Woodville-Tompkins makes a statement with region road win over Savannah High

It was an old school Savannah basketball atmosphere at Savannah High Friday night as the host Blue Jackets took on their latest rival in a Woodville-Tompkins squad in a pivotal region matchup.

Woodville edged the Blue Jackets 62-61 in a Region 3-1A Division game that lived up to the hype.

It came down to the final seconds as a resurgent Savannah squad made a last-ditch effort, but Woodville's Tyler Grant came up with a block on a shot by DeShawn Davis at the buzzer to preserve the victory.

It was a huge win for the Wolverines, who improved to 18-2 overall and 7-1 in region play. Savannah High (12-7, 5-1) beat the Wolverines by 15 on their home court on December 8, but Woodville was up to the challenge in its biggest win of the season. Entering the game, Savannah High was ranked No. 4 among Class A Division I teams in the state by Sandysspiel.com, and the Wolverines were No. 5.

Both teams have coaches in their first year leading their programs. Woodville's Travis Priddy is a veteran coach with previous stints at Effingham County, Savannah Christian and Savannah Country Day who took over for respected Lenny Williams, now at Ware County. Savannah High's George Brown took over the reins for the Blue Jackets when Savannah coaching legend Tim Jordan stepped down in September.

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Priddy downplayed the revenge factor and said his team was focused on playing to its potential.

"We don't have one guy who can go get us that bucket when we need it," Priddy said. "But if we share the ball and get everyone moving we're a much better team than if we start trying to go one on five. We might not have that individual talent, but when we play together as a team we can play with anyone in the city."

The Wolverines used that approach to perfection with four players scoring in double figures. Junior guard Jonathon Pickering had 17 points, Jamir Stevens scored 14, Joey Bell added 11 and Bam Williams chipped in with 10 points. Grant, a 6-foot-3 senior, added four points, but came up with the play of the night by rejecting the short jump shot by the 6-foot-8 Davis at the buzzer.

Savannah High had a size advantage with 6-foot-8 Davis along with 6-5 senior Jermaine Edwards, who was a force down low with a game-high 20 points. Maki Joyner, the standout junior guard, came on strong late for the Blue Jackets with 11 of his 14 points in the second half and Jermaine Brown added nine.

"We've got to get better in all aspects of the game," Brown said. "The biggest thing for me is that our kids see physicality and shy away from it. We should be the more physical team. But this is on me, I need to do a better job. I think this is going to make our guys grind harder.

"Woodville made some good adjustments from the last game. I think they are the hardest playing team in Savannah. They are well coached, very disciplined and share the ball well. We hope we get to see them again in the region tournament."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at [email protected]. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Woodville-Tompkins nets biggest victory of year at Savannah High