Perry’s third-quarter surge puts them on top of Central-Macon in Screamin’ Demon Invitational

WARNER ROBINS — Perry (2-6) and Central-Macon (3-7) opened up Day 2 of the Screamin’ Demon Invitational with a 67-58 final in favor of the Panthers, who used a third-quarter surge to come out on top of the Chargers.

Both offenses moved slowly, ran a lot of half court sets and ate up a good amount of the shot clock on each possession.

The first-half difference came in transition. Neither team moved with blistering speed, but Central was able to take advantage of an unset Perry defense late in the second to close out the first half on a 10-4 run.

A 32-28 halftime lead looked promising for Central despite sophomore guard Jarvis Williams being in foul trouble for most of the game.

Williams picked up his fourth foul with 6:32 left in the third quarter and didn’t come back in until there was 6:48 left in the game.

“It shrinks the floor a lot when he’s out,” Perry head coach Mark Gainous said of Williams. “He played AAU with my son for the Warner Robins All-Stars, and in the spring I saw so many threes go in…He’s one of the best shooters in the state, much respect to him. He’s a great young man, but we just couldn’t let him get shots off, I’ve seen that too many times.”

The Panthers are not a team that can generate a lot of points quickly, but over the course of the third quarter they outscored the Chargers 20-11 to flip the score on its head.

Execution in the half court was big, especially considering the slower pace of the game.

“I thought our motion offense we just put in the other day because nothing else has been working for us, I thought we executed well,” Gainous said. “I thought the guys did a much better job, probably the best job all year of just executing the plays and just sharing the ball.”

A 5-0 run to open the second half preceded Williams’ fourth foul and gave Perry the lead. From there Central’s offense had a hard time dealing with the Panthers’ big men and creating quality shots.

The first three minutes of the third were 12-4 in Perry’s favor and they drew a fifth foul to be put in the bonus for the remaining 4:07 of the quarter.

Earl Harrison, who made a good effort in the loss to Hills Academy, hit a euro step layup in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers a 10-point cushion in the final 3:36 of the game.

UP NEXT

Perry will host Bleckley County on Monday, Dec. 22 at 4:30 p.m. for their final game before the Holidays.

Central will play Bleckley County in the new year on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 7:30 p.m.