights’ offense started off hot and stayed that way throughout the game. Forwards Whit Turner and Ethan Shellhaas each dropped six points in the first quarter to help Deerfield-Windsor jump out to a 18-10 lead.

“I thought we played good from start to finish,” Gruhl said. “We did a great job getting the ball to the basket. I thought we were very good defensively all night long. We had a little trouble shooting free throws in the first half. I’ve got no problem with the way we played.”

After being held scoreless for the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Knights embarked on a 9-0 run. The run was keyed by a Chandler Matthews’ 3-pointer that put Deerfield-Windsor up by 14.

Valwood guard Cam Walker responded to the run by scoring six points in the final three minutes of the first half. Walker’s play helped cut Deerfield’s lead to 34-23 at halftime.

The second half was all about Deerfield-Windsor’s Trey Young. The guard dropped 19 second-half points to help the Knights maintain a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter. Young finished as the game’s leading scorer with 27 points.

“Coach and my teammates put a lot of trust in me,” Young said. “They trust me to go make plays and they put me in that position. I was able to take full advantage of that.”

Valwood cut it to a 10-point game early in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Shellhaas finished with 12 points while Matthews and Turner each had 11 for the Knights.

Valwood was led by Walker, who finished the game with 17. Grant McLendon added 11 points.

Brookwood boys 50, Westwood 43

Brookwood pulled off an upset of the No. 2-seeded Wildcats in the boys consolation game with a big fourth quarter.

The Warriors outscored Westwood 20-7 in the fourth quarter.

Brookwood was led by Jacob Sloan, who scored 19 points. Jacob Bragg added 12 points.

Collier Baggett led Westwood with 17 points, while Disarrius Robinson scored 15. Jonte Harris scored 10, including three treys.

Westwood will travel to face Holy Spirit Prep for its first-round playoff game on Wednesday.