OAKWOOD – Johnson High boys basketball coach Jeff Steele is looking for answers to his team’s late season slide. With the Knights’ (10-10, 2-4 Region 7B-AAA) 78-66 loss to Creekview on Saturday, they’ve now dropped five in a row heading into Tuesday’s subregion matchup against West Hall.
To compound things, Steele feels like the Spartans will have revenge on their minds after Johnson won the first meeting between the two schools this season.
"We’ve just gotta get tired of losing," Steele said. "We just don’t play really intelligent as a team sometimes."
Johnson’s coach was particularly troubled by the mental blunders, one of which was a foul on a Creekview (16-5, 5-3 Region 7A-AAA) player with only one second left, giving the ball back to the Grizzlies to start the next period of play. "We didn’t rebound and weren’t making shots," Steele added.
The Grizzlies also took advantage of its foul shots, hitting a season-high 29-of-31 (93-percent). Creekview was only 50-percent in Friday’s game against Lumpkin County.
The Grizzlies took control of the game in Oakwood with aggressive play late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, going on a 19-6 run. Hart Ahumada fueled Creekview’s run with a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter.
The Grizzlies continued their run when Jake Barclay took a steal for a layup. Creekview scored again on a turnover when Ahumada stole the ball and went in for a layup.
Ahumada finished with a game-high 27 points for Creekview. Andy Olivier added 18, including a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter on back-to-back possessions.
The closest Johnson got in the fourth quarter was 62-53 when Matt Hollis hit a 3-pointer with 5:49 left to play. He finished the game with 17 points and five rebounds for the Knights.
Grant Cagle was 4-for-4 on 3-pointers in the first half for Johnson, and finished with 12 points. That follows on the heels of his five 3-pointers Friday night against East Hall. Brandon Finch finished as Johnson’s leading scorer with 19.
Michael Bond was Johnson’s leading rebounder (six) and scored three points.
The final two weeks of the season is four subregion games for Johnson. The Knights have games against the Spartans (17-4, 3-3), West Forsyth (9-9, 2-4), Flowery Branch (10-8, 4-2) and Gainesville (11-8, 5-1). Creekview visits North Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Creekview girls 50, Johnson 10
Danielle Tidwell scored 12 second-quarter points for the Lady Grizzlies (17-5, 6-3 Region 7A-AAA) and finished with 15 points on Saturday night in Oakwood. Creekview put the game away early with an 18-2 run in the second quarter against the Lady Knights (0-15, 0-5). The Lady Grizzlies went on a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Johnson plays host to West Hall at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Creekview visits North Hall at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.