Four years ago Banks County coach Mike Cleveland decided to hit the reset button on the basketball program. After taking over a program that was not in the greatest shape, Cleveland decided to plan for the future and threw a bunch of freshmen in the ring against varsity competition.
As you might expected, they got hammered again and again and wound up winning five games. But the long-term play began to pay off. The kids got better and better and their confidence grew exponentially as they spent more time on the court. It all spilled over last year when Banks County won 24 games.
This year the Leopards have picked up where they left off. Banks County is 21-2 and ranked No. 10 in the state. It’s a year for first, as Banks County has won its first region basketball championship and defeated East Hall for the first two times in school history.
“This is a good group,” Cleveland said. “They’ve been together for a couple of years. The group we threw in there as freshmen stuck with us and kept getting better. We gave them time to struggle and you can see the results.”
Banks County is an adaptable team that can play whatever style needed. They were methodical in a two-point loss to Class AAAAAA Collins Hill, but Stephens said, “There are nights when we play a lot of half-court traps and try to speed things up.”
The team is led by point guard Zez Steeple, a 5-foot-9 senior who was one of those who got tossed into the waters as a freshman. Steeple can shoot the 3 – he had four of them in a career-high 39-point effort against East Hall. But he’s especially adept at getting to the basket in the open floor and knows how to stop on a dime and drop the mid-range jumper. Steeple has scored more than 1,000 points in his career.
Senior Zac Orr is a 6-f power forward who averages 13 points and 11 rebounds. Orr recently reached the 1,000 mark for career rebounds is likely to reach the 1,000 mark in career points before the end of the season. A 4.0 student, Orr leads the team in drawing charges.
Guard Trevae Cain, a 5-11 senior, is another four-year starter. Sturdily built at 220 pounds, Cain is an excellent defender. The other senior is Kendrick Simmons, a 5-9 guard who fits well into the team’s philosophy.
The lone junior in the lineup is Kahmal Wiley, a powerful 6-4 forward who is quick and offers scoring in the post.
Banks County finishes the season with road games against Lumpkin County on Tuesday and Fannin County on Friday. The Region 7-AAA tournament begins next week at Emanuel College in Franklin Springs.
The Leopards aspire to advance deeper into the tournament. They reached the second round in 2015 before losing to Rutland.
“There are a lot of factors that go into how you do at the state tournament,” Cleveland said. “We just want to be playing good basketball when it starts.”
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