#1 Rabun County (30-2) proved to be more than worthy of the hype all preseason, during the season, and in the playoffs. The Wildcats led throughout the entire State Championship game, taking a 52-43 win over #2 Southwest Macon (29-7).
An incredible start from the jump was enough for the Wildcats, who survived a few comeback bids by the Patriots. Huey Blalock capped off his incredible career with the most important hardware he could earn – a state title to take back to Tiger.
The Wildcats got in a groove early, as Hayes Free had a key shot from long range and Huey Blalock had a quick couple of buckets that led to a Southwest timeout. Rabun had an early 9-2 lead.
Blalock stayed hot and the defense was fantastic, with the Wildcats building a 17-5 lead to end the first.
The Patriots got some life, and simultaneously resurrected their fan base with a pair of 3-pointers and a 3-point play. Coupled with a scoring drought for Rabun, it was all part of an 14-2 run that made it a 19-all game with just over two minutes left in the half.
Blalock made good on a technical free throw, and Hayes Free layup put an end to the skid and regained the lead at 22-19. Blalock drilled a deep shot just before the break for the 25-19 Rabun County advantage. Blalock had 14 points in the half.
Both sides traded baskets for the first few minutes of the third, with the Cats clinging to a lead. Blalock continued to impress and put a layup off the glass from a beautiful pass from Trace Adcock at the 2:38 mark for the 37-28 Rabun lead. That forced another Southwest timeout.
The Patriots chiseled their way back into it, narrowing the deficit to 37-35 at the end of the third. The Southwest crowd was electric at that point, adding to the intensity.
Southwest got a driving layup to slice it down to a 38-37 Rabun County lead with a tad under six minutes left in the game. The Wildcats called a timeout to regroup, and Landen Bedingfield and Free had layups to stretch it back to a 42-37 lead with 3:29 on the clock.
Blalock connected from outside to give the Cats a 45-37 passing at the 3:02 mark, but Rabun was dealt a potential blow when Free fouled out moments later. A huge triple from the Patriots and a free throw had the score at 45-43 Rabun with 1:37 to go and with the ball. Blalock hit a huge jumper, then dropped in a pair of shots from the charity stripe to go up 49-43 with 46.5 seconds left. Bedingfield and Colton Crane had pivotal free throws to ice the game and the championship.
Blalock led all scorers with 29 points, while Free finished with 12 and Bedingfield five. Adcock, Reed Burrell, and Crane each had two for the Wildcats. Blalock was 11-for-23 from the field and made a pair of triples, adding five assists and two steals.
Southwest was led by Chase Dupree with 20 points, while Caron Howard ended with 13. The Patriots were just 4-for-24 on 3-point attempts, though Rabun was only 3-for-16 in the same department.
