Area high school basketball teams show promise
The Sunday morning after the conclusion of the GHSA basketball championships always seems different.
It almost feels as if a long race, one that started in August with the start of football season, has wrapped up. Sure, not everyone plays football and basketball, and there are athletes who jump right into spring sports. But for those who follow this state’s two most popular high school sports, that morning after the final game wraps up at the Macon Coliseum marks the start of a spring and summer break, a pause before the next football season.
So, looking back on the high school basketball season in Middle Georgia, how should it be evaluated?
While there was no Middle Georgia takeover of the Coliseum this year -- Taylor County’s girls won the Class A public school title, while Crawford County fell in the Class AA boys title game -- there was definitely plenty of promise shown among area programs.
Rutland’s boys finally got over the wall that stopped the Hurricanes in past seasons, advancing to the semifinals after close quarterfinal losses in 2013 and 2014.
While disappointed by not reaching the Coliseum, the Hurricanes showed plenty of character in their semifinal loss to eventual Class AAA champion Jenkins, rallying from 17 down in the final quarter thanks to a 26-point quarter from Region 2-AAA player of the year Ty’lik Evans. Rutland didn’t prevail, but it was an admirable effort.
Stratford’s boys and girls had some impact on the Class A private school brackets in its first year in the GHSA. Led by Quintez Cephus’ program-record 53-point performance in the opening round, the boys made it to the quarterfinals before running into a much taller Greenforest Christian program. The girls, thanks to an upset of Region 7-A champion Tattnall Square in the quarterfinals, went one step further, going to the semifinals before falling to eventual champion St. Francis.
Warner Robins’ boys were looking for a return trip to the Coliseum in Class AAAAA. The Demons did beat the team they lost to last year, Miller Grove, in front of a packed house at Veterans in the quarterfinals, but Allatoona kept Warner Robins from returning to Macon.
The Veterans girls, looking for their first Coliseum trip in Class AAAA, nearly made it. They would have made it if not for a circus-like shot from Carrollton’s Alecia North, whose nearly behind-the-back heave from the foul line with 12 seconds to go gave the Trojans their only lead in the semifinal played at West Georgia.
In all, nine Middle Georgia teams reached the GHSA semifinals. And while only two teams made it to the Coliseum, the number of teams from the area that made it as far as they did was definitely respectable.
Area teams in the GISA and the GICAA had reason to celebrate, as well.
Windsor’s boys, who have gone through a complete transformation under head coach Michael Johnson, won the GISA Class AA title Saturday. While the GISA doesn’t have the draw of the big four Macon private schools anymore, there’s still enough teams in the GISA to make winning a championship a notable accomplishment -- especially when the title is the program’s first.
A week earlier, the Covenant girls won championships in the just-getting-started GICAA, an association consisting largely of small ex-GISA programs.
It was a solid year for high school basketball in Middle Georgia. A few titles for the smaller school programs, with some bigger programs knocking on the door. Teams like Rutland, a squad that loses its four top scorers to graduation, will have to rebuild. Others, like the boys from Stratford and Crawford County, have the bulk of their top players returning, so there will be the desire to take the next step.
We’ll be eager to see what happens next.
Contact Ron Seibel at 744-4222 or rseibel@macon.com
This story was originally published March 8, 2015 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Area high school basketball teams show promise ."