THOMASVILLE — Jared Groce doesn’t think what he said to his team at halftime Thursday night was a speech for the ages. 

But something must have worked.

The Chattooga Indians erased a double-digit late first-half deficit and withstood Thomasville’s furious late rally to pull out a 66-60 win Thursday in the Class AA state boys basketball playoffs.

With the victory, the Indians (23-6) will meet Banks County in the quarterfinals. Thomasville’s season concludes at 22-5.

“We’ve been fighting all season,” Groce said. “We went into halftime and knew we had a nine-point deficit but felt really good about some of the looks we were seeing in the first half. We just tried to keep the kids’ heads up.”

The Indians, who made a long trek from the northwestern corner of the state, trailed by as much as 11, 32-21, in the late stages of the first half. But while they held the Bulldogs without a field goal for nearly seven minutes, they went on a 10-0 run in the third. Jatorrian Williams’ 3-pointer from in front of the Chattooga bench gave the Indians a 33-32 lead.

“I thought we showed a little bit of nerves in the first half,” Groce said. “But I didn’t think going in rating and raving was going to make them calm down any like we needed them to. We’ve fought from behind in several games this season, and the boys haven’t stopped fighting yet.”

Clifford Davis muscled his way through the Indians defense for a layup and a 36-33 Thomasville lead. Williams responded with another 3, this time from the top of the key, and that instigated a 9-0 run.

“We saw openings underneath the goal,” Groce said. “We had some size advantage in there. That’s where we thought we could attack them.”

That spurt put the Indians in front to stay, though the Bulldogs charged back into the game late. 

Williams’ four-point play, again in front of his own bench, and Malachi Jackson’s bucket staked the Indians to a 55-41 advantage with less than 4 minutes to play.

Damien Smith buried a 3 with less than 40 seconds to play to push the Indians’ lead back to six at 63-57.

Jeremiah Tillman’s follow-up basket kept them within three points at 63-60 with under a minute to go. 

“We told the boys that if you’ve never felt another team fight, you’re able to feel another team fight,” Groce said. “They are going to be scratching and clawing. I thought both teams played lights-out and with full energy and with full effort for 32 minutes. We are excited and blessed to have gotten this win.”

Chattooga’s Cash Allen, a 6-foot-6 forward, hit one of two free throws after hauling in a home-run inbounds pass, and two technical foul shots after the Bulldogs called timeout with none left iced the game.

Davis led all scorers with 26 points. Williams, who had just two points at halftime, finished with a team-high 17, hitting four 3-pointers in the second half. Jackson scored 18, Allen added 13, and Jamarious Mosteller had 12 for the Indians.