By Brandon Speck
Special to The Dispatch
JACKSON – Columbus was not joking around with George County in Saturday’s Class 6A quarterfinals match.
Robert Woodard II let that be known very early. The nationally-heralded sophomore took the ball to the rim for a slam in traffic, the first two points of what would become an 82-49 blowout of the Rebels at Mississippi Coliseum. Columbus advanced to Wednesday’s 7 p.m. state semifinal game against Southaven.
For an 8-2 lead, Woodard led a fast break, went behind his back and pulled up above the free throw line to bounce a jumper in. He had another fierce flush in the third quarter, taking a pass in the corner and taking advantage of a 5-on-3 by driving to the goal for his second dunk.
“The going behind the back thing, it scares me sometimes,” Columbus coach Luther Riley said. “But he’s an all-purpose guy. He does a lot of everything for us, leadership, rebounds, assists, keeps his teammates going. Of course he shoots the ball, dunks, passes, but he does all those little things well the stat sheet doesn’t show.”
Woodard finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four blocks and he was not alone. Senior Cameron Douglas had 20 points and seven rebounds.
When it wasn’t Woodard, it was Douglas.
“He was the momentum guy tonight,” Woodard said. “He really attacked the rim, got easy baskets and got to the free throw line when we needed him to.”
In a start that felt like Columbus (24-5) owned, the Falcons carried only a 13-10 lead into the second quarter and until a 6-0 run closed the half, only a six-point lead late in the first half.
Columbus scored eight of the first 10 points of the game but George County (17-7) hung around thanks to six players in the scoring column in the first half. Columbus took a 35-23 lead to the break when Douglas hit a pair of free throws with no time on the clock. Douglas was 8 of 15 and hit 7 of his 8 free throw attempts.
Columbus held the Rebels to six points in the third quarter. Woodard said Columbus didn’t do as good a job rebounding in the first half as it wanted to. The Falcons were plus-six in the category at the half and finished out-rebounding the Rebels 47-31.
“You always like to get a look at a team in person. I’ve seen college teams that didn’t have that much size overall,” George County coach Ron Renfroe said. “I thought our guys played a good first half. We had three instances right at the end of the half where it could have been down to six.”
Columbus outscored the Rebels 20-6 in the third quarter and went up 40 in the fourth on a Woodard jumper. Point guard Javante McDavid scored 16 points.
Perimeter-shooting George County missed all seven 3-point attempts in the first half and made 4 of 22 for the game. Columbus shot 53 percent for the game after making 20 of its 32 shots in the second half.
“We knew they were going to shoot a lot of perimeter shots,” Riley said. “The thing was we couldn’t give them but one. Part of what they do, they live off those offensive rebounds.”
Columbus had 18 offensive rebounds to George County’s 16. Austin Peay-signee Jartavius had four points, seven rebounds and three blocks. His rim-rattling slam gave Columbus a 56-29 lead in the final minute of the third quarter. The Falcons’ 58 points after three quarters had doubled George County’s.
George County junior Tyrese Fryfogle tried to get his point across to the taller Falcons with a driving slam in the first quarter but it was all Columbus after easing off a 13-12 lead early in the second. Fryfogle’s 10 points was one of only two Rebels in double figures.
Southaven beat Terry 62-45 a game ahead of Columbus’ win to set up Wednesday’s game. Asked what he knew about Southaven, Riley wouldn’t let on too much.
“They won today,” Riley said, and laughed. “We know Southaven has a really good guard they’re led by and certainly the coach does a good job. We’ve just got to come ready to play.”
Southaven guard Taze Moore, a Cal State-Bakersfield signee, scored 19 points and had 14 rebounds against Terry.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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