Clint Thompson
THOMASVILLE — Thomasville expected to be in the Final Four.
Jefferson’s cherishing its semifinal berth.
Two of the final four teams in Class AA will meet on Thursday at the Macon Centreplex in a state semifinal matchup.
For the Bulldogs, this is their first trip to the Final Four since 2006 when they played in the championship game against Dublin. Following a 65-54 comeback win against Henry County on Saturday, Thomasville is excited about a possible return trip to the title game.
“The kids are really happy and they’re hungry,” Thomasville coach Ben Tillman said. “They are excited about getting the opportunity to play. They’re just looking forward to the game on Thursday.”
Thomasville sophomore forward Robert Carter added, “We’re just trying to stay focused right now. We’re real excited. We understand (though) we’ve still got two more games left to win the whole thing. We’re taking it one game at a time.”
Following a 22-win campaign and Region 1 championship season a year ago, the Bulldogs have tallied 23 wins and a second straight region title. According to Tillman, advancing to the Final Four was expected.
“Every time you suit up, you want to be the best. That’s one of our goals is to be the best we can be,” Tillman said. “If that means being in the Final Four, then that’s what that is. I tell the kids, every day you wake up in the morning, you should think you should be a winner. I don’t think anybody will wake up and think they’re going to be a loser. That’s kind of the atmosphere and culture we’re trying to build in this program.”
According to Jefferson coach Bolling DuBose, whose been at Jefferson 34 years, this is only the school’s third trip to the Final Four, its first since 1983. As expected, excitement is running rampant.
“Even though we’ve been to the state tournament and been to the sweet 16 and elite 8 a lot of times, it’s real special to get to the final four, because it doesn’t happen a whole lot,” DuBose said.
Jefferson is 25-6 and champions of Region 8. The Dragons are one of the hottest teams in the state having won 18 straight. That followed a 1-4 start to begin the season.
“I think (our non-region) schedule helped toughen us up a little bit,” said DuBose, whose team has played Class AAA Eastside, Franklin County and Oconee County, and Class AAAA foes Salem, North Paulding and Dalton. “I think when we got into our region schedule, we were a little bit better prepared maybe than some of the other teams in our region.
“Obviously, if you start winning, your kids get a little more confidence. I think our kids did that.”
With his players a day away from their first Final Four, DuBose is confident they’ll be able to handle the electric atmosphere of the Macon Centreplex.
“It just happened to be this way, we did schedule a game in Phillips Arena,” said DuBose, referring to the home of the Atlanta Hawks. “We played North Hall, who coincidentally, is still playing in the (Class AAA) final four. They beat us at the buzzer. We have been in a big, huge arena like the Macon Coliseum. I don’t know if that gives us any advantage but I do think it won’t be a big shock to our kids to walk into a Coliseum that big because we’ve already played in one like that this year.”
