Grovetown scored a comeback win over Jones County in a scrimmage among friends

Julius Brown - Grovetown

Wednesday afternoon, Buck Harris, the former coach of Baldwin, and before that Laney, who has the deepest of ties to Augusta, which include his standout days as a player at Westside and later at Augusta University, as well as many years served as Augusta's assistant coach, brought his newest high school team, Jones County, to Grovetown to face another esteemed coach with a new assignment. Darren Douglas, Grovetown's first year head coach, will aim to bring the same magic to his new home that he brought to Aquinas, where he led the Irish to a state championship in the second of his three seasons there. Harris holds a special place in Douglas's heart because of the attention Buck gave him when Darren was trying to break into the head coaching ranks during the first half of this decade.

"Buck always made time for me, always shared whatever knowledge he had," Douglas explained before the scrimmage. "So I'll forever be appreciative of him. And I'll always want him to succeed."

During Wednesday's informal scrimmage at Grovetown Middle School, success came early and often for Harris's Jones County squad, which took an early double-digit lead that expanded to 21 points late in the third quarter. But a frenetic half court trapping defense enabled an impressive comeback by the Warriors that climaxed when senior Ervin Johnson swished a three pointer from the right wing with 2 seconds remaining to give Grovetown its first lead since the first quarter, and a 66-65 win.



The final result, and the method in which it was attained, must have provided a shot of confidence to Grovetown's players, who have worked a tireless summer workout schedule which appears to be quickly transforming what was a 3 win team last season into what might be a formidable competitor in an extremely competitive class 6A region, which includes two teams, Evans and Lakeside, that spent time ranked #1 in the state last season, and another, Heritage, which reached the semifinal round of the state playoffs, not to mention Greenbrier, the region tournament champion.

The cohesiveness that Douglas has fostered throughout his program in his first month on the job was apparent. That observation is supported at the bottom of the screen, where I highlight the play of the junior varsity team in Wednesday's first scrimmage. But first I want to introduce some new (to the AugBball blog) faces who showed much potential during the scrimmage.

Julius Brown (Grovetown) - 5'10" PG '2021

I'll add to the caption above by saying that what Julius possesses that might differentiate him from every other area player, and that might make him the best point guard here, is what I'll call the "fluidity" of his game. The examples in the video above include how naturally he blows by his defender in a tight space with an inside-out dribble move, how he catches the ball in the middle of the paint and seamlessly floats in a one hander from 10 feet away and the how he perfectly places a one handed bounce pass to a cutting teammate for a back door layup. All three of those plays came within Grovetown's offensive system. What a smooth operator!

Ervin Johnson (Sr), Zach Bell (Jr) and Jose Rodriguez (Soph)

Johnson's game winning three was only one of the pivotal plays the senior made during Grovetown's frantic comeback. He also contributed on the other end by sacrificing his body to take a charge against Jones County's Chavis Mathis, a much bigger player at 6-4, 185 pounds, when Mathis had a full head of steam on a drive to the paint. It was the type of play that counted in a big way, even if it didn't make the box score, and it displayed Johnson's leadership chops, which will be valuable for a team consisting of so many young impact players.

Zach Bell and Jose Rodriguez are two such contributors. Both players affected the action with intense and intelligent play on defense, and Bell, who is an impressive athlete, also scored a string of floaters using a soft touch.

Amauri Tillman (Freshman)

Tillman, who will enter high school as one of the area's best three point shooters, is one Grovetown freshman in a collection of ninth graders that will have the chance to make an impact on the varsity scene from day one.

Jones County freshman Daethan Harris has a familiar name and game

Jones County freshman Daethan Harris shares more than a last name with his varsity coach. He also possesses his dad's toughness, his talent and his affinity for taking charges, as you can see, and as you can hear in my brief exchange with Daethan after he draws contact for the second time, in the video above. The one thing I know he *didn't* get from his father is his ability to drain threes from the volleyball line. That's a 2019 thing. I'm certain that this class of 2023 baller will be a name we'll get even more familiar with during the next four years.

JV coach Mike Stephenson explains the Grovetown Way

As impressive as Harris and Douglas's varsity teams were, the most remarkable thing about Wednesday's scrimmages might have been the fact that Grovetown's junior varsity team appeared to run the varsity's offensive system even better than the older unit. Many coaches talk about teaching a system all the way throughout their program, but executing that plan is usually much more difficult than it sounds. The fact that Douglas and JV coach Mike Stephenson have made as much progress as they have in fewer than 30 days speaks loudly for the future of Grovetown basketball at all age and grade levels.