If a Georgia high school boys coach has his way, there could or should be a shot clock in high school basketball in the Peach State. In one of the lowest-scoring contest in the 65-year history of the state playoffs, according to Becky Taylor of the Georgia Basketball Project, the shot clock may be a subject of discussion this summer.
Eagle's Landing High School boys head coach Clay Crump complained about the lackluster play between his team and Albany High School in the first round of the Class AAAA tournament this week. Crump, who was somewhat frustrated when speaking to the media afterward, told the Henry County Herald and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “It’s not fun. We practice to play basketball, not to play catch. It’s kind of an admission from the other team that they don’t really want to play with us.”
Eagle’s Landing led only 9-7 after one quarter as Albany played a slow-down offense, but what was strange was Albany’s strategy after Eagle’s Landing bolted to a 28-12 halftime lead, according to Henry Herald's Gabriel Stovall’s account of the game.
Albany twice held the ball for three minutes in the third quarter – which was scoreless for both teams.
Albany coach Archie Chatmon defended his strategy. “They booed us but that was OK with me,” he said, speaking to the Albany Herald. “My goal was to give my team the best chance to win. We weren’t going to be able to beat them playing them four quarters. But we might beat them playing one quarter.”
Eagle's Landing, who won the GHSA's Region 4AAAA title, advanced to the second round of the state playoffs as they host Perry from Region 2AAAA Saturday.
The last time that so few points have been scored in the boys state tournament was March 4, 1948, when Montezuma beat Portal 27-25 in the Class C championship game.
No team has scored fewer than 13 points in the boys tournament since 1947, when Rabun Gap beat Mansfield 64-10.
In 2012, Whitefield Academy beat Hebron Christian 65-13.
According to the National Federation for High School Sports, currently, eight states require the use of a shot clock of either 30 or 35 seconds in high school competition: California, Maryland (girls only), Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington.
So could the shot clock make its debut in the Peach State? To quote the Mythbusters, it's plausible.
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