Category Archives: Game Stories

Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

Tye Fagan rallies No. 1 Upson-Lee to 44th straight win and City of Palms Signature Series Championship

Contributed by Chris Kelly   (@C_KELLY99)

No. 1 Upson-Lee 73, Corbin (KY) 71

https://twitter.com/C_KELLY99/status/944354515955912705

Last Friday night had both Georgia teams playing in the City of Palms. The first of the two games was for the championship of the Small-Town Signature Series between No. 1 Upson-Lee and Corbin (KY). The Knights had a huge challenge having to guard Furman bound Andrew Taylor. Going into the City of Palms, Taylor was averaging just under 30 points per game and his first game in the tournament, he had an efficient 36.

The game started with Corbin winning the tip and immediately giving it to Taylor. Taylor, like throughout much of the game, was able to get to the rim easily or knock down outside jumpers. On the other end, The Knights were aggressive early and played downhill. Tye Fagan, who looked much better this game, came out attacking and was able to get going early.

To start the second quarter, the Red Hounds knocked down threes at an extremely high rate. They would space the floor and clear out for Taylor to get into the lane. He then would find his shooters who couldn’t miss. The Knights had a tough time closing out on shooters and Corbin made them pay. Fagan and big man Travon Walker did their part to keep the Knights afloat. Fagan was scoring consistently and Walker pulled down any rebound near him. At the half, the Red Hounds were up 42-29.

To start the second half, Fagan turned it up a notch. Corbin couldn’t stay in front of him and he was making plays for himself and his teammates. The Red Hounds, who lacked size, couldn’t defend Walker inside. Walker, who finished with 21 rebounds, had his way down low, moving much smaller players around. Upson-Lee’s defense was outstanding in the third quarter.

At the beginning of the final quarter, Fagan and Zyrice Scott started to knock down some threes. The Knights opened with an 11-2 run to get themselves back into the game. The Red Hounds appeared a little tired and the Knights attacked. Coach Darrell Lockhart made the decision to press Corbin, but ended up sending the Red Hounds to the line frequently. This may have actually been a blessing in disguise for Upson-Lee because the Red Hounds had a subpar shooting percentage from the free throw line and the clock was stopped.

As Corbin continued missing free throws, Fagan was scoring from everywhere. Scott also served as a great sidekick in the fourth quarter, knocking down his open looks. With about a minute left, both teams had scored 69 and the Knights had the ball. Fagan knocked down a mid-range shot and then Taylor quickly got a layup on the other end.

With the score tied at 71, the Knights held the ball for the last shot. Fagan drove baseline but was met with baseline help. This left big man JaCorey Smith wide open near the hoop and Fagan found him. Smith laid the ball in right before the buzzer and the Knights added another win to their record by a score of 73-71.

Chris’ Takeaways

Tye Fagan is one of the most well-rounded players in Georgia. This game marked just the third time I have watched the Middle Tennessee State-signee in action and I wasn’t blown away the first two times. This game I finally saw what everyone was talking about. Fagan can score from all three levels rather well and can even put his back to the basket and find ways to score. He’s a tough guard than can rise up amongst the trees and grab boards as well, something a lot of guards don’t do nowadays.

Andrew Taylor is a steal for Furman. Taylor is a high-scoring guard that does his scoring very efficiently. In the first game of the tournament, Taylor dropped 36 points on 10-of-15 shooting and followed that up with a 26-point game on 9-of-17 shooting. He can take defenders off the dribble and find his shooters with ease. He is sneaky athletic and also gets to the free throw line at an exceptional rate. Through two games he shot 26 free throws and made 20.

Travon Walker is an extremely good basketball player, even though he’s a football player. After some research, I learned that, while an exceptional basketball player, Walker is a four-star defensive end with high major, SEC offers. This leads me to wonder how good would Walker be if he was only a basketball player? With great hands, soft touch around the rim, and great timing for jumping, Walker already has the tools to be a college basketball player. He pulled down 21 rebounds against Corbin, which puts himself on the all-time leaderboard for rebounds in tournament history.  If Walker were only a basketball player, he’d have more time to work on his rough areas and solidify himself as a D-1 recruit on the hardwood. But with Alabama and Florida State offers, to just name a few, I would say Walker has made the right decision to focus on football.

