The First Presbyterian Christian Academy Highlanders are now in the Georgia Independent School Association Class AA Final Four after beating Piedmont Academy, 61-24, on Feb. 16 and defeating Furtah Prep, 44-27, on Saturday.

Highlanders coach David Jones said both squads tried to take his team out of their game by slowing the tempo and holding the ball to eat away the clock.

He said he used that strategy to his players’ benefit against Furtah.

"We went down and scored first against Furtah, so it was 3-0," Jones said. "We came back down on defense and they stood out there and held it and ran off about three minutes off the clock. I figured we needed the rest since it was going to be a long game anyway. So we took that opportunity to rest those three minutes, then we went out and put a little pressure on them and got the game."

The Highlanders are 30-4 overall and 11-0 in Region 2-AA.

They will play Covenant Academy at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Milledgeville.

The Macon team comes into the Final Four 22-3 overall and 15-0 in GISA 1-AA, according to Maxpreps.com

"I watched part of a game they were playing in and they have a 3-point shooter. They have a kid that can play inside or outside and they are well balanced," Jones said.

"They are a pretty good-sized team, so it ought to be a good game. They have a good record. They were the No. 1 team coming out of Region 1, so it should be a pretty good game."