Shane Thomas | The Valdosta Daily TimesValdosta guard Dorrien Douglas (3) shakes Lee County's Brandon Bush (4) on a crossover during the second quarter of the Region 1-6A Championship game Friday. Douglas finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals in Valdosta's 69-66 loss.

VALDOSTA –– With the Region 1-6A Championship hanging in the balance, the Lee County Trojans (14-10, 5-1 Region 1-6A) toppled the reigning champion Valdosta Wildcats (19-5, 5-1 Region) from the mountaintop in a 69-66 overtime victory Friday night.

Trojans senior guard MJ Taylor scored 25 of his 43 points in the second half and overtime to lead Lee County to victory.

Valdosta coach Darrell Lockhart was none too pleased with his team’s inability to stop Taylor, who made five 3-pointers and went 14-of-16 at the free throw line in the game.

Lockhart and the Valdosta coaching staff held a long post-game meeting in the locker room after the loss. When asked what the mood of the team was in the locker room, Lockhart didn’t mince words.

“It’s bad,” an agitated Lockhart said after the game. “When a guy on the other team scores (43) points, it’s bad. That’s bad for everybody, including the coaches.”

Kameron McKendricks split a pair of free throws with 14.9 seconds left in overtime, setting up a Valdosta timeout with 13.8 seconds remaining.

Out the timeout, the ‘Cats moved the ball around until they got junior Aaron Williams spotted up on the left wing for a potential go-ahead 3 with time running down.

Williams, who hit three triples in the semifinal game against Houston County on Wednesday, missed off the back rim –– forcing Valdosta to foul to stop the clock with 3.2 seconds left in overtime.

Needing to make both to seal the game for the Trojans, junior forward Malik Brackins missed the first and made the second to leave the door cracked for Valdosta to tie the game to forced double-overtime.

With no timeouts remaining, Valdosta advanced the ball quickly to find Williams on the right wing. Williams caught the ball and jab-stepped to create a sliver of space before hoisting a 3. Much like the shot he’d missed on the previous possession, the ball clanged off the back iron as time expired.

A crestfallen Williams immediately ran to the padding on the baseline wall, slapping it before crumpling to his knees.

Though Williams was devastated, the ‘Cats didn’t do themselves many favors as they shot 37 percent from the floor, including 7-of-30 from beyond the arc. To make matters worse, in a game where neither team could take a lead of more than four points throughout, the ‘Cats went 15-of-28 from the free throw line in the loss.

“It’s just a tough game,” Lockhart said. “We had chances to win the game. Our free throw shooting wasn’t good, because we could’ve won it with the free throws but we let one slip away. We let it slip away. It was a big game, too. We’re disappointed. We’ll have to go back to the table.”

The ‘Cats led 55-51 on a 3-pointer by senior Dorrien Douglas with 3:25 left in regulation, but Taylor answered Douglas’ trey with one of his own to cut the lead to one with 3:05 to go in the fourth quarter.

Following a missed 3 by Williams, Taylor drew a foul on Valdosta’s Ty Newsome and sank both free throws to put Lee back in front 56-55 with 2:47 left in the fourth.

Valdosta took the lead again as freshman center Kylan Fox got loose for a layup inside to put the ‘Cats ahead 57-56 with 2:09 left in regulation.

Taylor, much like he’d done all night, drew another foul to get himself to the free throw line, where he tacked on two more to give Lee a 58-57 lead with 1:57 left in the fourth.

On the ensuing possession, the Valdosta offense stalled as Douglas got trapped by two Trojans and was forced to burn a timeout with 1:39 on the clock. Out of the timeout, Douglas shook free but missed a corner three –– setting up a Lee timeout with 43.5 seconds remaining in the regulation.

“I think it was nerves and a little bit of confusion because we weren’t playing like we’ve been playing in the past,” Lockhart said of the team’s offense struggling late. “Hats off to Lee County. They scouted us very well. They did a pretty good job tonight.”

Redeeming himself for missing the 3-pointer, Douglas stole the ball back to give Valdosta possession with 39.2 seconds left in the fourth. After milking the clock down to under 10 seconds, the ‘Cats looked to get an easy score. The ball found Fox underneath, who drew the foul with 5.6 seconds left.

The freshman calmly drilled the first free throw, then came up short on the second to leave the door open for the Trojans to tie or take the lead with 4.7 seconds to play. As the Trojans looked to set up a shot, Stanley Haliburton nearly came away with a pass as he deflected it out of bounds with 2.4 seconds left.

In a near-fatal defensive miscue, the ‘Cats left Brackins open for 3, but the shot missed at the buzzer.

Fox led the ‘Cats with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go along with seven rebounds in the game.

“I thought the second one was going in too,” Lockhart said of Fox’s late free throws. “He played well…as well as any freshman that hadn’t played high school ball could’ve expected. He did what he was supposed to do. We’ve just got to have other guys step up and do what they’re supposed to do.”

Douglas added 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals, but shot just 2-of-12 from the floor and 7-of-12 from the free throw line with five turnovers in the loss. Melvin Smith had 12 points and four assists as the ‘Cats saw their six-game winning streak snapped.

When asked how his team will regroup from the heartbreaking loss, Lockhart said the team will take it day by day. For Lockhart, it is the first time in eight years that a team he’s coached has lost in the region championship.

“One day at a time, I guess,” Lockhart said. “It’s a little tough. Just speaking for me personally, we haven’t lost a region championship game in going on eight years. It’s the first time I’ve ever lost it in eight years. We were capable of winning that ballgame. We just didn’t do what we were supposed to do. It’s just a tough loss. We’re going to go back, watch film and try to correct it. Maybe this was just a game that everybody wasn’t on. It was one of those game for everybody, so hopefully the next game will be better.”

UP NEXT

Valdosta hosts the Tucker Tigers (14-6, 8-3 Region 4-6A) in the first round of the playoffs this Wednesday at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game are $7 and can only be purchased on GoFan. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday at 8 a.m.