The Thomasville Bulldogs are one step closer to the Class AA Final Four.

A strong fourth quarter helped propel the Bulldogs past Northeast, Macon Wednesday night 71-49 in the second round.

Thomasville used a 25-12 edge in the final period to send Northeast to its fourth loss of the season.

The Bulldogs, however, improved to 26-3 and will play again on Saturday in Savannah.

“It means a lot. The kids have been there before,” Thomasville coach Ben Tillman said. “We don’t want anything easy. Our whole season has been a battle. We made our schedule for this time of the year.”

The Bulldogs held a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter. After allowing 19 third-quarter points, Thomasville’s defense took over down the stretch. It forced numerous turnovers and didn’t allow many second-chance points.

“We want to keep opponents to 48 points a game and the kids did an excellent job,” Tillman said. “It was just an awesome defensive job.”

Spearheading the Bulldogs on Wednesday was junior post player Willie Clayton. Despite being in foul trouble most of the game, and playing with four fouls all of the fourth quarter, Clayton was an imposing presence in the paint. He finished with 23 points and even drew a key charge in the fourth.

“He did an excellent job, especially on that backside of that 1-3-1 (zone). He did a great job of rebounding the ball and protecting,” Tillman said. “He did a great job of defending the post down there.

“Most importantly, I was so proud of him knocking his free throws down at the end of the game.”

Clayton converted 7-of-8 free throws in the final quarter.

The Bulldogs also received a strong performance from point guard Trey Gosier. The junior was fouled hard on a couple of instances but didn’t let it stop him from scoring 16 points. He was also reliable at the line, converting 5-of-6 free throws.

“He’s a warrior. That’s what you want in your point guard,” Tillman said. “He’s just a tough kid.”

Leading the Raiders was Denzel Council with 17 points. He fouled out, though, with 3:48 remaining in the game.

Robert Carter added 13 points for the Bulldogs, who will play either Vidalia or Swainsboro at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.