The Hebron girls withstood Wesleyan’s second half free throw barrage and captured its second straight Class AAA state championship with a 62-60 win at the Macon Coliseum on Friday. The Lions built a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter that swelled to 32-20 at the half. Hebron started the second half with an 11-0 run and led 43-20 with under five minutes to go in the third quarter and were on the verge of a blowout when play seemed to stop every few seconds. Various Lions were whistled for fouls at different points in the remaining moments of the third quarter. Wesleyan cut the lead to 12 heading into the fourth. The teams mostly exchanged baskets throughout the fourth quarter. Wesleyan would cut the lead to seven and Hebron would increase it back to double digits. With 44.9 seconds remaining in the game, Hebron held a 60-50 lead. Poor ball management led to two Hebron turnovers and back to back Wesleyan threes. With 6.8 seconds remaining and Hebron holding a 62-56 lead, Amiya Porter was whistled for a foul a Wesleyan attempted a three pointer. After confusion from Hebron’s bench on how many fouls Porter had, she was subbed out but not before the team received a technical for “failing to send a sub to the scorer’s table quickly enough. This gave Wesleyan a total of five free throw attempts with the clock stopped and possession of the ball. Wesleyan made four of its five free throw attempts cutting the lead to 62-60 after the game had appeared to be out of reach. Wesleyan inbounded the ball and Chit Chat Wright started to dribble toward the basket. Aubrey Beckham knocked the ball away costing Wesleyan valuable time. Wright retrieved the ball and Beckham defended her closely. Wright passed the ball toward the middle of the court as time expired. Wesleyan didn’t get a shot off and Hebron claimed its second straight Class AAA title and third state championship in the last four years. Danielle Osho led Hebron with a double-double performance, scoring 14 points while pulling down 15 rebounds. Aubrey Beckham finished with 15 points while Mia James scored nine. Kerra Butler and Nicky Daniel each scored eight for the Lions while Aniya Moodie chipped in five. Hebron ends this portion of the season with a 30-2 record while Wesleyan’s season comes to a close with a record of 27-4. This latest state title is the 16th in Coach Azar’s career and her third at Hebron in just her fifth season at the school. Azar has lead her teams to 22 state championship game appearances since 2001, winning 16 titles with six runner up finishes. Only two of her teams failed to make the state championship game during that span. Her 2003 team lost in the quarterfinals and her 2020 team was knocked out in the semifinals. The season isn’t exactly over for the Lions who last week moved up to No. 9 in the country in latest ESPN rankings and No. 10 in the most recent MaxPrep rankings. Hebron has been invited to participate in two prestigious national tournaments, one in New York and the other in Indianapolis. These tournaments feature the a small, select group of the top teams in the nation. Where and when the Lions land will be announced soon. But in the mean time, big congratulations to these girls.
HEBRON LIONS
2024 Class AAA Champions

Five players scored in double figures and the Hebron girls stormed into the state championship game with a 97-42 thrashing of No. 9 Monroe in the semifinals of the Class AAA State Basketball Tournament at Savannah State. In a game that was never close, the Lions led 27-7 at the end of the first quarter and 57-18 at the half. Hebron connected on 12 first half three pointers, five by junior Mia James. Hebron led the Tornadoes 77-32 heading into the shortened six-minute fourth quarter. James was , in a word, phenomenal. She led the team in scoring dropping 24 points, and assists with 10, her first double-double of the year. Most of the damage done scoring wise was done in the first half as she had 19 points by halftime. Danielle Osho put up 14 points and four assists for the Lions while Kerra Butler had a double-double of her own with 12 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Camryn Register connected from behind the arc four times on her way to 12 points while Aubrey Beckham scored 10 points and had seven assists. Amiya Porter had nine points and three assists while Nicky Daniel put up eight points and pulled down four boards. Aniya Moodie chipped in four points for the Lions who improve to 29-2 on the season and advance to their fourth straight state championship game, winning titles in 2021 and 2023. With this state championship game appearance, Coach Azar has guided her teams to the title game in 22 of the last 24 years. The Lions will attempt to win back to back titles and their third in four years. Awaiting top ranked Hebron in the finals is No. 2 ranked Wesleyan (27-3) at 71-57 winner over No. 3 Carver, Columbus in its semifinal. Tipoff is 1:00 PM next Friday at the Macon Coliseum.

