Venue different, goal same for Wilkinson County boys

Wilkinson County’s presence at the GHSA boys basketball championships has become routine.

Winners of eight titles in the past 18 seasons, the Warriors are once again a game away from holding up the GHSA’s championship cup. But the path to the 2017 championship has been anything but usual.

For starters, Wilkinson County’s fans won’t have the virtual home-court advantage they enjoyed at the Macon Coliseum. Thanks in part to last year’s basket debacle, fans won’t be heading the 25 miles west to Macon but instead will be driving 95 miles north on U.S. 441 to Athens, where the Warriors will face Calhoun County at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Stegeman Coliseum for the Class 1A public school championship.

The drive is an extra 70 miles each way, but the reward is playing in a major-college arena.

“Anytime you’re playing on the floor of the flagship school in Georgia, it’s exciting,” Wilkinson County head coach Aaron Geter said. “The kids are truly excited to play in Athens.”

What’s also a bit different about this year’s team is some of the challenges it faced during the regular season, especially in the region tournament.

The Warriors (23-7) were the top seed coming out of their sub-region heading into the Region 7-1A Tournament. But Tattnall Square completed a three-game season sweep of Wilkinson County in the semifinals, and a one-point loss to FPD in the third-place game meant a fourth-place finish in region play.

“The regions we have been in at Wilkinson County, every one of those regions have been very good basketball, and it prepares your team for this time of year,” Geter said.

That strength of schedule gave Wilkinson County a boost come state tournament time. Using power rating points, the Warriors were seeded fifth, the top team among those who didn’t win region championships. That meant a first-round bye, as well as avoidance of the No. 1 seed, Treutlen, until the semifinals.

Wilkinson County stepped things up a notch following the region tournament. The Warriors beat Crawford County, a Class 2A semifinalist in 2015-16, by 33 points before taking out No. 4 Taylor County 63-35 on the road.

Thanks to an upset overtime win by No. 8 seed Macon County in the quarterfinals, Wilkinson County didn’t have to face Treutlen. Instead, Wilkinson County beat Macon County for the third time this season, punching the Warriors’ ticket to Athens.

“The big thing has been fundamentals: No turnovers, executing in certain situations, making free throws and layups,” Geter said. “Playing good, fundamental basketball makes a big difference this time of year.”

One thing helping Wilkinson County in the postseason is the return of post player Greg Cousin from an offseason knee injury. Geter said Cousin isn’t 100 percent yet, but even at his current state, Cousin changes Wilkinson County’s floor presence.

Cousin was Wilkinson County’s top scorer in last year’s championship victory over Hancock Central.

“With his size and physical experience, any bit we can get out of him is a big help for us,” Geter said.

Wilkinson County faces a Calhoun County squad that has dominated the southern part of the state. The Cougars are 28-1, the only loss coming Jan. 3 at Early County, 72-69.

Calhoun County is the only team otheWEBBEDr than Wilkinson County to win the Class 1A public school title since the small-school classification was divided for the 2012-13 season. The Cougars won the championship two years ago, a year in which Wilkinson County lost by a point to Hancock Central in the quarterfinals.

“They have a very good program down there,” Geter said. “It’s going to be a very good game. (Calhoun County head coach Marcus Shaw) does a very good job.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Venue different, goal same for Wilkinson County boys."