The race is won.
Watson Chapel won the Conference 4A-8 boys basketball championship outright Tuesday with a 73-47 win over Warren at the new Lumberjack Arena.
The Wildcats (23-6, 13-0 in 4A-8) have one game remaining -- tonight at Hamburg -- but already have a two-game lead over second-place Mills University Studies. The victory Tuesday assured Watson Chapel of the top seed in next week's 4A South Region tournament at Warren.
The Wildcats have won 14 straight games and will close the regular season tonight at Hamburg.
White Hall 67, Sheridan 65
In Sheridan on Tuesday, the Bulldogs picked up a much-needed win over their archrivals to stay in state playoff contention.
White Hall led by 5 points until Sheridan cut down the lead with a 3-pointer. The Yellowjackets missed a game-tying shot before the final buzzer.
Jai'Chaunn Hayes scored 39 points, pulled down 7 rebounds and had 5 assists to power the Bulldogs (17-12, 8-6 in 5A-South), who have two games remaining. Hayes was 1 point shy of his sixth 40th-point game of the season, but achieved his 10th game of 30 or more points of the campaign.
Keaton Stone finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds, and Keylon Odigwe had 10 points and 3 steals for the Bulldogs. Peyton Free led Sheridan (16-9, 7-6) with 31 points and became the second Yellowjacket to reach 1,000 career points this season.
White Hall will visit Hot Springs High on Friday and close the regular season next Tuesday at home against Lake Hamilton.
GIRLS
Watson Chapel 55, Warren 11
In Warren, Makayla Earl scored 13 points, and the Lady Wildcats (16-11, 11-2 in 4A-8) secured second place in the conference with a decisive victory.
Makyah Earl and Kha'leyce Cooper each scored 8 points for Watson Chapel, which shut out Warren the entire second half, 21-0.
The Lady Jacks fell to 0-19 and 0-12.
In other games Tuesday: In boys, McGehee beat Dollarway 46-37 in the District 3A-8 tournament; and in girls, Sheridan beat White Hall 64-35.
Jai'Chaunn Hayes of White Hall pulls up for a jumper surrounded by Sheridan's defense Tuesday at Yellowjacket Arena in Sheridan. (Special to The Commercial/Jamie Hooks)