CLASS AAAA STATE TOURNAMENT: Monroe Tornadoes fall in quarterfinals

FORT VALLEY — The Monroe boys were tired but they never did give up. The Tornadoes fought to the end in Thursday’s 71-61 loss to Liberty County in the quarterfinals of the Georgia High Schools Association Class AAAA tournament at Fort Valley State.

Monroe had the chances early and late in the game but the baskets just weren’t falling while Liberty County’s guards were on fire.

“Great intensity, we just didn’t execute enough,” Monroe coach Marquis Davis said. “It was a tough game, elite eight. We missed a few too many layups. Overall, it was a great effort.”

The Panthers got off to a quick start scoring the first eight points of the game, forcing Monroe coach Marquis Davis to call a timeout. Monroe struggled to hang on to the ball and could not get a basket to fall for the first four minutes until Emeshuan Offord sank a basket.

The struggle continued offensively for Monroe as they scored just eight points in the first quarter while Liberty County dropped 16.

Offord was able to get going offensively when he hit a three to open up the second quarter. Liberty took an 28-12 lead before Ulysses Williams nailed a trey. The three was the start of a 7-0 run that was keyed by back-to-back steals.

After cutting the score to 28-19, Liberty went on a 13-5 run to end the first half. The big blow came when Auburn commit Davion Mitchell threw down a one-handed slam that got the crowd, including Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, on its feet. Monroe trailed 41-24 at the halftime.

The Monroe defense came out strong after halftime, allowing just five points in the first four minutes.

“It is all about execution in games like this,” Davis said. “Two tough teams. Just a few mistakes in the game.”

Offord gave the Tornadoes a lift with back-to-back triples to cut the lead to 11 points. Monroe outscored the Panthers 15-10 in the third quarter and trailed 51-39 at the start of the fourth.

Two quick baskets by K’Naurtica George to open cut it to a 53-43 game. The Monroe crowd got going when Offord found Napoleon Harris for an alley-oop dunk to make it an eight-point game.

Five straight points by Liberty’s Martial Washington stretched the lead to 16 until Offord once again came up big with a trey.

Offord continued to keep the Tornadoes in it when he hit from long distance to make it a 64-56 game. The senior guard finished with 24 points.

The Tornadoes came up empty on their ensuing possessions and didn’t score again until George hit a three with 26 seconds remaining.

Mitchell capped the game with a windmill dunk to give Liberty the victory. The junior led all scorers with 29 points.

Georgia football commit Richard LeCounte added 18 while Will Richardson scored 12.

Monroe was led by Offord and received 16 points from George and 12 from Harris.