For a quarter and a half, two neighborhood rivals battled to a near draw in a hard-fought start.
Then, thanks to a little help from Tim Quarterman, Johnson-Savannah found its offense.
Quarterman, who signed with LSU, scored nine of his game-high 21 points in a 3:30 stretch to key a run that gave the No. 3 Atom Smashers the lead and sparked them to a 61-51 win over No. 2 Savannah for the Class AAA title.
It’s the first state title since 1992 for Johnson (25-6), who never surrendered the lead after gaining it around the halfway point of the second quarter, early in that effectively decisive run. The Johnson lead grew to as many as 16 during the second half.
It looked as if neither team would take control early, as the first quarter ground on with only 14 points scored between the two rivals.
The Atom Smashers led 8-6, but it felt as if the teams were just standing at midcourt slugging each other.
The score stayed tight past the five-minute mark of the second quarter, when Johnson finally broke free.
Baskets by Devon Holmes and Adrian Bonds started the run, and then Quarterman scored the Atom Smashers’ next nine points, turning a two-point lead into eight points. The 13-4 run gave Johnson the advantage, and the Blue Jackets (28-4) never got closer than five the rest of the way.
Every time Savannah made a couple of baskets and looked as if it could make a run to get back into the game, Johnson had an answer.
One such moment came with 2:19 left in the third, when back-to-back dunks by Tyreese Rivers and Chris Cokley made the score 40-30. Johnson took a timeout. After play resumed, Quarterman knifed to the basket for a layup, and the Savannah momentum was quelled.
A big part of the reason Johnson kept Savannah at arm’s length throughout the second half was defense.
The Blue Jackets shot only 34 percent overall and 22 percent on 3-pointers. The Atom Smashers turned the ball over 18 times, but their ability to make shooting difficult for Savannah made up for any ball-control issues.
On offense, Johnson’s advantage inside also paid dividends. The Atom Smashers outscored Savannah 34-20 in the paint and posted a 32-28 rebounding advantage.
Jermaine Williams led Savannah with 18 points and six rebounds; teammate Jamal Norman had 16 points and seven rebounds. The Atom Smashers attempted only three 3-pointers and didn’t make any.
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