Loganville Christian Academy beat back a fierce fourth-quarter rally to beat Bulloch Academy 50-40 in the Elite Eight of the GISA Class AAA state boys’ basketball playoffs Saturday.
    The Gators (20-9) tied the game 26-26 midway through the third quarter and trailed by just three points, 29-26 at the buzzer.
    The Lions (23-3) hit back-to-back threes for a nine-point lead, 35-26, early in the final period. LCA upped the advantage to 11, 39-28, on a Devon Hall 10-footer at the 5:06 mark.
    But Bulloch, fueled by the white-hot emotion of the partisan packed house, battled back.
    Will Marsh pushed in a layup at the 4:32 mark and Will Rushing hit two free throws with 3:35 left to cut the lead to seven, 39-32.
LCA tried to burn the clock as Bulloch, with fouls to give before the important one-and-one situation, tried to get the visitors to the line. Rushing, who had 10 points, drove home one of Bulloch’s six three-pointers to trim the Lion advantage to six, 41-35, with 2:17 left.
    Loganville had a four-point swing for a 45-35 lead with a little over a minute left.
    A Smith Reeves trey with 30.6 seconds gave Bulloch a glimmer of hope, cutting the lead back to six, 46-40.
    The Lions missed four straight foul shots to keep BA alive but a Gator turnover and Zach Henderson’s two from the charity stripe put Loganville up 48-40 with 14.7 left. Hall added two at the 8.3 mark to nail the coffin shut and end Bulloch’s season.
    From the tip, BA’s Hunter Perry and LCA’s Devon Ford battled hard in the lane. Bulloch came out in a flex man defense while Loganville, wary of the inside play of Perry and forward Will Marsh, used a 2-3 zone. Perry was able to sneak inside twice, scoring four of his seven points, but the Lions took a 12-7 lead at the horn. Ford had four of his team-high 11. Marsh, who had a career-high 27 Thursday night, was held to just a basket.
    Loganville handled Bulloch 1-2-2 press in the second and opened up a 17-7 lead when MJ Bean buried a three with 4:58 left in the half. The Gators rallied, using a quick defense to disrupt the Lions and going on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 17-12 on Jalen Tolliver’s putback at the 3:55 mark.
After Hall hit two free throws, the Gators whittled the lead to four on a Marvin Perkins putback and a Rushing free throw. But Bean’s backdoor layup with 58.2 left gave the Lions a 21-15 lead that they would carry into the locker room.
    Bulloch exploded early in the third, igniting the frenzied crowd with three straight three-point bombs. Reeves opened the third with the first, kissing the glass from the top of the key, at the 7:43 mark. Perkins pounded the other two, one from the right and one from the left. His shot with 5:57 remaining cut the lead to one, 25-24. Perkins led Bulloch with 11.
    After a Lion free throw, Perry banked in a four-footer with 4:46 left for the 26-26 tie and set the stage for the thrilling conclusion.