An Amazing Season Comes to an End

The greatest season in Sequoyah Boys Basketball history came to an end in the Sweet 16 in front of a sell out crowd at the War Lodge. With college coaches lining the walls and one of the biggest high school teams to ever play in a Cherokee County gymnasium, there was something special in the air and plenty of reasons for this local team of homegrown talent to be intimidated by the situation. However, that was not about to happen with this group. They took the floor focused, with a sense of urgency and ready to do battle. During the warm-up period, coaches like Florida’s Billy Donovan gathered in the players tunnel to say hello to the Miller Grove team of highly regarded recruits and wish them good luck on the night. Everyone in the gym new that this game was something special. How often does the state of Georgia have No.1 vs No.2 in the second round? Very rarely. How often do two nationally ranked teams play in the second round? Again, very rarely. How often does it happen in Hickory Flat. Never again.

Sequoyah came into the game on a 29-game win streak--the best in the state. Miller Grove came into the game with a chip on their shoulders, having lost their region championship to a non-ranked Southwest Dekalb team, forcing them into the No.2 seed from region six. That loss allowed Sequoyah to go ahead of them in the coaches poll, thus setting up the most highly anticipated game in the state’s second round of the tournament.

The game started out with Sequoyah taking it right to Miller Grove from the get-go. Sequoyah senior Brandon Alexander, a six-foot-three swingman had to jump for control of the opening tip against the six-foot-ten All-American everyone came to see, Tony Parker. You guessed it, Sequoyah won the tip and sprinted to an early 4 – 0 lead, forcing the Wolverines coach to call a timeout and demand his team to step it up play up to their abilities. They quickly responded with two quick baskets of their own to tie the game at four before Sean Tate drove the lane and put up a shot that bounced off the front of the rim only to be rebounded and dunked by Alexander. Message delivered. Miller Grove was in for a fight and this team was not going to lay down and be blown away just because the newspapers said they would.

After one period of play, Miller Grove had the lead at 16-14, but Sequoyah had five players already score. Getting everyone into the flow of the game and playing their roles early was going to be key if Sequoyah was going to pull off the upset. The second quarter saw Miller Grove turn up the defensive pressure, causing some bad shots early in the period that led to transition baskets, giving Miller Grove the lead they were able to maintain the rest of the way. The first half ended with the nations No.12 ranked team leading 35-24, but Sequoyah was never out of it. Nineteen times this season Sequoyah has had to come from behind to win. They came out to start the second half and they had plenty of life left in them. Both teams played like the two best teams in the state. Each team scored 20 points in the third period and Sequoyah gave Miller Grove fits, matching every steal and every made shot or key rebound with one of their own. The game was well played by both teams and fourth quarter was as good as it gets. Sequoyah came out and pressured Miller Grove in a tight man-to-man defense and forced ten turnovers in the period. However, the superior size for the Wolverines was just too much in the end. The majority of the baskets Miller Grove made were second chance put backs. Sequoyah had to take chances and try to get steals in the fourth quarter to close the gap. They successfully cut the lead to eight points, but could get no closer as they had to foul toward the end and hope that Miller Grove missed free throws. But when you can get quality move-ins like Miller Grove has been able to assemble, it is reasonable to assume they will be able to hit free throws, and they did. The final score was Miller Grove 72 and Sequoyah 53, but in reality, the game was much closer than the final score showed.

The sell out crowd cheered for their team as the five seniors that were in the game left the floor for the final time. About 200 stayed to greet the players and coaches as they came out of the locker room to a standing ovation. Ending the season with a record of 29-1 was no small task and for those who follow this program, they know how hard this group of young men worked all season long to represent their school and community with the pride and class and there was no shortage of heart or effort tonight.

Coach Donovan told the Sequoyah staff after the game that he had never seen a high school team play as hard or more together than Sequoyah did tonight. From a coach of that caliber, who sees the best high school talent around the country every year, that is pretty high praise. Many felt the winner of this game would go on to play for the state championship.

The final stat sheet of the season looks like this. Sequoyah was well balanced in scoring. Leading the way was senior Sean Tate with 15 points and four assists. Senior Zack Chandler had 11 points and seven rebounds. Brandon Alexander ended the game with 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high six blocked shots. Fellow senior Cullen Roberts had the tough defensive assignment of guarding Tony Parker all night with a broken foot and still managed six points, five rebounds and five steals. Senior Ben Rogers added four points in his final game. The returning starter for Sequoyah, the talented Solomon Ajose ended with six points, five rebounds and three assists.

It is possible a team will come along and go farther in the tournament, but it is far less likely that one will ever play in The War Lodge with that much heart and desire to win. It has been a wonderful season, full of thrills for the fans, standing room only crowds, and unbelievable student support. We look forward to seeing these players continue their careers. Some will play college football, some basketball and one will likely play baseball at the next level. Regardless, they will always be Chiefs and it has been my pleasure to cover them this season.