Wildcats defeat Cedar Shoals; Punch ticket to state tournament

The Apalachee High School boys basketball team was one point away from the state tournament a season ago.

The Wildcats were determined not to be denied this time around. AHS faced the same opponent in the quarterfinal round of the 8-AAAAA as it did a year ago. This time, however, Cedar Shoals would be the one denied a trip to state after the Wildcats defeated the Jaguars 56-47 Wednesday.

AHS (17-7 overall) will meet Gainesville Friday in the semifinal round at 8:30 p.m. All region tournament games are being played at The Chee.

“What a win this is for our kids and our program,” Wildcat coach Kevin Morris said after the game. “We were so close last year. It feels great to get this win and advance. Now we have to focus on the semifinals.”

Cameron Blakely scored 13 points in Wednesday’s game while Alantae Billings and Kamar Baldwin added nine each. Rakim Peters finished with eight points.

AHS took the early lead and did not trail until 4:58 was left in the game when Cedar took a 41-40 advantage. The teams would trade the lead until the Wildcats moved ahead to stay on a 3-point play by Billings. The sophomore would score seven consecutive points for AHS down the stretch.

In another balanced scoring effort, Jermaine Smith finished with five points while Ahmed Ahmed and Austin Miller both scored four. Kent Knowles and Qua Cleveland both scored two.

Cedar Shoals completes its season at 12-14 overall.

Gainesville defeated Flowery Branch 68-47 in a quarterfinal matchup Tuesday.