Top Performers

Upson-Lee
Tye Fagan – 34 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
Travon Walker – 12 points, 21 rebounds

Corbin (KY)
Andrew Taylor – 26 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Chandler Stewart – 22 points (6-9 3PT)

Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

No. 1 McEachern dominates on national stage at City of Palms

Contributed by Chris Kelly   (@C_KELLY99)

No. 1 McEachern 77, Ranney School (NJ) 57

https://twitter.com/C_KELLY99/status/942933042091495424

No. 1 McEachern (7-0) entered their first City of Palms game against the Ranney School (NJ) as the nightcap on Monday. McEachern and Coach Mike Thompson knew they were going to have their hands full with 5-star wings Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis. Both wings are highly touted prospects with a handful of offers from high-major schools. The game tipped off with a total of nine juniors and a sophomore starting between the two teams. It started out as a fast pace matchup with Sharife Cooper and Isaac Okoro finishing strong at the rim. On the other end, McEachern came out in man-to-man with the long Brandon Suggs guarding Lewis, the No. 6 ranked player in 2019, and Okoro picking up Antoine, the No. 7 player in 2019. As the quarter closed out, Cooper put up a long two, looking for a foul and made it to give McEachern a four-point lead.

The second quarter began with the Indians going on a small run. McEachern’s size inside, mainly Jared Jones and Babatunde Akingbola, became a big problem for the much smaller Ranney School. The two bigs made their presence felt by continually crashing the boards and swatting shots. Towards the middle of the quarter, Cooper floated a perfect pass to Akingbola who rose up and dunked all over Lewis.

McEachern closed out the half with a string of great defensive stances and Ranney School head coach Tahj Holden getting a technical foul. At the half, McEachern was up 42-19.

https://twitter.com/C_KELLY99/status/942943212481769472

The third quarter opened up with the Ranney School sparking a brief run. Lewis got his first points off of a beautiful crossover and three. Antoine got to the free throw line a few times and both the standouts found guards Ahmadu Sarnor and Alex Klatsky for easy buckets. McEachern responded with a run of their own, fueled by Cooper’s ability to penetrate and find players on the wing. Big men Jones and Akingbola both showed their versatility by knocking down some outside shots. Lewis left part way through the third quarter with what looked like a very gross, dislocated pinky finger but quickly came back and started to make his presence felt a bit. He hit a few jump shots and did a great job finding shooters open on the wing. McEachern still closed out the quarter by a wide scoring margin and began to pull away.

https://twitter.com/C_KELLY99/status/942949577535127552

The fourth quarter started with the Ranney School losing one of their more consistent players, Sornar, to fouls and McEachern capitalized on it. Cooper turned it up a notch and got into the paint at will, finishing well with both hands. McEachern’s bench came in to give their starters a rest and provided the same level of production and consistency. Juniors Alyn Breed, Quinton McElroy and Devin Gordon were the main contributors from the bench and provided little drop off in production from the starters. As the quarter went on, the lead never dwindled and McEachern kept their foot on the gas. Towards the end of the game, both squads put in their reserve players and Lewis finished with a few big time plays, including a spin move and huge dunk.

McEachern won by 20 with the final score being 77-57. The Indians displayed their dominance on a national stage at the City of Palms. The young, Georgia team has a very tough match-up Wednesday morning against the No. 8 ranked team in the nation, Hudson Catholic (NJ). The second New Jersey squad the Indians will play, are led by a senior core consisting of Ohio State-commit Luther Muhammad, Oregon-commit Louis King, and recent Arizona-decommit Jahvon Quinerly. The game tips off at 11 AM.

Chris’ Takeaways

Sharife Cooper was one of, if not, the best player on the floor. Cooper was extremely poised and made great decisions for his team, something you do not normally see from a sophomore. He got into the paint with ease and was able to find teammates to kick the ball out to.

McEachern’s defense is the real deal. The Indians held a very good Ranney School team to just 19 points in the first half and finished with only 58, with most of those second half points coming at the end of the game. Brandon Suggs and Isaac Okoro did a great job containing Scottie Lewis and Bryan Antoine. The two wings combined for thirty-two points on a subpar 33% shooting.

Beating McEachern come playoff time will be no easy feat. The Indians, despite being young, limit their mistakes and played under control. McEachern is also such a deep team. Coach Thompson’s team has very little drop off in production when the second unit comes in the game.

