Three-peat: Pacelli wins third straight boys basketball state championship
The St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School boys basketball program has won its third straight state championship.
Overcoming a 10-point halftime deficit, the Vikings persevered against Athens Christian School 55-52 in the Georgia Independent Athletic Association Class AAAA final Saturday night at Columbus State University.
Winning the title game with a comeback fits Pacelli’s season-long theme of rising to challenges. With two new starters and several transfers, the Vikings lost six of this season’s first eight games as they struggled to mesh. So they started hanging out more together away from the gym, Pacelli senior guard Mikehi Williams told the Ledger-Enquirer.
“We had a really rough start, but we really bounced back,” he said. “For us to pull this out, it really shows the fruits of our labor and the hard work we put in.”
Pacelli (19-8) finished the season on an eight-game winning streak. Williams credits the team chemistry the Vikings created off the court with helping them stay together during tough moments on the court.
“We had a lot of growing to do” he said. “It more like a brotherhood now.”
In the championship game, junior forward Michael Rowe led Pacelli with 23 points and 13 rebounds, followed by senior guard Matthew Melvin with 18 points and five rebounds, according to MaxPreps.
Athens Christian controlled the game early and led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter. But the Vikings remained calm and confident, Williams said.
“They got off to a hot star, but we’ve been battling adversity all year, so it was nothing new to us,” he said. “We just weathered the storm.”
Pacelli made a few halftime adjustments, such as playing with more energy and driving the lane more, Williams said.
“That got their big man to foul out,” he said.
All of which makes practices starting at 4 a.m. worth the effort, said Williams, who will play for Cornell University, where he plans to study sports management.
“We really put in the work,” he said, “so it’s not surprising for me and my teammates to be here now.”
And that’s as three-peat state champions.
This story was originally published March 1, 2026 at 5:25 PM.
