A Complete Recap of Day Two's 6 Games of Boys High School Summer League Action at Butler

Hephzibah's Robert Johnson penetrates the paint against Cross Creek Wednesday at Butler.

My father taught me the most important minutes of every game are the first few of each half. That was the lesson to be learned from Wednesday's six game slate at Butler when every winning team was propelled to success on the strength of a second half opening spurt that built a sizable lead that would not be overcome.

Additionally, we witnessed impressive individual performances, including an offensive barrage from the area's top (scoring) gun, Christian Chambers of Evans; a peek at what we can expect from new head coaches for Glenn Hills, Westside, Augusta Christian and Greenbrier, all of whom experienced at least some degree of success in Wednesday's session; and a refreshing look at a couple new faces from nearby Jenkins County, a class 1A school with a couple impressive competitors who I'm glad have joined us for the summer.

Because the winner of the first game was Glenn Hills, and because this has become a sort of "logo" for the Augusta basketball scene, let's start with a visual of the gravity defying rising Spartan senior John Whitehead gliding effortlessly for a vicious slam after working up a head of steam in the open court at roughly 3:30 P.M. "Butler time" yesterday. After that we'll get to each game report:

Game 1: Glenn Hills 47, Greenbrier 32

Both William Cunningham, the new head coach at Glenn Hills, and Dee Howard, the Wolfpack's new leader, can leave Wednesday's session with positive feelings about how their first week of preseason play began. 

Cunningham, brings a level of enthusiasm and intensity that, when mixed with a constant dose of encouragement for individual players who display the type of effort he demands, could give the Spartans what they need to turn a talented roster into a championship team. And Howard's new-to-the-varsity-scene players met a very difficult first challenge with poise, playing Glenn Hills to a first half tie after making 7 three pointers, which in one half was more than any other team has managed to make in an entire game all week.

Because the familiar Wolfpack faces from last season's region championship team have all been lost to graduation, consider this your introduction to a fresh pack of sharpshooters that Howard, a former Augusta University star, will now mold into Greenbrier's next generation:

The honeymoon was cut short as soon as the second half began, after Glenn Hills turned up the pressure defensively and went on a 16-1 run that spanned a 15 minute stretch. The combination of speed, tenaciousness, energy, experience and size of John Whitehead (6-5, 176), Emmanuel Jones (6-7, 180), Antonio Jones (6-3, 161) and Naquan Pernell (6-0, 184) simply overwhelmed the Wolfpack during second half.

In addition to the intensity that Cunningham has already injected, he also seems to bring some creativity to the offensive scheme that makes good use of two unparalleled talents in Whitehead and Jones. Playing without a traditional point guard, Whitehead, who led all scorers with 15 points, split time between dribbling the ball up the court and receiving it in the post. The specter of his starting slightly from the left, using a screen from Jones, getting a head of steam with his strong hand heading towards the middle of the paint for a sweeping slam can be something for which a defense prepares and stops. And to Howard's credit, his players quickly adjusted and loaded up the paint to prevent it from happening a second time. But I can imagine action like this will catch many a team off guard next season and give Glenn Hills fans something to behold, like you and I are able to do with a bird's eye view of the play here:

The reason Whitehead and Jones are so exciting to watch play is both of them mix size with another key ingredient in such a way that separates them from every other player in the area, and from any local player I've watched for many years now. Of course, Whitehead's athleticism is striking. But Jones's shooting touch and grace handling the basketball and finishing soft floaters, runners and off balance jumpers moving towards or away from the basket, are every bit as graceful as Whitehead's force is impactful.

And Jones is huge now! Last year at this time he had yet to become a full time varsity player. Entering his senior season, I'll say that as long as he is academically qualified, any Division I coach in Georgia or South Carolina (to begin with) that isn't giving him at least one hard look isn't doing his job completely.

These are the full game highlights from Wednesday's first game at Butler:

Game 2: Westside 45, Josey 26

Another new head coach is Westside's Jerry Hunter, who was at the helm when Laney won a class 2A state championship in 2012. Hunter also led the Wildcats to the semifinal round of the playoffs in the two preceding years. Interestingly, while coaching Laney, the only post season loss Hunter suffered to a region opponent came in 2013, his final season before taking a break from basketball, when Westside, led by former Augusta Chronicle Player of the Year and South Carolina Gamecock standout Frank Booker, defeated the Wildcats in the championship game of that season's region tournament.

So it was poetic that Frank watched from the bench while his younger brother Felix Booker buried a three right in front of him to punctuate a 12-3 second half opening run by Westside that led to an impressive win in the first week of Hunter's return to the sideline, marking not only Hunter's return, but hopefully the return of the proud Patriot tradition of championship basketball.