Top Performers

McEachern
Sharife Cooper – 21 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists
Isaac Okoro – 15 points, 5 rebounds
Jared Jones – 16 points (6-9 FG) 7 rebounds

Ranney School
Bryan Antoine – 20 points
Scottie Lewis – 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists

Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

Etowah makes statewide statement with upset of undefeated No. 9 Peachtree Ridge

 

Contributed by Cody Butler  (@CodeMan10x)

Sponsored by:   @sportalspace

Etowah 49, No. 9 Peachtree Ridge 46

Etowah (8-1) closed the door late on Peachtree Ridge in a 49-46 win Saturday at the Gwinnett Daily Post Metro Atlanta Challenge. Etowah made plays down the stretch to escape Gwinnett County with a Top 10 win over the previously unbeaten Lions (8-1). 6-foot-5 wing Adrian Cohen delivered the game winning three for the Eagles with under a minute left in regulation.  Etowah executed their game-plan of defending Florida State-signee Devin Vassell for most of the night, holding him well below his 25-point per game averaging, scoring just 11 points. Vassell went scoreless in the first and fourth quarters, the two pivotal periods Peachtree Ridge struggled to knock down shots as a team.

Etowah took a 12-3 lead in the first after the sensational play of 6-foot-4 junior wing Jaxon Etter. Etter scored eight points quickly setting the Eagles out front of a struggling Lions offense.

Peachtree Ridge head coach Keith Arrington was critical of his team’s shot selection during a timeout, citing too many missed threes and not enough penetration. Etowah guard Nick Nagy frustrated Vassell most of the game leaving no room for separation, making the future Seminole work for every basket.

Peachtree Ridge went on a run of their own as the score tightened to 16-12 with 5:26 to go in the half. The plan to feed Vassell in the second quarter became more successful as he scored six of his 11 total points in the next few minutes.  An Etowah timeout created adjustments though as the Eagles put themselves in control again up 27-19 at halftime.

Cohen, a Tusculum-signee, made his presence known in the second quarter with six consecutive Etowah points. Cohen possesses combo guard skills to drive the basketball and knock down the open shot.

The undefeated Lions wanted no part of losing their first game as they turned up the intensity down eight in the third quarter. Constant pressure on the ball forced Etowah into mistakes.  Back-to-back three-pointers from Vassell and guard Devon Higgs cut the Etowah lead to 32-31 with 2:18 left in the third. The Eagles scored only eight points in the quarter as momentum flipped to the Lions heading to the fourth.

Peachtree Ridge took their first lead of the game on a Hirum Maxey three-pointer making it 36-35 with 5:05 remaining. While Vassell struggled to find open looks in the final frame, Maxey stepped up and made shots to keep the Lions in it. The 6-foot-1 guard finished the game with 12 points, six in the final minutes down the stretch.

Etowah remained poised and answered the Lions run with key three-pointers from Nagy and Cohen to close out the game. Peachtree Ridge led 40-38 with less than four minutes left before Nagy caught and released a three from downtown to regain the lead, 41-40. Peachtree Ridge went back in front 45-44 on a Maxey turnaround with 1:15 remaining but the celebration was short lived.

After a quick timeout and whiteboard session with Etowah head coach Jason Dasinger, the Eagles made the biggest play of the night and proved to be the better team on this Saturday.  Cohen called for the ball and sank the game winning three with 40 seconds left to put Etowah up for good. Cohen finished the game with 16 points and five rebounds.  Etowah kept the ball out of Vassell’s hands down the stretch and left Gwinnett County with the Lions stunned.

Top Performers

Etowah
Adrian Cohen – 16 points, 5 rebounds
Jaxon Etter- 10 points
Nick Nagy – 9 points

Peachtree Ridge
Hirum Maxey – 12 points
Devin Vassell – 11 points

Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

No. 2 St. Pius blitzes No. 7 Stephens County 79-65

No. 2 St. Pius 79, No. 7 Stephens County 65

From the opening tip, No. 2 St. Pius (8-1) was on a mission to take care of business at the beautiful Currahee Arena. No. 7 Stephens County (6-1) turned out the lights to bring a raucous atmosphere into play, but the home standing fans were quickly negated by the Golden Lions’ 9-0 run just 1:16 into the contest.

Instead of using a timeout to try and slow down St. Pius’ defensive harassment and three-point barrage, Coach Chad Bridges elected to try and let his guys play through it, a plan that backfired. The Golden Lions attacked and attacked. Zach Ranson came off the bench and quickly picked up a steal and assist to Brian Gonzalo.

