“Two down, three to go” is what Putnam County basketball coach Patrick Marshall said after his team defeated Central Macon and Commerce in the first two rounds of the Class A Division I playoffs.
The War Eagles aim to win their first state championship in program history, and their quest continues this week.
“Both of them were huge wins for the program and the guys,” Marshall told The Eatonton Messenger this week.
In the first round, No. 6 seed Putnam defeated No. 27 Central 90-62, thanks to a strong shooting performance from Tamaud Woodson, Jmari Greene, and Jaylin Harper.
The game against the Chargers was never in question, as Putnam raced out to a 12-point advantage after the first quarter. The War Eagles also fared better in the second, scoring nearly 30 points to lead 53-29 at the half. They didn’t let their foot off the gas in the second half, either.
“We played our brand of basketball against Central,” Marshall said. “Being at home also fueled us.”
Woodson had a team-high 22 points. Greene contributed 20 points with eight steals, while Harper added 15 points.
Putnam’s 72-63 second-round victory over No. 11 seed Commerce wasn’t easy. The Tigers led for most of the night.
“We then came out against Commerce, and they really hit us in the mouth, man. Commece hit 13 total 3-pointers in that game,” Marshall said. “They had one kid hit four [3-pointers] in the first quarter himself. It gave us some adversity early on, but we fought through it, came out, and were leading at halftime by one.”
At the end of the first quarter, Commerce led 22-17 as sophomore point guard Maki Mitchell nailed a quartet of triples. The second was a back-and-forth battle, although Putnam took a 35-34 advantage into the half.
Woodson, Greene, and a few others played a significant role in keeping their team in the game heading into the half.
Mitchell and fellow sophomore point guard Tyler Sorrells spearheaded a strong offensive effort in the third quarter, helping the Tigers establish a 56-48 lead over the War Eagles as they entered the final period of action.
Marshall stated that Harper, the team’s only senior, played a crucial role in stopping Mitchell in the fourth quarter.
“Jaylin [Harper] looked at me in my eyes and said, ‘Coach, I want No. 4,’ who was the guy [Mitchell] that hit all those 3-pointers,” Marshall said. “He was like, ‘Coach, I’ve got him and don’t want to be switched off him.’”
Mitchell scored a team-high 30 points for Commerce and made a program-record nine 3-pointers, but Harper held him to zero points from the field in the fourth quarter.
Putnam also got a strong offensive effort in the fourth from Harper, who scored a team-high 26 points and shot 5-of-6 from the 3-point line.
Woodson added 19 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Shamar McClendon was also brilliant as he registered a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Jeremy Banks was also close to a double-double as he totaled nine points, seven boards with four assists, and two blocks for the War Eagles (27-2) against the Tigers.
“We needed a big play, and our man, our player of the year, Jmari Greene, stepped up and made play after play down the stretch,” Marshall said. “In the fourth, Jmari, Shamar, and Jeremy were big for us in that win.”
Putnam’s quarterfinal matchup was against No. 14 East Laurens (past press time) on Wednesday. The winner will play No. 10 Fannin County or No. 10 BEST Academy on March 1 at Georgia College’s Centennial Center in Milledgeville at 7:30 p.m.