Jackets’ playoff run comes to an end in Final Four
Scoring droughts cost Calhoun in season-ending loss to Bulldogs
SAVANNAH — The last offensive drought was one too many for the Calhoun Yellow Jackets on Saturday night in the semifinals of the Class AAA Final Four.
The Yellow Jackets went four and a half minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter and saw their season come to an end with a 72-61 loss to Morgan County at Alumni Arena on the campus of Armstrong State University.
The Bulldogs (25-5) won their 13th straight game and will be looking for their third state title in four years when they meet Pace Academy on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the UGA’s Stegeman Coliseum. Pace defeated Liberty County 71-62 in an earlier semifinal game here.
Calhoun, the Region 6-AAA champion, finished its season with a 23-5 record.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Calhoun coach Vince Layson said. “The 50-50 calls didn’t go our way and we didn’t get the 50-50 balls.”
Despite their struggles with even odds, Calhoun was in an even ballgame with Morgan County, tied at 47-47 with 6:27 left.
But the Bulldogs swatted the Jackets with a 14-2 run to pull out to a 61-49 advantage with less than three minutes to go.
“You can’t be unsatisfied with how far we went,” senior forward Chapin Rierson said. “We lost three starters from last year’s team and people thought we’d be down this year. But we pulled off an upset in ( the round of) 16 and then the Elite Eight. It was a great feeling to make it here.”
Behind Rierson’s gamehigh 26 points (five 3-pointers) and Rhett Abernathy’s 18 (four 3-pointers), Calhoun forced 15 lead changes and never trailed by more than six through the first three quarters against high-powered Morgan County.
But lapses of scoring hurt. The Yellow Jackets had just one field goal during a five minute and 18 second span of the first half and a 12-11 lead turned into a 20-14 deficit.
Calhoun was outscored 6-0 at the end of the second quarter and 10-2 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Morgan County’s defense locked down the Jackets even earlier and 47-47 became 61-49 in a hurry.
Tyrin Lawrence’s fourpoint play — a 3-pointer and the ensuing free throw after getting fouled — highlighted the run.
“We had a couple of turnovers in there and we let them grab the momentum and we couldn’t recover,” Layson said.
Calhoun isn’t alone in falling to the Bulldogs. Morgan County won state titles in 2014 and 2016 and advanced to the championship game in 2015.
“You never get tired of going and you never want to take anything for granted,” Morgan coach Jamond Sims said. “I think we have (incentive) because every time we have graduation, (on-lookers) think that’s it.”
Balanced scoring keyed Saturday’s win and different Bulldogs took turns stepping up. Lawrence had 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. Anthony Cooper had 12 of his 13 points in the third quarter.
Alec Woodard made 5-of-6 free throws during the final two minutes and finished with 13 points. Damarian Thomas had eight of his 10 points during the game-winning 14-2 spurt.
Calhoun had only four scorers. Davis Allen added 11 and Malik Lawrence had six.
“I’m proud of our guys because they battled and competed and that’s all you can ask,” Layson said.