WARNER ROBINS, GA -- Whitewater senior Phil Cofer went on a dunk tirade in the second quarter to help energize his Whitewater team at a packed Warner Robins gymnasium on Saturday night the first round of the AAAAA Georgia high school state playoffs.

That's what Cofer does. He's an electric athlete above the rim. His third dunk wasn't a charm for the WRHS baskets, however. The future Tennessee Volunteer threw down a shot so violently, the framework that held the backboard to the warm broke.

Screws scattered across the baseline and two large rods were left dangling. The officials stopped the game as the maintenance crew had to do quick work to reattached the goal.

Whitewater was up 18-15 in the low-scoring second quarter. But the team had the game's energy. That was important.

As Warner Robins sat and watched the goal be repaired right in front of their bench, Demons head coach Jamaal Garman saw a moment to teach his team.

"That was a huge conversation for us," Garman said. "I told my guys 'This guy is coming to your house and tear it completely apart.' That's where they responded. It got our minds going. They fed of the crowd and got the results that we wanted."

"We kind of felt disrespected. He came to our gym and broke our rim," Warner Robins junior Nate Curtis said. "All of the times we've played in this game, we've never been able to do that. That showed us that we had to change things up and make sure we went out and guarded him."

The Demons did just that. After Cofer's goal-breaking dunk, he never scored again. Whitewater struggled in the second half as Warner Robins out scored the Wildcats 41-29 in the second half en route to the 60-47 win.

Warner Robins sophomore stud Marquez Callaway led the way with 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win. He scored on three straight possessions in a big third quarter, banging home a three-pointer and converted a steal that lead to a bucket at the basket. He made a couple of big passes to Curtis, too, during the run.

Curtis was big in the third quarter, scoring eight of his 19 points in the game-opening eight minutes. His energy paired with the staunch defense of Stephon Raybon and Courtney Johnson on Cofer proved to be difference makers, too.

"We know that defense will win us a championship," Callaway said. "We did what we had to do."

Warner Robins will host Effingham County on Tuesday in the second round of the AAAAA state playoffs.