Area's champions have shown greatest mastery of the fundamentals

Taylor then crosses right back
over, again using her left hand.

Morgan Taylor splits a double team
with a left handed dribble...

Destiny Marshall drives hard right
against Carver's full court pressure...

Marshall then spins hard from right
(her weak hand) to left to beat the defender.

I strive for sincerity in describing the players and teams I watch.  So when I called Greenbrier's attack in Tuesday's playoff win "fast paced and fundamentally sound", I meant something specific.  The thought that spurred the comment was about how few high school players have mastered the game's most basic fundamentals.  I don't mean to say that other local teams on both the girls and boys sides are lacking in fundamental skills.  But there are reasons the best teams are the best teams.  Mastery of the fundamentals makes the game look simple.  And it enables teams to play fast and at times score a lot of points.  Our area's best girls and boys teams are also the most fundamentally sound teams. Take for examples the Greenbrier girls, the Laney boys and the Laney girls teams.  All three won their respective region tournaments this past weekend.  All three have had recent stretches where they've lit up the scoreboard.  And all three have shown great mastery of the game's fundamental skills.

Lady Wolfpack guards Morgan Taylor and Destiny Marshall display their abilities to beat defenders with either hand in the "frame by frame" picture sequence above.  Laney's Aliyah Collier's highly effective habit of "throwing ahead" to teammates in transition, and her overall gift for making teammates better, is shown in the video below.  Laney's senior Jashawn Brooks's ability to pull up and knock down perimeter jump shots off the bounce and the accurate outlet passes from Greenbrier's Jennifer McMahan during Tuesday's game are also shown in the video.




One night of "the playoffs" is behind us.  The girls teams of Greenbrier, Laney, Grovetown, Cross Creek, Washington County and Hephzibah are still alive.  Tonight the boys teams of Laney, Washington County, Josey, Butler and Harlem take the court for round one.  And Aquinas, Augusta Christian, and Alleluia will start their state tournaments soon. Stay tuned for daily episodes of "The Playoffs."  Right here.  I'll see you in the gym.

Laney's Zep Jasper Defends: Frame by Frame

Jasper appears to be beaten here.  But
his coach's instructions not to let Gray
"get to his left" are surely in his mind.

I got the opportunity to coach again Saturday. Just for a moment.  After shaking hands with Laney's Junior point guard Zep Jasper hours before he was to draw the unenviable task of checking the hottest player coming into Saturday's region championship game (Washington County's AJ Gray) I reflexively gave him my only advice.  "You better take advantage of almost every foot of the 94 feet long court because the few feet around the basket are going to belong to him," I instructed.  Gray made "Dirk-like" fall aways and 18 foot pull up jumpers with hands in his face all week.  When a player with his size and skill is able to make those kinds of shots, there is not much a defender can do.

Zep has almost recovered.  I see coach

Buck has taught him what he taught his old 

"Metros:" How to use the inside forearm!

After AJ continued his lights out shot making throughout the first half of Saturday's region championship game, Jasper began to wear him down by denying him the ball all over the court in the second.  I am tempted to believe I helped him focus his thoughts on this task.  But the truth is Jasper has employed this strategy successfully all season against the state's best guards. Tookie Brown (Morgan County), Jared Harper (Pebblebrook), Don Coleman (Butler), Darius Williams (Josey), Tre Hansbrough (Buford), and Gray are a few.  And the further truth is that, as is usually the case, Zep's coach Buck Harris has everything to do with the point guard's preparation.

The state's best two way guard finished

the job.  He has had a great season!

I recall Buck recently saying "when AJ gets to his left hand, it's over."  The photo sequence (right) shows Jasper making certain he keeps Gray from getting to his left hand on a second half drive to the basket Saturday.  Zep obviously listens well.  Certainly to Buck.  And possibly to me.  After all, Zep made Gray stop short of the paint, the area I predicted AJ would own.  Kudos to the guy who has to be the best two way point guard we will see playing high school basketball this season, Laney's Zep Jasper.



***This post was inspired by the (what I think are) cool action pictures I caught during Saturday's region championship game.  Here are links to four posts from last week, which include my thoughts and four "Championship Week" episodes.  Laney and Washington County's paths to the region championship game, and much more, are featured in these episodes.***

Championship Week (Episode 4):  Laney's Boys and Girls Sweep Region Championships

Championship Week (Episode 3):  Laney vs Josey; WACO vs Butler and more

Championship Week (Episode 2):  Josey vs Glenn Hills; WACO vs Westside; GRU vs Flagler

Championship Week (Episode 1):  Augusta Christian vs Hammond; Lakeside vs Greenbrier

Championship Week (Episode 4): Laney's Boys and Girls Sweep Region Championships

Every morning, starting Wednesday and ending today, I have tried to release an episode of "Championship Week," which chronicled all the region tournament action I could see!

