William Jarrell fuels another deep Crawford County run

William Jarrell had big shoes to fill during the 2015-16 basketball season.

His own.

Jarrell and his teammates put Crawford County basketball back on the map in the 2014-15 season. An unbeaten run through GHSA Region 4-AA led to a memorable postseason in which the Eagles defeated powerful programs Greater Atlanta Christian and Thomasville in front of raucous, overflowing home crowds en route to a title game appearance.

Simply put, Jarrell and his teammates had a city and a county backing them.

They all came back for the 2015-16 season, ready to put on an encore. And they came close to enjoying the same level of success.

“We worked for it,” Jarrell said. “We came in here every day and busted our butts, did whatever Coach Zach told us to do. We had the city behind us, and you can’t go wrong when you have them behind us. We just wanted to make everybody proud.”

Jarrell was again the driving force behind a Crawford County team that won another Region 4-AA title. The Eagles didn’t get quite as far in the postseason, falling to an extremely talented Pace Academy squad in the semifinals, but not before Jarrell gave his fans a few more magical moments.

Averaging 25.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, Jarrell repeats as The Telegraph All-Middle Georgia Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

“He gave us what we needed basically every night,” longtime Crawford County head coach Clyde Zachery said. “He’s a very unselfish player, and there were nights where he sacrificed his points for the team effort. He’s a team player, and I really appreciate that in him.”

In a 25-4 season in which Crawford County was unbeaten at home, there were two moments that fans likely will remember from Jarrell’s senior season.

Jarrell’s final home game, a 69-55 win over Temple in the second round of the Class AA Tournament, provided a moment that brought fans to their feet. Jarrell broke loose late for what could have been a slam. Instead, he put the ball off the backboard, giving a teammate the chance to put an exclamation point on the victory.

“I got a fast break, and Marcal (Knolton) threw me the ball,” Jarrell said. “I was going to dunk it, but I saw somebody coming. I tossed it up, and he went and got it. The crowd went crazy after that one.”

The other moment turned out to be a somewhat bittersweet one.

Crawford County was a definitive underdog in its contest with Pace Academy. The Eagles had to match up against 6-foot-10, 249-pound junior Wendell Carter Jr., one of the top players nationally in the Class of 2017.

Pace Academy got off to a quick start thanks to an early cold spell by Crawford County, but the Eagles chipped away at Pace’s lead in the second quarter. Crawford County wound up with the ball in the closing seconds, and Jarrell got off an NBA-distance 3-pointer at the buzzer, nailing it to give the Eagles a one-point lead at the break.

While Pace Academy wound up winning 61-51, the buzzer-beater at the half gave Crawford County’s fans one final chance to celebrate a big shot from Jarrell.

“There was no quit in us,” Zachery said. “That’s one thing I always told them, win or lose, I never saw them quit in the four years that I had them.”

The next phase of Jarrell’s basketball career will take him well away from home. He is set to sign this week with Cowley College, a junior college program in Arkansas City, Kansas.

It will be a new experience for Jarrell, who helped give Crawford County a ride likely to be remembered for a long time.

“They’re an enjoyable group, and I hate to see them leave,” Zachery said. “The closeness of this group of young men with such talent (will be missed).”

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 5:30 PM with the headline "William Jarrell fuels another deep Crawford County run."