When the dust settled from the first quarter, it was a 27-9 St. Pius advantage. Interestingly enough, the Golden Lions got out to their hot start with point guard Matt Gonzalo on the bench to begin. Stephens County sat 6-foot-7 post DeUndra Singleton to begin as well. Tae Thornton looked like the only Indian ready to handle the Lions’ non-stop pressure defense, but against a team like St. Pius, it takes more than one soldier to defend the castle.

After sinking five first quarter threes, the Golden Lions continued their onslaught, hitting four more in the second quarter. With the game already out of hand, Jackson Bell provided a small spark for the Indians, entering the game and picking up an And-1 opportunity off a put-back but the Indians still trailed 36-19 with 3:39 remaining in the half.

Stephens County went on a run and closed the gap to 41-28 with 55.2 seconds left, riding Thornton’s fearless play attacking the rim and setting up transition opportunities, but momentum was quickly lost as St. Pius closed on a 4-0 spurt including a Finn McCurdy put-back at the buzzer to take a comfortable 45-28 lead into halftime.

https://twitter.com/KyleSandy355/status/941864871783788544

St. Pius opened up the third quarter a little sloppy as the Indians played fast and tried to use their length and athleticism advantages against the Golden Lions. At the 6:20 mark, Stephens County had clawed their deficit to a hoop away from being single digits at 45-34, but it would be the closest they would come in the second half. St. Pius quickly answered with an 8-2 run to balloon the lead back up to 53-36 hitting threes to crush the Indians’ spirit. Brian Gonzalo sank two threes in the period on his way to finishing with a team-high 15 points while brother Matt sank a triple, as did Patrick Snipes, contributing to the Lions’ 13 three-pointers on the night.

At the end of three quarters, St. Pius held a 67-45 lead and would milk it all the way to the final horn. Singleton scored eight of his game-high 21 points in garbage time while 6-foot-6 Ty Nails tossed in six of his 12 points in the same frame.

My Take

The gap between No. 1 Upson-Lee and No. 2 St. Pius and the rest of the field seems enormous right now. No. 3 Sandy Creek is quietly having a strong season, as are teams in Region 1 out in Columbus, but the Knights and Golden Lions are playing great basketball night in and night out. The Golden Lions’ press defense is suffocating. They put their foot on the Indians neck from the opening tip and never gave them an opportunity to even think about an upset. The Lions move the ball so well, they are most likely the state’s most efficient offense when they are clicking. Driving and dishing led to countless wide-open three-pointers; they had 21 assists as a team. Defenses will need to be on a string to be able to contest all of St. Pius’ open looks. Matt Gonzalo and Brian Gonzalo were at their best tonight, peppering the defense with their drives and their three-point shooting. Matt is one of the quickest guards with the ball in his hands in the state. Everett Lane buried his three-point chances and rebounded well for his size. I love what Niko Broadway and Patrick Snipes bring to the table. They aren’t flashy but they are trustworthy glue guys that are always in the right spot to fill up the stat sheet. I need to see more from Kennedy Willis inside. He struggled to make an impact and wasn’t able to really clamp down on DeUndra Singleton. At 6-foot-8, a reboundless game is not going to cut it.

Stephens County was just outclassed tonight. They are still a very dangerous team for the rest of the state, but they just don’t matchup well with what St. Pius does. Tae Thornton was most impressive. He was a little out of control at times, but the 6-foot-1 senior guard played very hard and his athleticism gave St. Pius trouble from time to time. DeUndra Singleton didn’t have the D1 performance I was hoping to see from him tonight, but the big fella is still definitely a college prospect that will be able to provide minutes at the next level. The pace of the game was not conducive to post play, but Singleton still managed 21 points and 5 rebounds. Not being able to play above the rim will hurt him at the next level, but he still is a load on the low block and uses his burly shoulders well. Ty Nails was quiet. The 6-foot-6 swingman didn’t handle St. Pius’ pressure very well and struggled to get going on offense. Jackson Bell brought a nice energy off the bench. His hustle shined more than his skill, but he did good things out there for Coach Bridges. Senior guard Brandon Wheeler was aggressive attacking the boards from his guard position and picked up a handful of steals.