Here is my account of the final day of region 3A tournament basketball.  I'll tell it in the order I saw it... 

Laney's Aliyah Collier seemed to be everywhere
in the Lady Wildcats' region championship game win.

I anticipated the region 3A tournament's third place game being a classic.  I was wrong.  Butler and Josey's players showed little interest in winning a basketball game Saturday.  Josey's Darius Williams and Donald Jordan eventually mustered enough energy to claim the consolation prize.  But these two teams will need to make adjustments to make the type of noise we all expect in the state playoffs.

Luckily the championship games were nothing like the consolation game.  The Lady Wildcats of Laney looked as sharp as I've seen them.  I have been writing about Aliyah Collier's ball hawking and playmaking.  Saturday she blocked shots, rebounded, stole passes, picked up loose balls and converted those opportunities into easy baskets for her teammates and herself.  Freshman De'sha Benjamin played extremely well, making jump shots and finishing with both hands.  But Laney's region championship was a team effort of the best kind.  The girls appear to sincerely enjoy playing together and making each other successful.  They are very fun to watch. 

Zep Jasper did another masterful job of running the team
on one end and defending the opponent's best on the other
in Saturday's region championship win.

After Thursday's semifinal round, I said both Laney and Washington County's boys were playing their best basketball of the season.  I hoped they could extend that rhythm to Saturday's championship game, but I was prepared for a let down.  No such thing occurred.  It is a testament to Laney's greatness that even with Washington County's dynamo AJ Gray making shots from everywhere (like he did Thursday), and with forward Ti Lewis converting around the rim, the Wildcats were still able to build a 40-30 halftime lead.

I explain in the Championship Week episode above
my reasons for giving Jashawn Brooks a "first ballot"
slot on the coming "All AugBball Team"

Senior Jashawn Brooks had a special evening in his last region outing.  He buried threes, sank jumpers off the dribble, and even broke free for a fast break dunk.  Zep Jasper and Collin Young provided more offense, and forwards Jaylen Taylor, Tommy Smith, and Jervon Walker were their usual active selves.

While Laney extended its lights out play for 32 minutes, WACO was unable to finish in the second half what it started in the first.  Laney's Zep Jasper did a great job of denying Gray the ball after halftime, and the Golden Hawks only scored 16 points after the break. 

Three months after losing its home opener in Saint Francis's gym, Laney has won 26 consecutive games and earned a region championship along with the accompanying #1 seed heading into the state playoffs.  Both Laney teams and the Washington County boys look poised for state tournament success.  I sincerely hope Butler and Josey join the party.  If so, it will be a great "march to Macon!"

Championship Week (Episode 3): Laney vs Josey; WACO vs Butler and more

Every morning, starting Wednesday and ending Sunday, I will release an episode of "Championship Week," which will chronicle all the region tournament action I can see!

Laney's Zep Jasper will likely draw his customary
"double duty" Saturday: run the offense and guard
Washington County's AJ Gray!

A general rule of thumb is that close basketball games are the best kind.  But mistaking Laney and Washington County's region 3A tournament semifinal blowout wins over Josey and Butler, respectively, for a disappointment would miss the point.  The point is that at the end of a thrilling season, and at the beginning of what we all hope will be a great post season, Thursday's winners played, in my opinion, their best games of the season.  What more could coaches Buck Harris and Carlos Hope hope for?  And what more can we fans want? Two great teams, each playing great basketball, will collide Saturday in the championship game of the region tournament of the best region we have seen in a long time. This season's "championship week" is a special one!

WACO's AJ Gray had the best individual performance
I've seen this season Thursday in a win over Butler

Coach Harris and I must see the game with similar eyes.  During a Friday morning phone conversation, he took the words out of my mouth (and off this screen), saying that Thursday's 92 point offensive explosion is noteworthy because it has been a while since the Wildcats "made a bunch of shots" in a game.  "Making shots" is coaching short hand. It is understood that almost all teams are good when their shots are falling.  But great teams win when they aren't.  That Laney has won 25 consecutive games against the most difficult schedule any of us has seen, and that those wins have come even during stretches of time when shots aren't falling is the reason I call the Wildcats the greatest high school team our area has seen... at this point in the season.

Even Coleman's 34 points were not enough
against WACO in Thursday's seminfinals

And Harris didn't object to my saying Washington County's AJ Gray put in the best individual performance of any area player this season in his team's semifinal win over Butler. Gray played like a "point-power forward" and absolutely picked apart the Bulldog defense, finding teammates for easy baskets and seemingly scoring at will with an array of drives and finishes.  The area's (and state's) best football player has been one of our five best hoopers all season.  At times I have thought he has been our BEST hooper.  Last night I know he was.

