Warner Robins’ clutch mistakes against Wayne County block region championship defense

WARNER ROBINS — It felt like a playoff atmosphere on Wednesday night in the Demon Den.

Warner Robins (13-13) hosted Wayne County (17-9) for a Region 1-4A semifinals matchup on Wednesday, and though elimination wasn’t at stake, you couldn’t tell by watching.

The Demons and Yellow Jackets zipped up and down the floor trying to outrace the other in the 64-62 Wayne County win. Warner Robins employed an intense defensive strategy — double team and trap early and often, and be aggressive forcing turnovers.

But they ran out of juice in the end, and missed free throws and turnovers doomed them once again.

“Fatigue, man…A lot of fatigue from playing that way and playing a tough game,” Head coach Jamaal Garman said. “[Wayne County was] fatigued, too, but they found a way to make it happen. That was the difference in the game.”

Warner Robins had ample opportunity to win the game.

Edmund Dantes missed both free throws down one with 16 seconds to go, and even though Chandler Dyson got the rebound he dribbled it off of his foot out of bounds right after. Luckily for the Demons, Garman called a timeout before that happened.

But it was of little consequence because they missed the ensuing shot and had to foul. Wayne County gifted them with a missed free throw, and Warner Robins had the ball on their side of the court with 1.6 seconds left. They never got a shot off because the Yellow Jackets tipped the inbounds pass and time expired.

“I know they froze in the moment, but I’m not sure why. They had all the keys to whatever it is [Wayne County was] doing on defense, they just wanted it more than we did,” Garman said. “They were determined and we were just thinking that we were going to just gonna waltz in there and get the game given to us.”

The positives are the defensive effort through the first three quarters and some change.

The Demons flew around the court getting contests, steals and wreaking general havoc. Wayne County’s three-pointers kept them in it in the first half, with fatigue partially responsible for letting them back in it despite Warner Robins leading 53-46 entering the fourth quarter.

It was a double-edged sword. The defensive intensity sometimes caused them to move too quickly, leading to sloppy offense and turnovers of their own.

With the state tournament still on the horizon, defense will be a primary determiner of how far the Demons go.

“We gonna have to play defense, especially with the region that we’re going to play in the first round. All four teams are good,” Garman said. “There’s no cupcakes, so if we want a chance to keep playing in the next round we’re gonna have to defend.”

“It’s tough right now, man, dealing with a whole bunch of young kids, [only] two seniors,” He continued. “You got young kids in valuable situations, they’ve never been in it before. So now they got to make plays, and it’s a scary moment for a young kid. Especially when you got people in there yelling and it’s on you to make the play.”

UP NEXT

Warner Robins will play in the consolation game on Feb. 13 at 5:30 p.m.

Wayne County advances to the region championship on Feb. 13 at 8:30 p.m.