The Putnam County boys basketball team punched its ticket to the Region 4-Class A Division I semifinals Feb. 12, with a dominant 94-58 playoff win over WD Mohammed at Lamar County High School.
The game was never in question as Putnam led 19-15 at the end of the first quarter, then built up a 47-34 lead at the half. The War Eagles continued to wear down the Caliphs in the second half, leading to their 20th overall win of the 2025-26 season.
Putnam head coach Patrick Marshall called the win one of the team’s “most complete games of the season.”
“We had some really good practices, so I knew we would translate that onto the floor. I knew we could play one of our better games, and we did,” Marshall said. “I let that go back to preparation. We had a productive week of practice, which helped us.”
Senior Tamaud Woodson had a double-double with 22 points and 10 assists, along with five rebounds and four steals. Junior Jaylen Nelson followed in points with 21, plus five rebounds, six assists, and seven steals.
Senior Jmari Greene added 18 points, followed by Jeremy Banks with 13, while senior Shamar McClendon added 11.
Putnam shot 48% from the field and totaled 23 assists while forcing 19 steals in the lopsided win.
Marshall thought getting win No. 20 before the start of the state playoffs was important.
“To me, as a coach, that is the sound of a good season,” he said. “In my six years here, this is our third 20-win season. We had one season in which we won 19 games, and Eren Banks (the program’s all-time leading scorer) got hurt. He missed 10 games, and we still won 19.
“So, I was telling them, where we are as a program, man, and to be looked at as one of the top programs in the classification basketball-wise, just keeping that standard rolling is big for us,” Marshall added. “It’s an honor to be a part of something like that.”
Next, the War Eagles will face Southwest Atlanta Christian (21-5) at home Thursday with an 8:30 p.m. tip-off. The winner will face Greenforest (21-5) or Lamar County (11-14) in the region championship on Friday in Eatonton.