A Saturday Splash: South Cobb and Allatoona battle
Since a Game 2 loss to then-top ranked McEachern back on Nov. 16, South Cobb has rattled off 14 straight wins to move to 15-1 on the campaign, and a deserved spot among the state’s top 6. In that impressive…
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Continue ReadingSince a Game 2 loss to then-top ranked McEachern back on Nov. 16, South Cobb has rattled off 14 straight wins to move to 15-1 on the campaign, and a deserved spot among the state’s top 6. In that impressive span, they’ve posted victories over the likes of Dalton, Decatur, Sequoyah, Chattahoochee and Wheeler, all teams with winning records and playoff aspirations (and they opened the season with a win over Pebblebrook).
Saturday night they traveled up to Allatoona for a crucial 6A Region 6 clash, and the Eagles showed their notable quality in pulling away from a very solid Buccaneers club, 63-52.
Emon WashingtonSouth Cobb vs. Allatoona – Where wing Zocko Littleton stole the spotlight at the TOC just after Christmas, it was senior Emon Washington who was doing it from everywhere against Allatoona. The Illinois State commit took advantage of a size and athleticism edge to run, jump and shoot his way to 25 points on the night, doing it in so many ways. He can slice through the defense from the wing, play with his back to the basket, take a rebound and lead the break for his own offense, or just explode off a feed from any of the slew of terrific guards on the SC roster. Another senior big man, 6-6 Raymond Baka, shined off the bench, again using a size advantage to clean the glass and muscle his way to 12 points. Sophomores Littleton and 6-6 Robert Dix were not big factors on the stat sheet this night (although Littleton again showed his sweet stroke with two 4th quarter 3’s), but the two young up-and-comers do a lot of things for the Eagles’ incredible halfcourt defense that shouldn’t be overlooked. Junior point guard Travis Burrus is just the type of steady point man that a team with this many scoring options needs, distributing and controlling the tempo and doing just enough effective scoring of his own to be a real threat (he had 9 points). South Cobb will most notably have to contend with a marvelous Tri-Cities squad (the defending champs) in a good 6A field, that also features last year’s finalist Tucker, the aforementioned Chattahoochee, and quietly good North Atlanta and Pope among others, so it will be a fun bracket to look at as we approach February.
Kevin TaylorUnfortunately for the host Bucs, they had a few dry spells from the field that hurt them against a caliber opponent like this. But that doesn’t take away from some of the quality I saw, and they too have what it takes to be a threat in 6A. South Cobb’s elite defense shut down Allatoona in the second half after a tight first half ended 35-33, but junior wing Kevin Taylor distinguished himself in the first two stanzas, getting 11 of his 13 points during that span. At 6-2 he can get to the rim, but also showed an ability to step out to the arc as well. He’s a good athlete with solid leaping ability and is a 2021 player to watch rise this next offseason. Another junior, point guard Isaiah Logan, showed some excellent assertiveness against very good defense, getting into the lane for a nice mid-range game and getting out into the open floor to battle through Eagle defenders to the basket. This a young team with other key juniors sprinkled throughout the line-up, like 6-5 forwards Marshall Willingham, a dirty-work aficionado down low with range, and Cameron Baldwin, a leaper and finisher in close, so not only can they make a run this year, but the future is bright for coach Chad Phillips.