Bradwell Institute’s girls broke out to a strong start and never looked, and the boys basketball team used a closing run in the third quarter as both teams advanced to the Class AAAAA state basketball second round Wednesday.
The Lady Tigers, 27-0, scored the first 16 points of the game and were never threatened in a 67-41 rout of Jackson County. Their biggest lead was 66-30.
Bradwell will host Tri-Cities in the second round. A game time has not been determined.
The boys held off Loganville, using a 10-0 run late in the third quarter to open a 20-point lead in a 71-55 win. The Tigers and Red Devils were tied 16-16 in the first quarter until Jah’Barri Felix got a reverse layup and buried a 3-pointer to close the quarter.
The Tigers never trailed after that, but the Red Devils kept it close, drawing to within one on Brantley Carter’s 3. Keon Grant answered with a 3, and Fortune Hicks’ spin move and bucket put the Tigers in front 34-26.
Hicks got three straight baskets as the Tigers stretched the lead from 42-32 to 52-32 in 96 seconds.
Another Carter 3 got the Red Devils within 11 points midway through the fourth, but another Tigers burst – instigated by Jaylin Sweat’s putback after he ripped a rebound out of a Red Devils’ hands and Chris Perry’s coast-to-coast drive for a layup – put the game out of reach.
Bradwell will host the winner of Tri-Cities at Johns Creek in the second round.