Canes Into Second Round at State
The Monticello Hurricane varsity boys basketball team will play today at Jordan High School in Columbus beginning at 7 p.m. following the 49-44 defeat of the Chattooga Indians last Saturday.
Head Coach Chris Pennamon calls Saturday’s victory over the Region 7AA top seeded team “a good gritty team win.”
“Saturday was an ugly win but we were able to play someone else’s game and come out on top. We struggled in the first half to make shots until Jay Fleetwood started to hit a few open jumpers and three pointers.”
The squad did indeed start off slow, managing only seven points in the opening quarter while picking up the pace to score 17 in the second.
“In the second half Ashton Bonner started to get going driving to the basket. De’Ivion Lawrence hit a big three late to put us ahead for good,” noted the coach.
Coach Pennamon was troubled that his go to “big guy” Malik Crawford couldn’t get much going in the competition and eventually fouled out in the fourth.
“That is something we will need to fix if we want to make a run in the playoffs.”
He noted that Chris Pennamon, his son, also stepped up with some big rebounds to help the team keep it close while also playing big in the fourth quarter with Crawford out.
Also, Cordarius Brannon came in and gave the team some good minutes off the bench. He did a good job rebounding and playing sound defensively, said the coach.
“Our guard play, I think, was just too much for them (Chattooga).
Bonner led the scoring with 15 points and went 2-of-4 from the free throw line; Fleetwood had 14 points and 4-of-6 in free throws; Crawford and Pennamon each scored 6; Lawrence had 5; Devin Robinson, 2; and Brannon, 1.
With a first round win under their belt, the team has to put all that in their rear view and steer ahead for tonight at Jordan.
“Now it’s back to the drawing board and getting ready for a very good Jordan team that is very scrappy and likes to get up and down the court similar to us. They beat a good K.I.P.P. of Atlanta team on Saturday so at this point in the season there are no bad teams. There is only good teams looking to get better by knocking off other good teams. So we just have to be ready for anything.”
Jordan High School is a Region 5AA team that was seeded second heading into the state playoffs last week. Their regular season record is 13-12 and region record is 6-4. The Red Jackets, like the Hurricanes, defeated their first round competitor, K.I.P.P, by five points.
A defeat of Jordan moves the Hurricanes to the third round of state playoffs that will be played Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 27-28 at the school seeded highest among competing duos. The Canes could then look to face the winner of the Washington County/Vidalia matchup.