Archer Prevails in "Battle of the Cinderellas"

Led by Junior forward Jermaine Morris's 19 points and the Tigers' full court press in the second half, erased a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat West Forsyth 61-49 in the first round of the Class AAAAA State Tournament Saturday night at Archer High School.        

"In the first half, we came out tight and like a deer in the headlights. It was our first experience in a playoff game," Archer Head Coach Tim Watkins said. "We dug a hole and just had to fight our way out. That's what we've done all year. The kids have really fought and battled. We wouldn't be here even tonight if that wasn't their makeup. They're a great group of character kids who refuse to lose," Watkins said.        

The fact that both of these teams made it to this point is a testament to fighting and battling. Although the school is only two years old, Archer finished the regular season at 10-15 and only won three region games during the regular season. However, they caught fire in the post season as the Tigers beat Grayson, S. Gwinnett and Brookwood before losing to Berkmar in the . Nevertheless, the Tigers did enough to qualify for the Class AAAAA State Tournament.       

West Forsyth's road to the State Tournament was even more remarkable, being that the team finished next to last in Region 6 AAAAA and won less than 10 games all season. But the Wolverines also caught lightning in a bottle when they defeated Roswell and Alpharetta in the Region 6 AAAAA Tournament before losing in the semifinals to Centennial. With two Cinderellas in the State Tournament, something had to give Saturday night.       

West Forsyth got off to a great start and led at halftime 25-12. However, the second half proved to be different. Archer started the third quarter by going to a full court press. The press caused problems for West Forsyth as the Tigers forced turnovers and turned them into baskets. Senior guard Denish Brown and Sophomore guard Bryan Hamlet were particularly key in the Tigers comeback as they both created steals and forced turnovers. Hamlet scored 9 points in the third quarter, including 2 three pointers. Jermaine Morris did Yomen's work on the boards as he grabbed second chance rebounds and scored. Morris scored 12 of his 19 points in the third quarter. As a result, the Wolverines lead was trimmed down to 40-37 by the end of the third quarter.    

The fourth quarter belonged to the Tigers as they continued their full court press causing havoc for West Forsyth and hindering the Wolverines' ability to generate offense. West Forsyth Coach Dennis Benedict called at least two time outs to try to stem the tide of the Tigers. But the night would belong to Archer. With 3:41 left in the game, the score was tied 44-44. At that point, Archer went on a 17-5 run to close out the game and the Wolverines' season. The final score was 61-49.    

In addition to Jermaine Morris's 19 points to lead the Tigers, Bryan Hamlet scored a total of 17 points and Denish Brown scored 14. One big factor in the Archer comeback was the second and third chance offensive rebounds the Tigers got in  the second half, which really hurt the Wolverines. Archer's full court press in the second half, however, was crucial. "We wanted to come out and do that at the start of the game, but we just didn't have the intensity", Watkins said.  "In the second half, we didn't have a choice.  We turned up the gas, and it was the difference," Watkins said.     

For West Forsyth, their short run in the State Tournament came to an end.  "It was a hard fought game. I thought we came in here and represented West Forsyth High School really well," West Forsyth Coach Dennis Benedict said. "I'm not sure what the people of Archer expected from us. We're a team that's had our struggles through out the year, but we've played tough and strong towards the end," Benedict said.      

Archer will continue their run in the State Tournament when they travel to Wheeler to take on the Wildcats Wednesday night. Wheeler won their first round game by beating North Gwinnett 75-52 Saturday night.

Information on team records and schedules was obtained from gasports.com and ajc.com.

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