Greg Mortimer understands he’s helping Johnson High School make history.
The senior point guard coolly dropped in 20 points Saturday and made sure the Atom Smashers, who can be prone to a little helter skelter, stayed under control.
It all added up to a convincing 56-34 victory over North Hall in the semifinals of the Class AAA state playoffs at Armstrong Atlantic’s Alumni Arena, sending Johnson to the state title game for the first time since 1993.
“We want another championship to hang in our gym,” said Mortimer, who had 13 of his 20 points in the second half when the Smashers extended their seven-point lead.
Johnson won a Class AAAA state title in 1992 and advanced to the championship game in 1993.
The Smashers also won a title in 1968 – the year after Beach won a historic state championship in the first year the basketball state tournament was integrated.
“At the start of the year, our goal was to get to the state championship game,” Johnson star guard Tim Quarterman said. “But we don’t want to stop there. We want to win it all.”
The Smashers (24-6) started slowly and trailed 11-7 before finishing the final 10 minutes of the first half on a 15-4 run.
Quarterman, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, had eight of his 18 points during the burst, prompting a chant of “L-S-U, L-S-U” from the capacity crowd of 3,000. Quarterman signed a letter of intent to play basketball at LSU next season.
Johnson sealed the win by beginning the second half on a 10-2 spurt.
Again, Quarterman was the instigator. He started the run by driving into the paint and making a no-look pass to Saadiq Muhammad for a dunk.
Quarterman added a dunk and a fade-away jumper in the lane, and the Smashers had a 32-17 lead.
Johnson held North Hall (28-4) to just two field goals during a 13-minute span from the first to third quarters.
“The teams that have beaten us this year have shot well from 3-point range,” Johnson coach Utaff Gordon said. “We gave them multiple looks to speed them up.”
The Smashers kept a 13-point lead for most of the second half, stretching the advantage to the 20s late by making 9 of 10 free-throw shots.
“We wanted to keep our foot on their throats and keep playing hard,” said Mortimer, who had nine points in the fourth quarter.
Despite the lopsided final score, the game had its moments of intrigue. North Hall went to a box-and-one defense on Quarterman in the second quarter, and the Smashers decided to hold the ball, chewing more than four minutes off the clock before missing the final shot of the half.
Early in the third quarter, Quarterman picked up a ticky-tack foul, appearing to purposely walk through a Trojan defender during an inbound play.
The North Hall player sold it with a flop and Quarterman had his third foul, but he didn’t commit another the rest of the way.
North Georgia College-bound Ethan Smith led North Hall with 19 points. But only two other Trojans scored.
“I knew we had the talent to get to the state championship,” Mortimer said. “It was just a matter of putting it all together.”
JOHNSON (56)
Tim Quarterman 18, Greg Mortimer 20, Myers 4, Bonds 6, Muhammad 8.
NORTH HALL (34)
Ethan Smith 19, Olson 7, Kelly 8.
Halftime—Johnson, 22-15. Records—North Hall 28-4, Johnson 24-6.
Girls Class AAA semifinals
DAWSON COUNTY 66,
SOUTHWEST MACON 50
Sheyenne Seabolt scored 27 points and Carly Gilbreath added 24 to lead Dawson County past Southweat Macon to advance to the Class AAA state championship game.
Dawson County raised its record to 27-5.