Valdosta’s Dominique Bullock (23) takes a jump shot during the Wildcats’ 66-65 victory over Tift County on Friday in the finals of the Region 1-AAAAA tournament in Tifton.

The Valdosta Wildcats upset two-time defending Region 1-AAAAA champion Tift County, 66-65, Friday night to secure their first region basketball title under first year head coach Antonio Haynes.

“It feels wonderful,” Haynes said. “The kids, they deserve it. I call them my blue collar crew, but they really play hard. They played hard for me tonight in a much-deserved win.”

Led by Terrance Foster, who finished with 21 points, and Dominique Bullock, who finished with 14 points, the Wildcats held off several thunderous charges from the Blue Devils to secure the win. As a team, the Wildcats drilled nine 3-pointers.

“It is just a family effort,” Haynes said. “It is always a family effort, that is our motto. We turn 15 players into one family, and we did it. We won the region, but it doesn’t stop here. We have to go and prepare for state.”

Tift’s Tadric Jackson finished with 22 points, 20 of which came in the second half.

The Wildcats came out strong, building a 9-2 lead behind five points from Foster and four from Clarence Smith. Tift County closed the gap to a single point at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, the Blue Devils managed to grab a 17-16 lead at the 6:49 mark. From there, the rest of the first half was owned by the Wildcats, who finished on a 13-6 run to hold a 32-24 lead at intermission.

Avery Wells started the run with a jumper, which was followed up by a 3-pointer from Norman Taylor. Willie Barrett got into the action with a tip-in, then Bullock added to the run with a field goal of his own. Taylor finished off the run with four points to go along with a bucket from Foster.

Using back-to-back baskets from Keante Scruggs and Foster, the Wildcats built a 12-point lead — their largest of the game — early in the third quarter. But Tift County came charging back, using a 16-4 run to even the score at 40-40 with 2:58 remaining in the quarter. Tift County took its second lead of the contest at the 1:17 mark of the quarter behind a layup. But Valdosta regained the lead behind a Smith 3-pointer, which came at the quarter buzzer.

The fourth quarter provided excitement, as the two teams swapped the lead on back-to-back possessions to start the quarter, which was followed up with Tift County evening the score at 48-48 at the 6:43 mark. Valdosta took the lead on its following possession with a basket from Wells.

From there, the Wildcats managed to use baskets on three straight possessions to build a nine point lead, 60-51, with 2:36 remaining. But Tift County wasn’t done. The Blue Devils put together a quick six point swing to make the score 60-57 with 1:12 remaining.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Haynes said. “I told them they were a wonderful ball team, but we made plays tonight. Luckily, we came out on the winning end tonight.”

Following the basket, Bullock exchanged foul shots with Jackson. But it was Bullock who got the final chance to shine, nailing two more free throws with 10.6 seconds left to give Valdosta a 66-61 lead.

Jackson then converted two of three free throws to bring Tift County within a possession. The Blue Devils then forced a turnover and managed a quick score to make the score 66-65, but the basket used all the remaining time.