Putnam County boys’ basketball split games with Washington County and Thomson last week. The No. 6 War Eagles defeated the Golden Hawks 75-72 at home in a thriller on Tuesday’s Senior Night before falling to No. 9 Thomson 78-59 in a top-10 matchup on Saturday.
Putnam County had to play catch-up against Washington County in the second quarter in order to secure its ninth region win.
The Golden Hawks jumped out to a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter; however, the War Eagles outscored them 21-10 in the second and held a 35-34 advantage at the half.
“That was an interesting game, to say the least,” Putnam head coach LaPatrick Marshall said. “In that game, they hit 16 3-pointers and we didn’t shoot a free throw. If you go into a game saying the other team is going to hit 16 triples and you aren’t going to attempt a free throw, you’ll probably lose.”
The third quarter went back and forth with a couple of lead changes, but Putnam County led by four points heading into the fourth, which is when Washington County senior Ka’Monta Durden took over. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough as the War Eagles held on.
The War Eagles’ Landon Bonner had team-highs in points (24) and rebounds (nine) in Tuesday night’s win. Senior Eren Banks’ stats line was also impressive in the victory. The Georgia Southern signee totaled 19 points, six rebounds, seven assists, one steal and two blocks.
Putnam senior Detravius Smith scored a dozen points and grabbed eight boards. Fellow senior Keyni Crawford was also productive, adding 10 points, two rebounds and one steal.
The game against Thomson on Saturday was more of a lopsided affair for the War Eagles, though. The Bulldogs avenged a 70-65 loss to Putnam earlier this season with a dominant victory.
“Man, that environment (at Thomson) was like when we went to Morgan (County). It was a sold-out crowd,” Marshall said. “We had some fans show up late and couldn’t get in.”
The hometown Bulldogs used that to their advantage and dropped 79 points, the second most Putnam has given up all season.
Still, Marshall got stellar play from his guards in the win. Banks totaled 27 points, followed by Bonner with 11 and Crawford with 10, respectively.
“It was a good experience, atmosphere-wise, but we had some calls that didn’t go our way,” Marshall said. “It was physical. Landon (Bonner) got hurt and probably won’t play this week. Tre Smith was coming off an injury, and it started to wear on us at the end of the game.”
The War Eagles made a late run but just didn’t have enough gas in the tank to reach the finish line.
“It was just that too much energy got exerted, coupled with the physical play, which is why we didn’t have it at the end,” Marshall said. “I took the starters out with just over a minute left to avoid injury. We have bigger plans than that one game and goals still ahead of us.”
Despite the loss to Thomson, Putnam (18-5, 9-3 Region 4-AA) remained in second place in the region standings.
The War Eagles have two winnable road games this week, at home against Glenn Hills (Tuesday) and at Josey in Augusta on Friday. They will then begin the region tournament next week.
“The loss didn’t change anything in the seeding, so we’re still second in the standings,” Marshall said. “If we handle our business this week, we’ll get a bye in the first round. So, at some point, you’ve just got to cut your losses for a certain game and get ready for the next one.”