With two great teams peaking at the most important moment so far this season, we should be in for a real treat Saturday.  That would be a fitting end to Championship Week, and to the past two months of thrilling region 3A basketball.

Championship Week (Episode 2): Josey vs Glenn Hills; WACO vs Westside; GRU vs Flagler

Every morning, starting Wednesday and ending Sunday, I will release an episode of "Championship Week," which will chronicle all the region tournament action I can see!


While driving to the region 3A tournament, and recording the introduction to the "Championship Week" episode above, I thought of the unfortunate fact that either Josey or Glenn Hills would play its last game today.  Glenn Hills has had a difficult path to the post season, playing virtually the entire region schedule without its best all around player, Zi Cook.  Seniors Aaron Williamson, Maurice O'Bannon, and Cook have been part of the core group that has made Glenn Hills one of our area's best team the past several years.  But if any team deserves to get past today's quarterfinal round, advance to the state playoffs, and play at least three more games, it's Josey.  The team's only shortfalls this season have come to region and area powers Laney, Butler, and Washington County. The Eagles were a possession or two away from winning four of the six games against those teams. And what basketball fan would like to know Josey's Darius Williams has played his last high school game?  Not me.

Donald Jordan and Darius Williams (Josey) prepare
to trap Glenn Hills' Zi Cook in region tournament action

So before the game even started, I was practicing what I might say here to show appreciation for the seniors (whichever group it turned out to be) whom I would have watched for the last time come Thursday morning.  Ideas for saying goodbye did not instantly flood my head.  The way I choose to give the Glenn Hills (who lost a very well played game) seniors a nod came from a Spartan himself. When Aaron "Toot" Williamson attacked the rim in the first half Wednesday, elevated high above a Josey defender, and slammed the ball through the hoop with ferocity, he had the balance, composure, and "coolness" to land, stop, stand tall, and give me a salute.  Check it out in the "Championship Week" episode above.  If you think it was a "hot dog" move by Williamson, I'll disagree.  I choose to believe he was letting me know he knew I was there, letting me know I was watching a true competitor, and letting me know how basketball is played in one of the state's best regions.  I'll say this:  I see you, Toot.  And I'll miss seeing you in the Spartan blue!  But you know where to find me...

Championship Week (Episode 1): Augusta Christian vs Hammond; Lakeside vs Greenbrier

Every morning, starting Wednesday and ending Sunday, I will release an episode of "Championship Week," which will chronicle all the region tournament action I can see!

Monday:  Lakeside 62, Greenbrier 55

Kre'sean Hall made 5 of 5 free throw attempts
during the final 4 minutes of Monday's win

"Championship Week," my term for the week our local teams play in region tournaments with state tournament slots and seeding on the line, tipped off Monday at Richmond Academy.  Lakeside defeated Greenbrier in a 5A "play-in" game after erasing a 7 point fourth quarter deficit.  6'9" senior center Jake Gilbert scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a consistently dominant performance on both ends.  And sophomore Kre'sean Hall added 15 points, including 7 during a 73 second long, 12-3 Lakeside run that gave the Panthers a 53-51 with 2:34 remaining. Lakeside would not trail again.

Riding the hot shooting of junior guards Jakob Nelson and Justen Hartfield, the Wolfpack controlled the first 12 minutes of the second half, eventually building the 7 point cushion Lakeside would eventually overcome.  Lakeside's final push was fueled not just by Hall, but also by fellow sophomores Cordell Hudson and Jalen Nealous.  A Nealous bomb from the right wing reduced Greenbrier's lead to 51-50, setting up a three point play in transition by Hall that put the Panthers ahead by two, 53-51.  And after an Austin Canady free throw cut Lakeside's lead to one, Hudson would give the Panthers a 55-52 advantage after rebounding his own missed free throw and converting a put back.

This is the third time I have featured Lakeside's inside-outside combination of Gilbert and Hall. Gilbert is so consistent.  And Hall is a scorer.  I have enjoyed watching his progress.

The Panthers will head to Jones County Wednesday to join the quarterfinal round of the region tournament.

Seventh Woods (23) and Xavier McDaniel (34)
have given Augusta Christian trouble this season

Tue:  Augusta Christian 55, Hammond 43

During these team's first matchup (see here), it was Xavier McDaniel who carried Hammond to victory over SCISA's defending state champion. Tuesday would be Seventh Woods' turn.  After falling behind 19-7, Woods scored at will by beating the initial defender and using his athleticism and soft touch to bring the Skyhawks all the way back even before halftime, and far ahead by the end of the game.  This game was not part of a region tournament because the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) has no region tournaments.  But the game will affect state tournament seeding.

My plan is to watch Josey play Glenn Hills, Washington County play Westside, and hopefully one more game Wednesday.  I'll be back with episode two of "Championship Week" Thursday morning with highlights and commentary from those region tournament games!