Bulloch Academy head coach Chance Cofield knew what to expect from John Milledge Academy in Friday night’s Final-4 matchup in Americus. The Trojan defense had held opponents to 41 points per game, and Friday night was no exception as the Gators struggled with turnovers and shooting the ball. The result of the Trojan’s suffocating defense was a 40-33 loss ending the season for the Gators.
“Hats off to JMA as their defense made it so hard for us to set up in an offense,” said Cofield. “They were pressing us into turnovers and forcing us into five second calls. Compared to what they did to some other teams this year I felt like we handled the pressure pretty good, we just couldn’t get shots to fall.”
JMA came into the game with a record of 25-1 and were on the heels of a 64-39 win in the quarterfinals against St Andrews. The Gators struggled against St. Andrews in the region tournament before pulling off a last second victory. The Trojan’s defense has paved the way as they have held each of their last five opponents to under 40 points.
The Trojans hounded Gator senior point guard Ryan Swanson throughout the night. Swanson still managed a game-high 18 points, but the rest of the Gators struggled from the field. Swanson was 2-5 from the three-point line, while the rest of the Gator team combined to go 0-11 from behind the arc.
“I’m not sure why we struggled so much from deep tonight,” said Cofield. “I know we had some looks, but things just weren’t falling. Bo Spence was a little banged up and we missed what he usually can bring us. They have a championship defense, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were able to ride that to a championship tomorrow night.”
Despite playing one of their worst offensive games of the season, the Gators were in the game throughout thanks in large part to playing pretty well on defense themselves, and the fact that the JMA offense was quite deliberate, patiently waiting for an easy layup or an open three-pointer.
“We would prefer to run the ball up and down a little more,” said Cofield. “They did a good job of dictating the tempo. I thought we did a pretty good job of getting back in transition and limiting their fast break opportunities.”
Swanson started the game with a three-pointer, and the Gators were able to get a couple open layups from Chas Collins to take a 9-8 lead at the end of the first. The Trojan defense started giving the Gators trouble early in the second as they grabbed a 14-9 lead. All seven of the Trojans baskets to that point came on layups. Jalan Butts capped a 9-0 JMA run with a three-pointer for a 17-9 lead.
The Gators scored the next seven points capped by a Kam Harrison put back to trim the lead to 17-16. John Milledge would take an 18-16 halftime lead.
The Gators started the second half with a Rodney Hill layup to tie the game at 18-18. The third quarter would be a see-saw affair that saw the Gators get to within two at 25-23 on a Swanson put back with 2:39 left in the third. Only one point was scored the rest of the quarter and JMA would take a 26-23 lead into the fourth.
Marcus Prestwood started the fourth quarter with a layup, and a Gator foul. He would convert the three-point play and finished the game with 13 points. JMA would hold a two-possession lead for most of the fourth quarter. Bulloch Academy got within four points at 35-31 on a Harrison layup and a Swanson free-throw. But with the Gators in foul trouble, JMA continued to take the air out of the ball and hit free throws down the stretch to end the Gators season.
The Gators loss ends the careers for seven seniors which Cofield knows will be tough to replace.
“I just hate this for our seniors,” said Cofield. “They have given so much to this program. I am so proud of these guys and their leadership they have given us. We struggled in the beginning of the season and had a losing record for a lot of the year. They could have quit or hung their heads, but they never did. It hurts right now but they won a region title and made it to the Final-4 which is something they should be proud of.”
