WEB CAST.
The name of the game is to survive and advance and on Monday night in the opening round of the playoffs, Garner did that as the Trojans moved past Pine Forest 72-50 inside Trojan Coliseum.
Garner (22-4) jumped out to a quick start taking a 15-4 advantage with 4:20 left in the opening quarter only to go stone cold from the field before Sammy Saunders caught fired scoring 11 of his 17 points in the opening half to lift the Trojans to a 34-27 lead at the break.
Despite being out-rebounded in the opening half, Pine Forest (15-12) did its best to stick around using the three point shot to climb back into the game on several occasions.
Garner built a 13-point, 51-38 lead after the third quarter only to see Pine Forest claw back in with back-to-back three point shots from Travis McEachern who finished the game with 23 points.
But, in the fourth quarter the homestanding Trojans pulled away as four Garner players scored in double figures led by 17 from Saunders. Demarcus Sanford added 12 while Foster Dubar poured in 11 and Julius Barnes finished the game with 10 in the 70-52 victory for Garner.
The Trojans will continue the playoff journey on Wednesday night at 7:00 when they travel to Fayetteville to battle Seventy First High School the champion of the Mid South Conference.
