The Grace Christian Academy Cougars defeated the Crisp Academy Wildcats 65-47 Thursday to earn a berth in Friday night’s GISA region 3-AA tournament championship game at Bainbridge State College against the Valdosta’s Highland Christian Academy Eagles.

Leading the way for the Cougars were Jack McRae with a game high 29 points and Noah Thomas with 28.

Cougars’ Head Coach Mallory McRae said he thought his team played well in all phases of the game.

“We moved the ball around well, got it inside for good looks at the basket, cut off some passing lanes and played solid defense,” McRae said.

Also contributing to the Cougars’ victory were Nate Walton with 8 points, and Dakota Vickers with four points.

“We will have to be ready against Highland because they have a big center and a couple of good shooting guards,” McRae said. “They had a big win over Georgia Christian Academy in the semifinals.”

A victory over Highland Christian Academy in the tournament championship game would earn them a home court advantage in the first round of the state tournament, which would also be played at Bainbridge State College.

The Grace Christian Academy Lady Cougars dropped a 40-28 decision to Valdosta’s Georgia Christian School Lady Generals in the first round of the GISA Region 3-AA Tournament Thursday at Bainbridge State College.

Leading the way for the Lady Cougars were Perra Harrell with10 points and Kaitlyn Holcombe with eight.

“We had a strong regular season but just could not make a fourth quarter run against Georgia Christian in the tournament,” Head Coach Erwin Harrell said. “Georgia Christian had a strong rebounding team and really beat us on the glass. They got a number of second shots.”