Benedictine has a rich sports tradition with Cadet teams excelling in football, baseball and soccer -- as BC squads have taken home nine combined Georgia High School Association state titles since 1961.

But Frank Williams has brought a new dynamic to the BC basketball program in his three years at the helm -- and on Wednesday the Cadets took a historic step as they dominated visiting Madison County 58-35 to advance to the Class 4A Final Four.

The Cadets improved to 18-5 on the season and will face Fayette County (25-5) in a semifinal matchup set for 8 p.m. Saturday at Fort Valley State.

According to the the Georgia High School Basketball Project (www.ghsbp.com), it's the first time BC has reached the state semifinals since 1959. Dwight Eisenhower was President of the United States at the time.

"Our game plan was to try to make it difficult for their point guard (Jay Carruth) because he was the key to their offense," said Williams, the well-respected Savannah coach in his third year leading the BC program. "We knew they could shoot well if they got into their sets, but our defense did a great job applying pressure."

Williams praised the play of senior point guard Stephon Frazier, recently named the Region 3-4A Player of the Year, saying he was a difference maker with his defense, while adding eight points and running the offense well. Sophomore Caleb Jones had another big-time performance with 24 points on the night.

"I've been telling everyone that Caleb is like magic with his scoring ability," Williams said. "And he has continued to do it in our most important games. Our first group did a great job on the defensive end, and they made timely shots. We didn't force anything, and made the extra pass when we needed to."

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Williams said Ladon Bryant, Makhi Hampton, Henry Sink and Luke Kromenhoek also made key contributions in the victory.

Frazier said it was a moment he'll never forget, but the team isn't satisfied yet.

"This was a great accomplishment and it feels amazing, we're celebrating tonight," Frazier said. "But the job is not finished and we're going to come back tomorrow focused and ready to practice to get ready for Saturday. Our defense was the key tonight, and Caleb played great. We feed off each other -- Caleb knows where to be and I know where to find him. Our chemistry is amazing, and when we're on the same page, everyone is on the same page."

Jones said the BC seniors have done a great job leading the way.

"They'll give us pep talks and are always pushing us to be better," Jones said. "And I have to give credit to Coach Williams -- he has so much faith in us and knows how to coach us. I'm very happy we made it this far, but I don't think we're done yet."

Sandy Creek 56, Johnson 50

It was a game that many thought should have been played for the Class 3A championship, but the tournament draw had Johnson, ranked No. 1 among Class 3A teams by Sandysspiel.com, hosting No. 2 Sandy Creek in an Elite Eight matchup.

The game lived up to its billing. Sandy Creek dominated early on and took an 18-point lead in the third quarter, before the Atom Smashers came roaring back to close within three points with 1:20 left. But the Patriots closed it out for a 56-50 victory to advance to the Final Four.

Senior Antonio Baker was a key in the comeback for the Atom Smashers -- scoring 14 of his 18 points in the second half. Junior Josh Quarterman was also a factor scoring 8 of his 11 after intermission. Senior Malachi Robinson had seven points and Cormari Jones added seven. Johnson finished the season with a 25-5 record, while Sandy Creek improved to 24-6.

Micah Smith, the talented junior whose offers include Auburn, Georgia Tech and Georgetown, led Sandy Creek with 17 points and Amari Brown had 14 points.

"We dug ourselves a hole we couldn't get out of," Johnson coach Chuck Campbell said. "We had too many turnovers, missed layups and missed free throws. Even when we were down by 18, I didn't panic. I thought we could come back, and the kids never quit. I'm really proud of them -- they fought until the end. I love my kids, and we had some growing pains tonight. We're going to miss our seniors -- Antonio Baker and Malachi Robinson, but we have a lot coming back. We're going to be a Final Four team next year."

Sandy Creek head coach Jon-Michael Nickerson is familiar with Savannah basketball as his squad was knocked out of the Class 3A tournament at home last year in a quarterfinal matchup against Windsor Forest. Now he has his squad focused on making it to the finals.

"I was impressed with our resiliency tonight. We didn't play our best game, but we were able to weather the storm when Johnson had that huge second half run," he said. "We had four guys struggling, but others came through. It was a complete team effort.

"Johnson was a team full of dogs, with a fiery coaching coaching staff that knows how to get the best of them. When you come to play in Savannah, you know you're coming into the lion's den. Nobody wants to play a game on the road here -- it's a tall task to win a playoff game in Savannah and I'm proud of our team for doing it."

King's Ridge 55, Woodville-Tompkins 50

The host Wolverines saw their season come to an end with a Class A Division I loss to visiting King's Ridge Wednesday.

Woodville got another impressive performance from senior Alfonzo Ross, who closed out his career with a 28-point game, after scoring a career-high 42 in a second round win over Pelham Saturday. Wes Walker also had a strong game for the Wolverines (20-10) with 10 points down low.

Coach Lenny Williams tweeted out that he'll miss his senior class that has meant so much to the program as Ross, Walker and Terrence Bush are set to graduate.

King's Ridge improved to 21-10 on the year and will face Mt. Vernon at Georgia College & State in a semifinal set for 8 p.m. Friday.

Columbia 74, Windsor Forest 60

The Knights led 33-28 at the half, but visiting Columbia closed out strong to beat the Windsor Forest in a Class 2A Elite Eight matchup.

Windsor Forest was led by sophomore sharp shooter Landon Page, who scored 16 points. Senior standout Qurahn Anderson had 13 points and Jah'Tavious Gaines scored 10 for the Knights, who finished the season with a 23-7 record.

The Knights, who were the Class 3A state runnerup last year, moved down to Class 2A this year and had another impressive campaign.

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at [email protected]. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Benedictine basketball team makes history by reaching Final Four