The Hebron girls routed Morgan County 75-28 in the quarterfinals of the Class AAA state tournament Tuesday evening in front of a large crowd at Lions Arena. Hebron led start to finish in a game that was never close. Four Lions scored in double figures led by Kerra Butler who notched anther double-double scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while also blocking four shots. Aubrey Beckham had 15 points, four assists and two blocks, Danielle Osho also posted a double-double scoring 14 points and pulling down 10 boards. Mia James had 10 points, three assists and three steals while Amiya Porter knocked down three threes on the way to nine points, three assists and three steals. Nicky Daniel added eight points and three assists and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Camryn Register chipped in three steals and two points for Hebron who improves to 28-2 on the year and advances to the Final Four for the fifth straight season. Coach Azar has led her teams to the semifinal round of the state tournament in 23 of the last 24 seasons. The Lions will next face Region 1-AAA runner up Monroe, a 67-64 winner over White County in its quarterfinal. Tipoff is 1:00 PM on Saturday at Savannah State University.

For the second straight year, the Hebron girls got a tough early round test from a team from Region 7-AAA. Last season the Lions faced No. 7 ranked White County in the first round and posted a 68-53 win in a hard fought contest. This year it was No. 5 ranked Pickens’ turn to make an unfortunate early exit. Hebron led wire to wire and took town the 7-AAA runner up Dragonettes 82-63 in the second round of the Class AAA state tournament in front of a loud capacity crowd at Lions Arena Friday night. Amiya Porter started things off for Hebron connecting on two early three pointers as the Lions held a 9-3 lead. Pickens closed the first quarter with a 7-4 run however as Hebron held a 15-13 lead at the end of the period. The basketball being played was at a very high level with both teams exchanging buckets throughout. Things opened up offensively in the second quarter as Hebron outscored Pickens 28-16 in the period taking a 43-29 lead into halftime. Pickens’ shooters kept firing and connecting as the Dragonettes outscored Hebron 20-17 in the third quarter cutting the lead to 60-49 entering the fourth. Early in the period the Lions had a 9-2 scoring burst in what seemed like less than a minute, and suddenly the lead grew to 17 at 69-52 with just over six minutes to play. Ballgame. The Hebron lead grew as high as 23 late in the period. Aubrey Beckham was outstanding, posting a double-double scoring 20 points while dishing 10 assists. Porter also made a huge impact knocking down six threes on her way to 19 points and four assists. Kerra Butler battled through the physical play in the post and put up solid numbers with her own double-double. She scored 14 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and had five blocked shots. Mia James had a solid night with some very timely momentum shifting buckets. She scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds for the Lions while Danielle Osho added nine points, six boards and two blocks. Nicky Daniel chipped in five points for Hebron who ups its record to 27-2 on the year and advances to its fifth straight Elite 8. Coach Azar has now led her teams to 24 straight Elite 8 appearances. Pickens’ season comes to a premature close with a 25-5 record. Credit to Pickens for a hard fought, well played game. They are well coached, scrappy and talented. It’s unfortunate that they had a tough draw as this was more of a Final Four caliber game. The Lions move on to the quarterfinals where they will face Region 4-AAA runner up Morgan County (17-12), who scored a 46-37 upset over Calvary Day in its second round game. Game date and time to be determined.

The Hebron girls began their quest for a second straight state championship tonight with an 89-12 dismantling of Cedar Grove in front of a large crowd at Lions Arena on the Hebron campus. Hebron, the No.1 seed from Region 8-AAA had no trouble with the visiting Saints, the No. 4 seed from Region 5-AAA in their first round matchup of the 2024 Class AAA State Basketball Tournament. The Lions led 31-4 at the end of the first quarter and 57-6 at halftime. Everyone played in this one. Camryn Register led the Hebron scoring effort with 15 points including three 3-pointers. Mia James scored 14 points and had three assists while Kerra Butler also scored 14 points and had six steals. Danielle Osho put up 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds while Amila Porter had eight points and three steals. Aubrey Beckham scored seven points and had four assists while Nicky Daniel added seven points for the Lions who improve to 26-2 and advance to the Sweet 16 round, the 24th straight season Coach Azar has led her team to the Sweet 16. Hebron will have a tough second round as they take on Region 7-AAA second seeded Pickens (25-4). Pickens, ranked No. 5 in Class AAA in the latest Atlanta Journal-Constitution rankings, won its first round game 71-46 over Coahulla Creek. The game will be held at Hebron on Friday. Game time to be announced.