TUNNEL HILL, Ga. - Ryan Richards has been at this basketball coaching game long enough to realize that sometimes the other team is just better.
That was the case Thursday night in a Class AAAA boys' state tournament second-round game at Northwest Whitfield, where Richards' Bruins ran up against a Perry team playing on a different level. The Panthers used their elite quickness and strong shooting to start quickly and roll to a 68-47 win.
Thirteen Northwest turnovers led to much of the damage in the first half, including sparking a 9-3 run to end the first period with an 18-9 Perry lead.
"We turned it over way too much to be able to win this game," Richards said. "They did a good job of getting after us. We hadn't been pressed all year, so it's hard to prepare for something like that in just a few days and to be able to match their speed."
Perry's guard trio of Damion Bagley, Jake Smith and Jhimaire Brown hounded the Bruins. The three accounted for six of the team's nine first-half steals. Bagley also made Northwest pay for sagging into the lane on defense as he hit two 3-pointers and scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the first half.
His back-to-back treys answered a pair of Luke Shiflett strong drives that briefly had the Bruins within seven. Bagley followed that up with a steal and layup, and suddenly the margin was 15. It would get worse quickly, with Smith's 3 igniting a 16-7 run to end the half, good enough for a 44-21 lead.
It didn't help matters that the usually dangerous Northwest perimeter game went missing.
"One of our strengths all year was shooting 3s, and tonight we couldn't get it going," Richards said. "We were getting guys open and getting them the ball, but we just couldn't stick it. They sped us up, too, which had something to do with it. They are a good team. You can't take out one guy and beat them, and I expect them to do well in the Elite Eight.
The lone bright spot for Northwest was junior Shiflett, who scored 27 points for the second consecutive playoff game. The guard was the lone Bruin able to match Perry's athletic ability.
"When Luke was a freshman we had to play Buford in the first round and he scored 20 something against them, so we knew he was going to be special," Richards praised. "All year he's been dropping 20-plus, and we haven't come across a team he couldn't score on. Thank goodness he's got one more year."
Smith added 14 points and Jacori Burks 10 for Perry (22-8), which will play Sandy Creek in the quarterfinals.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22