Meadowcreek Mustangs named to the 13th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the Meadowcreek (Norcross, Ga.) Mustangs have officially been named to the 13th Annual MaxPreps Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its 12th year honoring boys basketball.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For basketball, only 20 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 40,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Mustangs ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Norcross 56-43 on Saturday, Mar. 10 in the GHSA Class 7A state championship contest marked the completion of an incredible 26-6 season — and earned Meadowcreek an invitation to the Tour of Champions.

Through the first 30-minutes, 38-seconds of the title game, Meadowcreek completed each task it deemed necessary to win its first boys state basketball title. Then, for the final 82-seconds, the Mustangs had one final hurdle to overcome before they could assure themselves of being able to claim the champion's hardware for the first time. After making just 10 of 18 charity tosses to that point in the game, Meadowcreek had to knock down free throws late in a tight game. Curtis Gilleylen's club did just that, sinking seven of 10 shots from the foul line down the stretch to upend Norcross for the first time in four tries.

The champions took a 16-14 advantage after a quarter of play and led 27-26 at intermission before falling behind 36-34 going into the final period of play. Meadowcreek, however, bullied Norcross with its defense, limiting the Blue Devils to just seven points over the final eight minutes of play. The Mustangs outscored Norcross 30-16 in the paint, while trading point for point with the Blue Devils for much of the contest. There were six ties and 15 lead changes in the title game, including 10 lead changes in the first half alone.

Dequarius Nicholas, who made seven of nine free throws for the game, led the champions with 16 points, eight rebounds, a pair of assists and two steals. Jamir Chaplin added 13 points, five boards and a couple of assists, while Amari Kelly ripped the cords for 12 points, reeled in eight rebounds, dished out an assist and blocked three shots. Cory Hightower contributed six points, a game-high 11 rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals, while Kedrick Green and Emmanuel Collier scored five and four points respectively.

Meadowcreek opened postseason play with a 43-32 win over South Gwinnett. Then, following a 56-47 triumph over Lambert, the Mustangs kicked in the door to the Final Four with a 67-57 victory over Campbell. Meadowcreek bumped Grayson from state championship contention with a 57-55 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with Norcross. The Mustangs opened the season with a 70-46 win over Tift County. Then, following a 57-13 triumph over Rockdale County, Meadowcreek dropped a 57-52 decision to Pebblebrook to begin the year 2-1. After winning four straight contests, the Mustangs fell to Norcross 65-52 before winning 20 of their final 24 contests. Meadowcreek outscored its competition 57.8-47.8 per outing for the year and held 19 opponents under 50 points. Meadowcreek scored 60 points or more 13 times itself, including a season-high 80 points in a win over Central Gwinnett.

Having won nine of their final 10 contests, and five straight to end the year, the Mustangs set themselves up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only is Meadowcreek ranked No. 2 in MaxPreps' Georgia Class 7A Rankings, the Mustangs are the second best team in all of Georgia. Meadowcreek is ranked No. 46 in MaxPreps National Rankings!

These incredible season achievements have earned the Meadowcreek Mustangs an invitation to the 13th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium for a pep rally as we celebrate with the boys basketball team, coaching staff, students and fans on Thursday, May 17 at 1:15 p.m.

For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.