Fourth quarter surge produces a title for the Jonesboro boys

JONESBORO, GEORGIA – For three quarters, Thursday night’s Region 3-AAAAAA championship between host Jonesboro and Lovejoy was anyone's game.

The two rivals traded 18 leads over the first 24 minutes, but when the game mattered the most, it was the Cardinals who were able to come out on top.

Behind a dominant fourth quarter that saw the Cardinals lead the entire eight-minute period, it was the hosts that were celebrating at center court with a 72-66 win to claim their first region championship in four years.

Montez Redding poured in a team-high 23 points for the Cardinals while JaQuez Akins (19 points), Devon Rainey (15 points) and Jason Isaac (12 points) all joined him in double figures.

“It’s crazy that we’re setting here at 22-3 as region champs and ranked No. 2 in the state,” Jonesboro head coach Dan Maehlman said. “We have great players all the way around. We just have to get better at the small things. Lovejoy played their butts off. This region tournament was not the same team that played against us in the regular season. My kids never give up. They just keep going and when you think they’re tired, they just find another gear. So I’m very proud of them.”

Over the last 10:52 of play, the Cardinals shot 12 of 19 from the field (63 percent) and Maehlman said it was great to see after they struggled to find their shot early in the game.

“We get to a certain point and then a switch goes off,” Maehlman. “Instead of it going off when we tip the ball up, it usually goes off somewhere in the second half. We have to figure something out because right now, you’re in a 5-game season. All 32 minutes are very important.”

The Wildcats put together one of their best shooting nights of the season and it still wasn’t quite enough to knock off the Cardinals. They shot 12 of 16 from three-point range (75 percent), five of which were scored by Nicholas Jones-Hill.

The two teams traded seven leads in the first quarter, but it was Jonesboro who held a slim 17-15 lead heading into the second.

After knocking down three long balls in the first quarter, the Wildcats knocked down three more in the second and held a slim 23-21 lead after Demarco Davis connected on his second of the game.

They traded eight more leads in the second quarter and this time it was Lovejoy who ended a quarter with a lead. They shot 8 of 10 from the field in the second quarter and took a 37-34 lead into the break.

Despite the game remaining close for the vast majority of the second half, the Cardinals never trailed again after Devon Rainey gave them a 42-40 lead after a pair of made free throws.

The Wildcats tied the game up twice at 42-42 and 44-44, but by the end of the third quarter, the Cardinals held a 55-48 lead after making their last five shots from the field over the last 2:52.

A steal and subsequent layup by Redding gave the Cardinals their largest lead of the night heading into the fourth.

Cortez Redding got the lead to nine points after converting a layup on the first possession of the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats made one last run to get back into the game.

An 8-2 run cut the Cardinals lead down to three points, 59-56 with 4:22 left in the game.

The Cardinals responded with back-to-back layups from Redding and Akins and they never looked back. The lead ballooned to 10 points for the first time in the game with 42 seconds remaining after a Rainey layup.

With the win, the Cardinals will enter the Class 6A state tournament with a No. 1 seed. They will look to make another deep run after advancing to the Class 5A Final 4 last season as a No. 2 seed.