Putnam County boys’ basketball learned a critical lesson last Friday in a road loss to Hancock Central.
The War Eagles missed a pair of free throws and committed a lane violation late in the game, setting up the rival Bulldogs to make a desperate attempt from half-court to win the contest, 66-64.
Those crucial mistakes, especially at the end of a close game, can drive a head coach crazy. However, Putnam County coach LaPatrick Marshall will use the loss as a teaching tool for the future.
“Any time you play in Sparta, records go out the window. (Hancock) hadn’t won a game until that night. They played us tough the first time, too,” Marshall said. “We’re so young and don’t get that teams get up to play us and that was a rivalry game. Not to take anything away from them, but we didn’t play our best game. They fought hard, and we had our chances, but couldn’t execute at the end.”
Marshall acknowledged those critical mistakes at the end of the game as “mental lapses.” He said his team can’t do that down the stretch when its opponents bring their “A-game” every night.
“It just happened to us that night,” he added. “As I have said before, we are just trying to get these young guys to understand that after a loss, we need to come back and regroup.”
The game was neck-and-neck for most of the night. At the end of the first half, the score was 28-28 and the teams were matched at 42 entering the fourth.
Hancock Central (1-6) earned its first win of the season on Josiah Ingram’s game-winning shot. The 6-foot-2 guard recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
Putnam County sophomore J’mari Greene led his team in scoring with 16 points, followed by senior Landon Bonner (16 points), freshman Jeremy Banks (12 points), and senior Messiah Walker (10 points).
The game remained close due to the number of mistakes made by both sides. The War Eagles had 16 turnovers, while the Bulldogs committed 15, as they led to easy points on the other end for each team.
Marshall hopes his guys can rebound and fix those errors as the schedule moves on. This week, Putnam County (8-2) will compete in a tournament at Northside High School in Warner Robins, where the War Eagles will face Taylor County Dec. 27.
“Taylor County is a tough opponent, but win or lose, we will be playing some other good teams after,” Marshall said. “I think it’s good to get our guys out of Eatonton and let them play in these games.”
Putnam County also plays a few other contests before next week when region play starts back up. The War Eagles could play Northside, Central (Macon), Rutland, Westside (Macon) or North Atlanta.
Next Tuesday, Putnam County will host back-to-back Class 2A state champion Westside (Augusta) at 7:30 p.m. The War Eagles went 1-2 in the region last season against the Patriots.
“That is going to be our first region game of the new year. (Westside) is going to come in mad because Butler beat them last weekend,” Marshall said. “Their invincibility is kind of vulnerable now. We just need to do what we need to do.
“We always play well at home, so I’m trying to keep the guys’ morale up when we get ready to play them on Jan. 2nd. It’s going to be a battle, for sure.”