It didn’t seem to matter that Berkmar, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 7A, was without two starters in the lineup for the opening game of the state playoffs. The short-handed Patriots produced the sort of defense possessed by most championship-caliber teams.
The Patriots broke open a close game in the third quarter and rolled to a 61-39 win over Etowah in the first round. It was the same sort of effort Berkmar produced last week in beating Norcross 45-39 in the Region 7 title game.
“That’s what we had to do last game and again tonight when we were missing two starters,” said Berkmar coach Greg Phillips, whose team has won 14 straight. “We kind of focused on the game plan. Our guys were locked in defensively.”
Berkmar (23-4) was without 6-foot-10 senior Malique Ewin, an Ole Miss signee who was serving the second game of a suspension caused from getting ejected for receiving two technical fouls. The Patriots were also without senior guard Ahmed Soumahoro, who was benched because of coach’s decision.
Others happily stepped up to take up the slack.
Sturdy 6-4 guard Jermahri Hill scored 16 points, most of them on drives to the basket. Bo Hurns, a 6-7 wing, scored 11, with three baskets coming on slam dunks. Jameel Rideout scored nine points on a trio of treys, and Brycen Blaine scored eight.
“We made winning plays,” Phillips said. “It didn’t matter who it was. Brycen didn’t have a great offensive game, but defensively he made plays.”
The quickness on defense of Blaine, Rideout and Tyriq Giddens helped shut down Etowah’s perimeter game. The Eagles got few open looks and were limited to four 3-point baskets.
Etowah (16-11) was led by Mason Etter with 11 points and Dimitri Angelakos with nine.
The smaller Etowah team tried to guard Berkmar by using a zone defense. But the Patriots patiently ran their offense and chewed up the Eagles once they had to switch to man-to-man.
“We’re tough to guard man-to-man,” Phillips said. “And once they had to come out and guard us, that’s tough.”
Berkmar led 24-17 at halftime, but Etowah used a 10-2 run early in the third quarter and cut the lead to 31-29 on a 3-pointer. That’s when Berkmar got back-to-back 3s from Rideout and Giddens and finished the quarter on a 10-2 run that put Etowah on its heels.
“Those 3s were huge for us,” Phillips said. “Then in the fourth quarter we could spread it out again and make them come guard us.”
Berkmar quit giving the ball away, too. The Patriots committed eight turnovers in the first half but had only four in the second half.
Berkmar advances to host the Camden County-Hillgrove winner in the second round. The Patriots are trying to reach the championship game for the second straight season.
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