Following a buzzer-beater loss in overtime during the Sweet 16 round of the Class AA state playoffs against Dodge County in March, Putnam County has been working hard to get back on the court.
The War Eagles regrouped during April and May as they worked out and practiced several times before the end of the 2022-23 academic year. Finally, they were able to hit the hardwood this past week and compete against other programs from across the state after the GHSA-mandated dead week.
Putnam boys’ basketball head coach LaPatrick Marshall has been looking forward to this since late March. He said it’s been fun but “different” after losing so many seniors from the 2022-23 season.
“It’s been a huge change for me this year. It’s been different. I lost seven seniors and am only returning one starter [next year] in Landon Bonner,” Marshall said. “So, our young guys started lifting weights right after the [end-of-season] banquet, and we’ve been doing two-a-days after dead week.”
On June 5, Putnam County traveled to Henry County to play a pair of summer league games at Eagles Landing Christian. The young War Eagles’ squad lost to the host team 53-44; however, they bounced back with a 53-36 victory over the M.L. King Lions a few days later.
Bonner led the charge in scoring for Putnam County and averaged double-digits in each contest. The War Eagles also saw junior Jaylin Harper and senior Messiah Walker step up.
This past weekend, Putnam County attended Georgia State University’s basketball camp in Atlanta, where the War Eagles suffered close losses to three bigger programs. However, they were able to conquer Class AAAAAAA’s Kennesaw Mountain on Saturday.
Despite the results, Marshall said he was proud of how the War Eagles competed. He also knows his team is young, but said the experience against programs from larger classifications is valuable for his players.
“We played some good competition, man,” Marshall said. “We are always trying to play better competition, and it gets our players ready for the [regular] season. So, we are always out there grinding.”
Putnam County had one of its best seasons in program history last year. The War Eagles went 22-7 overall and made it to the Sweet 16 before being knocked out by a hot Dodge County squad.
PCHS was led by Georgia Southern signee and the program’s all-time leading scorer, Eren Banks. The War Eagles also lost the team’s third-leading scorer in shooting guard Keyni Crawford, plus a trio of senior contributors in Michael Morris, DeTravius Smith, and Payton Ellison.
Regardless, Marshall strongly believes next year’s team can succeed if some of the younger players become strong leaders.
“Landon [Bonner] is going to be our go-to guy, but we need others such as Jaylin [Harper], and Messiah [Walker] to step up,” he said. “But especially Kayden Solomon, who is probably going to be our starting center [next season]. So, I think he is going to hold it down there in the middle for us, and we are going to rely on some of the younger guys to have a big summer for us on the court.”
Marshall also listed Jmari Greene and Tamaud Woodson as players that can make a difference this month. He describes his team as “young and scrappy” with a “great hunger” to win.
“The great thing is that we still have size and length,” Marshall said. “It’s just that we’re so young. It’s positive and negative. They just don’t understand how great they can be, but at the same time, they make those small mistakes just like a young team does. We’ve got to try and fix all of that, but other than that, we compete, man. That’s one thing that I love about our culture. We sure do compete.”
Putnam County had a game scheduled against Turner County at home this week. The War Eagles also will host summer contests against rivals Greene County and Morgan County next week.