THOMASVILLE – Brookwood advanced to the finals of the GIAA 3A state basketball tournament on Wednesday with a fourth straight win over region rival Deerfield-Windsor. It was a knock down, drag out, low scoring affair that saw the Warriors top the Knights 45-35.

“You do a fourth time with an opponent, you know everything that each other’s going to do and you’re fighting so hard just to take away everything that you know their going to do,” said Brookwood head coach Nate VanDuyne. “So, when both teams are able to do that it just ends up being a sloppy, ugly, moving-very-slowly-toward-progress kind of game.”

It also made Wednesday nights game a very low scoring contest. Brookwood has been a high volume scoring team, averaging 58.4 points per game and scoring no less than 50 in their first three meetings with Deerfield. But, in their semi-final matchup, the score was 7-6 after the first quarter and 13-12 at halftime.

“I had to look up several times in the secodn quarter thinking ‘there is no way it’s 13-12 in the second quareter’,” VanDuyne said.

Brookwood went on to lead the game and ultimately take the ten-point win, shoving their way past the Knights to a state championship birth.

“We’ve got a lot of respect for them (Deerfield-Windsor), for coach Foster, what they do, and how they do it,” VanDuyne said. “So, because we know their style, who they are, how well they prepare, when you get the win against them you are just thrilled to get the win and get out. We’re thrilled to be moving on and give ourselves the opportunity to make some history here.”

Brookwood will face St. Andrews out of Savannah, Georgia, who took down defending state champion Lakeview 45-43 in the semi’s to punch their ticket. 

St. Andrews has had an impressive season, earning a 25-3 overall record and averaging just over 60 points per game.The Lions come into this game sporting a duo that is tough to stop. Senior guard Zayden Edwards is leading the Lions with 18.7 points per game on 40% FG shooting and leads the way with 3.7 steals per game. His counterpart, junior Ja’cari Glover, is averaging a double-double with 15.1 points per game and 10.7 rebounds and is shooting at a 72% clip.

“When it comes to where we are they have great experience,” VanDuyne said. “I think they have two guys that are really outstanding and two guys that you really have to gameplan for. I think that our team is better.”

Vanduyne and the Warriors are coming in to this state title matchup with a couple of distinct  advantages. The first is their depth. 

Brookwood has worked all season to build their depth and it is paying off, with a bevy of players contributing in their win over Deerfield. Meanwhile, St. Andrews relies heavily on Edwards and Glover for the majority of their scoring. Their third leading point scorer, sophomore MJ Scott, is averaging six points per game. 

They are also not a team that likes to shoot the three ball. Between all four final four teams, St. Andrews shoots from beyond the arc the least. This leaves them to deal with big man Walker Jackson guarding the rim. All-in-all this seems like a favorable matchup for the Warriors.

“When you look at the sum of our parts I think we come in as the better team,” VanDuyne said.

Brookwood will face off with St. Andrews on Friday night at 8:00 pm at Columbus State to see who will be the 2025 GIAA 3A State Champion.