Clint Thompson
MACON — The Thomasville Bulldogs became Dragon slayers on Thursday. They could soon become state champions in boys basketball for the first time in school history.
The Bulldogs advanced to Saturday’s Class AA final with a 69-43 rout of the Jefferson Dragons at the Macon Centreplex.
Thomasville will play either Greater Atlanta Christian or Laney on Saturday at 4:45 p.m.
"It feels great," said sophomore Willie Clayton, who finished with a game-high 23 points.
Thomasville coach Ben Tillman added, "It feels good to be able to get to this spot. We know we've got some unfinished business (Saturday). We had great fan support tonight. I thank Mrs. (Sabrina) Everett and the school for allowing the kids to come up and support us like this."
The Thomasville fans in attendance were not disappointed. The Bulldogs dominated the Dragons in the open floor and in the paint with the 6-foot-7 Clayton and 6-foot-8 Robert Carter. Thomasville's twin towers had their way on the glass against Jefferson's small squad as Clayton scored several of his points after offensive rebounds.
"Willie Clayton is a man. He's just a great player," said Jefferson coach Bolling DuBose, whose tallest player is just 6-foot-3. "The longer the game goes, the more he's going to be effective."
Clayton also was key in the Bulldogs' transition game, beating the Dragons defenders down the court for an easy layup in the first half for a 26-14 lead. On the Dragons' next possession, Clayton came up with a steal at halfcourt and dribbled to the basket for another layup. It was Clayton's play inside that impressed DuBose, though.
"A lot of times, he may have missed that first shot, but he just got that rebound and put it back up," DuBose said. "That's what bothered me before the game — could we stop him from getting the second and third shots? — and we didn't do a very good job of that."
Clayton scored 19 of his 23 points in the second and third quarters. Despite his dominance, he admitted it wasn't easy against the scrappy Dragons.
"They fought hard in the paint. (J.J. Damons) fought hard in the paint," Tillman added. "I give them all the credit. They fought hard."
Jefferson kept pace with Thomasville for a half, trailing 34-27 at intermission. The Bulldogs broke the game open, however, with a 24-8 third-quarter advantage and were never challenged down the stretch.
"I thought in the third quarter we just got really careless with the ball," DuBose said. "We talked at halftime about, ‘Let’s keep the (deficit) below ten (points). If we can keep it below 10 going into the fourth quarter, we've got a great shot. It just got way out of hand in the third quarter."
Clayton added, "Push the ball. That's all (coach Tillman) was saying (at halftime). Push the ball."
The Bulldogs knocked down three 3-pointers in the quarter, one each by Trey Gosier, Fred Holton and Carter, who was fouled on his shot. After his free throw, the Bulldogs led 43-29.
The Dragons failed to muster much offense in the quarter, hitting just four field goals.
"We always come out and play good in the third quarter," Carter added. "We always go into halftime with the mentality it's 0-0 in the second half."
Carter scored 10 for the Bulldogs. Gosier added 11.
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 24-4. They are in the state championship game for the first time since 2006.
"They were equally as good as I thought they were going to be," DuBose said. "You've got to give them credit. They're relying on a lot of young kids. They've got just enough seniors ... to give them some stability. Obviously, they're playing for a state championship Saturday but the next couple of years, barring injury or something, they could be right back here again."
