New Wolverine Petway comes toting state title

By JERRY GUTLON

Special to The Wolverine

ATLANTA --- Down by 11 at halftime of the Class AAAA Georgia Prep championship game, the 28-3 Griffin High School Bears upended top-ranked South Atlanta, 72-62, winning its first state basketball championship since 1993.

Led by Michigan-bound Brent Petway, the Bears methodically dismantled a strong South Atlanta squad, which ran out of gas halfway through the third quarter. Griffin outscored South Atlanta 24-10 in the third frame, then sewed up the title with a 21-16 scoring blitz in the final quarter.

Petway said the Griffin squad suffered from butterflies early in the game.

"It was pre-game jitters, I guess," Petway said. Pre-game jitters or not, Griffin head coach Ferris Qualls teed off on the team at halftime.

"I just yelled at them a little bit," Qualls said. "It was just about playing hard. We told them at halftime: 'We got out-hustled and out-rebounded.' They were playing a lot harder than we were. I told (the Bears) 'You've got 16 more minutes to play and you have to step up and play.'"

Petway said Qualls did make some adjustments in the locker room.

"We made adjustments in the second half and Coach told us we had to bear down harder," Petway said. "We did what we did all season long, and if I wasn't getting the baskets somebody else was."

Qualls said the team responded to his tirade.

"After we got behind they decided to step it up and they played with the intensity they were capable of for the rest of the game," he said, matter-of-factly. "And those seniors said to themselves, 'We don't want it to end like this,' and they turned their level of competition up."

Petway, the Region 2-AAAA player-of-the-year, said the Bears weren't going to return home also-rans.

"Once we got out there on the court we knew we were going to do whatever we had to do," Petway said.

Griffin's march to Atlanta was highlighted by six decisive victories, including four wins over top 10-ranked teams.

The Bears (ranked No. 4 statewide) began their championship run in the post season by copping the Region 2-AAAA title, handily drubbing 8th-ranked Jordan High School, 82-50. In the Round of 32, Griffin mauled unranked Dougherty High School, 91-56, sharpening their claws for the Sweet 16. The Bears then dismembered 5th-ranked Douglas County, 92-72 to advance to the Elite Eight.

Again, Griffin's opponent wasn't ranked in the top 10, yet Cairo came closer than anyone else in its attempt to derail the Bears' juggernaut, ultimately falling 76-70. Then Griffin forced fast-break Cedar Shoals (ranked No. 2) to overheat, beating them, 91-71 Wednesday night.

Which brought the Bears to Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum where they faced No.1-ranked South Atlanta Friday night.

The Hornets made a concerted effort to keep the ball away from the 6-9 Petway, even snatching rebounds from him at both ends of the court. But, as Griffin's earlier opponents learned, the Bears had other weapons they could unleash. So, while Petway was limited to nine points on the night, teammate Pete Driver tallied a career high 34 points, 6-6 sophomore forward Jay Brown scored 13 and shooting guard Dondi Thomas accounted for another 12 points.

Until the last four games in their championship run, Petway averaged 21 points-per-game. He said his lack of scoring didn't bother him.

"We're a team. We're not just one person. We did what we had to do and we won the game. That's been the story for me the whole second half of the season. Pete made up for my lack of scoring. As long as I concentrated on rebounds and blocked shots, the points were going to come."

As the Griffin faithful came to learn during the regular season, Petway more than made up for his scant offense through his stellar defense and rebounding. He grabbed 14 rebounds, blocked 10 shots, got two assists and even stole the ball twice.

Qualls said young players of Petway's caliber are a rare breed.

"All year Brent's been the best defensive player wherever we've played and it's a credit to him that he's that unselfish and a great defender, and lets the other guys handle the offense when need be," Qualls said. "I'm extremely proud of him and all his teammates for playing hard, playing good defense and winning the state championship -- all the way to the end."

The honor student is projected as a power forward at Michigan. Qualls said the Wolverine devoted are in for a real treat.

"Brent's a hard worker and a great kid. He'll do whatever you need him to do. Defensively he's probably one of the best players I've ever been around, especially his shot blocking ability and getting to the rebounds. I'm proud that he's going to Michigan. Hopefully the Wolverines can get him an NCAA championship while he's there.

"His shot blocking ability is something else. Hopefully we'll find somebody else, because that's one of those things that's rare. To do everything that he does, between scoring and blocking shots. A lot of kids just want to score. And he did it all year. It's a credit to him and his family, and how hard he plays on defense. He's got a great heart."

Asked whether he had any word for Michigan fans, Petway ducked his head, but smiled broadly.

"Get ready for a good one."

Instead he flung the ball into right field, allowing two more runs to score. Griffin's Robison followed with a hard hit line drive to center field, giving the Bears a 10-9 lead.

After the side was retired Evans gave up a single to lead off the top of the seventh, then hit a batter, who seemingly didn't attempt to get out of the way of the ball. The home plate umpire awarded him first base nevertheless. A flyout and a foul out to Evans put the Bears one out away from advancing.

Then Rossi lifted a flyball to medium left field, and Evans scampered across the plathe with the winning run.

Call it Kemo Therapy.

Although the Griffin Bears’ decisive win over Carver Columbus Friday night was decidedly a team effort, it was the littlest Bear who iced the game for the home town squad.

But Spear’s contributions went far beyond his clutch free throw shooting, as he constantly fed the Bears’ big guns — Brent Petway, Dominique Gilbert, Jay Brown and Dondi Thomas — who repeatedly made clutch baskets of their own.

The junior also pirated the ball away from sundry Tigers throughout the contest, and again grabbed four rebounds in a game that handicaps him simply because of his size.

Carver wasn’t willing to go quietly, as every time the Bears managed to increase their lead to four or six points, another Tiger would draw his squad to within striking distance.

Tempers flared twice during the contest, with Thomas and Carver’s Steve Davis pulled from the game early in the second half. Then later big Daryl Neal was ejected from the game after he elbowed Petway one too many times. After Neal’s ejection, it was young Spear who went to the foul line to drain three of four foul shots awarded to Griffin on the technical, pushing Griffin’s lead to nine points, 53-44, with less than five minutes left.