Sequoyah Moves on With Win Over Lithia Springs

The stage is now set.

Knowing full well who awaited them in the second round of the state playoffs, the Chiefs methodically dismantled 71-51 in the first round of the state tournament Saturday. The win sets up one of the biggest second-round games in the history of the Class AAAA tournament.

Unbeaten and top-ranked Sequoyah will host No. 2 Miller Grove on Wednesday in what could have just as easily been a game for the state title.

But Sequoyah head coach Jeremy Adams and his unbeaten Chiefs are undaunted by their next opponent. 

“We’re on a mission," Adams said. "We’ve got four (games) left to be state champs, and we feel we’re as good as anybody out there. We’ll find out Wednesday night. We’re excited about the opportunity and we’re going to take it right at them.”

Sequoyah never trailed against Lithia Springs, which never fully figured out how to stop Chiefs’ point guard Sean Tate. The speedy junior wreaked havoc in the lane all night and scored 15 of his game-high 28 points from the free-throw line.

“It makes your life a lot easier as a coach when you have a point guard like that,” Adams said.

Tate controlled the game offensively, but he was one of four Sequoyah starters who finished in double figures. Zach Chandler had 12 points and six rebounds despite being limited by foul trouble. Cullen Roberts had 11 points and nine boards, and Brandon Alexander finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

“All our kids do a great job,” Adams said. “They play their roles so well. That’s why we’re 29-0. There’s no individualism. They know what they do well, and they go out and do it well.”

The production offensively was the byproduct of a focused effort on the defensive end and an apparent overall sense of urgency on the part of Sequoyah, a fact that didn’t escape Lithia Springs head coach Jason Slate.

“They got loose balls," he said. "They made free throws. You know, all the things that a veteran team that’s going to move on in the state does. And we didn’t do it."

Adams concurred.

“The defensive end is where we really won the game,” he said. “You hold a team like that to 51 points, that’s great defense.”

Now Miller Grove, who spent time ranked nationally in several polls this year, awaits the Chiefs in the second round. The two teams will meet this early in the tournament because Miller Grove was upset by Southwest DeKalb in the finals of its region tournament last week. Their subsequent No. 2 seeding put them on the same side of the bracket as Sequoyah, rather than on the opposite side had they been the No. 1 seed out of their region.

For a man on a mission, a second round opponent of that caliber leaves no time to celebrate.

“We’ll start planning in about 20 minutes for them,” Adams said.