MORGAN COUNTY
Morgan County is riding a two-game winning streak heading into week four of the season. The Bulldogs returned after the holiday break with wins over rivals Social Circle and Greene County.
Still, for Morgan County head coach Cody Anderson, no victory so far this year was bigger than beating the Redskins, who are the sixth-ranked team in Class A Division I.
The Bulldogs defeated Social Circle 77-67 in impressive fashion last Friday at home.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for Social Circle and coach [Taylor] Jackson with what he’s built and how’s he built it, but also with how they play,” Anderson said. “He’s got a lot of experience and older guys that have played in big-time environments. They’ve gone on the road and won. I mean, they won 38 straight [regular season] games, which is unheard of. So, anytime you play that kind of opponent, you’ve got to play well.”
Morgan County played well, indeed, as it snapped that long streak held by Taylor’s squad. However, the Bulldogs traded blows with the Redskins throughout the entirety of the first quarter but trailed 22-17 at the end of it. Seniors Quay Brown, Reggie Ross and TJ Thompson hit shots up top while Jaturi Brown got rebounds down low.
The veterans helped the Bulldogs jump out to a 9-1 run to start the second quarter. They continued to pile on points as Social Circle had no answer for Jaturi Brown inside the paint. Still, the Redskins didn’t give up and finally went on a quick spurt of their own.
Thompson nailed a triple with 3:08 left in the half to put Morgan County back up 34-24. The Bulldogs’ defense played well down the stretch, limiting Social Circle to just six more points. They then held a 42-30 lead over the Redskins heading into the half.
“We talked a lot about just forgetting Social Circle for a second. Our issue was wanting to create an identity for ourselves,” Anderson said. “We’ve talked a lot about our secret sauce. It’s competing, playing hard, and it is communicating and being connected. We preached that all week. We kind of took a step back in terms of maybe some of the Xs and Os. We said if we can compete hard, play tough and be more connected, then I think good things will happen, which they did on Friday night.”
Social Circle guard Lamarius Jackson was limited to six points in the first half and 21 overall. His 15 points in the final two quarters helped power the Redskins when it mattered most. However, the final result still was in Morgan County’s favor in the end.
The Bulldogs continued to add to their lead in the third quarter. They outscored Social Circle by seven points and led 61-42 headed to the final period. The Redskins wouldn’t go away and went on a 9-0 run to start the last quarter of regulation.
Finally, after not scoring for the first three-plus minutes of the period, Morgan County got a bucket. Quay Brown fed freshman Brandon Nelson the ball in the corner for a deep 3-pointer, which put the Bulldogs up 64-51 with 4:46 remaining in the contest.
A steal at mid-court on the inbounds led to two more points from Thomspon. Jackson then turned on the jets over the next few minutes, leading Social Circle back to within three points. Morgan County then clung to a 68-65 lead with 38 seconds left.
Nevertheless, that’s as far as the Redskins would get as the Bulldogs were able to put them away with free throws. Nelson and Jaturi Brown combined for the last five points for Morgan County in the final 35 seconds of the high-scoring affair on Friday.
“I told our guys in between the [third and fourth] quarters that the game isn’t over,” Anderson said. “You’re nearing the point where you can take it over, and I wanted them to come out and send a message. Credit to coach Jackson. He had ran man and a 1-3-1 [zone] up to that point. Our guys did a great job of attacking those. Some of our shots didn’t fall, and if you miss those against a team like that, it’s not good. They’re really good in transition … so to see us close it like that was impressive.”
The Bulldogs had three players in double-figures. Jaturi Brown scored a season-high 25 points, followed by Quay Brown 18 points and Thompson with 17 points.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our crowd. It was an unbelievable environment,” Anderson said. “That’s what high school basketball is all about. It’s what you want to play in and what you want to coach in. I’m just really proud of our guys for fighting. For most of the game, it may have appeared to be that we ran away with it, but there was a lot of adversity in that game that our guys had to face and overcome.”
Morgan County then faced Greene County in the Tigers’ Den on Saturday to cap off the week. The Bulldogs prevailed with a dominant 64-40 victory over the rival Tigers.
Greene County came out and played well in the first quarter, leading 16-12 at the end of it. The Bulldogs woke up and outscored the Tigers 20-4 in the second quarter. They continued to build upon their lead as Quay Brown and Thompson led the way.
Brown led Morgan County with 13 points against the Tigers, followed the Thompson with 12. The Bulldogs had all 13 players score on Saturday night. Ashton Brannon added eight points and Reggie Ross notched six, among others.
“We played well against Greene, but it’s now time to focus on this week,” Anderson said.
“We’ve got our hands full with Hart County on Friday but then turn around and play Putnam County the next day. This is an awesome week for our program.”
Morgan County will host Class 3A’s ninth-ranked Hart County on Friday (7:30 p.m.) before facing Class 2A’s sixth-ranked Putnam County at home on Saturday (8:30 p.m.)
“There was a lot of buzz at school yesterday as well as today about us winning on Friday,” Anderson said. “The community is excited about how the guys performed. We’re also welcoming two top-10 teams in their respective classifications into our house this weekend. I’m expecting to have two more great environments from our fans.”