Westside has the ingredients to catapult themselves into the top half of the area's nine team class 2A region, which is no easy feat when you consider that of the eight participants in the last two season's state playoff final four groupings, three of them came from our area's region. Booker, Camrehn "Shaq" Briddell and J'Quan Collier are a few of the many standouts from Wednesday's convincing victory who you will see in these highlights from the game:

Game 3: Augusta Christian 51, Jenkins County 44

Augusta Christian's depth and its shot making, which was enhanced by an attractive style of unselfish play and some creative playmaking, overwhelmed Jenkins County, especially during a 19-8 run that spanned the first 13 minutes of the second half and established an insurmountable 49-32 Lion lead. After AC's breakout season last year, in which the Lions were able to escape the cellar of a brutally difficult SCISA region and move into the middle of the standings, things look bright for new head coach Brandon Dotson's team, which has a roster full of returning impact players.

Three such returnees, who all played major roles in Wednesday's victory, were rising juniors Tristen Trent (16 points) and Johnny O'Keefe (13), as well as Ahmad Hunt, who made his mark as a freshman early last season when the Lions went on a lengthy winning streak.

My sense is the Jenkins County's fans should be similarly optimistic after a week of preseason action because the War Eagles from Millen have a dynamic playmaker at the point guard spot in Brandon Goodman, a rising junior who showed the ability to make plays at the rim after beating his man repeatedly off the dribble.

Jenkins County will also get one more season out of James Evans, who averaged 20 points per game as a junior. The 6-4 wing whose ability to soar above the rim and finish with authority proved to be second to no player at Butler with the exception of only one.

Game 4: Laney 49, Butler 22

After an inspired first half by a shorthanded Butler group that was led by standout rising junior guard Richard Visitacion, Laney clamped down on its region rival and ran the Bulldogs off the court, outscoring Butler 33-3 in the second half.

Three of the most consistent Wildcats led the way again for the six time region champions: Jonathan Taylor (11 points), Dykese King (11) and Dajuan Collins (10).

It is Taylor who I'll focus on here. The senior transfer from Aquinas attacks the basket ferociously, using long strides to zoom past the initial defender and usually the helpers too. And he drives and finishes with his left hand even better than his right. But I think the most impressive attribute Taylor possesses is his relentlessness. He is always slicing through the defense, never playing around it. With a shooter like Collins as a target on the perimeter when the defense is drawn by his rim runs, and playmakers like Luther Reid, Jordan Stringer and King also on the floor as well, Laney will surely once again be a force in class 2A.

Regarding Visitacion's performance, I'll share below my Facebook status update, posted during the first half, that states my position about his play Wednesday:



To that I'll add that he told me after the game he was hobbling because of a sprained ankle suffered in Monday night's win over Evans. Because of his injury, Richard easily could have taken the night off while his varsity teammates were at Jones County High School playing in a separate scrimmage. Instead he assumed point guard duties, which are usually handled by fellow junior Ronnie Striggles. And in addition to putting a scare into Laney for 20 minutes, he showed he is as good playing the 1 as he is the 2. I was not the only person in the stands who was impressed. After the game the head coach of our very own top 20 Division II team asked me about Butler's point guard because he liked the way he ran the team and made decisions. And he didn't even know Richard was playing on one wheel.

Game 5: Evans 39, Thomson 23

The play of rising senior Christian Chambers wrote my story for me in Wednesday's second to last game. Specifically his play during the 13 running clock minutes that began with 30 seconds remaining in the first half, and ended after Chambers had scored 18 of his game high 20 points, and turned what was for the first 19 minutes a sleepy game which Evans led 11-9, into a runaway victory by the Knights that was well in hand when Chambers exited for good with his team leading 37-17 with 7 minutes left on the clock.

Chambers has been the top scoring threat in town for at least two years running now. And his shooting touch mixed with his athleticism, his first step and his ability to handle the ball and change speeds might make him a Division 1 prospect. Wednesday's 13 minute run was the most impressive individual performance in the first week of action at Butler.

Here are the full game highlights from Wednesday's second to last game:

Game 6: Cross Creek 37, Hephzibah 34

In the most competitive matchup of the day, Cross Creek continued its positive first week momentum to earn a second impressive victory in two tries by finding ways to combat Hephzibah's quickness, handing the Rebels their second close defeat in three days.

The Rebels appeared to be on track to knock off the Razorbacks when they forced turnover after turnover by pressuring Cross Creek over all 94 feet of the court. Hephzibah even forced Kobe Stewart, Cross Creek's 6-6 standout point guard, to the bench with three fouls, all suffered when Stewart used his off hand to try to ward off Hephzibah's pesky defenders.

But Cross Creek adjusted nicely and went on a 17-6 second half run that began with a sweet fade away jumper by Corey Trotter over his right shoulder on the right block, and included 8 points scored in 45 seconds by Josh Dorsey, as well as a pair of dunks by Stewart and Monroe Atkins, helping the Razorbacks claim a 34-23 lead with 5:59 left in the game. 

With the win, Cross Creek cemented itself alongside Laney and Glenn Hills as the hottest teams in the league entering week two of summer league action at Butler.

Click here to learn all about the opening day of the boys high school basketball summer league at Butler:

http://augbball.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-summer-season-began-with-cross.html