Top Performers

St. Pius X
Brian Gonzalo – 15 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Everett Lane – 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Patrick Snipes – 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Troy Stephens – 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
Matt Gonzalo – 7 points, 6 assists, 3 steals
Niko Broadway – 5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 block

Stephens County
DeUndra Singleton – 21 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal
Tae Thornton – 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Ty Nails – 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Game Stories, GHSA, GHSA Basketball

Free throws ice No. 8 Maynard Jackson’s great overtime escape at No. 9 Lithia Springs

No. 8 Maynard Jackson 69, No. 9 Lithia Springs 64 OT

We need more Wednesday night games. Thanks to the snow storm of last week, No. 8 Maynard Jackson (9-0) vs. No. 9 Lithia Springs (7-1) was pushed back and thank goodness it was. With undefeated records and first-place in Region 6-AAAAA on the line, both teams left everything on the floor after a sluggish start, but in the end, it was the Jaguars finding a way to survive in overtime in front of a hostile home crowd.

There were no high-flying offensive spectacles on display at Lithia Springs, instead it was a throwback hard-nosed ugly game to start. Both teams struggled to score, especially Maynard Jackson with 6-foot-7 senior forward TJ Boykin coming off the bench with a bad back. Lithia Springs took a quick lead behind a Terrence Ashford three-ball.

Both teams pressed each other, with the Lions forcing some early turnovers while making it a point to keep the ball out of Marquavis Carter’s hands, likely the Region’s best player entering the night averaging 23.8 points. The Lions held Carter scoreless in the first quarter and took a gritty 10-8 lead into the second quarter.

Maynard Jackson got their footing and started to turn the tables with their 2-2-1 press but couldn’t quite take control of the game as a quick 4-0 spurt, which felt like much more at the time, forced a Coach Travis Williams timeout with his Jaguars trailing 16-10 at the 3:42 mark of the second quarter.

The pace quickened and the home crowd started to make its presence felt as the Lions finished the quarter on a 7-3 run sparked by 6-foot-5 freshman post Omarion Smith’s defense, helping Lithia Springs take a 25-17 lead into the half. Smith, who came in averaging over six blocks per game, started flying around, turning his defense into Lions offense, blocking four shots in the half while Ashford and Anthony Hardy traded buckets to grow the lead.

Down eight points, halftime couldn’t have come at a better time for Maynard Jackson. Carter was held to three points while Boykin entered off the bench with three quick turnovers and zero offensive production. The saving grace for the Jaguars was the play of Damari “DJ” Johnson. With Carter and Boykin held to nearly nothing, it was the 5-foot-8 senior who decided to step up. Johnson steadied the Jags with six first half points, three rebounds and three assists, but if Maynard Jackson was to remain undefeated, they would need major contributions from their horses in the second half and that is exactly what they got.

As if a switch was flipped, the Jaguars became the aggressor in the third quarter. Maynard Jackson cut the Lithia Springs to 27-26 at the 5:11 mark behind a 7-0 run sparked by Johnson, who made a layup followed by a Boykin three and a Timipa Ogoun bucket inside.

With the Jaguars pulling close, Ashford answered back with an old-fashioned three-point play to ease the lead back to four.

But from there, Maynard Jackson surged ahead, closing the third quarter on a 9-2 run and outscoring the Lions 20-9 in the frame for a 37-34 advantage. Ashford scored seven of Lithia’s nine points in the quarter but Maynard Jackson began to see their stars break free, Johnson scoring six points, followed by Carter and Boykin’s five apiece.

Back and forth the two teams traded leads throughout the fourth quarter. Senior Christian Horton, who scored all four of his points in the fourth quarter, finally saw the ball drop through with a tough hook shot in the lane as Lithia Springs regained a 42-41 lead at the 5:25 mark.

But in a foreboding sign, Carter got to the line on what looked like a bad call and sank both free throws. Carter finished the night with a game-high 22 points but only made three field goals, the rest coming on 15-of-19 shooting from the foul line including going 14-of-17 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Lions held a 46-45 lead with 2:37 on the clock and sent Hardy to the line with a chance to extend it, but instead Hardy went 0-for-2 and Johnson raced down the floor and handed out one of his game-high six assists to Marquis Colzie to give Maynard Jackson a 47-46 advantage.

Johnson struck yet again with a scoop shot in the lane with just over a minute to play giving the Jaguars a 50-48 edge. After a missed jumper, Maynard Jackson controlled the rebound and Boykin was fouled with 36.9 seconds remaining, where he would split a pair of free throws. Hardy attacked in transition off the miss but went 1-of-2 from the line putting the score at 51-49. Colzie grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled. He missed the front-end of the one-and-one, allowing Lithia Springs to advance the ball with 18 seconds left before Coach JW Cantrell called timeout.

