After three quarters of smothered scoring, Forsyth Central couldn’t keep Marist grounded any longer.
The War Eagles hung 22 points on the board in the fourth quarter — almost matching their output from the previous three frames combined — and soared to a 46-26 victory against Central on Tuesday in the Dawg Pound.
The first three quarters more closely resembled the box score of a football game, as the Bulldogs (2-19 overall, 0-12 Region 6-AAAA) trailed 14-10 at halftime and 24-18 at the end of the third quarter.
But as Central’s shooting struggles continued down the stretch, the War Eagles (19-3, 10-2) created transition points and used their height advantage to snag offensive rebounds that often turned into fourth-, fifth- and sixth-chance baskets.
“It was a great effort for three quarters, and then, in that fourth, we just couldn’t knock down a shot,” Central coach Steve Barnes said.
“They got a couple of transition baskets ... and I thought that was the deciding point ... kind of the snowball we prevented for three quarters.”
Despite the loss, the performance was a significant improvement over the Bulldogs’ first meeting with Marist, a 75-26 loss on the road.
“Defensively our guys’ gameplan and effort and energy that they played with ... was just an awesome job,” Barnes said.
“Steven Davis did a good job [guarding J.J. Mann]. We really did a good job on all of them. That was probably our best defensive effort this year.”
Davis led Central with nine points, one week after what Barnes believed was a career-high 41-point outpouring against Lakeside.
Mann had a game-high 15 points for Marist.
Central closes out the regular season tonight at home against Chamblee. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.
The War Eagles hung 22 points on the board in the fourth quarter — almost matching their output from the previous three frames combined — and soared to a 46-26 victory against Central on Tuesday in the Dawg Pound.
The first three quarters more closely resembled the box score of a football game, as the Bulldogs (2-19 overall, 0-12 Region 6-AAAA) trailed 14-10 at halftime and 24-18 at the end of the third quarter.
But as Central’s shooting struggles continued down the stretch, the War Eagles (19-3, 10-2) created transition points and used their height advantage to snag offensive rebounds that often turned into fourth-, fifth- and sixth-chance baskets.
“It was a great effort for three quarters, and then, in that fourth, we just couldn’t knock down a shot,” Central coach Steve Barnes said.
“They got a couple of transition baskets ... and I thought that was the deciding point ... kind of the snowball we prevented for three quarters.”
Despite the loss, the performance was a significant improvement over the Bulldogs’ first meeting with Marist, a 75-26 loss on the road.
“Defensively our guys’ gameplan and effort and energy that they played with ... was just an awesome job,” Barnes said.
“Steven Davis did a good job [guarding J.J. Mann]. We really did a good job on all of them. That was probably our best defensive effort this year.”
Davis led Central with nine points, one week after what Barnes believed was a career-high 41-point outpouring against Lakeside.
Mann had a game-high 15 points for Marist.
Central closes out the regular season tonight at home against Chamblee. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.