The Putnam County basketball teams swept Morgan County Saturday, Dec. 13, in Madison.
The Lady War Eagles started the night with a captivating 51-48 victory over the Lady Dogs, improving to 10-0.
Putnam played a solid first half, leading 30-16 at the end of it. The Lady War Eagles controlled the game early as their full-court press put Morgan’s point guards in a bind. They forced several turnovers in the first half.
Putnam led 37-22 entering the fourth quarter, but the Lady Dogs scored 26 points in the period, but it wasn’t enough.
The last time these two teams played was on Nov. 20; the Lady Dogs turned the ball over 28 times in a 65-32 loss to Putnam. Morgan also committed 25 turnovers in Saturday’s defeat and couldn’t overcome early mistakes.
Junior Journey Waller led the team with 11 steals, followed by freshman Jada Baker with six, and senior Jaikarccie Smith with five. The Lady War Eagles had 22 total, which kept their opponent off balance all night.
Putnam girls head coach Derrick Arrington was proud to get a non-region road win.
“Morgan County is one of the top programs in the state. (Madison) is a tough place to get a win,” Arrington told The Eatonton Messenger. “It was a playoff environment, and we are comfortable in that type of adversity.”
Waller led the Lady War Eagles with 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting, followed by Baker with eight points.
Morgan only shot 24.5% from the field, while the Putnam girls shot 40.8%.
In the nightcap, the Putnam boys defeated Morgan County 65-59 in a thriller.
The last time these two teams played, the War Eagles led by a large margin at halftime, but the Dogs surged in the final two quarters, falling short 81-80 on Nov. 20. That wasn’t the case this past week in Madison in the final meeting.
The Dogs held a 34-30 lead at the intermission after a strong finish in the first half. The War Eagles, led by senior guards Tamaud Woodson and Jmari Greene, helped their team retake the lead entering the fourth quarter.
In the final period, senior forward Shamar McClendon and junior shooting guard Jeremy Banks stepped up, leading Putnam to hold on and complete the sweep of Morgan. The War Eagles improved to 6-3 on the season.
Putnam boys head coach Patrick Marshall was proud of his team for battling through adversity.
“We’ve been finding ourselves this week in three emotional rivalry games, and we showed heart and resilience in that stretch,” the head coach of the War Eagles said. “We had something to prove to ourselves versus Morgan because in the first meeting, we didn’t close the game out, so we needed to redeem ourselves when it came to our expectations in games. I’m very proud of my guys, and I was glad to have Jeremy Banks and Shamar McClendon step up when we needed them this week. They were big time for us.”
Greene finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Woodson scored 21 points, with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Banks totaled 12 points, four rebounds, one assist, and three steals.
McClendon added seven points and seven rebounds.
Both teams return to the court Saturday at home against Jones County. The girls will play at 6 p.m., and the boys will follow.