Ogoun swatted a drive attempt out of bounds, putting the Lions in the corner with 10.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Lithia Springs turned it over with 6.8 seconds left and Ogoun was sent to the line with a chance to ice it with two free throws. He hit his first, making it a three-point game and the Lions seemingly in need of a miracle. Ogoun missed his second free throw and the Lions’ prayers were answered. Chance Ellison grabbed the rebound and quickly tossed it to junior guard Karee Anderson, who quickly advanced it up the left sideline. The lefty pulled-up on a dime and drilled a three at the buzzer in front of a defender to send the game to overtime time at 52-52 and the crowd into a frenzy.

In overtime, Lithia Springs held a 57-56 lead with 1:05 left, but Carter drew a foul curling from the left of the arc to the top of the perimeter where he was able to exaggerate the contact and baited the refs into calling a foul. Carter buried all three free throws to take a 59-57 lead that the Jags would never lose. The Lions cut the score to 64-62 with 12.8 seconds left and 66-64 with 4.7 remaining but the Jaguars were money from the line going 15-of-19 in overtime, Carter sinking 9-of-11 and Johnson 4-of-4 to ice the game.

My Take

After an ugly start to the game, No. 8 Maynard Jackson at No.9 Lithia Springs ended up being one of the best games I have seen this year. The house was loud and the place was packed in the lower bowl section. I didn’t see enough for either team to be considered legit state title contenders, especially with No. 1 Warner Robins, No. 2 Buford and the deadly Region 5 group that this Region 6 has to pair up with in the first round, but I did see two well-coached teams that had their kids playing hard. Both teams have some tricky guards that can give opponents trouble in the state playoffs and could advance a few rounds in.

Marquavis Carter was held in check the entire game, but the fact that he could score 22 points on three made field goals is impressive. The 6-foot-1 lefty off-guard has a pretty stroke that is often lethal when given space to fire. Credit Lithia Springs’ high energy defense for knowing where Carter was at all times, but like all great players can, Carter still found a way to beat the Lions by getting to the line. I was most impressed by little DJ Johnson. He didn’t look like much, the smallest player on the floor with a vibrant red-mouth piece, but Johnson was great. So pesky, he kept finding ways to score in the paint and even come away with offensive rebounds at 5-foot-8. Without his consistent play throughout, there is no way Maynard Jackson wins this game. 6-foot-7 senior TJ Boykin has been a highly touted prospect his entire career at Columbia then transferred into Maynard Jackson for his final season. I was told that he had a bad back, but I came away unimpressed. His motor was in hibernation mode for much of the game and he didn’t play with much energy. The potential is still there, but I’m not sure we will ever see him dominate at the high school level like we might have thought he could a few years back. He’s still a super intriguing player at the next level. We might be able to chalk up his lackluster performance to his back, but we will have to see; the clock is ticking. 6-foot-5 sophomore post Timipa Ogoun kind of reminds me of 2017 River Ridge graduate Destin Exinor with his body type and athleticism. You can tell Ogoun is young and a little raw, but he has a quick leap and came up big with some late rebounds and blocks.

Lithia Springs has a stable of steady players, no real stars. They can nickel and dime you for 10 points apiece and make defending them a real headache. Senior Terrence Ashford came up big for the Lions and was fearless attacking the basket as was sophomore leading scorer Anthony Hardy. Hands down I was most impressed by 6-foot-5 freshman Omarion Smith. He is an elite shot-blocker in the class of 2021 and considering his size, he might be the best rim protector in the state for his grade right now. He gets to nearly every single ball that is shot his way (8 blocks) and rebounds his area effectively. He even showed off a 15-footer, but his offense is still improving and he doesn’t see many post touches. He will be a player to track over the next few years, especially if he can squeeze out a few more inches to his frame.

Omarion Smith, JW Cantrell
Coach JW Cantrell beaming ear-to-ear like a proud papa next to freshman post Omarion Smith

Top Performers

Maynard Jackson
Marquavis Carter – 22 points (15-of-19 FT), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
DJ Johnson – 18 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
TJ Boykin – 9 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
Marquis Colzie – 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks
Timpia Ogoun – 5 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Lithia Springs
Terrence Ashford – 17 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Anthony Hardy – 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Omarion Smith – 9 points, 10 rebounds, 8 blocks
Karee Anderson – 7 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals