The Hebron girls put an big exclamation point on their perfect season with a dominant 68-36 dismantling of defending AAA champion Lumpkin County in the championship game of the Class AAA state basketball tournament at the Macon Coliseum Friday afternoon. Top ranked Hebron led 7-1 early before Lumpkin closed the gap to 7-5. Hebron ended the first quarter on an 8-2 run to lead 15-7 heading to the second. No. 3 ranked Lumpkin County battled the Lions in the second quarter but couldn’t make up the deficit as they were outscored 15-12 and were in a 30-19 hole at halftime. Hebron really locked down on defense in the third period holding the Indians to only six points in the period while putting up 16 themselves. The Lions began the fourth quarter with a 46-25 lead and outscored the defending champs 22-11 in the fourth quarter to secure their second state championship in three years. Hebron’s defense was the key to this game. The Lions simply prevented Lumpkin from doing what they wanted to do. The Indians are a very good three-point shooting team but were not allowed many open looks against Hebron’s D. Lumpkin went 3-for-17 from behind the arc and shot just 23% from the field for the game on 11-for-48 shooting. The Indians were averaging 65 points per game coming into the championship and were held 29 points below that average. Lumpkin had four players averaging in double figures led by Region 7-AAA Co-Player of the Year Mary Mullinax. Mullinax, a senior, was averaging 18 ppg but was held to just five points. Fellow seniors Lexie Pierce, who was averaging 11.3 ppg was held to just three points while Kate Jackson scored four points which was below her 10.7 ppg average. Junior Averie Jones led all scorers with 20 points. As for Hebron, it’s scoring effort was spread out as usual. The sophomore duo of Aubrey Beckham and Kerra Butler shared high scorer honors with 16 points apiece. Beckham also had six rebounds, six assists and two steals. Butler had her zillionth double-double of the year as she had 13 boards to go with three steals and two blocks. Amiya Porter put up 12 points and four rebounds while Nicky Daniel added 11 points including three three-pointers. Camryn Register knocked down a pair of threes on her way to eight points. The Lions connected eight times from behind the arc. All season long, the consensus opinion was that Region 7-AAA was the toughest in AAA if not the state. Hebron went 4-0 against teams from that region defeating No. 7 ranked White County (twice), No. 2 Wesleyan and now No. 3 Lumpkin County. With the win, Hebron secures the Class AAA championship and completes a perfect 32-0 season. With all of Coach Azar’s successes, she has never had a team run the table on the season. This is her first. She further cements her legacy in the Georgia high school basketball annals with her 15th state championship. The next closest coach to her is Buford’s Gene Durden with eight. Since 2001, Azar’s teams have made it to the state championship game 21 times during that 23 season span. This win was also her 100th in the state tournament as her teams have a record of 100-8 in state tournament contests. Since coming to Hebron in 2019, her teams have compiled a record of 117-9 in four seasons with two state championships, one state runner up finish and one Final Four. This is the point where we’d honor our seniors but since there aren’t any, we’ll just say we are really looking forward to seeing this entire group come back next year! Congratulations Hebron Lions. 2023 Class AAA State Champions!
Photos Gwinnett Daily Post

Hebron and Wesleyan faced off in the semifinals of the Class AAA state basketball tournament Saturday afternoon. In a tight game, No. 1 ranked Hebron came out on top taking out No. 2 ranked Wesleyan 65-58 in an exciting and entertaining game in front of a raucous crowd at HPE Arena on the campus of Ft. Valley State University. The Lions had a challenging first quarter as Aubrey Beckham was quickly whistled for two fouls within the first moments of the game. Wesleyan, the Region 7-AAA champion, took advantage and led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter. With the Wolves focusing on stopping Hebron’s Kerra Butler on the inside, junior Kayla Lane delivered from the outside knocking down two big threes while scoring eight points in the second quarter leading a 20-15 Hebron second. The score was knotted at 26-26 at the half. The Lions won the third quarter as well, also outscoring Wesleyan 20-15, largely behind the efforts of Beckham who scored 12 points in the period. Hebron led 46-41 heading into the fourth quarter. Some big defensive plays, a big three by Nicky Daniel, solid free throw shooting by Amiya Porter and steady, all-court leadership by Beckham in the fourth quarter, sealed the win for the Lions. Arguably the two best guards in the state went at it tonight. Beckham, a sophomore, was outstanding again and she stood toe to toe with Wesleyan standout point guard Chit Chat Wright. Beckham scored 21 points and had five rebounds and four assists all while sitting much of the first half on the bench with two fouls. Lane’s contribution was huge as she knocked down four threes in the game while scoring 14 points and dishing two assists. Porter put up eight points, four assists and three steals while Butler added six points and six boards, while having to deal with the physical interior play of Wesleyan. Daniel finished with five points while Alanna Beckham added three points. Aniya Moodie ended the game with six points and four assists while Camryn Register added two points. Speaking of Moodie and Register, they did an outstanding job tag teaming defending Wright who had to work hard for her points while shouldering the majority of the Wolves’ scoring load. With the win, Hebron advances to the state championship game for the third straight year having won it in 2021 while finishing runner up last year. Jan Azar-led teams have now advanced to the state championship game in 21 of the last 23 seasons winning 14 titles to go with six runner up finishes. All of her teams over that period advanced to at least the quarterfinals, a feat likely unmatched in team sports in Georgia. Hebron is now 31-0 on the season while Wesleyan ends its year at 27-4. The Lions now have a week to prepare for No. 3 ranked Lumpkin County (26-4) , the defending AAA champion, who won its semifinal 78-31 over Calvary Day. The Class AAA state championship game will be played next Friday, March 10 at 1:00 PM at the Macon Coliseum.

