The first round is in the books and though there were no major upsets, on the girls’ side the No. 4 Thomson Bulldogs, as a No. 3 seed, lost 51-41 on the road to the unranked Sumter County Panthers. On the boys’ side, the No. 3 Butler Bulldogs, also a No. 3 seed, survived at unranked Dodge County, 49-45, in overtime. Both games were played Wednesday.
Sumter County coach Sherri Harris and Butler coach Chaz Clark discussed their victories for the Round 1 recap. The playoffs continue with Round 2 games Friday and Saturday.
GIRLS
Credit: Courtesy of GHSA.net
Credit: Courtesy of GHSA.net
On paper, it may have appeared the Panthers, a No. 2 seed from Region 1, upset No. 4 Thomson because they entered the playoffs unranked in the AJC’s final poll until the tournament’s conclusion. However, the MaxPreps computer rankings had them at No. 9 in 2A heading into the playoffs, with that computer poll ranking Thomson No. 3. Further, the Panthers had home-court advantage.
With the win, the Panthers improved to 20-8 and advance to play at No. 3 Central-Macon (24-4), champions of Region 2, in the second round. Central won its first-round matchup 61-31 on Tuesday.
The Panthers jumped to a double-digit lead against Thomson in the first half, and that lead dwindled to 36-30 in the third quarter when Thomson went on an 8-2 run. But the Panthers never lost the lead, and regained control in the fourth quarter to close the game out.
“In the end, we won with some big possessions and defensive stops,” said Harris, who is in her tenth season with the Panthers, coaching them to 4A titles in 2016 and 2020.
Though defensive stops came late, the Panthers’ effort on that end of the floor was a constant throughout the game, with sophomores Lauren Harris (nine points, 10 rebounds, one block) and Kamiyah Barron (five points, four rebounds, two steals) leading the way.
“Lauren had a strong game and came through with some key rebounds,” Harris said. “With Kamiyah, she’s a bigger guard, so we put her on the top of a 3-2 zone to keep (Thomson guard) Jada Kendrick out of the lane, because she’s real effective there. Normally, we’d have a smaller guard out there, but Maya came in and diffused their offense by keeping her out of the lane.”
Junior guards Jesstynie Scott (22 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals) and D’Eria Clark (10 points) led the Panthers’ offense, with Harris saying they, “had a few huge possessions in our transition game, and our transition game was probably the biggest difference at the end because we just kind of pushed the game away. They were taking 3s to get back in it, and we were trying to go on another run.”
When asked if being unranked and seeing different takes about the Panthers online, including this, were used as motivation by the team, Harris confirmed that to be the case.
“No one gives us any love down here,” Harris said. “It’s just one of those things. But yes, it’s fuel, it’s motivation. Our kids see things on social media and hear things, so anything you can use to show the kids and get them prepared is a good thing.”
Central, the Panthers’ next opponent, is a familiar foe from their time together in Region 2-3A, most recently two seasons ago.
“We’ve played against some of Central’s players when they were freshman,” Harris said. “They have some great guards, and Alaya Grane is very shifty and athletic. And they have great posts, they’ve always had those, going back to when we were in the same region. Huge, tall, athletic posts, and that makes a difference. We’ll have to fight through their home crowd and the emotions of the game, but everything we do is around our defense, so if we do a good job on that end, we’ve got a good chance to win.”
BOYS
Credit: Courtesy of GHSA.net
Credit: Courtesy of GHSA.net
Butler improved to 22-6 and will travel to Spencer (24-3), champions of Region 2, in the second round. Getting the heck out of Dodge County wasn’t easy for the Bulldogs.
“In the first half, we weathered the storm of a really good team and one of the best home-court atmospheres I have ever seen or been apart of,” Bulldogs coach Chaz Clark said. “At halftime, my two assistant coaches, Tracey Flowers and Tommy Campbell, made some incredible adjustments and and our team executed them to take the lead by the end of the third. Sophmore Kwamane Bridges and Junior Zyion Smith carried us across the finish line in the fourth quarter, and in overtime.”
Bridges finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Smith had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. Senior Roosevelt Brown had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Bulldogs come from a competitive Region 4 in which themselves, top-ranked Westside and No. 2 Thomson dominated the top five, so having a game come down to the wire is nothing new for them, despite the stakes being higher now.
“I think close games like that are so much more fun, but more importantly, it shows who you really are as a team, as a coaching staff and as a program,” Clark said.
The Bulldogs are hoping to play their best game to date against Spencer.
“I’m encouraged about the rest of the season because we still haven’t peaked yet,” Clark said. “To be in the Sweet Sixteen and still have room to improve has me excited about the rest of the journey.”
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