The Jonesboro boys basketball team has flown under the radar for much of the season, living in the shadow of No. 3 Tri-Cities. That all changed over the weekend when the Cardinals knocked off No. 2 St. Pius to reach the Elite Eight.
Jonesboro will travel to Loganville on Wednesday for its third-round game.
Coach Dan Maehlman hasn’t gotten caught up in the rankings; the No. 5-ranked Cardinals have been in the top 10 all year and have been ranked as high as No. 2. Somehow they just seem to get overlooked, even though their program is consistently one of the best in the state.
“Our kids have always been looked at that way, even when we won the state championships (2014 and 2015),” he said. “We were always the underdog – always the underdog – and that’s cool with me because I throw that at them all day. That’s fuel to the fire to put that chip on the shoulder.
“I told them (before the St. Pius game), ‘Nobody in the state of Georgia says you’ve got a chance in the world. The only people who believe are right here in this room. You’re the only one that can make it happen. I can give you the plan, but you’ve got to do it.’ It looked like some of them wanted to punch me.”
The Cardinals (20-8) are led by junior Devon Rainey (17.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists) and senior Kaymen Brown (16.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists). Rainey led the team with 23 points against St. Pius and Brown scored 17, 15 of them in the second half.
“I’m not a guy that says those two guys carry us, but when those two guys are going, everyone else seems to follow,” Maehlman said. “That doesn’t mean the other guys aren’t important, but when they see those two guys going, everybody else seems to follow.”
The Cardinals also start 6-7 senior Yannis Woods (8.1 points, 7.5 rebounds) and sophomore Malcolm Simmons (9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds) and senior Chad Garner (5.2 assists). Sophomores A.J. Horton (7.4 points, 4.5 rebounds) and Amir Abdul-Rauf are key pieces off the bench.
Jonesboro plays hard on defense. Its guards are quick enough to slap away or intercept a poorly thrown pass and fundamentally adept enough to rarely leave a 3-point shooter open. Maehlman changed defensive tactics this year, switching from a predominantly man-to-man team to one that plays zone.
“We just have not been able to grasp the help-side and help-and-recovery, but the zones we ran (Saturday against St. Pius), the two-three and the three-two and the 12-half, it almost makes us look more athletic and sitting back in a pack-line defense because our kids anticipate really well,” he said.
“But if we sit back in a three-point -- we call it our 53 -- then they tend to just kind of stand up because they feel like they don’t have to defend that much because they’re right there. So that was our plan (against St. Pius), we were going to stick with the zone and only play man if we had to.”
Jonesboro finished second in Region 3. The Cardinals split the regular-season series with Tri-Cities, but lost to the Bulldogs in the tournament championship game.
Third-round opponent Loganville (18-10) advanced with a 60-37 win over Dutchtown, with Region 8 Player of the Year Chris Dorbor putting up 29 points. The 37 points was the fewest allowed in a second-round game. The Red Devils have won 10 of their last 11 games.
Twice the fun in Class 5A
Two schools have their boys and girls teams in the Elite Eight – Loganville and Hiram.
The No. 8 Loganville girls (21-7) eliminated Region 2 champion Griffin 54-52 in the second round. The Red Devils are led by Region 8 Player of the Yer Sydney Bolden (20.2 points, 5.9 rebounds) and Emaya Lewis.
The Hiram girls (19-5) won the Region 7 championship. The unranked Hornets eliminated Ware County 52-35 in the second round thanks to 23 points from Erial Owens, a first-team all-region choice. Camryn O’Neill and Kalisha Phillips were second-team all-region selections, with Taylor Crawford earning honorable mention.
The No. 10 Hiram boys (18-9) have won seven straight after its 69-63 win over Warner Robins. The Hornets have a pair of first-team all-Region 7 players in Walter Matthew and Jayden Clark, along with second-teamers Javores Boyd and Chase Tyler.
Best third-round boys game
No. 4 Chapel Hill at No. 3 Tri-Cities
Chapel Hill (26-4) puts a 10-game winning streak on the line. The Panthers are coming off a 77-54 win over Griffin, with four players scoring double figures, led by Khirus Doucet with 18 and Chi Shannon with 16. Shannon was the Region 6 Player of the Year and the Panthers also bring all-region picks Peyton Weathersby and Kelvin Hunter.
Tri-Cities (20-5) have won nine straight after its 60-59 win over No. 7 Lithonia in the second round. The Bulldogs are led by Region 3 Player of the Year Simeon Cottle, who averages 23.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.6 steals. The Bulldogs also feature Kory Mincy (17.8 points), Noricco Danner (12.4 points) and Ryan Mathieu (7.8 rebounds).
Best third-round girls game
No. 7 Maynard Jackson at No. 1 Woodward Academy:
Maynard Jackson (17-3) has had little trouble in its first playoff games and thumped Harris County 57-39 in the second round. The Jaguars have not allowed 40 points in either playoff game. They are led by first-team all-region selections Xaviera Dyer (18 points, 14.1 rebounds) and Tallah Cornish (19.3 points).
Woodward Academy (26-2) has won 15 straight after whipping Calhoun 79-46 in the second round. The War Eagles got 17 points from Sydney Bowles (the Region 4 Player of the Year), 15 from all-region selection Sara Lewis and 14 from Kayla Whitner. Woodward also has all-region picks in MacKenzie Moring, Zoe Scott, Delaney Cooper and Kameron Herring.
Jackson is the only Georgia team with a win over Woodward Academy this season, beating the War Eagles 54-50 on Nov. 26.
Third-round boys schedule
Tuesday: Hiram at Eagle’s Landing, 7 p.m.; Chapel Hill at Tri-Cities, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday: Woodland at Calhoun, 7 p.m.; Jonesboro at Loganville, 7:30 p.m.
Third-round girls schedule
Tuesday: Maynard Jackson at Woodward Academy, 6 p.m.; Greenbrier at Warner Robins, 6 p.m.; Wednesday: Forest Park at Loganville, 6:30 p.m.; New Manchester at Hiram, 6 p.m.
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