High School Basketball: Roswell Teams Look Ahead To State Tournament

By Mike Blum

Both teams from Blessed Trinity and Roswell qualified for the state high school basketball playoffs which begin this weekend, with the Fellowship Christian girls also making the state tournament field.

The Blessed Trinity boys captured the Region 4-AAAA title last weekend at Chestatee, defeating West Hall 48-44 in the semifinals and rival Marist 56-42 in the title game. The Titans take a 20-6 record into the state playoffs, entering post-season play on an 8-game winning streak.

The Titans rebounded from a losing record last season, going 7-1 in region play capped by a win over Marist in the final game of the regular season to finish in first place. Some outstanding defensive play keyed Blessed Trinity’s late season run, as the Titans allowed less than 42 points a game in their eight victories, with none of the eight opponents scoring more than 49 points.

Offensively, the Titans are led by guards C.J. Abrams and Ben Shappard and wing Kyle Swade. The team lacks size, but has overcome the absence of an inside scoring threat and a strong defensive presence under the basket with its defensive excellence, switching this year from a zone defensive scheme to a man-to-man.

BT opens tournament play at home Saturday (Feb. 18) at 5 p.m. against Troup County, which was fourth in a region with three state-ranked, 20-win teams and finished 10-17, going 0-8 against the trio. Unfortunately for the Titans, things get much tougher if they get past the first round. They would be home in the second round, likely against state No. 7 Americus-Sumter, which lost to a state-ranked rank team in its region final. Waiting in the quarterfinals is unbeaten and top-ranked Upson-Lee.

This is the third time in four years the Titans have qualified for the state tournament, and they have won at least one game at state the last five times they have qualified. The BT girls qualified for state despite an 8-19 record, tying for third with Marist in their 5-team region and receiving a bye into the semifinals that assured them of a state tournament berth. After a narrow 46-43 loss to second seed Chestatee in the semifinals, the Lady Titans lost by 30 in the consolation game to Marist, one week after defeating Marist to tie for third.

The Lady Titans have a tough first round opponent, playing Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at ninth-ranked Sandy Creek (21-6), which was No. 1 in its region in both the regular season and tournament.

The Roswell boys enjoyed their best season since winning a state championship since 1997, but struggled in the Region 4-AAAAAAA tournament after going 20-4 in the regular season, 9-1 in region play.

The Hornets (21-5) needed to win the tournament to avoid a first round match-up against one of the three teams from Region 2 ranked among the top six statewide in 7A, but lost to Etowah 52-39 in the semifinals. Etowah went on to win the region after tying for fourth in the regular season, with the Eagles the only team in Region 4 to defeat the Hornets during the regular season.

Roswell fell behind 14-6 after one quarter against Etowah, and trailed 19-8 at the half the next night in the consolation game against Lassiter, which finished last in the region in the regular season. The Hornets recovered in the second half, outscoring Lassiter 37-18 after being shut out in the second period to win 45-37.

The Hornets, who are led by sophomore guard Miles Herron and senior wing James Anderson, will play at fourth-ranked Westlake in their playoff opener Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Roswell girls also play at Westlake in the first game of a doubleheader at 6 p.m.

Westlake won the state championship in the highest classification last year, and finished first in the regular season in its region, which includes second-ranked Pebblebrook and sixth-ranked Wheeler, the 2015 state champion.

The Lions have a deceptive 17-10 record this season, going 3-6 against top teams from out of state, and feature two of the state’s top seniors – 6-8 Chuma Okeke (24.5 points, 15 rebounds per game) and 6-5 guard Danny Lewis (16 ppg). Both are Division 1 commits.

Westlake beat Pebblebrook twice during the regular season, but lost 87-83 in the championship game. The Lions will be looking to avenge a 28-0 loss to the Hornets in the semifinals of the state football playoffs. Senior Jayden Comma is the lone member of Roswell’s football team who is also on the basketball squad.

The Roswell girls tied for third in the region at 6-4 and qualified for state with a 34-26 win over Lassiter in the first round of the 4-AAAAAAA tournament. After losing 56-42 to Cherokee and 48-37 to Woodstock, the top two teams in the region, the Lady Hornets (15-10) are the fourth seed from the region.

Westlake (20-7) tied for first in its region during the regular season and won the tournament. Westlake has qualified for the state playoffs every year since 2006 and reached the quarterfinals each of the past two seasons. Roswell is in the state playoffs for the first time since 2014, reaching the second round that year.

The Fellowship Christian girls are in the state Class A private school playoffs for the third straight year, and will travel to Augusta to play Aquinas. The Lady Paladins (14-9) are seeded 20 th in the 24-team field and Aquinas (19-7) is seeded 13 th .

The winner will play Feb. 22 at No. 4 seed Wesleyan.

Image via Patch