TIFTON — In reaching Saturday’s state Class AAAAAAA basketball finals, the Tift County Blue Devils are quite thankful for a game they lost.

Tift (28-2) plays Norcross (26-5) at 8 p.m. Saturday at Georgia Tech in the championship game.

The Devils were rolling along in the 2016-17 season. Heading into the Jan. 20 home game with the Lowndes Vikings, the team was 19-1, dominating every opponent.

Then came that night, one where Tift trailed by 19 points in the second quarter and could not completely recover in a 60-58 loss.

“I think the loss did us a favor,” said head coach Dr. Eric Holland. “Winning will fool you. That’s why I study film harder after a win.”

With Lowndes, “We got complacent, we got cocky, we got arrogant,” he said.

Oddly enough, the season mirrors Tift’s last state title, won in 2014.

During that year, the Devils had losses to Montverde Academy and Valdosta, the latter a Region 1 game. This year, they have losses to Montverde Academy and Lowndes, the latter also a Region 1 game. Both even had games against Norcross at Georgia Tech.

Tift beat Norcross in the 2014 semifinals to advance to the finale against Wheeler, which they won.

Norcross should be the team looking for revenge in this rematch, but that’s not the perspective Tift will be taking. While it’s not quite revenge on their minds, Holland said they will be going into the game feeling, “they owe us something as they’re on our schedule.”

Norcross, also the Blue Devils, have two losses to Georgia schools among their five this year. Pebblebrook defeated them 77-69 and Berkmar won a 61-58 contest. Norcross defeated Berkmar twice during the season and turned the tables on Pebblebrook with an 82-60 win during the state tournament.

Besides Berkmar (who Tift defeated 72-55 in the second round), Norcross has played one other opponent in common, Colquitt County.

Norcross defeated the Packers 66-59 in their second round match, but Colquitt was only down two points, 61-59, with 29 seconds left, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

University of Georgia signee Rayshaun Hammonds had 27 points and 12 rebounds against Colquitt. He is perhaps the highest profile player for Norcross, who also has a Louisville commit in Lance Thomas and guard Jordan Goldwire, who has received multiple offers. Sophomore Kyle Sturdivant has scored in double digits throughout the state tournament.

Holland said Norcross was “big, physical, aggressive.”

They “get out to run in transition,” he said.

Hammonds is a “big-time player,” Holland said. He was impressed with Joseph Toppin as well, a 6’6” forward.

Norcross has plenty of height besides Toppin. Thomas is 6’9” and Hammonds is 6’8”.

Jesse McMillan commands the squad from the bench. Under McMillan, they won titles in 2011 and 2013. Those go with the three straight won with Coach Eddie Martin from 2006-08.

While seemingly a sleeper to the rest of the state — Tift has been in and out of the top 10 in the Score Atlanta rankings — being in the finals is not a surprise to Holland. He has three players remaining from the 2014 title, Fred Lloyd, Preston Horne and Micah Johnson. The three, said Holland, did not want to be seen as riding the success of the 2014 team.

Getting back to the finals required them to beat Newton and McEachern, teams considered No. 1 and No. 2 in state.

McEachern was undefeated when the Devils defeated them 56-49 last Saturday in Carrollton.

Tift led by as many as 16 points, but watched as the Indians closed to three in the fourth quarter.

Johnson took over from there, scoring 10 points in a row for Tift.

“Mike makes our team go,” said Holland. “We need Mike to be consistent.”

Lloyd pulled down plenty of rebounds and 17 points from Horne inched him even closer to the 714 points posted by Brannen Greene in 2012-13, believed to be a school record. Horne currently has 695.

The trio were exactly half the amount of players used by Holland in the contest. Only Rashod Bateman, Montae Terrell and Marquavious Johnson also saw time on the court.

“They are just great spot players,” he said.

Holland likely would have used even more players, but C.J. Copeland was ill and Holland worried about McEachern’s press.

A title win Saturday would be the third in school history. Besides 2014, they won state in 1996.

Unlike in previous years, the game will not be broadcast by Georgia Public Broadcasting. WTIF will broadcast the game on the radio at 107.5 FM and the game will also be available for viewing via the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) at http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/tournament/georgia-winter-championships/basketball-ga. A pass to view all championship games, including Tift’s, is $10 on a monthly pass.

The Tifton Gazette will also have score updates on Facebook at the quarters and a more detailed recap at halftime and at the end of the game.