In a back-and-forth battle between two of the top ranked teams in the state, it was the veteran leadership from South Gwinnett’s senior class that prevailed, coming away with a 53-49 win over Archer on Thursday.
For South Gwinnett head coach Qaree Howard, he loves being able to rely on his seniors.
“It’s huge having seniors,” Howard said. “Experience, to me, is almost better than talent. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take the talent, but the experience is just as key.
”This year, that experience is overflowing for Howard, who has nine seniors on his roster, giving Thursday’s Senior Night the makings of something special.
“It was a very emotional night for me,” Howard said. “I like the fact that I could start my regular lineup, because we always start five seniors. That was good so we didn’t have to get out in a different rhythm.”
Howard and his coaching staff take a special pride in knowing that all of his seniors are homegrown talents, which made the night even more special to his players.
“With all of these guys, every one of them started at South,” he said. “We didn’t recruit anybody, we didn’t go get anybody. We built them up as freshmen and by sophomore year, about five or six of them were already playing varsity and now they’re finishing strong together.”
Before the game, Howard said he emphasized for his seniors to take in the moment and appreciate the night before having to reset and ready for the elimination games to come.
“We’re trying to make a big run, but it was big to have this moment,” he said. “I talked to them about not letting this pass. This is your only senior night, how do you want to remember it? You want to remember it with a win. It should mean everything to the seniors.”
Once the game began, it quickly became one to remember. The match-up between the two top-10 powers of AAAAAAA saw 10 lead changes with no team taking a lead of more than eight at any point. The neck-and-neck battle proved to be exactly what Howard was expecting.“
Coach [Joel] Lecoeuvre does a great job over there at Archer with those guys, so I knew it would be tough,” he said. “We just had to handle that toughness and hit back whenever we could.”
After basically a defensive stalemate in the first quarter with the Comets holding a 10-9 lead, the second quarter proved to be a period of runs for both teams.
Instead of hitting back, South Gwinnett managed to hit first, getting out to a 7-0 run to start the second quarter. However, just when it looked like the Comets might have control, Archer came roaring back with a 10-0 run of their own to take back the lead. After tying the game at 19, South Gwinnett senior Justin Redmond retook the lead for his team with strong drive to the basket, scoring the layup and getting fouled. Redmond converted the and-one opportunity, giving the Comets a 22-19 lead heading into halftime.
The third quarter marked another tough defensive period for both squads, with half of the teams’ combined points coming at the free throw line.
Howard said his guys came into the game with something to prove, specifically on defense.
“First and foremost, we were battling to show who has the best defense,” he said. “I hear a lot about Archer’s defense, but my guys feel like we have the best defense so we figured it would come out low like that.
”South Gwinnett took a 32-31 lead into the fourth quarter. Then, suddenly both teams’ offenses exploded.
Archer immediately retook the lead, starting the quarter with a three. After having a fairly quiet night so far, senior Ansar Osman took over in the fourth, starting with a drive to the basket that earned him two free throws, which he converted to tie the game at 34. Archer scored to take the lead again before Osman tied the game again with a layup despite being fouled. Fellow senior Jet Horne then grabbed a steal and took it in on the fast break to give the Comets a 38-36 lead.
Archer’s Jaylen Richardson answered back with a three to retake the lead for the Tigers by one. Kendall Walker scored five points in the Comets’ next two possessions to give South Gwinnett the lead back for good with just over three minutes to go at 43-42. Howard credited the offensive outburst of his team to his guys getting comfortable with the physical man coverage being played against them.
“They’re going to stay in a man-to-man and so we just got more comfortable,” he said. “…Guys just started clicking, they started getting used to the man-to-man, got used to the pressure and started making the adjustments that we talked about as coaches, touching the paint, kicking it out and knocking down shots.”
The Tigers were not willing to go away quietly, but finally sealed their fate with a technical foul call that sent senior Jacob Washington to the free throw line. The senior drained both free throws to give the Comets a three point lead and the ball with 54 seconds to go. Slowing things down, South Gwinnett drained the entire shot clock before resetting it with a missed shot and offensive rebound. From there, the Comets’ veterans made the free throws necessary to ice the game and come away the four-point senior night victory.
Howard’s squad entered the game having played 17 games that were decided by 10 points or less, including an overtime thriller against Archer last month, meaning he knew they’d be prepared for a fight.
“If you check our schedule, we’ve had close games all year,” he said. “We’ve been preparing for that all year….We always prepare for a dog fight. I never set my mind for a blowout so we’re never surprised when we have a battle like that. That’s where we’re really most comfortable, honestly.”
Now as the regular season comes to a close, Howard feels like his team is hitting its stride at the right time.
“We’ve been steady all year, but now I think we’re about to peak because I’m taking myself out of the equation more and letting the seniors hold each other accountable,” he said. “Guys are starting to step up and bring their own energy. Guys are starting to make good suggestions, they’re starting to see everything that I’ve been saying to them….I think we’re definitely peaking because guys are taking it personally. They know that they have to make a big run this year because this is all they have. And we expect them to do huge things. I have high expectations with them being seniors.”
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