Tift County, South Gwinnett to tangle for AAAAA boys title

DULUTH - Dwight Tolbert scored 20 points and Thomas Hightower added 18 as Tift County held off Lithonia 58-54 in a Class AAAAA semifinal Wednesday.<br> <br> Tift County (28-0) will face South Gwinnett (30-2) in the state title game Friday. Louis Williams led South Gwinnett&#39;s 62-58 victory over Beach with 23 points.<br> <br> Tolbert had 12 rebounds and Hightower hit five 3-pointers to lead Tift County. After Lithonia&#39;s Darrell Smith missed a 5-foot running jumper to tie it, Tolbert grabbed the rebound and sealed the victory by hitting a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining to end the scoring.<br> <br> The Blue Devils, who advanced to the semifinals after beating Savannah in overtime, are seeking their first championship since 1996, when they won the Class AAAA title in Georgia&#39;s highest classification at the time.<br> <br> Leon Williams scored a team-high 16 points for Lithonia (25-3).<br> <br> Tolbert, a 6-foot-5 forward, scored a putback with 1:11 remaining after Hightower missed a 3. Lithonia blew chances in the final minute when guard Darrell Smith the front end of a one-and-one with 25.5 seconds to go and forward Robert Dozier failed to hit a 16-foot baseline jumper.<br> <br> South Gwinnett led Beach (27-4) by as many as 13 points before the Savannah school stormed back to take a 45-43 lead on Joe Harris&#39; short jumper with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter.<br> <br> Williams, who&#39;s committed to sign in the fall with Georgia, took Brandon Sims&#39; pass from across the lane for a layin that put ahead South Gwinnett 51-46 to start the fourth.<br> <br> Antonio Spann, who led Beach with 16 points, hit a 3 from the left wing to cut the lead to 58-57 with 2:01 remaining, but the Bulldogs never drew any closer.<br> <br> Following Williams&#39; steal of an inbounds pass, Avery Jukes hit a free throw with 15.4 seconds left to give the Comets a 61-57 lead. Spann missed two of three foul shots after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt with 9.4 seconds to go.

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