Last year, at 11-18, Marietta snuck into the state tournament with the worst record of any AAAAA team that qualified for the big dance. This year, the Blue Devils outdid themselves. Behind 19 points from senior Rob Greer, outlasted Woodstock 64-58 on Wednesday in the Region 5-AAAAA quarterfinals. The Blue Devils, who now sit at 10-16, are in the tournament for the second straight year.
Marietta coach Matt Lyons isn't embarrassed by his team's record, "Record-wise, we're not where we want to be by any means," Lyons said after the game. "But I was joking with the kids in practice and I told them, 'I believe we're the best 9-16 [now 10-16] team in the state and I truly believe that. Our record really could be flipped around [16-9] with the all the close games we've had."
Wednesday's quarterfinal didn't look like it was going to be a close one at all. In the game's first 14 minutes, Marietta's Rob Greer drained five 3-pointers to help shoot his team out to a 26-11 lead.
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"Rob's been shooting the ball extremely well," Lyons said of his senior guard. "He's made at least five 3's in each of the last four games and when he's shooting like that, it allows us to do a lot of stuff."
Woodstock coach Sean Glaze thought his team fell behind early due to two things: Greer and Marietta's defense. "[Marietta] came out in a triangle-and-two and I think we hesitated a little bit when we saw that," Glaze said of his offense. "That led to a couple of transition baskets and goodness, [Greer] didn't miss anything."
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Behind 13 second-half points from big man Cedrick Bowen, Woodstock was able to cut into Marietta's 11-point halftime lead. The Wolverines got the lead down to five in the game's final minute, but they would get no closer.
Bowen had one of his strongest outings of the year; the senior forward led all scorers in the game with 29 points. No other Wolverine scored in double digits.
For Marietta, Greer tacked on two free throws to go with his five treys; he finished the game with 17. Jay Ellis added 14 while Dansby Swanson chipped in 10.
Up next for Blue Devils is a semifinal showdown with Walton. On February 1, Marietta lost an 88-84 overtime thriller to the Raiders. Friday's rematch will tip off from Etowah High School at 8:30 p.m.
Woodstock's loss means they'll finish the season 12-13. It's the first time since 2009 that the Wolverines will finish the season with a losing record.
