TIFTON — Georgia’s longest current high school state basketball tournament streak is intact. The Tift County Blue Devils defeated Thomas County Central Tuesday night in a Region 1-6A play-in game, 62-56.
“The tradition continues,” said head coach Tommy Blackshear. “Thirty years.”
This is indeed the 30th consecutive year the Devils will go to state. The last Tift boys team to not see a state tournament was 1993.
That the Blue Devils are still dancing — especially after falling twice to Thomas County Central in the regular season — is a testament to tradition and work ethic, Blackshear said. “We hung in there and kept working,” he said.
Blackshear credited his point guards, Malachi Evans and Fred White, for handling the basketball and the big men, Corey Howard and Kaiden Lawson, for their contributions.
Tift led 38-27 at halftime and 49-41 going into the 4th quarter. There were nervous moments in the end, Blackshear admitted, “but we had enough.”
“They turned in a heck of a game,” he said.
From here, the Blue Devils take on Lee County Thursday night in the 1-6A semifinals. State runners-up in 2023, Lee has yet to lose a region game this season. This will be a tall order, Blackshear said, but his team will be pumped up. Plus, with the region tournament shifting to TCHS, they will have the home crowd in their favor, too.
The winner moves on to the region championship Friday night. The loser will play in a consolation game Friday afternoon.
Thirty years of state tournaments is the longest streak in the modern era of GHSA basketball. Before modern regions and state tournament formats, both Savannah and old Lanier High of Macon had longer streaks; Lanier’s from 1922-53 and Savannah from 1925-65.