MACON – DaJohn Williams was only cleared to join the Calhoun County basketball team in time for the Region 1-A tournament. He had missed nearly the whole season after breaking his leg during a football playoff game.
Turns out Williams got back just in time. The senior dropped in the winning basket with two seconds left to give the Cougars an 84-82 over Greenville in the Class A-Public boys final and secure the school’s first state championship since 1997.
Greenville had tied the game at 82-82 when Renault Griffin hit one of two free throws with 28.2 seconds left.
Calhoun County decided to play for the last shot. After moving the ball around the perimeter a few times, Williams took the ball at the head of the key and drove the lane. He lobbed the shot on the rim, where it took a bounce and dropped in.
“Coach wanted all five us around the perimeter and told us to attack,” Williams said. “Thank God it went in.”
Williams finished with 18 points and five rebounds.
As far as ranking the importance that shot, Williams smiled and said, “It’s up there.”
The victory enabled coach Marcus Shaw’s team to erase last year’s disappointing loss in the semifinals. That the winning margin came from Williams was equally satisfying. Shaw knows the hard work that Williams has put in since the injury.
“The game was his to win,” Shaw said. “That it was him, made it special.”
Calhoun County (30-2) got 20 points and eight rebounds from Sherrod Williams and 20 points and six rebounds from Quenten Taylor.
Greenville (28-3) was led by Jamal McKee, who had 29 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Tamarcus Jackson added 15 points, Kenzavier Tenny scored 11 and Brendarious Henry scored 10.
The game was one that featured plenty of momentum shifts. Greenville had two nine-point leads in the first half, only to have Calhoun County catch up both times. Greenville led 45-44 at halftime.
That’s when Calhoun County got hot and outscored Greenville 25-13 in the third quarter and led by 13 early in the fourth period.
But Greenville responded with a 12-0 run and regained the lead on a basket by Henry with 3:31 left. There were four lead changes between then and the winning basket.
“I told our kids to relax and calm down and play the kind of basketball we’ve been playing all year,” Shaw said. “I told them if they would relax we could win the basketball game.”
The championship was the third for the school. Greenville was looking for its first state championship since 1992.
The 166 combined points between Calhoun County and Greenville is good for a tie for third all-time in boys championship games, according to Becky Taylor of the Georgia Basketball Project, which documents the state tournament to its start in 1922.
1. 181 (Mitchell-Baker 105 East Hall 76, Class AA in 2000)
2. 180 (Dublin 96 Thomasville 84, Class AA 2006)
3T. 166 (East Hall 99 Greenville 67, Class AA 2005)
3T. 166 (Calhoun County 84, Greenville 82)
