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| John Whitehead (Glenn Hills) in a game in 2016 |
The high school hoops season just finished its first full week, at least for the teams on Georgia's side of our border with South Carolina. This week will see the joining in on the live action of South Carolina's teams. And as early as Tuesday we will see our first two region matchups, including a rivalry game between Butler and Glenn Hills, an early season tradition every year since the regions were realigned at the beginning of the 2016 season:
Before this week's full unveiling of the 2018-19 regular season, complete with all of the area's top teams and players in action, I share with you our answers to the two questions I get the most:
- Which are the area's best teams?
- Who are the area's best players?
Rob Drew and I have watched 20 teams play already this season. We added the knowledge gained observing their early season play to the accumulated experience covering the sport over the years to come up with this top 10 teams list:
Top 10 Area Teams (Chad's list*)
- Glenn Hills (3-0) - Next game home vs Butler Tuesday at 7:30
- Baldwin (1-1) - At Dublin Tuesday at 7:30
- Butler (2-0) - At Glenn Hills Tuesday at 7:30
- Aquinas (2-2) - Off Tuesday
- Lakeside (3-1) - Home vs Silver Bluff Wednesday at 7:00
- North Augusta (1-1) - Home vs Dutch Fork at 7:30
- Silver Bluff (0-0) - Home vs Barnwell Tuesday
- Thomson (4-0) - Off Tuesday
- Laney (1-1) - Home vs Jefferson County Tuesday at 7:30
- Evans (4-0) - Off Tuesday
*For now my list will serve as AugBball's official rankings. But because Rob's list and mine differ in a few significant ways, I show his complete list here too:
Top 10 Area Teams (Rob's list)
- Lakeside
- Laney
- Glenn Hills
- North Augusta
- Thomson
- Greenbrier (2-3) - At Cross Creek Tuesday at 6:30
- Josey (2-1) - At Westside Tuesday at 6:30
- Aquinas
- Baldwin
- Richmond (3-2) - Home vs Aiken Tuesday at 6:30
Notes about our top 10 teams lists:
Robert and I agreed that Glenn Hills is our area's most talented team because the combination of athleticism and skills possessed by juniors Emannuel Jones (6-7) and John Whitehead (6-5) make them an unmatched pair:
I place Baldwin very high because I believe that entering coach Buck Harris's fourth season in Milledgeville, the Braves are a machine that is programmed to play hard, defend and take and make high percentage shots. After splitting a pair of contests with Jones County and Hancock, the Braves will have their full compliment of (football) players back just in time for this week's pair of road games against class AA state playoff sweet sixteen teams from last season, Dublin (Tuesday) and Washington County (Saturday).
I placed special emphasis on Butler's preseason scrimmage game win over Aquinas because I think very highly of the Fighting Irish, which won the class A state title last season:
The last significant difference between my list and Robert's is the inclusion of Silver Bluff as my #7 ranked team. The Bulldogs were predicted to finish #6 in South Carolina's class 2A by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association, and they return the key players from last season's 17-7 squad. This week will provide a test for the team with high expectations when it faces Lakeside, a class 6A state playoff quarterfinalist last season, Tuesday, and South Aiken, which finished in the class 4A state playoff semifinals a year ago, on Friday.
Top 15 Area Players (Chad's list)
***This list only includes players we've watched in person already this season***- Emmanuel Jones - Glenn Hills - 6-7 Junior
- Nate Dunlop - Augusta Christian - 6-6 Senior
- Kalen Williams - Lakeside - 6-2 Senior
- John Whitehead - Glenn Hills - 6-5 Junior
- Trez Ruffin - Josey - 6-3 Senior
- Christian Chambers - Evans - 6-2 Junior
- Chris Williams - Aquinas - 6-8 Junior
- Richard Crawford III - Greenbrier - 6-0 Senior
- Omarion Byrd - North Augusta - 5'10 Junior
- Vontrez Roberts - Richmond - 6-8 Senior
- Jonathan Taylor - Aquinas - 6-0 Junior
- Zy Wright - Aquinas - 6-4 Junior
- Zander Hamilton - Thomson - 6-4 Senior
- Jyheem Rollins - Butler - 6-2 Senior
- Kobe Stewart - Cross Creek - 6-4 Junior
Top 15 Area Players (Rob's list)
- Emmanuel Jones
- Kalen Williams
- Nate Dunlop
- Trez Ruffin
- John Whitehead
- Richard Crawford III
- Zy Wright
- Ty Briscoe
- Jonathan Taylor
- Dykese King - Lakeside - 5-10 Junior
- Cam Cabarrus - Evans - 6-2 Senior
- Zander Hamilton
- Tucker Gilbert - Lakeside - 6-6 Senior
- Vontrez Roberts
- Jyheem Rollins
Notes about our top 15 players lists:
It's a testament to how impressive Emmanuel Jones' combination of size and skillset is that even after he only played spot minutes as a sophomore on last season's class 2A state semifinal team, both Rob and I put him at the top of our lists after a red hot start to the season for the junior:
Nate Dunlop looks bigger, stronger and more athletic at the beginning of his senior campaign. Add those improvements to his shooting stroke and ball handling skills, and it is easy to know why Division I American University and Division II Augusta have already offered a scholarship to the 6-6 guard from Augusta Christian:
Kalen Williams, who scored 1378 points in the three seasons before this his senior season, could easily be tabbed our area's best player, if for no other reason than for his ability to leave defenders standing there watching him get to the basket and finish:
Both in wins over Richmond and Westside, and during losses to Josey, Laney and Glenn Hills, Richard Crawford has shown that he will ensure that Greenbrier has a chance to win any game it plays. The four year starter has gotten it done from behind the three point line as well as from the charity stripe, trips to which he has earned by attacking the basket constantly.
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