Westover advances to the Final Four for the third straight year

ALBANY — The Westover Patriots (22-7) advanced to the Final Four of the Class AAAA boy’s state basketball tournament Wednesday night with a dominating fourth-quarter performance to beat top-ranked McDonough (26-5) 66-57. They will now face Pace Academy (23-7) of Atlanta who obliterated Baldwin 62-31 Wednesday night.

This is the third year in a row the Patriots have reached the final four. The Patriots lost to Spencer in the state finals last year and lost to Fayette County in the Final Four in 2021.

McDonough’s Warhawks were rolling early in the third quarter with threes by Avante Nichols, Nigel Thomas, and two by Amon McDowell and led by eight midway through the third. Westover’s Kemari Leverette swished a three from the corner late in the quarter and the Patriots closed the gap to 51-47 heading into the last quarter.

The Patriots turned the defensive pressure up to another level in the fourth quarter and though McDonough had some shots, the Westover defense had the top-ranked War Hawks off their game and those threes that were falling earlier, would not fall in the fourth. McDonough managed only 10 fourth-quarter points and when Westover’s Travion Wheeler hit two fourth-quarter free throws the Patriots had tied the War Hawks 51-51.

Moments later Wheeler hit a colossal slam dunk to push Westover up 60-55 and the standing-room-only crowd roared insanely. If the noise was loud then, it went up another notch after Leverette hit two baskets back to back to give the Patriots a 64-55 lead with 1:30 seconds to play and McDonough called time to try to regroup. Westover principal William Chunn grabbed the Westover flag and ran down the sideline and though McDonough managed one more basket, it was all Westover at that point.

The Patriot offense was very well balanced with all five of the Patriot starters in double figures. Senior point guard Kavon Johnson led the way with 15 points, Leverette scored 13, Anthony Milton put in 12 and Wheeler and Tracy Williams added 11.

Pace Academy has been a regular in the state playoffs for years. They lost in the Sweet 16 to Butler in Class AA last year but won the AA state championship in 2021. The new multiplier set up by the GHSA before this school year moved Pace Academy from Class AA to Class AAAA.

Westover’s Final Four game against Pace Academy is scheduled for Saturday at Ft. Valley State University in Ft. Valley. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. Saturday.