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The Johnson boys basketball team wasn’t worried.  

Not even when Dougherty made a fourth-quarter charge that hacked a 14-point deficit to two with 1:10 left in regulation and every late bounce and roll seemed to go the Trojans’ way on Saturday night. 

“We never get nervous,” Johnson senior guard Cormari Jones said. “Our coach (Chuck Campbell) always tell us, never panic. … We always have a chance to win the game.” 

The Atom Smashers didn’t panic, didn’t lose a shrinking lead and won the game, beating Dougherty 55-51 in the GHSA Class 3A semifinals at Savannah State University.  

Johnson (20-11) advanced the state title game March 8 at 3 p.m. at the Macon Centreplex against defending champion Sandy Creek (26-3), which destroyed Carver-Columbus 66-32 in the other semifinal Saturday.  

Sandy Creek, No. 1 in SandysSpiel.com’s final regular-season Class 3A state rankings, has demolished the competition through each round of this postseason, while unranked Johnson has played in tight games after the opening round. 

“We already owe them. They beat us last year in the elite eight,” Jones said in reference to a 56-50 loss to Sandy Creek that knocked out the Atom Smashers in the quarterfinals for the third straight year.  

Johnson broke through to the semifinals this season to set up a rematch with Dougherty (now 23-8), which had won 66-48 on Nov. 18.  It also was a homecoming for Campbell, a 2000 Savannah State graduate, and a reunion with Trojans head coach Bakari Bryant. 

They are tight friends – like brothers, they say – who talk regularly, especially before big games. Bryant was a standout player at Savannah High and later the head coach at Jenkins, where Campbell was his assistant for three years, including the 2015 state championship run. 

On Saturday, their teams stood as obstacles to a title game, but Campbell wasn’t discouraged by the November outcome. For one, two of his best players, Josh Quarterman and Favion Kirkwood, had gotten into foul trouble in the first half. 

“We had to play catch-up,” Campbell recalled of the early-season meeting. “They got a big lead on us. By the time we settled down, it was too late. I told our guys I knew we could play with them.” 

They got off to a much better start Saturday against Dougherty, ranked No. 4 in Class 3A. Johnson led 11-9 after one quarter and 22-20 at halftime after the game’s last tie at 18-18. 

Kirkwood had tied it on power move inside, and Quarterman untied it on a dunk with 2:50 remaining.  

The Atom Smashers kept momentum, building their biggest lead of 14 points on a 16-4 run from the start of the third quarter. Facing a man-to-man defense, Johnson players were persistent, not giving up on loose balls and having the mindset to push the ball and create instant fast breaks with their speed. 

Quarterman and Jones each hit 3-pointers. Jones followed with an up-and-under layup that impressed the partisan crowd, and then he sank a short jumper for a 38-24 advantage with 2:54 left in the third. 

“You saw a bunch of kids who will run through a wall for their coach,” Bryant said of Campbell and his squad in comparing their two meetings this season. “You saw a bunch of kids who will do whatever it takes to get to a championship. That was the difference from then to now. It was the same for both teams, but they wanted it more than us. You saw the hunger.” 

Bryant said the Trojans’ defense “stunk it up,” while the offense picked a bad time to not be at its best. He also blamed himself for not getting through to his players to run the offense through the high post and work the ball down low, where the Trojans had overall height and size advantages. 

When the Atom Smashers’ big man, 6-foot-6 junior Shatiq Parker, left the game after picking up his fourth foul on minimal contact less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Trojans took great advantage. 

They already were applying a full-court press after every basket, and the Atom Smashers were having some difficulty inbounding the ball and getting it safely up the court. 

Dougherty sliced the deficit to seven by feeding the ball in the paint to Markelle Jones. When Kaleke Singletary-Jinks converted a three-point play on a drive – the ball rolled around the rim and dramatically fell in – the Trojans trailed just 49-45 with 3:31 remaining in regulation. 

Markelle Jones made two free throws for a 49-47 deficit with 3:21 left. 

“It’s a game of runs We had to just keep on playing our game,” Quarterman said. 

“They had players going to the bucket, making tough shots,” Cormari Jones said. “They came out with a press. Nobody ever really man-pressed us. They never had the courage to man-press us. So when they man-pressed us, we got a little staggered.” 

Staggered – on the ropes, maybe – but not knocked down, though the tension built. Parker fouled out with 1:10 left on the clock as Singletary-Jinks converted another three-point play for a two-point game. 

Twelve seconds later, Kirkwood followed his missed shot but was whistled for a foul trying for the rebound and fell to the floor. He went to the bench for evaluation and did not return to the game. 

Markelle Jones missed both free throws, then Johnson committed a turnover. When Singletary-Jinks again covered a lot of ground driving to the hoop, his game-tying basket with 17.8 seconds left was erased by his charging foul. 

Quarterman was fouled and made one of two free throws with 9.3 seconds left for 54-51. After Singletary-Jinks missed a 3-point attempt, Comari Jones got the ball and was fouled, making one of two for the four-point difference. 

“I just told my guys to stay tough,” Campbell said. “I know (Bryant’s) team. It’s like watching a team in the mirror. We’re under the same umbrella. I knew what he was going to do: bring the pressure. I just wanted our guys to stay tough, make their free throws and not turn the ball over. That’s it. I was never worried.” 

As the Atom Smashers and their fans were jubilant, the two head coaches shared a long hug on the sideline. Bryant said he told his friend that he “coached a hell of a game.” 

“They executed when it was time for them to execute down the stretch,” Bryant said. “At this time of the year, like I say, it’s not about who is the best team, it’s about who is playing the best. They played better than us.” 

Campbell said a key was the bond his players have developed as a team. 

“They played like a family,” he said. “They trusted their brothers. I told them don’t listen to the outside crowd. Listen to your coaches. I said we believe. That’s our slogan. We believe.” 

GHSA Class 3A

Sat. 3.2.24 @ Savannah State

Sandy Creek 66, Carver-Columbus 32

Johnson-Savannah 55, Dougherty 51

Championship game: Sandy Creek vs. Johnson-Savannah, March 8, 3 p.m., Macon Coliseum

PHOTO CREDIT: Prep Sports Report Staff

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