Allatoona coach Markus Hood will trade his team’s 30-0 record for two more wins.
Sophomore guard Trey Doomes paced a balanced Allatoona attack, and the Buccaneers executed down the stretch to salt away a 56-44 win over Southwest DeKalb on Saturday in a Class AAAAA quarterfinal at Columbus State University.
The Buccaneers (30-0) advanced to Saturday’s semifinal round and will face Cedar Shoals at 4:45 p.m. at Columbus State University.
“We don’t think about 30-0,” Hood said. “We have to 1-0, two more times.”
Allatoona led 24-21 at halftime and quickly pushed the lead to double figures in the third quarter. But Southwest DeKalb wasn’t done. Sophomore guard Mandarius Dickerson hit back-to-back layups to bring the Panthers within six, 40-34, heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Bucs were too much down the stretch. Allatoona senior guard Dylon Ramsey got two easy buckets midway through fourth quarter, the first coming off a good pass from senior center Randy Legros. Junior guard Michael Johnson broke the Southwest DeKalb pressure and found Ramsey under the basket for another easy bucket, putting the Bucs up 12 with four minutes to play.
Southwest DeKalb senior forward Keith Gilmore led the Panthers with 16 points, and senior big man TiQuan Lewis added 12 points.
Allatoona got off to an uneven start, missing several up-close opportunities and struggling to find some rhythm. They finished strong, though.
“In the first 10 minutes, our nerves really weren’t settled down,” Hood said. “We missed a lot of layups, and that’s uncharacteristic of us. Everybody knows what it means – you lose, you go home. So when our guys can keep our mental composure when things aren’t going our way, that’s a sign of a tough, character team.”
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