Long County completes Bear Brawl sweep with victory against Warner Robins

WARNER ROBINS — Long County (7-1) proved they were one of if not the best team in the Cliff Hutto Memorial Bear Brawl as they swept their competition, including a 78-77 win against Warner Robins (4-5) on Saturday.

The Blue Tide’s physicality, athleticism and energy is something that tears apart teams who are not ready to match.

Between being able to stay in front of just about anyone, collapsing and making paint shots difficult and keeping momentum with a loud and active bench they were a difficult matchup for both Veterans and the Demons.

Warner Robins stuck with them early, but a lob off of the glass from Zyi’Air Holt to Jonathan Talbert ignited the bench and intensified Long County’s defensive efforts.

Up 34-23 with 4:13 to go until the break it was all Warner Robins could do to stick with them for a 44-33 halftime deficit.

The Demons fought hard in the second half but their early play came back to bite in clutch time.

“[We had a] slow start again. Missed layups, probably missed about seven or eight layups, maybe more than that,” Head coach Jamaal Garman said. “Then of course the 13 [missed] free throws, man.”

They were in the bonus for the last 4:54 of the third quarter but shot 7-of-16 from the line as they entered the fourth quarter down 10. A one-point difference in the halftime deficit wasn’t enough even if Warner Robins came within six points with 3:38 to play.

But defensive lapses also played a big role in the loss.

If they forced a turnover and scored on the other end they’d give up a basket in transition. The Blue Tide were aggressive putting defenders behind the defense in transition whether that was off of a miss, make or takeaway.

The late defense often resulted in a foul, giving Long County more opportunities to cushion the lead. Warner Robins had opportunities — the Blue Tide’s relentless interior defense started to draw fouls in the Demons’ favor — but they couldn’t hit free throws at the rate they needed to.

“Defensively we had too many lapses. Because we would shoot a shot, and I was telling them that [Long County is] going to leak out…a couple times they got us on the leak out,” Garman said.

Tristan Warren had 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Demons fought tooth and nail, but by then it was too late.

UP NEXT

Warner Robins will complete the season series against Veterans on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Long County will head home to face Beach on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.