Greenforest Christian ends Tattnall Square's season
MARIETTA -- The Tattnall Square Trojans learned firsthand Thursday why Greenforest Christian is considered by some to be the best team in any classification.
Greenforest pounded the ball inside, shot it from the outside with deadly efficiency and overwhelmed Tattnall with its superior size. The result was a 78-48 Greenforest victory in the GHSA Class A Private School Tournament quarterfinals Thursday at Kennesaw State.
Greenforest guard Justin Forrest scored 26 points and made five 3-pointers .
Tattnall finishes its season at 18-10.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Jimmy Marshall: The junior didn't score in the first half. He was more aggressive in the second half, drove the ball to the basket against superior height and scored 11 points.
Calvin Slaughter: The Tattnall guard led the team in scoring with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Forrest: The junior scored 26 points and had two 3-pointers during a 14-0 run that began late in the first quarter that set the pace for the Eagles. He made five 3s, far from his career-best of nine.
TURNING POINT
After scoring the first basket of the game, Greenforest went on a 14-2 run to take control of the game. Tattnall got as close as seven points when Slaughter made a 3-pointer, but that only seemed to spark Greenforest. The Eagles scored 14 straight and Tattnall trailed by double digits the rest of the way.
OBSERVATIONS
The Redwoods: Greenforest had too many big men for Tattnall to contend with. In addition to shot-swatter Ikey Ogiagu, the Eagles trotted out other big men Victor Enoh, Precious Ayah and QbayomI Iyiola.
Outside, too: Greenforest isn't just an inside team. The Eagles also had 10 3-pointers.
WORTH MENTIONING
Early lead: Tattnall's Sean Brown scored the first basket of the game. His short jumper was swatted at and missed and gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead.
THEY SAID IT
Tattnall coach Jarvis Smith on the early runs by Greenforest: "The first run was 3-point shooting. The second run was second chances, third chances around the glass. Both runs hurt us big time, especially because we weren't hitting shots."
Smith on Tattnall's season: "This year was a great year for us. It was another step for our program. Last year got to the Sweet 16. This year got to Elite Eight. Hope next year we can take another step and get to the Final Four. All in all, we're so proud of our guys. They fought and worked through adversity all year."
Greenforest coach Larry Thompson on Forest: "He can hurt you in a variety of ways. He can shoot the basketball, he can get to the basket, he's got a high basketball IQ."
This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Greenforest Christian ends Tattnall Square's season ."