A full house. Two high schools only a few miles apart. Two shooting
guards capable of lighting up the nets for close to 30 points. And two teams
hot on the trail of a big postseason run in GHSA AAAA basketball.
In the end, it was Veterans High’s Warhawks extending a
winning streak to seven in a row Friday 58-51 against Perry High’s Panthers,
which went to the big three-year-old campus gym on a tear of eight wins in
their last nine games.
As much as both teams were rolling towards the end of the
2012-13 boys basketball campaign, neither one could avoid needing one more win
to qualify for the AAAA state tournament. Both played Tuesday at Westside High
as the third and fourth place clubs against teams that won play-in games
Monday.
The semifinals are Thursday and the championship plus
third-place contests take place Friday, also at Westside-Macon.
(Rutland High in Macon will be the host for Region 2-AAAA’s
basketball tournament in 2014).
As for the match-up of high-scoring backcourts, Perry’s K.J.
Smith was one of the game’s leading scorers with 14 points. His senior forward
teammate Jalen Walker also had 14.
Veterans had three reach double figures, and one of those
was the point machine of late, Jonathan Robertson. He scored 12, but the
difference for the Warhawks came up front as both Malik Broughton and Bryan
Hollis registered 10 apiece and rebounded with a purpose.
Warhawk coach Chris Kothe put seniors in his starting lineup
for their final home game. One of those seniors, Myles Harden, had six
first-quarter points.
Perry had few leads in the contest and trailed by as much as
11 in the first half. The Panthers didn’t waste much time sending the
basketball towards the goal, getting jumpers early from Walker and Derrick
Toliver. On the other end Harden connected on his first attempt and Robertson
scored on two possessions in a row.
It was 8-6 Veterans when the Panthers missed two lay-ups in
a row following defensive stops. Maintaining the basketball, Smith sunk a 3
giving the visitors what would be their last advantage at 9-8.
The Warhawk offense too often did not see patience as much
of a virtue when Harden had an amazing looking follow on Broughton’s quick
answer. Hollis established his place on the offensive glass with two boards,
and on an ensuing baseline scramble Robertson found Broughton for two.
Using another post player skill, Hollis gave Niam Kishun a
screen so the guard could find Broughton and complete the game-deciding 6-0
run.
Numerous other Warhawks would find success in their first
shot attempts off Kothe’s bench. Cortez Broughton, shooting from the foul line,
received a nice home bounce from the rim. Mike Leger was one of the last ones
to check into play, and his steal and score beating the buzzer had the Warhawks
up 20-11.
C. Broughton’s put-back to begin the second period gave
Veterans its largest first-half lead at 11. Perry’s Marquez Thomas ended the
8-0 run capping off a sold Panther possession with an exceptionally good bounce
on the 3-ball.
At 5:26 until halftime, Smith sank his team’s second
straight 3. With the ensuing possession, M. Broughton was in position to put
back two (26-17).
Thomas tried one of his scoop reverse lay-ups, but point
guard Kevin Ford rebounded the miss and found an open teammate underneath.
Perry senior Jamal Bagley displayed more second effort, and his three-point
play had it down to a four-point margin at 26-22.
Hollis earned two back rebounding a missed free throw. Two
more Panther seniors, Deonte Soloman and Michael Thomas, combined for their
team’s final basket.
Leger’s play ending the first quarter was enough
entertainment for home fans. Robertson, however, did it a somewhat better when
he had little time to take his inbound steal and flip it through to end the
half at 34-26 Warhawks.
For the third quarter, all players put patience aside
looking for a scoring streak. Even with the quick releases, Veterans was all
about the second shots with put-backs each from M. Broughton and Hollis. That
countered hot starts by Toliver and Walker that closed Perry’s gap to three,
38-35.
The Warhawks strung together nine in a row – capped by Hollis’
steal and slam – to lead 47-35. Robertson also scored in transition and Elijah
Milteer had a key steal.
In an ensuing 5-0 Panther run, Marquez Thomas found the hole
with his reverse scoop. Walker’s steal gave Perry hope for furthering the
comeback, but Veterans stopped things defensively and gave Hollis the chance
for yet another putback (49-40).
In the final minute of the third, M. Broughton scored what
had to be his team’s 10th stick-back for 51-44. The home team made
it 11 on the first points scored in the fourth.
As Perry put another push together, Toliver blocked
Robertson and stole the basketball. When Walker found his 3-point range again,
it was Robertson getting his own steal – this from Smith – to make it 55-47.
Veterans didn’t score, however, for another two game minutes
with Perry getting the steal and score from Soloman (4:15). The score was 55-51
as the Warhawks looked to shrink the clock. They would turn the ball over only
to see Robertson steal it back. Though the Warhawks sank three foul shots in
the last two minutes, Hollis and M. Broughton rebounded front-end misses. Leger
also had a steal to keep the visitors from scoring in the final 2:17.
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