The Tournament
Teams: 36
How determined: Region 1st through 4th place winners.
Champion: Whitefield Academy
School Title:
Final Record: 29-3
Coach:
Notes:
Other notes: The preliminary round was necessary as Class A had expanded such that the GHSA was operating nine regions. In 1987 and 1988, the GHSA did a similar preliminary round with Class AAAA, which also had nine regions.
Hebron Christian's 13 points were the fewest scored in a boys' tournament game since 1947.
This edition of the Class A tournament contains the forfeit, when Wilcox County forfeited what would have been a home playoff game for them to Randolph-Clay. Most of Wilcox's players were suspended, leaving them without enough bodies to play the Red Devils.
As explained in the February 24, 2012, Cordele Dispatch:
Head coach George Kennedy would give no specifics for the action taken by Wilcox
County school superintendent Steve Smith and Wilcox High principal Chad Davis.
Kennedy stressed he supported their decision.
“All I’ll say is that we had nine players involved Thursday afternoon in an off-campus
situation when their actions led to their suspensions for disciplinary reasons,”
Kennedy acknowledged. “With just three players left, we had no choice but to
forfeit tonight’s game.”
Smith also wound not give specific reasons for the forfeiture, noting “This wasn’t
an easy decision. I think it’s the first time we’ve ever forfeited an athletic
event in school history.
“Players are upset. Fans are upset. We felt like it was in the best interest of
the school to make this decision.”
This was the first pre-game forfeit in the GHSA tournament since 1941 and one of only three total. The other two were when teams failed to show up.
|