JMA girls rout Tattnall to win region, boys fall to Stratford

Published 11:08 pm Friday, February 17, 2023

MACON – For the first time in at least eight years, John Milledge Academy was not hosting its region basketball tournament.

The Lady Trojans (18-5) didn’t seem to mind one bit. They earned their second consecutive region championship Friday, defeating the 15-12 Tattnall Square Academy girls 45-25 on their own floor to take the title.

It was a rare 3-versus-4 championship matchup as both contenders had “upset” their way into the final. John Milledge’s 57-47 Thursday semifinal win over No. 2 FPD was less of an upset since the third-ranked Lady Trojans had split with the Lady Vikings during the regular season. Tattnall though, shocked many by knocking off top-seeded Stratford in the other semi, 36-34. Stratford entered the region tourney as the favorite, having won its two regular season meetings against Tattnall by 20 and 12 points and having defeated John Milledge by four- and seven-point margins. It just goes to show that crazy things can happen in the postseason.

After the JMA girls’ 10-point victory over FPD Thursday, it was just a matter of taking care of business against a team that it had already beaten twice within the last month in Tattnall. The score Friday night was 11-0 JMA through one quarter and 27-4 by halftime. Second-year Lady Trojans coach Jeremy Mayweather, who actually came to John Milledge from Tattnall, was understandably proud of his girls following the victory.

“I’m going to keep it simple – God did it,” second-year JMA girls coach Jeremy Mayweather said. “Our scripture for the year is Joshua 1:9. ‘Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ These comforting words can apply to all of us as we seek to live a good life and overcome our own unique challenges. That’s what we’ve been doing since we started, being strong and courageous. We tip our hats to God for showing us the way and leading these girls. Very strong faith with this group.”

John Milledge jumped out to that 11-0 lead early thanks in part to a couple of threes off the fingertips of juniors Jordan Prestridge and Maggie Prestwood. But shutouts don’t happen on the offensive end of the floor. The Lady Trojans were all over the place, denying passing lanes and allowing Tattnall no easy decisions.

Tattnall’s first points came about a minute into the second quarter, but senior JMA guard Kortnie Moore kept her team’s lead safe with two threes from the left wing. Prestwood added another to make it 25-4 at the 2:40 mark in the pre-halftime period.

Perhaps if Tattnall played the first half like it did the second, fans would have been treated to a competitive ballgame. The Lady Trojans of Macon turned up the defensive pressure in the third and won the frame 12-10. That made the score 37-16 heading into the fourth, but 21 points was much too deep a hole to climb out of in one quarter.

John Milledge’s top four scorers in the game all finished within two points of one another, and eight girls contributed to the winning effort. Prestridge led the way with 10 while Moore added nine. Regular leading scorers Allie Osborne and Prestwood finished with eight apiece.

“I love it,” Mayweather said of his team’s balanced scoring. “It just shows that this was a total team effort. I’ve been waiting for it. I know we can do it. It’s just amazing what this team can do when that ball really moves around and we’re looking for each other and we’re running the floor and getting into our transition offense. When they execute, they’re hard to beat.”

We’ll see just how hard the JMA Lady Trojans are to beat in the coming weeks as they look to make a deep run into the GIAA Class AAA state playoffs. The way the league is set up this year, AAA and 4A teams are in regions together, but split come playoff time. Every other team in John Milledge’s region will scoot up to the highest classification. Mayweather said that won’t necessarily make the road any easier.

“Triple A is just as competitive as 4A,” he said. “You’ve got Deerfield-Windsor, you’ve got Southland, you’ve got Lakeview Academy who’s been quietly dominating, you’ve got Terrell Academy, and you’ve got Tiftarea. Those teams are making noise, so it’s going to be a competitive road for us in that AAA state playoff.”

MaxPreps power rankings will determine playoff seeding in what will be a 12-team bracket. The JMA girls sat fourth behind Deerfield, Southland, and Tiftarea respectively in the rankings Friday night. A fourth-place ranking or higher would mean a first-round bye and automatic berth into the Elite Eight. Rankings and the full bracket will be finalized in the coming days.

Stratford gave Trojans trouble

Basketball coaches often say it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season. It wasn’t easy, but top-seeded Stratford (23-2) accomplished that feat Friday night in knocking off the second-ranked John Milledge boys 64-57 for the region title.

The Trojans (19-3) carry three losses this season, all to the Eagles of Macon who will now move up to 4A for the state playoffs. Stratford won the first meeting on a buzzer-beating three while the second was a nine-point victory. The Eagles were up just one at the start of the fourth Friday, but made more plays down the stretch to earn the seven-point win.

Senior Banks Eady was quite literally the driving force for his team early. He drove into the lane and weaved around defenders to get points in the paint during what was a back-and-forth opening period.

The final minute of the second quarter served as a launchpad for Stratford. Trojan junior Bud Veal had just completed a 3-point play the hard way to bring his team to within two at the 1:10 mark, but the Eagles closed out the half on an 8-0 run punctuated by a Khalil Greene stepback 3 from the left wing to make it 36-26 Stratford through two quarters.

The Trojans battled back in the third, even finishing off the frame with some buzzer-beating magic of their own. Senior Briggs Eady knocked down a shot from well beyond the arc to close the gap to one at 51-50.

Veal gave JMA its first lead since the second quarter on a strong take to the basket at 5:30 to play. The turning point came a couple minutes later though. Stratford senior Dre Bonner had offensive rebounds followed by putbacks on two consecutive trips down the floor. The second was an and-one that he converted to put his team up 58-54 with 2:32 remaining. John Milledge would bring it to within three at 45 seconds left, but Stratford converted enough free throws to win.

Stratford’s Green was the best player on the floor as he led the Eagles and all scorers with 23 points on the night. Briggs Eady finished with 16 while Veal added 14 in the losing effort.

The loss shouldn’t affect John Milledge’s owning of the second spot in the AAA boys MaxPreps power rankings, so the Trojans should be looking at a first-round bye for the state playoffs. Stratford, meanwhile, will likely enter the 4A boys state playoffs with the top overall spot.