The Hebron girls were dominant tonight routing Mary Persons 98-25 in their quarterfinal matchup in the AAA state tournament. The team put together its best performance in recent memory this evening. The Lions simply overwhelmed the Region 2-AAA champs on both ends of the floor. Nine Hebron players reached the scoring column tonight led by Aubrey Beckham who was sensational in her triple-double effort. The sophomore scored 20 points, dished 14 assists and grabbed 12 rebounds in her best all-around performance of the season. Kerra Butler wasn’t too shabby herself as she had a double-double. The sophomore led the team in scoring with 27 points and pulled down 10 rebounds while also collecting six steals. Amiya Porter and Kayla Lane both scored in double figures. Porter had 12 points and three steals while Lane also scored 12 points while grabbing four boards. Nicky Daniel scored nine points and had five rebounds while Alanna Beckham had six points and four assists. Jayden Watts put up five points and Aniya Moodie added four points and three steals. Camryn Register chipped in three points and two assists for Hebron who advances to its fourth straight Final Four. Eighth ranked Mary Persons’ season comes to a close with a record of 25-5. Congratulations to the Bulldogs on a fine season. With the win, Hebron is 30-0 on the season and has made it to at least the semifinal round of the state tournament in all four seasons since Coach Azar’s arrival in 2019. Up next, the Lions will face Region 7-AAA champion Wesleyan (27-3) on Friday at Ft. Valley State University in Ft. Valley, GA. Tipoff is 2:00 PM.

Photos Gwinnett Daily Post

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FIRST ROUND
Coahulla Creek 69, Douglass 21
Wesleyan 79, Franklin County 29
Morgan County 49, Long County 45
Carver, Columbus 102, Upson-Lee 34
Carver, Atlanta 47, Bremen 38
Hebron 68, White County 53
Liberty County 64, Hephzibah 48
Mary Persons 55, Thomasville 24
Peach County 55, Dougherty 53
Calvary Day 65, Salem 27
Dawson County 41, Hart County 34
Adairsville 41, Sandy Creek 36
Monroe 53, Jackson 29
Cross Creek 60, Savannah Country Day 55
Lumpkin County 72, Oconee County 47
Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 69, Cedar Grove 28

SECOND ROUND
Wesleyan 83, Coahulla Creek 33
Carver, Columbus 94, Morgan County 31
Hebron 77, Carver, Atlanta 23
Mary Persons 47, Liberty County 43
Calvary Day 57, Peach County 49
Dawson County 58, Adairsville 37
Cross Creek 52, Monroe 49
Lumpkin County 65, Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe 32

QUARTERFINALS
Wesleyan 78, Carver, Columbus 71
Hebron 98, Mary Persons 25
Calvary Day 59, Dawson County 32
Lumpkin County 63, Cross Creek 48

SEMIFINALS
Hebron 65, Wesleyan 28
Lumpkin County 78, Calvary Day 31

CHAMPIONSHIP
Hebron 68, Lumpkin County 36

Click below for closer view of brackets

Carver, Atlanta travelled to Hebron tonight to take on the Lions in the second round of the AAA state tournament, and their season came to an end. Hebron defeated Carver 77-23 to advance to the Elite Eight. The walking double-double, Kerra Butler, led the way for the Lions as she scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Amiya Porter dropped 20 points while dishing five assists. Aubrey Beckham put up eight points, six assists and five steals while Camryn Register and Nicky Daniel also scored eight points apiece. Register also had three steals. Jayden Watts added four points while Alanna Beckham scored three points and had four assists and four steals. Aniya Moodie chipped in two points and four steals for the Lions who improve to 29-0 on the year. Hebron advances to the quarterfinals for the fourth straight season, a streak that began with the arrival of Coach Azar in 2019. The Lions will now face Region 2-AAA champion Mary Persons (25-4). Mary Persons, ranked No. 9 in AAA, will travel to Dacula as Hebron gets to host again. Date and time to be determined.