Warner Robins survives Mary Persons in overtime
WARNER ROBINS -- The Mary Persons boys basketball team bus might have been close to Macon by the time Warner Robins players emerged from the locker room after the Demons and Bulldogs played.
The Demons had a 13-point halftime lead, managed only one point in the final two minutes of regulation and trailed in the extra period only to pull out a 62-59 overtime win Tuesday over the Bulldogs.
Mary Persons (8-6) used a strong third quarter to get back in the gam, and got five early fourth-quarter points from Clay Moore to make things tighter.
Roger Akins' runner pulled the Bulldogs to within 51-49, and the Demons (9-2) turned the ball over. Mary Persons was whistled for one of the multitude of charging calls and watched Jacolby Owens make 1-of-2 free throws with 21.9 seconds left for a three-point lead.
Qua Perkins calmly drained a 3-pointer to tie it. The Demons again gave it up, but the Bulldogs couldn't convert a long 3 for the win.
Mary Persons led 58-57 when called for another basket-nullifying charge, but Warner Robins couldn't convert on three shots on the next trip. After another Bulldogs offensive foul, Tay Taylor scored on an inbounds play, and the Demons converted on a strip when Taylor scored on a putback for a 61-58 lead.
Quin Alford made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to make it 61-59, and Owens added one at the line with 9.7 seconds left.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Nelson Phillips: The Warner Robins guard had 16 points to lead the Demons and added six assists.
Moore: The 6-foot-4 junior came off the bench to score 11 points, including the two that gave the Bulldogs a 58-57 lead, the basket coming as he followed his own miss.
Taylor: The lean senior had four key points in overtime, none bigger than on a putback of Tracy King's miss. They were his first points since the second quarter.
TURNING POINT
Mary Persons had three possessions in overtime that all ended in turnovers, two on offensive fouls and another when a Warner Robins player picked a pocket from behind and slapped the ball to a teammate. The Bulldogs got a 58-57 lead with 2:15 left and managed only a point after that.
OBSERVATION
Getting it fixed: Warner Robins was fortunate to win with the way it handled the ball when the game got close. The Demons had seven turnovers in the fourth quarter but did a better job in overtime.
WORTH MENTIONING
Playing shorthanded: The Demons were without starter and football standout Marquez Callaway, who is participating in Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
ALSO TUESDAY NIGHT
Warner Robins' young players got plenty of action as the Demons took control immediately en route to a 61-22 win in the girls game. Freshman Jordan Thomas took advantage of it and led Warner Robins (11-1) with 17 points. Le'terria Mathis added 12 as 10 Demons got into the scoring column. Olympia High and Carmen Ralls had six each for Mary Persons (2-12).
THEY SAID IT
Warner Robins boys head coach Jamaal Garman on the long postgame chat: "Just basically let them know it wasn't a very satisfactory game. I wasn't satisfied with how we played. Our energy level wasn't there. Our intensity wasn't there. We didn't use our basketball IQ. We were basically zombies walking around."
Mary Persons boys head coach Greg Nix on the Bulldogs' second half: "We weren't ready to play. We didn't get ready to play on the way down here. We missed layups. I convinced everybody at halftime that we had the ability to play with Warner Robins. The second half, I felt like we executed and gave ourselves a nice chance to win the game."
Garman on his surprise at the performance: "We just had four or five good days of practice, just really getting after it, competing with each other. I didn't see this coming at all.
Nix, who got good hang time in jumping in reaction to one of the many charging calls: "Not bad for 52 years old, huh?"
WHAT'S NEXT?
Mary Persons hosts Spalding and Warner Robins visits Northside, both on Saturday. Warner Robins' doubleheader begins at 1 p.m., Mary Persons' at 6 p.m.
This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 11:17 PM with the headline "Warner Robins survives Mary Persons in overtime ."