Zoe Collins Rath
Dec 18, 2021
Junior forward Jamari Garnett of the Petersburg Crimson Wave was playing defense on a Dinwiddie General and in the throws of going after a loose ball to get the turnover and secure the Petersburg possession, he hits the floor.
Garnett gets up, his mouth and jersey crimson. He raises his arm and the whistle blows as he holds his hand in a cup to stop what's coming from his mouth.
Blood.
"He [Garnett] pretty much do all the dirty work... all the dirty work that we need," Head Coach Ryan Massenburg said after the Wave's 64-39 victory at home.
Even though Garnett scored only eight points, his performance and intensity left an impression on his teammates.
Petersburg got off to a strong start, going on a 10-0 run in the opening minutes. Senior guard Tylik Lawerence drained a three and Garnett would barrel his way into the paint to score at the free-throw line.
But the Generals had other plans and their shooters were starting to heat up. The Wave would play good defense and Garnett's intensity would take center stage as the Wave held off the Generals 13-9 at the start of the second quarter.
The Wave usually has strong starts but recently have been missing free throws and second-chance baskets. While they were able to maintain their lead a quick three from the Generals made 19-18. But Kaymeign Lundy was able to make it 21-18.
"In the first half we missed all those easy put-backs and we should have been up about 15 to 20 in the first half," said Massenburg.
Massenburg attributes it to not being focused in practice. Shots were not dropping and the Wave missed five free throws on the night. While the Wave had players like Lundy drive baseline and Chris Fields score in the paint, Petersburg's scoring efforts were cutting a bit close.
But not Garnett who sank both free throws to extend the lead for the Crimson Wave. Petersburg took half 27-18.
Coming out of the half, Garnett was more intense and willed himself to get rebounds and put himself in a scoring position. The workhorse was rebounding and slap the ball in his hands. Looking for the outlet he would hustle to the wing where he would drive on his defender or pass to a posting up Fields who would have 24 points on the night.
"They [Dinwiddie] wanted it more than we did," said Massenburg.
On defense, Garnett would help his teammates and not deny anyone driving to the hole. He would scramble to the ball and would get his hands in any spot to get the steal. Of course, he would dive for loose balls, which lead him out of the game for a few minutes to dress his wounds and mouth.
After his hiatus from the game for a few minutes, he would still play the same defense and work the same offense. Garnett would drive to the hole more and would not often see success because the ball would make the slightest role out of the rim.
"Fuck," he would say under his breath, frustrated that even with driving through contact the bucket would not count.
His teammate's Fields and Lawerence would pick up the slack, putting back shots and restarting the offense. Senior, CJ Claiborne saw great success driving to the basket which helped extend Petersburg's lead to 46-27 going into the fourth quarter.
Since Petersburg saw great success driving to the basket they did more of it at the start of the fourth quarter. Lunday and Claiborne would drive to the basket and get easy open looks. The third quarter would see a great Petersburg lead at 46-27.
The fourth quarter saw Petersburg driving to the basket more and more trips to the free-throw line. While some trips were more successful than others, Garnett was not finished with his performance.
After a couple of passes around the court, at the top of the paint, he drains a three-point shot to extend Petersburg's lead. On defense, Lawerence would get an easy block and continue to push the pace for more opportunities to score. Driving to the basket was how the lead was able to extend.
In the final minutes, the younger players on varsity would step up and take over for their brothers. Junior Jamonta Chavis would score three points and his fellow junior Rayjuan Traynham would score two.
The final score would be 64-39 and the Wave takes the court tomorrow against Varina. If anything is going to help the Wave tomorrow, given the short amount of rest, the amount of dirty work Garnett does would help the Wave. He put's his all into the game and the court got a bit more crimson from his hard work.