CALHOUN, Ga. - Both Calhoun High School basketball teams executed their game plans during a GHSA Class AAA first-round basketball playoff doubleheader Saturday against Hart County.
Only one, however, came away with a win.
Vince Layson's Yellow Jackets got out quickly, withstood the Bulldogs' rally and pushed the pace at every opportunity before running away with a 75-53 win. Jerry Pruett's Lady Yellow Jackets got the game they wanted, but a poor final two minutes taking care of the basketball led to a 72-63 loss.
The Jackets (21-4) will host Central of Macon in Thursday's second round. The Lady Yellow Jackets end their season 21-6.
"Our kids played very hard, and we executed defensively for the most part in packing the lane with our zone," Pruett said of a game that was tied with two minutes to play. "We wanted them to shoot 3s, but we gave up too many offensive rebounds.
"But the last minute and a half we didn't execute. We made too many mistakes, especially late. That was a tough one to end with."
Hart County (23-5), the Region 8 regular-season champion that was relegated to a No. 3 playoff seed after being upset in the region tournament, used elite guard play from Torrien Starks and Maeisha Teasley to force the Lady Jackets into 20 turnovers. Four of those came in the fateful final two minutes after a free throw by Calhoun's Jana Johns made it 63-63 in a game that went back and forth for 30 minutes.
Johns, the senior guard who is headed to South Carolina on a softball scholarship, scored 33 points, time and again driving into the lane with reckless abandon.
"Jana is just special," Pruett said. "Without her tonight, we weren't in the game. She so tough, because she can create her own shot and she never lets up."
After Johns' free throw, Starks found A'Cira Teasley for a layup and the Lady Bulldogs turned up the heat defensively, forcing a turnover, a contested 3-pointer and three more turnovers. Teasley made it 67-63 with a putback before Starks sealed the win with a steal, layup and free throw with 28 seconds to play.
The Calhoun boys were not about to let the same thing happen in the second game. Davis Allen scored eight of his game-high 18 points in the first three minutes of the game as the Jackets built a quick 10-0 lead. Hart County (14-15) battled back to make it a one-point game after one period, but a 9-0 Calhoun lead starting the second, with Chapin Rierson scoring four points, re-established a lead the Jackets didn't relinquish.
"We wanted to come out and press them a little bit and establish the tempo," Layson said. "We felt we were deeper than they were, so we wanted to keep pushing it and get them winded a bit. Davis had a great start, and I thought Chapin also had a nice game and limited them to one shot on the defensive boards."
Rierson had 12 rebounds to go with his 12 points, while fellow senior Malik Lawrence had eight rebounds and 17 points, including four in the final minute of the first half as Calhoun built a 40-27 lead. Lawrence's steal-and-layup and 3-pointer pushed the lead to 54-39 late in the third quarter, and the visitors never threatened in the fourth.
"That's a big win against a good team," Layson said. "I was pleased with the way we came out and stayed with the game plan."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.