Rematch with Jonesboro should make for interesting first round game for Demons

The Warner Robins Demons will face the Jonesboro Cardinals in the first round of the AAAAA boys state playoffs and there are a number of factors weighing in favor of the Demons. Warner Robins will not only be hosting the game Friday (6 p.m.) but will also be doing so at their new gym. The building will open with this game while the Demonettes are opening the girls playoffs on the road in Fayetteville at Starrs Mill High School. The Demons, 21-4 and Region 1-5A tournament champions for a seventh consecutive time,  will be the only show on campus. 

Now could not be a better time to be playing Jonesboro (17-10 overall), who defeated the Demons by a point in overtime in Jonesboro Jan. 28, according to their head coach Dan Maehlman. The Cardinals have lost their last two games, both during the Region 3-5A tournament, and are coming into the state playoffs for the 13th consecutive year as a tough out but not at peak performance. “We’re not playing well right now,” said Maehlman via email earlier this week. “We have dealt with some team adversity over the past couple weeks.” The team was even shorthanded when they played the Demons weeks ago, with just three active players available on the bench. “Playing [the Demons] at their place, in the brand new gym, does not stack up well for us.”

Maehlman calls making the state playoffs every year for more than a decade “fortunate” and added, “Coaches tend to take that accomplishment for granted sometimes.”

The Demons have a streak of their own that got even longer last week when they won a seventh consecutive region tournament. With that came a seventh consecutive home game to start the playoffs. More often than not the Demons have won that first round game at home. Asked if there was an advantage to beginning the road to Macon at home in the new gym Demons head coach Jamaal Garman  said, “I don’t know if there are advantages to opening up but I do know that people will have an opportunity to get in the game over here. I guess that can be called an advantage.”