Norcross pulls off rare sweep

It's been more than 50 years, but Norcross High School's basketball teams swept the large division of the Georgia State tournament on Friday night.

After the Norcross (Ga.) girls breezed to a 61-36 victory over McEachern (Powder Springs), the Norcross boys fought back from a 10-point deficit to defeat third-ranked Milton 59-55 in the Class AAAAA final at Gwinnett Arena.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Norcross is the first school to sweep the AAAAA division since 1958 and only the 11th school to do it in any division.

Two free throws by Chris Bolden broke a 55-55 tie with 28 seconds left and then he made two more with seven ticks left to clinch it, giving Norcross its 17th straight victory.



Milton (29-3), which had a 19-game win streak snapped, came in No. 3 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 and returned all five players from last year's state championship team. Milton eliminated Norcross in last season in the quarterfinals.

E. Victor Nickerson led Norcross with 15 points, Bolden and Alonzo Nelson-Ododa 13 points and 14 rebounds. Shannon Scott led all scorers for Milton with 16.

In the girls game, Norcross used a 23-2 run starting in the second quarter to breeze past McEachern for its second straight state title.

The 25-point margin was the largest in the AAAAA division final since 1998.

It was the fifth straight title for Norcross coach Angie Hembree, after winning three crowns for Collins Hill.

Sophomore Diamond Deshields, the daughter of former Major League infield DeLino DeShields, scored 14 of her game-high 27 points in the decisive second-quarter run. Senior forward Dearica Hamby added 19 rebounds.



Nine Norcross players scored but only DeShields scored in double figures. Pachis Roberts had 14 points for McEachern (23-7).

Norcross came into the game No. 25 in the MaxPreps Freeman computer rankings presented by The National Guard.