Jeff Hart

Cherokee Bluff and Johnson both took dominating wins on Friday in Region 8-4A action.

If ever a court-storming was warranted, Friday was it.

For Dynesty Putman and the rest of the Lakeview Academy girls basketball team, Friday’s GIAA Class 3A state title game against Deerfield-Windsor represented a shot at redemption and history. They got both.

The Lakeview Academy basketball teams will play the biggest games in program history on Friday. And both coaches -- Benjie Wood for the boys and Ken Huffman for the Lady Lions -- have similar answers to the question, “are both programs ready to make history.”

The name Deerfield-Windsor has almost become an obsession for the Lakeview Academy girls.

Benjie Wood had been preaching toughness to his young Lakeview Academy team all year. They were never tougher than on Wednesday in the semifinals of the GIAA Class 3A playoffs.

Colton Wilbanks drove in five runs and Chestatee opened its Region 8-4A schedule with an impressive 8-0 win over Madison County on the road on Tuesday.

Both programs have been here before. And both would love to see what it looks like on the other side.

In what turned out to be her final game for Chestatee, Riley Black may have turned in her finest performance Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A tournament against Fayette County.

Rabun County advanced to their second Final Four in three seasons with a 71-45 rout of Bryan County at home on Tuesday in the Class A Division 1 playoffs.