A.J. Watts’ big night helps Carver cruise past Columbus

The Columbus Blue Devils fought tooth and nail with the Carver Tigers and looked intent to even the head-to-head record at 1-1. That is, until Carver junior guard A.J. Watts really got going.

Watts turned it on to start the second half of Friday’s showdown, outscoring the entire Columbus team 10-9 in the third quarter of play. Watts’ shot selection and high-speed tempo helped Carver pull away from the Blue Devils and grab a 51-37 victory.

Watts finished with 20 points and six rebounds in the win.

“AJ is AJ. He’s our leader as far as scoring is concerned,” Carver head coach Warren Beaulah said. “We expect him to make big plays. He made some in that third quarter that helped us get away.”

Watts and the Tigers picked up the pace in the third quarter of a game that started out anything but fast.

The two squads found scoring hard to come by in the opening quarter, with Columbus’ 3-point shooting courtesy Mike Ramsey and Michael Lewis helping the road team hold a slim one-point lead at the quarter’s end. Carver began hitting its stride before halftime, pulling off some big plays to take a three-point lead into the locker room.

Beaulah stressed to his players that the third quarter would make or break their chances against a dangerous Columbus squad that Carver beat by two points on Dec. 19.

“I told them at the half we were playing lethargic,” Beaulah said. “We’ve got that game against Americus-Sumter coming up (Saturday). We preached and preached not to overlook Columbus. We felt like we had to come out in that third quarter, and it just took off from there.”

Watts’ wild run in the third quarter was capped off justly with 25 seconds to go. Watts stole the ball from the Columbus guard, raced down the court for a lay-up, made the shot and drew a foul in the process. Watts hit the ensuing free throw for the 10th and final point of the eight-minute session to put Carver up 11.

Beaulah explained Friday’s win was an important one for the Tigers. With the Region 1-4A tournament closing in, the Tigers are in a neck-and-neck race with Americus-Sumter as well as Westover for the No. 1 seed.

Friday could have been a true stumbling block for Carver, but thanks to the efforts of Watts and Co., the Tigers are pushing forward.

“We couldn’t let this one slip worrying about the next one,” Beaulah said. “We’ve got four more home games, and then we close at Westover. If we can win all four of these games — and we’re going to take them one game at a time — we’ll pretty much lock up that No. 1 seed.”

This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 10:17 PM with the headline "A.J. Watts’ big night helps Carver cruise past Columbus."